ABC News(NEW YORK) -- A homeless veteran who is suing a New Jersey couple for allegedly blowing much of the more than $400,000 in donations they had raised for him will get the money he's owed, according to his attorneys and the crowdfunding platform that hosted the online campaign. GoFundMe released a joint statement Thursday night with Cozen O'Connor, the Philadelphia-based law firm representing Johnny Bobbitt Jr., promising that the 35-year-old Marine Corps veteran and former firefighter will receive the rest of the funds. "Johnny will be made whole and were committing that hell get the balance of the funds that he has not yet received or benefited from. GoFundMes goal has always been to ensure Johnny gets support he deserves," the statement said in part. "As weve said, our platform is backed by the GoFundMe Guarantee, which means that in the rare case that GoFundMe, law enforcement or a user finds campaigns are misused, donors and beneficiaries are protected," the company said in the statement. "Were fulfilling that commitment today and we will continue to work with Johnnys team to make sure hes receiving all donated amounts." The company issued the statement just hours after authorities executed a search warrant at the residence of Kate McClure and her boyfriend Mark D'Amico in Florence Township, New Jersey, in connection with a criminal investigation into the whereabouts of the funds they had raised for Bobbitt. No charges have been filed yet, prosecutors said. GoFundMe said it will "continue to assist with the ongoing law enforcement investigation." Bobbitt captured national headlines last year after giving McClure, 28, his last $20 to buy gas when her car broke down on Interstate 95 near Philadelphia, where he was living under a bridge. To thank Bobbitt for his kindness, McClure and her boyfriend set up a GoFundMe campaign that was intended to help Bobbitt get back on his feet. More than 14,000 people donated to the fund, raising a total of $402,706. "Johnny sits on the side of the road every day, holding a sign," McClure wrote on the page, which was created on Nov. 10, 2017. "He saw me pull over and knew something was wrong. He told me to get back in the car and lock the doors. A few minutes later, he comes back with a red gas can." Last week, Bobbitt filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Burlington County against McClure and D'Amico, 39, claiming the couple has spent much of the donated funds on personal expenses, including lavish vacations and gambling excursions. Bobbitt, who was in and out of rehab and is now back on the street, alleges he has only received about $75,000 and fears the rest of the money is gone, according to his lawyers. Bobbitt said at the time that he did not have an attorney or financial advisor. "I wish it didn't come to this," Bobbitt told ABC News affiliate WPVI-TV in Philadelphia in an exclusive interview Aug. 31. "I hate that it came to this." In an Aug. 27 interview with NBC News' Megyn Kelly on "Today," D'Amico and McClure said that after they paid fees to GoFundMe for setting up the account, there was about $350,000 in donations remaining, which they transferred to their private bank account because Bobbitt didn't have one. The couple immediately set up an account for Bobbitt and deposited $25,000 in it, which he spent in 13 days, most of it on drugs, they said. Bobbitt also had past-due legal fees they covered with the money and he sent some of the funds to his parents and brother, but Bobbitt used most of the money on drugs, they said. "Every dollar he ever touched was used for drugs," D'Amico said in the interview. "That's why it took so long for us to finally have to say, 'No' when it came time for him asking for money when we knew where it was going. I wanted to make sure that at the end of the day, when he was ready to, he had something left." The couple said they used some of the funds to purchase Bobbitt a 1999 Ford truck and a travel trailer. They said Bobbitt still has in excess of $150,000 in their bank account, and they've been working to get a trustee to manage the money. "That's what we're in the process of doing now," D'Amico added. "And we're in the process of having everything looked over by our lawyer and he [Bobbitt] has his separate lawyer and he will have his own trust and it will be out of our hands." They denied spending any of the money on themselves. On Aug. 30, New Jersey Superior Court Judge Paula Dow ordered the couple to return the remainder of the funds to Bobbitt's attorneys after Bobbitt requested a temporary restraining order that would bar the couple from spending any more of it. At the time, the amount of the remaining funds was in dispute. Christopher Fallon, one of Bobbitt's attorneys, estimated during the court hearing that more than $250,000 should be left. But during their Aug. 27 interview with NBC News, McClure and D'Amico said about $150,000 was left. The couple's attorney, Ernest Badway, argued in court that they have given Bobbitt more than $200,000 of the funds raised. That includes giving Bobbitt cash for his everyday necessities as well as buying him the truck and trailer, which were registered in the couple's names at Bobbitt's request, according to Badway, who cited records he says he has seen. Badway did not account for the rest but told the judge that they are currently preparing the accounting that will "show where the money went." On Wednesday, Judge Dow ordered Badway to tell his clients, who were not in court, that they must appear before her Sept. 14 after giving sworn depositions on what happened to the money at Badway's law office on Monday morning. Dow also voiced concern that McClure and D'Amico will attempt to flee her jurisdiction. "Absolutely not," Badway responded. "They're New Jerseyans. They have been here forever. They have no place to go." Dow ordered Bobbitt to give a sworn deposition next week. But Bobbitt's attorney, Christopher Fallon, informed Dow that his client might not be able to accommodate the request. "Johnny Bobbitt will be in a residential drug program," Fallon told the judge Wednesday, adding that he would start it immediately. "He's been given a 30-day scholarship for a residential drug [rehabilitation] program." When Badway suggested that the case be put on hold until Bobbitt is out of rehab, the judge said, "That's a ludicrous request at this point." "I don't think so," Dow said. "We've already had monies disappear. They continue to disappear. The whole thing is to escrow these funds." Badway told the judge that if his clients have to appear to give depositions Monday, then Bobbitt should, too. "Mr. Bobbitt is a key material witness to where the money went to because, as I have explained to the court, the money went to Mr. Bobbitt," Badway said. Fallon, Bobbitt's attorney, told the judge he would ask the New Jersey rehab center whether it is possible for Bobbitt to give his deposition from the facility. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe 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. The Vietnamese Party leader thanked the Federation Council and parliamentarians for their support of the friendly and cooperative ties between Russia and Vietnam, and stressed that for Vietnam, Russia is both a traditional big partner and a loyal friend. He asked the Russian Federation Council to continue cooperate and share with the Vietnamese National Assembly its experience in law making and supervising activities, especially when Vietnam is accelerating the building of a law-based state, perfecting its legal system and enhancing the role of the NA and elected bodies. Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (left) and Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia Andrey Turchak (Photo: VNA) The Federation Council Deputy Speaker affirmed that he will support bilateral cooperation across all sectors, thus helping deepen the Russia-Vietnam comprehensive strategic partnership. He appreciated the collaboration between the two law-making bodies in the recent past, and pledged to work to promote stronger ties both bilaterally and at regional and international inter-parliamentary forums. He voiced support of stronger economic, trade and investment cooperation between Russia and Vietnam through specific programmes, plans and projects, as well as of more sharing of experience and closer coordination in supervising the implementation of signed cooperative agreements. Host and guest expressed joy at the progress in bilateral ties, noting that the sound political ties and mutual understanding create a solid foundation for diverse and effective cooperation between the two countries. They also praised the important contributions made by the two parliaments to strengthening the friendship, solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries and two peoples. The two sides also welcomed the contribution made by parliamentarians to local-level cooperation and reached a consensus on promoting cooperation between their businesses and localities and people-to-people exchange, while facilitating the partnership between localities of the two countries based on each others potential and needs. Also in the framework of the Party General Secretarys visit, Minister of Education Phung Xuan Nha had working sessions with his Russian counterpart and officials of the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education. He also witnessed the signing of cooperation agreements between Vietnamese and Russian universities./. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. 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Some people only want to be a digital subscriber to get access online and others want to also receive the print edition. 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. The SR leader welcomed the official visit to Russia by the CPV General Secretary and recalled his deep impression during his trip to Vietnam last April, including the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation between the CPV and the SR, which called for bilateral exchange and mutual consultation and support. Mironov suggested that legal consultative and assistance offices in Russia can provide free of charge legal assistance for Vietnamese nationals living and working in Russia if they request. General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong (R) and Chairman of A Just Russia (SR) party Sergey Mironov (Photo: VNA) He wished the visit of the CPV General Secretary a success and voiced his hope that the ties between the SR and the CPV will be further cemented in the interest of both nations. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong noted that Vietnam and Russia have established a comprehensive strategic partnership and will mark the 25th year since they signed the treaty on basic principles of their friendship ties and 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2019 and 2020. He made clear that his visit this time aims to affirm the resolve to further deepen the close relationship between the people of the two countries. The Vietnamese party leader spoke highly of the principles and goals of the SR striving for a fair, free and equal society, and happiness for the people. He welcomed the SR leaders proposal on legal assistance for Vietnamese nationals in Russia, and stressed that he will support what are beneficial to the two parties and people of the two countries./. Pittsfield Police Seek Information On Domino's Pizza Robbery PITTSFIELD, Mass. Police are seeking information on a robbery of Domino's Pizza on Elm Street. Authorities say at about 11 p.m. on Thursday a black man in his late teens or early twenties, standing about six-foot-three-inches tall and weighing 180 to 190 lbs. with a slim build and deep voice robbed the store at gunpoint. The suspect was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a black head covering, black gloves, black pants, and a mask. The suspect then ran south toward Hazelwood Terrace. Police are asking for anyone who may have witnessed the robbery or has information about it to contact the detective bureau at 413-448-9705. Attorney Anthony Lepore presented the issue to the Community Development Board with members of the ZBA and city staff in the audience. Pittsfield Prepping Local Regulations For 5G Technology PITTSFIELD, Mass. Tower companies are chomping at the bit as a multibillion-dollar industry in 5G technology is primed to roll out. On Wednesday night, the Federal Communications Commission announced a plan to help roll that industry out quicker and cheaper. And when it does, companies will be seeking to use public rights-of-way for towers, antennas and accompanying infrastructure. "When it is finally rolled out, the theory is you are going to have a pole every three homes. It is going to be a lot of infrastructure," attorney Anthony Lepore of Cityscape Consultants Inc. told the Community Development Board, members of the Zoning Board of Appeals, and staff members of the Office of Community Development. What the city of Pittsfield doesn't want is bulky equipment cabinets littering the sides of every Pittsfield street. The city doesn't want poles to be stacked with obnoxious looking equipment when the technology can look nice and be well concealed. "They want to put it up cheap and fast. That is their goal. What we tried to do is create roadblocks to cheap and fast," Lepore said after helping to craft 14 pages of local legislation to guide the development. The issue isn't so that straightforward as there is federal legislation involved that has been piled onto since the 1996 Telecommunications Act. But there are areas in which the city does have the ability to control particularly when it comes to new towers. "The goal of local government is to make sure the infrastructure is provided because everybody wants that service but also in a manner that is consistent with the neighborhood," Lepore said. "You have to design regulations that push them toward building this." He said the tower industry has already been working to make it easier. Legislation backed by the industry was passed in 21 states taking away local control, he said, and such a bill has also been proposed in the federal government. But that hasn't happened in Massachusetts yet. Lepore revamped the city's existing wireless communication facilities zoning bylaws so it is in a good place when the tower and technology companies come looking to expand. The 5G technology is a wireless replacement for the miles and miles of copper phone and other types of wire carrying internet. The technology has a much higher frequency, pushing a massive amount of data to homes for livestreaming of media. "The federal policy to get us off the copper phone lines and Fios. They want us all to be wireless," he said. The proposed regulation of the city particularly puts a focus on aesthetics as well as builds a hierarchy of preferred options. Some of the new facilities will require both a special permit from the Zoning Board of Adjustment and a site plan approval from the Community Development Board. It adds a significant amount of language and definitions of the new technology, which matches terminology in federal government rules, to protect the city from challenges. It discusses setbacks, heights, fences, concealing the technology, and more. "You will have some flexibility when it comes to new infrastructure in terms of having approval or denial rights," Lepore said. But, it can only do so much. The federal government's regulations have limited a city or town's ability to deny many deployments of the technology outright. Within the area the city does have control of, the city wants to make sure it has everything buttoned up right to avoid a project it doesn't want. "It is all a carrot and stick approach because that is effectively all we can do," Lepore said. The 5G rollout is still a ways off and city officials are looking to fine tune the regulations. Director of Community Development Deanna Ruffer suggested a workshop with Lepore, city staff, the ZBA, and the Community Development Board to dig into the details of the proposal. Community Development Board Chairwoman Sheila Irvin and ZBA Chairman Al Ingegni both agreed such a meeting would be helpful. "This is not a tomorrow situation for you but it is in nine to 12 months when you will start seeing applications for this infrastructure," Lepore said. There isn't a timeline quite in place for the proposed regulations to be given to the City Council for approval. The FCC's expected vote later this month is expected to accelerate the rollout and 10 cities in the United States are being piloted with the technology now. Related Stories: BCC's Director of Nursing Resigns PITTSFIELD, Mass. Director of Nursing Tochi Urbani has resigned from Berkshire Community College. Dean of Enrollment Management Christina Wynn confirmed on Friday that Urbani submitted his resignation letter on Sept. 4 and will be leaving the college on Oct. 3. The resignation comes in the midst of college officials working to elevate the program's accreditation from a recently issued "approval with warning" status. "At this point, we are placing a high priority on finding an interim director of nursing," Wynn said. Wynn said the change will have no impact on the students who have just returned for the semester nor does she expect that the college would miss the Sept. 30 deadline to address issues outlined by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing to resolve its status. "We will be submitting everything we need to before Sept. 30," Wynn said, adding that the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing has already scheduled a visit to the college in late October to review the status. The resignation of Urbani does throw a twist to the progress as he was one of four directly overseeing the effort. Urbani, Vice President of Academic Affairs Jennifer Berne, interim Dean of Nursing, Health and Social Science Chris Aylesworth, and college President Ellen Kennedy have been working their way through a list of items to be addressed for accreditation. Wynn expects that work to continue. "We have every confidence that we will be in compliance," Wynn said. "We've been very dedicated to it and our faculty has been very helpful." The program is accredited through the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing and approved by the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Nursing. It is one of the college's gems for decades and has been one of the most popular and most successful programs there. But, a recent dip in the passage rates for graduates taking the National Council Licensure Examination exam for the first time triggered a visit from the accrediting agencies. In 2017, just 74 percent of the program's graduates passed the exam on their first try. The college was given a lengthy list of items to correct and while at first appearance the list seems daunting, the actual items cited are mostly characterized as "housekeeping" items by college officials. Such changes required revamping the program's policies and handbook. The citation included issues with record keeping and contractual language. In July, Kennedy emphasized that none of the items cited had any impact on the student experience and was all administrative. College officials created a blueprint to come back into compliance and has been addressing each issue during the last six weeks or so. The issue arose under Ubani's leadership of the program and he will stay on past the Sept. 30 deadline. Wynn said she is not privy as to why Ubani is resigning but when asked, she said it is unlikely he was asked to resign. Wynn said the focus now will be to find an interim director and complete the work on the accreditation. She does not have a timeline for when the college plans to hire Ubani's replacement. Swarms of Ochlerotatus triseriatus have been invading neighborhoods after a rainstorm last month created prime conditions for their nurturing. They're annoying but aren't a vector for West Nile. Mosquitoes Out in Record-breaking Numbers This Year Culex pipiens is a known carrier for West Nile and other diseases. PITTSFIELD, Mass. It is going to be a record year for the local mosquito population in Berkshire County. And residents have taken note. Over the last week, the Health Department the Berkshire County Mosquito Control Project had fielded hundreds of calls from residents about high population numbers. "This is going to be the biggest year in history. We are at record West Nile already," Mosquito Control Project Christopher Horton said. West Nile was confirmed Thursday in another sampling of mosquitos in the area, raising the number of positive samples to 20 in recent weeks. While no human in Berkshire County has tested positive, there have been nine human and two animal cases in the state. It is approaching peak mosquito season and the population has been particularly high right now because of flooding in mid-August. Horton said a rainstorm on Aug. 18 caused the Housatonic River to overflow into the floodplain from Pittsfield all the way to the Connecticut border. While it had only lasted two days, that was long enough to start the development of eggs of the floodplain-born Ochlerotatus triseriatus species. "All of those eggs started development at once. We're talking hundreds of acres," Horton said. About a week later, thousands upon thousands of mosquitoes rose from the riverbanks and by a week after that, they've migrated into neighborhoods to feast. "They are getting into the neighborhoods. We want to keep them as isolated as possible," Horton said. "The longer we wait, the more they'll move." In the last few years, the county hadn't seen much of the floodplain species because there hadn't been a flooding event. Health Director Gina Armstrong said the Ochlerotatus triseriatus is not quite known for carrying West Nile virus and the state typically doesn't test those for the virus. But, they are known the be a nuisance. The state does, however, does test the Culex pipiens species for West Nile and more of those have been carrying the virus than in years past. So far, 20 mosquitoes tested positive for the disease, five of which were confirmed earlier this week, in Pittsfield alone. "DPH reported it is double the virus than normal," Armstrong said. Horton said the population of Culex has actually been lower than in years past. But, the percentage of those carrying the disease has taken a dramatic increase due to more and more birds carrying West Nile virus. "These numbers have been fairly low but even though the numbers are low, the disease findings have been high," Horton said. Countywide a total of 50 mosquitoes were confirmed with the virus The project collects samples in just 10 Berkshire towns and those samples are tested by the state. Across the state, there have been nine human cases and two animal cases -- though there have been none of either in Berkshire County. About 20 percent of infected people will have symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches, nausea, vomiting, swollen lymph glands, skin rash on chest, stomach and back. One percent of infected people will develop severe illness but the majority of people who are infected will not have symptoms. Armstrong said with the nine people identified across the state, those have been serious cases leading the individual to be in the hospital. The 20 findings in Pittsfield is dramatically different from 2016, when there were only two findings of West Nile and in 2014 when there was only one. "This is definitely the highest we had since 2012 when we had 11 positive findings," Armstrong said. With a greater presence and a greater number of mosquitoes, the Health Department and the Berkshire Mosquito Control Project are concerned about the possible spread of West Nile Virus. In response to the consistent presence of the disease, the project deploys a truck-mounted adulticide spraying to kill off adult mosquitoes. On multiple occasions and locations throughout the summer, the spraying has been deployed and Pittsfield will have three more scheduled this upcoming week -- two of which in locations already sprayed on multiple occasions this year -- and Sheffield will also be sprayed, where two more positive samples were collected. "Some people are critical of the truck-mounted spraying but it is effective," Horton said, estimating that the population in an area being sprayed drops by about 80 percent. Indeed there has been much criticism of the adulticide sprayings. For multiple years in a row, residents have petitioned and pushed for the city of Pittsfield to leave the project. Those in opposition counter Horton's claims of effectiveness and say the chemicals are detrimental to human health and the environment. The Mosquito Control Project says the adulticide spray is low toxicity and quickly breaks down as to not leave any residue but those in opposition don't buy it. Those in opposition say it is bad for the ecosystem, bad for humans, and doesn't work. The majority of towns in Berkshire County aren't part of the project and opponents note that there has not been a widespread disease issue. Opponents first tried to go to the Board of Health to ask for changes and then petitioned the City Council. A few years back an ad-hoc committee was formed to develop a different strategy to control the mosquito population but the recommendations were never taken up in earnest. City and health officials still say the amount of adulticide being used is small and that the chemicals have been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Health officials say protecting against a possible widespread outbreak of West Nile with the spray is worth it. "The number of mosquitoes in the city is also increasing the risk," Armstrong said. The city has consistently provided residents with the same advice: When outdoors, wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt and socks; Use a repellent with DEET according to the instructions on the product label; keep mosquitoes out of your house by repairing holes in screens and making sure screens fit tightly to doors and windows; schedule outdoor events to avoid the hours between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active; Remove areas of standing water around your home to eliminate sources of mosquito breeding. Armstrong emphasized the importance of residents to continue taking precautions in September when the most cases of diseases are reported. iciHaiti - MUPANAH : Brazil celebrates the 196th anniversary of its independence Friday as part of the 196th anniversary of independence, the Ambassador of Brazil accredited in Haiti Fernando de Mello Vidal in the presence of personalities including Michele Frisch the Director General of the Museum of the Haitian National Pantheon, proceeded during a ceremony, to a floral offering at the National Pantheon to mark the celebration of the National Day of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Note that Brazil is celebrating this feast this year in a particular context when the Brazilian people and the museum community around the world are in shock after the fire that devastated the National Museum of Rio in the night of September 2 to 3 2018. Michele Frisch expresses her solidarity with the Brazilian people in the face of this inestimable loss of cultural legacies and witnesses and wishes Brazil a Happy Independence Day ! IH/ iciHaiti Bako Waziri Kyari, has accused Abba Kyari, president Muhammadu Buharis Chief of Staff of duping him of N29.9m, according to latest reports. Bako, who claimed to be a nephew to Abba Kyari, reportedly during a popular radio programme, Berekete Family , on Human Rights Radio 101.1FM in Abuja, alleged that Kyari with the aid of Sani Ado, whom he claimed worked with the Bureau of Public Procurement, collected N29.9m from him in order to help him get a contract. He said: Abba Kyari asked if I had a company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. I told him I did and so he asked me to come down to Abuja. We met at least four times at Caledonia Hotel on Gana Street, Maitama. We discussed there. The hotel should have CCTV and this can be confirmed. Abba Kyari collected the documents of my company. He said I would supply 15 Toyota Hilux vehicles to the Presidential Villa. He gave me an agreement to sign and I signed two documents. He collected two letterheads from me, 12 passport photos and introduced me to Sani Ado and Alhaji Ibrahim. He said anytime they needed money, he would let me know so that I could give the money to Sani Ado. Ado began collecting money from me to process the contract. Before depositing money into Ados account, I always alerted Abba Kyari and he would tell me to go ahead. All the money I transferred to Ado summed up to N29, 950,000. The total contract was worth N300,725,000. They promised me 30 per cent profit of the total contract which is about N94m. However, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) has said it has begun work on the petition linking Abba Kyari. Meanwhile, since the news broke on Friday, many have taken to social media to drop their two cents on the matter. A lot of commenters were of the opinion that Buhari, must sack his Chief of Staff, in order to give the fight against corruption credence. See reactions below If there is any Nigerian who still believes that President Buhari will fight corruption or that he is a man of integrity after watching and hearing about Frauds and contract scam by President's Chief of Staff Abba Kyari Such persons should seek mental help. Mr Integrity (@Intergrity56) September 8, 2018 Abba Kyari have been operating like a fraudster. 15 Toyota hilux to the Villa for what? The EFCC officials are loyal to him because he's the President's CoS, this is not the Change that Nigerians want. I was shocked when the Bureau denied that Ado is not their staff. SMH. General Michael Akanji (@mickiebrownkie) September 8, 2018 Chief of Staff Abba Kyari allegedly swindled his own relative, blocked EFCC from investigating, detained and redeployed the police officer who dared to investigate only after which the police officer himself started to believe that Abba Kyari is actually involved. Messy stuff. Demola Olarewaju (@DemolaRewaju) September 8, 2018 Corruption/Money laundering/tax evasion N100b allegation against lion of Burdillion. (National leader APC and godfather of South West) Corrupt allegation against Abba Kyari (Chief of staff to Buhari) They are still the same people screaming anti-corruption and vote for Buhari. ThankGod Ukachukwu (@kcnaija) September 8, 2018 At a working session with the Vietnamese leader, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Gordeyev affirmed that Vietnam is a friend and long-term partner of Kaluga. The two sides have enjoyed win-win cooperation in economy, trade, investment, social sciences, and humanities. He noted that the most positive improvement of the two countries relations is seen in economy and trade, with the trend continuing this year and proving that the establishment of a free trade area between the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Russia is a member, and Vietnam is a good step forward. He described the Vietnam-based TH Groups construction of animal farming complexes in Kaluga, and some other localities in Russia, as a bright example of the bilateral partnership. General Secretary Trongs current trip to Kaluga demonstrates that locality-to-locality cooperation is an important field in the countries connections, Gordeyev added. Trong said he was happy to visit Kaluga for the first time and witness the dynamic development of this oblast as one of the fastest growing localities of Russia, taking the lead in investment attraction and advanced technology application. He expressed his delight at the enormous successes Kaluga has attained and wished it even stronger development in the future. He highlighted that in the two countries relations, economic, trade, and investment partnerships have played a pivotal role. In their talks and meetings, the Vietnamese and Russian leaders shared the view that the outcomes of their bilateral relations has yet to match their full potential. To promote economic, trade, and investment ties, they need to actively remove obstacles and create favourable conditions for each others enterprises to expand investment, production, and business activities. TH Group is a private Vietnamese firm that has been investing big in Russia, he said, thanking the Russian Government and the administration of Kaluga and asking them to continue their creation of optimal conditions for Vietnamese investors, including TH Group, and thereby contributing to local socio-economic development and the increase of the two countries relations. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Gordeyev (R) welcomes Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in Kaluga Oblast on September 7th (Photo: VNA) Introducing local strengths, Kaluga Governor Anatoly Artamonov said dairy farming is a top priority for local agriculture. In 2017, the oblast produced more than 305,000 tonnes of milk and was the biggest milk producer in Russia. TH Groups investment into a dairy factory in the Kaluga Special Economic Zone holds special significance in terms of promoting cooperation between Vietnamese and Russian localities, he said, promising that Kaluga will create the best possible conditions for the plant to operate and also boost collaborations with Vietnam in other aspects. The Governor also said his oblast wants to actively take part in activities as part of the Russian Year in Vietnam and the Vietnamese Year in Russia in 2019. It also hopes to pair with a Vietnamese locality and will encourage Kaluga businesses to invest in the Southeast Asian nation. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong welcomed his hosts proposals on activities to mark the upcoming important anniversaries of bilateral ties in 2019 and 2020. He added that the Vietnamese side will introduce a locality to pair with Kaluga so as to contribute to the overall expansion of Vietnam-Russia relations. Also on September 7th, the Party chief attended a ceremony to start the construction of TH Groups dairy factory in the Kaluga Special Economic Zone. The factory is expected to become one of the biggest and most modern of its kind in Russia. Invested with some 150 million USD, it is set to cover 14ha and produce 1,500 tonnes of milk products per day once operational. TH Group has invested USD2.7 billion in dairy cow farming and high-tech milk processing complexes, along with some food-related projects, in Russias Moscow Oblast, Kaluga Oblast, Primorsky Kray, and the Republic of Bashkortostan. General Secretary Trong applauded efforts by TH Group, the first private Vietnamese company to have invested in Russian agriculture. He called the factory in Kaluga the beginning of a new trend in the bilateral investment partnership of Vietnamese firms investing in Russia. He voiced his hope that more Vietnamese businesses will invest in Russia, including Kaluga, to produce high-quality products, create jobs for local people, and contribute to local development./. Theres been a lot of stories making the rounds concerning MTN and four banks working with the telecommunication giant, all of which have been fined insanely huge amounts of money by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The numbers and the big grammar being thrown around may have confused many, but have no fear, we are here to break it down (more like dumb it down) for you. To make this story more relatable and easier to understand, lets call MTN a handsome yoruba boy Mayokun. While we replace the country Nigeria with Enugu and MTNs country as Oyo respectively. CBN is Agbalagbi (stay with me here). Mayokun is doing quite well, he is successful and has been able to grow his business considerably in Enugu. He has even made a couple of investments (over $16 Billion) in the state. Mayokun is from Oyo, and some of his competitors have a slight problem with him coming to their territory and becoming a success. Still they all have a healthy but professional rivalry, so technically, they are cool. Lest we forget, Mayokun hasnt just made a good fortune in Enugu, he has done a lot for the economy of Enugu. Mayokun has paid in excess of 2 trillion naira in taxes and levies in Enugu. Did I hear you say pere? No o, thats like one-third of the entire budget of Enugu in 2017. As if that is not enough, baba has also invested over $18B in infrastructure development and network rollout with over 15,000 base-transceiver stations and the longest fibre-optic cable network in Africa (15,500ft). We dont know how to explain that in simple English but you get it sha And Mayokun currently employs over 500,000 people in Enugu directly and indirectly. Na beans? In order to continue to grow his business and support the economy of Enugu, Mayokun brings some of his assets from Oyo. And to move these assets, Mayokun uses some banks in Enugu who also have branches in Oyo, since it only makes sense and makes the process easier. But then all of the sudden, the CBN in Enugu alias Agbalagbi fines the banks N5.2bn and claims the process wasnt exactly legit. Also asks Mayokun to return $8.1bn The claim from Agbalagbi is that the transfer of assets did not follow due process and the appropriate taxes may not have been paid. . . . But the plot, thickens. The Enugu government, courtesy of the Attorney General (lets call him hard guy Tony) called out Mayokun again and asked him to pay another 2 billion dollars pere. Claims its back taxes. Mayokun tries to be a perfect gentleman and remains quiet. Safe in the knowledge that this is all a mix-up that will be sorted out quickly. However, Mayorkun cant help but wonder if this is all just a witch hunt because hes not from Enugu. (And also probably cos hes from Oyo, which has plenty witches,.. just saying) Mayorkun and his four bank friends are livid (understandably so) and are convinced hard guy Tony is just being a dick-tective. They cant wait for all of this to go away. Mayokun and his friends have come out to explain their part of the story but hard guy Tony is still persisting on colledting his billions. Thats it! That is where we are at now. But we cant help to wonder at all the loopholes in Agbalagbis story sha. Why now? why all these allegations? What is the agenda? We keenly wait for the latest update on this rather interesting piece of corporate drama. CAST MAYOKUN MTN ENUGU . NIGERIA OYO SOUTH AFRICA HARD GUY TONY . ATTORNEY GENERAL CBN . AGBALAGBI THE BANK FRIENDS .. DIAMOND BANK, STANBIC IBTC, CITY BANK AND STANDARD CHARTERED BANK Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abudulfatah Ahmed has made known his intention to contest for the Kwara South Senatorial seat. The governor who recently defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) would be contesting under the platform of his new party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The Governor, via a tweet on Saturday said he had to yield to the desire of his people to contest the senatorial seat. He wrote: In response to calls by my people and in keeping with my strong desire to upscale the excellent work we have done in all three zones of the state, through effective, purposeful representation, I have picked up the PDP nomination form for Kwara South Senatorial District. Governor Ibikunle Amosun made headlines last week, declared his intention to run for Senate and Governor Abdulfatah, has joined the list of out-going governors to aspire for the legislative house. The Sun Barely two weeks to the commencement of primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the ruling party is literally at war with itself over the method to adopt in the election of its candidates for next years general elections. Vanguard Senator James John Akpanudoedehe represented the Uyo Senatorial District at the onset of the Fourth Republic and subsequently served as minister of state, FCT, and was the governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN in the 2011 governorship election. Thisday Corpses have been washed up from their various graves following severe flooding of parts of Kogi State. Specifically, many graves in Ofu Local Government Area of Kogi State have been dug out by flood, exhuming human remains buried in them. Daily Times The All Progressives Congress (APC) has extended the deadline for the sale and submission of presidential, governorship, National Assembly and House of Assembly forms to Tuesday, September 11, 2018. Guardian Delta State-born comedian and social commentator, Francis Agoda popularly known as I Go Dye, has written an open letter to former governor of Delta State, Emmanuel Udughan, over his senate ambition. Leadership The Inspector-General of Police ( I-G), Mr Ibrahim Idris has ordered the immediate disbandment of the Special Tactical Squad (STS). The Nation The police in Anambra on Friday declared as high mischief, the reported shooting of David Elijah, the pastor in charge of Grace and Power Prophetic Ministry in Awka. Tribune A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, Mr Michael Opeyemi Bamidele, on Friday returned to the state about three months after he was accidentally shot at a political event in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State. Senate president, Bukola Saraki is currently on a South-East consultation, as part of plans to woo more supporters for his 2019 presidential ambition. Saraki, who is hoping to clinch the presidential ticket of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) recently visited Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia states to meet party stakeholders. In a twitter post on Saturday, the Senate president said, many Nigerians have been crying for succour and solutions and that is why, many of his party executives in the region, have come out to listen to his plan on the #growNigeria Vision. He wrote : Up and down our country today, Nigerians are crying out for succour and yearning for solutions. For this reason, yesterday, PDP Abia State delegates and party executives came out in large numbers to listen to our vision to #GrowNigeria. Saraki, is very optimistic about beating president Muhammadu Buhari, in next years presidential election. Presidential aspirant, Bukola Saraki has appointed Ilemona Onoja as the Director-general of his 2019 presidential election campaign. According to the Senate President, Mr. Onoja is a gifted Nigerian lawyer who has continued to speak for good governance and responsible leadership, noting that he was happy to have him on his team. Saraki said this via Twitter on Saturday, adding that he was looking forward to his followers supporting Onoja, on his new role. In line with my promise to see the youth play major roles at all levels, I am happy to announce the appointment of Mr Ilemona (@I_Am_Ilemona) Onoja as the spokesperson of my presidential campaign. Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki (@bukolasaraki) September 8, 2018 The newly appointed spokesperson graduated from the Benue State University, went to the Nigerian Law School, Lagos campus and was called to the Bar in 2006. Senator Shehu Sani has picked the All Progressives Congress(APC) nomination and expression forms for Senate. The senator representing Kaduna Central, some weeks back stunned followers and critics, after he announced that he wouldnt be defecting from the party, after giving everyone the impression that he would. Senator Sani, for a long time had criticised the activities of the party and president Muhammadu Buhari on social media, giving his followers the notion that he was dissatisfied with the party and couldnt wait to leave. However, Sani suffered some backlash, after he announced that he wouldnt be defecting from the ruling party. On Saturday, the senator picked up his expression of interest and nomination forms from the National secretariat and took to social media to share the news. He wrote via twitter: The whole point of an App Store is that Apple monitors all apps for security, safety, and performance issues before allowing them on its store for millions of its users to download. However, Adware Doctor, the number 1 grossing paid app on the Mac App Store, was secretly stealing the browsing history of its users. As Security researcher Patrick Wardle found, Adware Doctor required access to a users home directory and its files. This is not particularly uncommon for an app that claims to scan and remove all spyware and adware from your Mac. However, the app was silently collecting its users Safari, Chrome, and Firefox browsing history, zipping them into a file called history.zip, and silently sent to a server in China. Much like iOS apps, Mac apps are also sandboxed which prevents them from accessing certain system files without explicit user permission. In this particular case, Adware Doctor gained access to a Macs filesystem based on the false pretext of scanning and removing adware from it. While its common for free apps to indulge in such cheap tactics, Adware Doctor carried a price tag of $4.99. Apple was informed weeks ago about this potential privacy breach, but the company only responded back to the email saying we cant tell you anything. It was only after this piece of news broke that Apple got around to pulling Adware Doctor from the Mac App Store. This was not the first time that Adware Doctor was found violating the App Stores guidelines. In 2016, the app was found abusing AppleScript to gain elevated privileges which violated the App Store guidelines. Most of the glowing reviews of the app on the App Store were fake as well. [Via TechCrunch The visit holds historical significance as it is the first trip by Vietnamese Party leader to a country in Central Eastern Europe since institutional transformation in the region. It aims to create a new landmark and momentum for the bilateral relationship, while enhancing mutual trust and understanding between leaders and peoples of the two countries. The visit is also expected to deepen the traditional friendship and multi-faceted cooperation between Vietnam and Hungary, and advance their cooperation framework to a comprehensive partnership in order to make new and more practical changes in bilateral collaboration across various fields and promote Vietnams influence in Central Eastern Europe. General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)s Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong (right) receives Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban during the later's visit to Vietnam in September 2017. (Source: VNA) Through the Party leaders trip, Vietnam wants to affirm its policy of considering Hungary an important and traditional partner in the region and enhance the bilateral relations in the areas of both sides potential and strength. Vietnam and Hungary established diplomatic ties on February 3rd, 1950. Over the past years, active progress has been made in the bilateral relations, with high political trust and regular exchange of delegations, especially at the high levels, through Party, Government, National Assembly and local channels. Between 2014 and 2017, Vietnam welcomed Hungarys President, National Assembly Speaker and Prime Minister. Meanwhile, Vietnamese President, National Assembly Chairperson and Prime Minister also visited Hungary during the period. The two sides have effectively cooperated with each other at multilateral forums, especially the United Nations (UN) and within the Asia-Europe Economic Meeting. The Hungarian Government has committed to backing Vietnams bid to run for a seat at the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure. The country has also proposed Mekong-Danube cooperation, effective water resources collaboration, sub-regional connectivity and environmental protection. With seven meetings, the Vietnam-Hungary Joint Committee on Economic Cooperation has carried forward its role in forging the bilateral cooperation. The two countries have signed many agreements and documents, creating legal frameworks for their affiliation across fields. Hungary has considered Vietnam the most important partner in Southeast Asia. Over the past years, their economic and trade ties have increased sharply, with two-way trade exceeding USD355 million for the first time in 2017. As of April 2018, Hungary had 17 valid projects in Vietnam with total registered capital of USD63.56 million, ranking 57th out of 126 countries and territories investing in the country. Besides, the two countries have made strides in cooperation on law-making, justice, national defence-security, health care, education-training and partnership between localities. Education is a traditional cooperation sphere and a spotlight of the bilateral ties in the new period. Over the past years, Hungary is the only country in Eastern Europe to constantly increase scholarships for Vietnam. Regarding cooperation between localities, Hanois Tay Ho district has set up twinning relationship with 16 districts of Hungarys Budapest. Besides, Hoi An city of central Quang Nam province and the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho have also established ties with Szentendre and Kaposvar cities of Hungary./. General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV)s Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: VNA) Vietnamese people have always remembered the valuable support of Russia in the past as well as at present, he said. Trong spoke highly of the comprehensive achievements that Russia has gained over the past, as well as its important position in the global arena. Meanwhile, President Putin affirmed that Russia has always held Vietnam in high regards as a leading partner in the Asia-Pacific region. He said he believed that the ongoing official visit to Russia by Party leader Trong will create an important milestone and new driving force for the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership. The two leaders expressed their pleasure at the comprehensive development in the bilateral relations over the past time. The sound traditional friendship between Vietnam and Russia has stood the test of time and been nurtured by several generations of leaders and peoples. Such valuable property should be maintained and promoted, they said. Amid the friendly atmosphere of mutual trust and understanding, the two sides focused discussion on major measures to create new momentum for bilateral cooperation in all fields. They agreed to exert maximum efforts to develop the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership in a deeper and more effective manner. The two leaders together decided to maintain high-level delegation exchanges, political consultations, and strategic dialogues across all channels -including the Party, Government, parliament, agencies, ministries, departments, and localities. They agreed to reinforce political trust as a foundation to boost and expand all-around collaboration. Vietnam and Russia will jointly organise the Russian Year in Vietnam and vice versa on the occasions of the 25th anniversary of the treaty on the basic principles for bilateral friendship in 2019, and the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties in 2020. The two leaders said they are pleased with the rapid growth of bilateral ties in economy and trade, particularly after the free trade agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasia Economic Union took effect. They agreed to step up measures to capitalise on the pact. They noted that improvements should be made to the work of the Vietnam-Russia intergovernmental committee on economy-trade and science-technology cooperation in monitoring and implementing bilateral agreements and in seeking new joint projects related to energy, transport infrastructure, information, and telecommunications. Talking about cooperation in energy, oil, and gas, a strategic sector for bilateral ties for years to come, the leaders agreed to create favorable conditions for Vietnamese and Russian firms to effectively carry out their existing projects. They said there will be more new projects with the participation of national oil and gas companies from both sides. They agreed to facilitate the operation of prioritised investment projects in the two nations. The leaders of the two countries said they will both work on the issuance of encouragement policies and the simplification of procedures and criteria helping their products - particularly agro-forestry-fishery goods - find easier access to each others market. They considered it a good way to lift up bilateral trade turnover. They stated the two countries will continue their close and effective collaboration in defence-security, manifesting their mutual trust and in line with their comprehensive strategic partnership. The leaders reached an agreement to implement a project on building a centre for science and nuclear technology in Vietnam, considering it a key cooperation project concerning the use of nuclear power for peaceful purposes. They agreed to enhance joint engagement in education-trainning, culture, and tourism as well as to boost cooperation between Vietnamese and Russian localities. Trong and Putin exchanged their opinions regarding international and regional matters of common interests. They both supported the necessity of tackling conflict by peaceful measures without the use of, or threat to use, force and with respect to international law, particularly the UN Charter. Party General Secretary Trong stated that Vietnam backs Russias increasing role in ensuring security, peace, stability, and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific, Southeast Asia, and in the world. The leaders lauded contributions of Vietnamese expatriates in Russia as an important bridge for bilateral relations. The Vietnamese Party leader thanked the assistance of Russian leaders and public authorities towards the community. He expected further support will come to facilitate the life and work of Vietnamese expatriates in Russia in contribution to traditional ties shared between Vietnamese and Russians. He took the occasion to invite the Russian President to visit Vietnam in 2019. Putin accepted the invitation with delight./. The joint statement highlighted Vietnam-Russia relations, regional and international issues, and the discussion points between the two countries leaders. During his trip, the Vietnamese Party leader held talks with President Putin and met Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vyacheslav Volodin, and Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of Russia Andrey Turchak. He laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Mausoleum, and the Statue of President Ho Chi Minh in Moscow. He also attended a ceremony to celebrate the 60th founding anniversary of the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association as well as meetings with Russian veterans and experts who have worked in Vietnam, and visited Kaluga province. CPV General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (L) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: VNA) During the talks and meetings, leaders of the two countries discussed how to further develop the Vietnam-Russia friendship and all-round cooperation, as well as international and regional issues of their common concern.General Secretary Trong and President Putin affirmed the consistent policy of strengthening the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries in order to meet the long-term interests of their peoples, and agreed on the importance of maintaining joint efforts to promote cooperation in all areas.The two sides highly valued the regular and substantial political dialogue, across channels from the National Assembly, Government, ministerial and sectorial levels, localities, political parties and social organisations.The two leaders emphasised the significance of the thorough preparation of activities for the Vietnam Year in Russia and the Russia Year in Vietnam, taking place in 2019, which are hoped to contribute to promoting bilateral cooperation across many sectors.The two sides expressed their satisfaction with the development of defence-security and military cooperation, the field that holds a special role in the Vietnam-Russia relationship, while affirming their determination to consolidate and expand ties in these fields in the spirit of a comprehensive strategic partnership, on the basis of international law and laws of each country.Both sides highly appreciated the coordination role of the Vietnam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee on military technical cooperation and the Defence Strategic Dialogue mechanism at the deputy ministerial level between the two countries defence ministries.The leaders stressed the need for radical efforts to boost economic and trade cooperation, firstly overcoming any current problems, improving the cooperation mechanism, and effectively implementing the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the Eurasian Economic Union as well as its member nations, signed on May 29, 2015, as well as other documents between Vietnam and Russia, towards creating a breakthrough in bilateral trade and investment collaboration.They highly valued the important role played by the Vietnam-Russia Intergovernmental Committee for Economic, Commercial, Scientific and Technological Cooperation, and its working groups in promoting cooperation, while emphasising the importance of improving the performance of the committee, including coordinating to supervise the implementation of agreements reached between the two countries, and identifying new priorities for cooperation, focusing on cooperative projects with a high technology content.The two sides highlighted the need to improve the effectiveness of activities of the Vietnam-Russia Senior Working Group on priority investment projects in order to develop and implement projects in the fields of industry and electrical energy; mining and mineral processing; agriculture; information and telecommunications; and urban and transport infrastructure in localities all over of Vietnam.They asserted their determination to expand cooperation in building a nuclear science and technology centre in Vietnam, as well as training Vietnamese students in Russia, who are pursuing subjects related to the use of atomic energy for peaceful purposes.The two sides agreed that in the case that Vietnam restarts its plan to build the national atomic energy sector, Russia will be considered a priority partner in this field.Both sides applauded and highly appreciated the implementation of joint projects in the field of oil and gas, affirming to continue creating favourable conditions for Vietnamese and Russian enterprises to expand their operations in the field in the territory of both nations.The leaders agreed to expand the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas on the continental shelf of Vietnam, in accordance with international law such as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (UNCLOS 1982).The two sides emphasised prospects for their cooperation in power energy, especially the advantages of Russian firms participating in Vietnamese projects on the modernisation and rebuilding of old energy facilities.The Vietnamese Party leader and the Russian President agreed on measures to foster collaboration on motor vehicle manufacturing.The two leaders acknowledged the need to reinforce cooperation in agriculture, aquaculture, forestry, agricultural support industry, irrigation, and disaster prevention; and agreed that the removal of technical barriers and the uniform application of food safety standards will pave the wave for Vietnamese agricultural, aquatic, forestry, and pharmaceutical products to enter Russia and vice versa, as well as boost bilateral trade.They stressed the need to improve and diversify cooperation in banking and finance, and showed common interest in strengthening collaboration in science-technology and education-training. They highly valued the effective operation of the Vietnam-Russia Tropical Centre (VRCT) and agreed to expand cooperation within this centre for the benefit of both sides.The two sides agreed to foster partnership in the use of airspace for peaceful purposes and work together to deploy and develop Russias global space satellite navigation system GLONASS.They welcomed the strong promotion of people-to-people exchange between the two countries, including the regular organisation of Cultural Days of each country and the increase in Vietnamese tourist arrivals in Russia and vice versa.They highly spoke of bright prospects for cooperation between Vietnams cities and provinces with those in Russia, Siberia, and the Far East in multiple fields, particularly agriculture, light industry, and tourism.The two leaders took common stances on major regional and global issues and shared determination to push for a multipolar international system with enhanced equality and democracy based on the wide cooperation and uniform regulations for all nations, the rule of law, and the central role of the United Nations.Vietnam and Russia agreed that international security should be comprehensive and indivisible, based on the principle that a country cannot achieve security with acts detrimental to others, including the expansion of regional and global political and military alliances.Both sides endorsed equality between nations, respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states and non-use of force and threat to use force. They opposed the performance of unilateral acts or the imposition of economic embargos that run counter to international law and overlook the role of the UN Security Council.They are ready to coordinate closely within the framework of the UN Security Council in keeping peace and improving its effectiveness, and will continue supporting each others candidacy for seats at regional and international organisations.The two countries looked forward to continued bilateral and multilateral cooperation to combat the increasing threat of high-tech crimes and terrorism, and urged for the concerted efforts of the international community to fight terrorism, including terrorist financing, transnational terrorism, and the dissemination of terrorist ideology and propaganda. They do not accept issues relating to terrorism as an excuse to take advantage and intervene in another countrys internal affairs.Vietnam and Russia affirmed their desire to expand cooperation in fighting terrorism, organised transnational crime, drug smuggling, corruption, as well as challenges posing a threat to security.Trong applauded Russias efforts to combat terrorism and seek a political solution to the Syria crisis on the basis of international law and the United Nations Charter, while the Russian side confirmed its willingness to help Vietnam in participating in the UNs peacekeeping missions.Both sides emphasised the necessity of close cooperation and coordination at multilateral forums where international security issues including arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons can be discussed.The two countries committed to obeying a policy of not being the first party to deploy weapons in airspace, and called for other parties with airspace potential to do the same.They showed their backing for the international communitys efforts to strengthen the legal framework in the fight against terrorism and the use of weapons of mass destruction, as well as ensuring the full implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling, and Use of Chemical Weapons, and their Destruction.The leaders affirmed their hopes to strengthen cooperation in effectively implementing the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development, and stressed the importance of expanding regional economic cooperation and coordination in the fields of transport, energy, and trade within the framework of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.They also stressed their determination to maintain collaboration to promote and protect human rights through regional and international organisations on the basis of the UN Charter and international law, while agreeing to develop equal cooperation and mutual respect to implement the two countries international missions in protecting human rights.Border and territorial disputes and other disputes in the Asia-Pacific region should be addressed by peaceful means, while not using or threatening to use violence on the basis of international law, to ensure peace, stability, and security in the region, they said, adding that the two countries back the full and effective implementation of the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea 2002 and welcome the relevant parties efforts to soon adopt a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.The leaders confirmed that maintaining peace and stability and strengthening mutual trust are core factors to ensure stable development in the Asia-Pacific region. They also affirmed their support for the consolidation of ASEANs central role in the region.Vietnam pledged to back efforts by ASEAN and Russia to build the Russia-ASEAN strategic partnership following an agreement reached at the Russia-ASEAN Summit in Sochi in May 2016, and expand collaboration in trade, investment, science, technology, energy, culture, and agriculture; in ensuring peace and stability in the region; and in fighting terrorism and transnational crime.Both emphasised their desire to establish a win-win relationship between ASEAN and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), while acknowledging the importance of increasing the role and position of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, according to the statement.The statement also affirmed that the official visit to Russia by the Vietnamese Party leader will act as a new driving force for the two countries strategic partnership.At the end of the talks, Party leader Nguyen Phu Trong and President Vladimir Putin witnessed the signing of agreements between the two countries and their businesses. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form The Shovel Lake wildfire burns on a mountain above Fraser Lake near Fort Fraser, B.C., on Thursday August 23, 2018. The British Columbia government has cancelled the state of emergency it declared in August when hundreds of wildfires covered the province.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck During a meeting with the CPV leader in Moscow on September 7th, the Russian top legislator spoke highly of the increasing position and role of Vietnam in the region and the international arena, and affirmed that the Russian Duma pays special attention to promoting the cooperation in all fields between Russia and Vietnam. General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong congratulated Russia for successfully organizing the 137th General Assembly of the International Parliamentarian Union (IPU), which he said reiterated Russias prestige and important position in the international arena as well as in the worlds largest parliamentary organization. He thanked the State Duma of Russia, which comprises representatives from various political parties and forces, for their consensus with the policy to develop the friendship, solidarity and multi-faceted cooperation between the two countries and two peoples. Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong (left) and Chairman of the State Duma of Russia Vuacheslav Volodin at their meeting in Moscow (Photo: VNA) Both host and guest valued the effective partnership between the Russian State Duma and Vietnamese National Assembly, and agreed that the two legislative bodies should continue to exchange delegations at high level, committee level and friendship parliamentarians group level so as to enhance mutual understanding, and share law-making experience while working to create favourable legal conditions for handling issues related to traveling, living and working of each countrys citizens in the others territories. They agreed that besides bilateral cooperation, the two sides should enhance coordination and consultation at inter-parliamentary forums such as the IPU and the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum. They also called for the two countries parliaments to support stronger economic, trade and investment ties and facilitate the implementation of prioritized joint projects while strengthening supervision of the enforcement of agreements between the two governments, thus creating positive changes in Vietnam-Russia cooperation. The CPV leader took the occasion to extend an invitation to visit Vietnam from National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan to the Russian Duma chairman, who accepted the invitation with pleasure./. EUGENE, Ore. -- The Yes for 4J Schools citizen committee kicked off its bond campaign Friday. The campaign seeks to raise support for Eugene 4J School District $319.3 million bond that will be on the November ballot. RELATED: 4J School Board approves putting $319.3 million bond on ballot On Friday the public had the chance to speak with committee members at North Eugene High School about the impact the bond would have on students and families. The committee is made up of educators, community members, business leaders and students. MORE: Community gives final input on proposed 4J bond measure If the bond is approved, work would include replacing North Eugene High School, Edison Elementary School and Camas Ridge Elementary School. The bond would also involve making safety improvements to schools. Voters will have the final say in the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 6. WELLS, Minn. A bomb threat led to the evacuation of St. Casimir Catholic Church and School Friday morning. The Wells Police Department says students were attending church at the time the bomb threat was reported around 8 am. The 31 elementary students were sent home for the rest of the day and a one-block area around the church and school was also briefly evacuated. Wells Police Chief Tim Brenegan says they decided the threat was not credible after a room-by-room search of the building by his officers, State Patrol troopers, Wells fire crews, and the Faribault County Sheriffs Office. St. Casimir school was notified of the threat by STOPIt Solutions, an anonymous reporting system available throughout the Winona Diocese. The person who made the threat has not been identified. AUSTIN, Minn. - If you've ever wanted to see how local government works up-close, your chance is coming. The Austin City Council is starting a new 'Honorary City Council Member' program. Councilperson Steve King explains that the program was started with the intent of connecting with Austin's growing immigrant community. "We seemed like we weren't engaging with them in a way that we should. We certainly want immigrant representation," he says. The project started after the Human Rights Commission held a public forum taking input from community members. "You really have to go to them and say, this is an opportunity for you. We want you to be engaged in our community. We want to hear your voice. You bring rich ideas that we might not have even thought of and we want you to be involved in this area of city government," King adds. While the program began with immigrants in mind, it is open for the entire community. The city's website says its purpose is to "promote interest in city government." The council is still working out what exactly the program will include, but King says the honorary members will for sure sit in at city council meetings and be a part of a work session. According to the city's website, "Honorary council members will receive council agenda packets prior to council meetings and may provide input at the end of council meetings and work sessions during the open public forum at each meeting." Click here to download an application from the City of Austin's website, or you can pick up one in person at Austin City Hall. KB is a major RoK group with more than 1,130 domestic branches and four overseas branches, serving over 30 million clients. The KB executive thanked the Government of Vietnam for supporting his firm to operate effectively, affirming that the Vietnamese market still holds great development potential and that KB wants to expand its cooperation in the financial-banking sector. With the help of local agencies, the KB group purchased the Maritime securities company and renamed it KB Securities Vietnam JSC. Aside from the Kookmin Bank branch in Ho Chi Minh City, it is also finalising procedures for opening another branch in Hanoi. KB will spend more than US$110 millionto expand its activities in the country in the near future, he noted. For his part, Deputy PM Hue said that the Ho Chi Minh City branch of the Kookmin Bank has operated effectively and has practically contributed to the economic ties between Vietnam and the RoK, as well as the development of the local financial-banking sector. There is still great potential for the banks business in Vietnam, he said, voicing his belief that the KB group would develop more strongly, thus benefiting both sides. Deputy PM Hue added that the Vietnamese Government always supports and creates optimal conditions for both domestic and foreign investors, including those from the RoK. He noted that the Government also pays attention to increasing the scale of the financial market, particularly in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. In the future, it will push ahead with the equitisation of and divestment from State-owned enterprises, while considering the issuance of certain derivative products in the stock market. It also plans to review and restructure credit companies and non-bank financial and credit institutions. Welcoming the KB groups expansion of investment in the financial-banking sector, the Deputy PM said Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc recently gave the green light to the State Bank of Vietnam to license the Kookmin Banks opening of the Hanoi branch. The Deputy PM also appreciated the Korean groups activities to support low-income families and poor children, and promote the teaching of the Korean language in the country. FOREST CITY, Iowa Two people have now been sentenced for a Winnebago County drug bust while a third awaits trial. Brian Barthollomeu Matthias, 30 of Mason City, received 30 days in jail Friday for possession of marijuana-2nd offense. He must also pay a $315 fine and complete drug abuse treatment recommendations. Chelsea Harp Chelsea Harp Zachary Monsen Zachary Monsen Matthias was arrested on March 20 along with Chelsea Harp and Zachary Monsen, both of Forest City, after police searched Monsens home. Officer said they found marijuana, methamphetamine, two drug pipes, and hypodermic needles. Harp previously pleaded guilty to possession of meth and was sentenced to two days in jail, with credit for time served, and a $315 fine. Monsen is pleading not guilty to gathering where drugs are used and child endangerment. His trial is scheduled for being on October 24. Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline are hearing from Native American leaders and Iowa farmers as they march through Story, Boone and Webster counties ahead of an Iowa Supreme Court hearing next week. (boldiowa.com) Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 61F. Winds S at 15 to 25 mph. Higher wind gusts possible.. Tonight Clear. Low around 40F. Winds SSW at 10 to 15 mph. iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A beginner swordsman called over by an instructor to participate in a demonstration for the class instead got an accidental blade through the eye that pierced his skull and left him blind, paralyzed and brain-damaged, according to a $9 million lawsuit filed against the teacher and his school in Oregon. Instructor James Romandelle Brown was trying to demonstrate a move last year using new student Jeremiah DuPrau when his sword went through DuPrau's right eye socket and into his brain and damaged muscles, nerves and tendons, according to the lawsuit. DuPrau contends in the lawsuit that Romandelle failed to warn the student to don his protective headgear. Hes unable to drive, unable to ride his bike, unable to hike, DuPrau's attorney, John Coletti told The Oregonian newspaper. He actually had to give his dog away because he was unable to take care of it. Coletti also said in that interview that his client was attending his third class, and had previously worked as an educational aide for Portland Public Schools. Attorney Sia Rezvani, who represents Brown and the school, Swordguild Portland, declined to comment until the litigation was resolved. In addition to his other injuries, DuPrau also has difficulty walking and speaking due to a stroke and suffers from weakness on his partially paralyzed left side, according to the lawsuit. DuPrau is also suing the Elk Lodge where the class was held -- the Milwaukie-Portland Lodge No. 142 -- for helping Brown "to hold classes for novice students who were in turn exposed to unreasonable risks of harm," the lawsuit alleges. Attempts to reach someone at the lodge were not immediately successful. Swordguild Portland describes itself as a "school for the serious study of Historical European Martial Arts" on its Instagram page. "Want to learn how to sword fight? Not like in the Olympics; you want to get Medieval with it? Then you have found the right place," its website says. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The exhibition is one of the activities to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hue Monuments Complex being recognised as the World Cultural Heritage, and the 15th anniversary of Vietnamese Court music - Nha nhac (Nguyen dynasty) being recognised as a Representative of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Co-organised by the Vietnam National Museum of History and the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, more than 80 antiquities are on display at the exhibition, including royal seals, royal books, ritual items, royal stationery and utensils for daily royal activities and royal ceremonies, and are made of precious materials such as gold, silver, gemstones, jade, and tortoiseshell. The most typical ornamental patterns are the five-claw dragon and the phoenix - noble emblems of the monarchy, attached to the images of the emperor and the queen through the subtle material combinations of talented craftsmen. The dragon-phoenix images were meticulously depicted, and are diverse in style and shape. These are priceless treasures that not only contain the historical, cultural and artistic values of an era, but also reflect the craftsmanship of the royal artisans of the Nguyen dynasty. The exhibition is expected to run until December 5, 2018. On the occasion, a book of the exhibition was also compiled and published to introduce the most splendid exhibits of the collection of royal treasures to readers. At a working session with the Vietnamese leader, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexey Gordeyev affirmed that Vietnam is a friend and long-term partner of Kaluga. The two sides have enjoyed win-win cooperation in economy, trade, investment, social sciences, and humanities. He noted that the most positive improvement of the two countries relations is seen in economy and trade, with the trend continuing this year and proving that the establishment of a free trade area between the Eurasian Economic Union, of which Russia is a member, and Vietnam is a good step forward. He described the Vietnam-based TH Groups construction of animal farming complexes in Kaluga, and some other localities in Russia, as a bright example of the bilateral partnership. General Secretary Trongs current trip to Kaluga demonstrates that locality-to-locality cooperation is an important field in the countries connections, Gordeyev added. General Secretary Trong said he was happy to visit Kaluga for the first time and witness the dynamic development of this oblast as one of the fastest growing localities of Russia, taking the lead in investment attraction and advanced technology application. He expressed his delight at the enormous successes Kaluga has attained and wished it even stronger development in the future. He highlighted that in the two countries relations, economic, trade, and investment partnerships have played a pivotal role. In their talks and meetings, the Vietnamese and Russian leaders shared the view that the outcomes of their bilateral relations has yet to match their full potential. TH Group is a private Vietnamese firm that has been investing big in Russia, he said, thanking the Russian Government and the administration of Kaluga and asking them to continue their creation of optimal conditions for Vietnamese investors, including TH Group, and thereby contributing to local socio-economic development and the increase of the two countries relations. General Secretary Trong welcomed his hosts proposals on activities to mark the upcoming important anniversaries of bilateral ties in 2019 and 2020. He added that the Vietnamese side will introduce a locality to pair with Kaluga so as to contribute to the overall expansion of Vietnam-Russia relations. Also on September 7, the Party chief attended a ceremony to start the construction of TH Groups dairy factory in the Kaluga Special Economic Zone. The factory is expected to become one of the biggest and most modern of its kind in Russia. Invested with some US$150 million, it is set to cover 14ha and produce 1,500 tonnes of milk products per day once operational. TH Group has invested US$2.7 billion in dairy cow farming and high-tech milk processing complexes, along with some food-related projects, in Russias Moscow Oblast, Kaluga Oblast, Primorsky Kray, and the Republic of Bashkortostan. General Secretary Trong applauded efforts by TH Group, the first private Vietnamese company to have invested in Russian agriculture. He voiced his hope that more Vietnamese businesses will invest in Russia, including Kaluga, to produce high-quality products, create jobs for local people, and contribute to local development. The top security adviser to South Korean President Moon Jae-in arrived in China on Saturday to explain the outcome of his recent visit to North Korea, officials said. Chung Eui-yong flew to Beijing earlier in the day accompanied by Qiu Guohong, the Chinese Ambassador to South Korea, to meet with Yang Jiechi, a ranking member of China's Communist Party who is in charge of foreign affairs. During the planned talks, Chung will share some details about his one-day trip to the communist country this week as part of a five-member delegation, as well as his telephone talks with his U.S. counterpart John Bolton, according to the officials of the presidential office. In Pyongyang, the delegation met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who reaffirmed his commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. "In his meeting with Yang Jiechi, some key issues of mutual interest, such as the agenda for the upcoming inter-Korean summit will also be on the table," a Cheong Wa Dae official said. Moon is set to travel to Pyongyang from Sept. 18-20 for what would be his third bilateral summit with Kim. The second Moon-Kim summit was held May 26 in the border village of Panmunjom, also the venue of their first summit on April 27. On Sunday, Suh Hoon, director of the National Intelligence Service, will also head to Japan for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the following day to share details and exchange opinions regarding the delegation's Pyongyang visit, the officials noted. (Yonhap) Foreign workers in South Korea are feeling the pinch of discrimination. Yonhap By Jung Hae-myoung Three in five foreign workers in Korea (59.2 percent) said they have experienced discrimination, according to a report by the Gyeonggi Family and Women's Research Institute issued on Thursday. Out of a survey of 688 foreigners, 58.4 percent chose "language barrier" as the first area in which they feel hardship. Geumhee, arrived in South Korea in 2014 There are some North Korean women who are tricked into going to China, but in my case, I willingly went through human trafficking. My family was starving, we were outcasts in North Korean society. I was bought by a Chinese man with mental problems. I realized that I couldn't live with him, so I escaped with my new-born baby who was then sick. The escape was difficult, but I made it to South Korea. At first it was very difficult here; so many things were unfamiliar even though Korea has been divided for only 70 years. I knew my family's situation in North Korea had become even more difficult, so I was working and sending almost all of my money to North Korea. I became depressed for a while, but finally I got a nice job. Sometimes when people find out that I went through human trafficking, they ask if I regret it, but I don't. If I had stayed in North Korea, then my child would be a slave to the North Korean leaders. Also, I would have never learned what freedom meant. I don't mean to make freedom sound like it is perfect, because I have also learned that freedom means responsibility. Making choices is one of the most difficult things for many North Korean refugees to do, after we have been ordered around so much and not expected to think for ourselves. Now I am in a situation that my child can learn many things, see the world from a global view rather than having to satisfy the North Korean government. When I first arrived in South Korea I really wanted to visit the USA. I had been taught that it was an evil country, but the propaganda was so wild that it didn't seem that it could all be true. Then when I saw some American movies and saw some outside media, Americans didn't seem to be the devils we were taught to fear. It is my dream to save my family from North Korea so they can enjoy freedom too. It is now so expensive to escape from North Korea and it is more difficult now because the North Korean government is so determined to stop people from leaving. I'm worried about my family, but they are also worried about me because I'm the only one who escaped. I send money every year and I'm always thinking about ways I can rescue them from North Korea. I have learned many things in South Korea. One is definitely that I can't wait for anyone else to take care of me. I came here with my baby, and I got some support from the government, but that basic support isn't enough for me to live a good life. One thing I am doing these days is studying English. The moment I realized that I needed English came when I was meeting a colleague at a restaurant. The name was in English, so I didn't really understand the name exactly. He was trying to explain to me how to get to the place, but the sign was in English, so I had no idea about it. And now that my child is getting older, she has many questions about English. I studied English briefly when I was in North Korea. My teacher was enthusiastic but after coming here I can see that I had not really learned. I am also counseling North Korean refugees who are trying to adjust to living here. My parents were really strict when I was growing up, but that influenced me in a positive way, and I am happy to give advice to people who are in the tough position I was in a few years ago. Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center, is the 2017 winner of the "Social Contribution" Prize from the Hansarang Rural Cultural Foundation and the 2017 winner of the Global Award from Challenge Korea.?He compiled this statement from an interview with a refugee studying at TNKR. TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee translated her comments from Korean to English. A Paris Baguette employee hands over a box of cake to a deliveryman at one of the bakery chain's stores in this Aug. 30 file photo. Paris Baguette began offering delivery service at its 1,100 bakeries nationwide starting this month. / Courtesy of SPC Group Bakeries join hands with delivery apps to target single-person households By Park Jae-hyuk A growing number of franchises in the food and beverage industries are rushing to offer delivery services in line with an increase in the number of single-person households, industry analysts said Sunday. The government's tightening regulations on large franchises, which makes it more difficult for them to open new stores, have forced more bakeries and coffee shops to bring foods and beverages directly to customers. Fast food restaurants serving chicken, pizza and hamburgers have long been offering delivery services for free. But most new franchises now charge extra for home delivery, drawing complaints from consumers. Paris Baguette, which became the nation's first bakery franchise to offer delivery service to its customers starting this month, is an example. The leading bakery chain run by SPC Group charges 4,000 won ($3.60) for deliveries within a distance of 1.5 kilometers and 4,500 won for 2 kilometers. The delivery service is available if a customer purchases over 8,000 won. SPC said delivery is available at 1,100 Paris Baguette bakeries nationwide. It will increase the number of stores offering the service gradually. Including 16 types of cakes, customers can order deliveries of 200 types of Paris Baguette food and beverages via smartphone app. "The delivery service will allow consumers to enjoy Paris Baguette's products conveniently and will contribute to increasing the sales of franchisees," an SPC Group official said. "We will continue to come up with various services to satisfy our customers." Ediya Coffee also began testing its delivery service at its 500 stores last month, after joining hands with RGP Korea which provides the Yogiyo delivery app. The coffeehouse chain, which runs the largest number of coffee shops in Korea, aims to offer the service at all its stores in the metropolitan area. Its customers also have to purchase over 8,000 won for the service. They should additionally pay more than 4,000 won for delivery as well. "The number of orders for coffee via our app has tripled within a year, and this shows the rapid growth of the coffee and dessert delivery market," RGP Korea Vice President Park Hae-woong said. "We are happy to become the first delivery app provider that serves Ediya's delicious beverages to consumers." Baskin-Robbins and Sulbing have already been delivering their ice cream and bingsu to their customers. Under a partnership with delivery app providers, their franchisees have charged different amounts for deliveries. Industry officials expect more franchises will come up with delivery services. "With the growth of delivery apps and food market targeting single-person households, deliveries of almost all kinds of foods have become available in Korea," Kim Tae-hee, a professor at Kyung Hee University's Department of Food Service Management, said at a forum hosted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety last month. Some conglomerates that own food and beverage stores blame government regulations for the rapid growth of delivery services. "As the government designated food and beverage franchises as a business appropriate for small- and medium-sized enterprises, conglomerates, which have been unable to open additional stores, began seeking new growth engines through delivery services," a franchise industry official said. Against this backdrop, Tous les Jours is expected to begin its own delivery service soon, so as to go after the business bellwether Paris Baguette. CJ Foodville, the operator of the nation's second-largest bakery chain, said more Tous les Jours bakeries will pilot the service. As for the coffee shop industry, Caffe Bene is considering offering delivery service. Angel-in-us Coffee, Caffe Pascucci, Juicy and Coffee Bay are already offering delivery services in Korea. Starbucks Coffee, which formed a partnership with Alibaba for delivery service in China, said it is not considering offering the same service here. Ediya Coffee Vice President Choi Hong-soo, left, shakes hands with RGP Korea Vice President Park Hae-woong at the Ediya Coffee headquarters in Seoul, Aug. 23, after signing an agreement for delivery of the coffee shop chain's beverages via the Yogiyo smartphone app. / Courtesy of RGP Korea Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. So said General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong, now on an official visit to Russia, while receiving leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Gennady Zyuganov in Moscow on September 8. Party leader Trong said he is happy to meet Zyuganov again and stressed that for the Vietnamese people, the people of the former Soviet Union and of the current Russia are always friends and brothers, and this sentiment will never change. The Vietnamese people will never forget the valuable support and assistance, both spiritual and material, given by the people of the former Soviet Union and of the current Russia to Vietnam during its national defence in the past and its current national construction and development, Party leader Trong reiterated. He took the occasion to thank the Russian party for its active support to President Vladimir Putins policy of developing the relations of friendship and comprehensive cooperation with Vietnam, and expressed his belief that the Russian party will further consolidate its firm position in the social and political life in Russia, thus making important contributions to prosperity in Russia as well as to the international communist and workers movement. Party leader Trong spoke highly of the Russian partys successful organisation of various events relating to the international communist movement, and stressed that the Communist Party of Vietnam always treasures the fine, traditional relations of friendship with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. He also took the occasion to ask the Russian party to continue supporting Vietnam in its national construction and defence. In the time to come, the two sides should intensify the exchange of delegations at various levels, actively support the cooperative relations between their mass organizations, and pay attention to the consolidation of the organization and operation of the friendship associations, the Party leader said. For his part, Zyuganov recalled his profound memories of Vietnam and said he is happy to see that Vietnam still continues the relations of friendship and cooperation with Russia. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation always supports cooperation programmes with Vietnam, Zyuganov stressed, adding that the party will closely join hands with the Vietnamese side in organizing various practical and significant activities on the occasion of the Year of Russia in Vietnam and the Year of Vietnam in Russia. He also spoke highly of the close collaboration and active contributions from the Vietnamese Party to the organization and successes of the events held by the Russian party. Also within the framework of the official visit to Russia by Party leader Trong, Politburo member and Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Van Binh, who is also head of the its economic commission, received Chairman of the International Investment Bank Nikolay Kosov and Chairman of the International Bank for Economic Cooperation Denis Ivanov. The Iran nuclear deal, officially named the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is being seriously threatened, as Europe is still failing to work out effective measures to prevent the US re-imposition of sanctions on Iran, although months have gone by. Tehran expressed its dissatisfaction by stating that the lack of European efforts to save the deal would lead to serious consequences. Europe not only failed to persuade the US, but also asked for additional talks on issues such as missiles, which have barely been accepted by Iran. Tehran has constantly insisted that the missile development plan bears no relation to the major powers and that the missile programme is not negotiable as demanded by the US and European countries. Senior Iranian cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who has strong anti-Western sentiments and heads an influential council in Iran, said Europe has announced that they wont leave the deal. In practice, by bringing up a discussion of missiles and other issues they are not following an appropriate path. In fact, Europe has been stuck between the economic and security benefits brought about by the JCPOA and its necessary relations with the US. Although Europe announced an aid package of EUR18 million for Iran in compensation for the damage caused by the USs JCPOA withdrawal as promised in the agreement, its efforts proved not to be enough to prevent moves from Washington that could result in the definite collapse of the Iran nuclear deal. Iran can hardly expect more as Federica Mogherini, high representative of the EU for foreign affairs and security policy, once admitted that relations with the US remained a pillar in the EUs foreign policy, and are the closest partnership and friendship that will never change. Despite acknowledging the differences between the two sides, Mogherini said bilateral relations between the US and the EU still continued to be maintained in a brilliant fashion. In a move to show its bravery, Iran continues to apply tough policies against US pressure. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated that the nuclear deal is not the only option and that the country will continue to export crude oil in any way, regardless of US efforts to stop it through sanctions. He asserted that oil is in the frontline of confrontation and resistance. With sanctions to be resumed this November, the US wants to reduce Irans oil exports to zero. Meanwhile, Irans deputy defense minister, Mohammad Ahadi, said that the country was planning to strengthen its ballistic missile and cruise missile capabilities, as well as purchase new-generation warplanes and submarines. These moves by Tehran aim to send a message that international sanctions cannot hold back the development of Irans weapon industry. This is also a way through which Iran wants to show its deterrent power. US President Donald Trump recently left open the possibility of meeting his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani on the sidelines of the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting in New York. During a press briefing at the White House Oval Office, answering questions on the possibility of a direct meeting between the US and Iranian leaders later this month, President Trump emphasised: Everything can happen. Well see what happens with Iran. Whether they want to talk or not, thats up to them, not up to me. As planned, US President Donald Trump will preside over a UN Security Council meeting on Iran on September 26, as part of the annual meeting of world leaders in New York. With Washington currently holding the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council, the upcoming meeting is supposed to be a forum for the US to step up pressure on Iran. However, with such a tough opponent like Iran, there will possibly be moves of tit for tat as previously happened in the relations between the two countries with a confrontation history. Kim Eui-keum, a presidential Blue House spokesman, told a press briefing that Chung Eui-yong, Moon's top national security adviser who led the five-member special delegation to Pyongyang, will visit China on September 8 as Moon's special envoy to explain the outcome of the DPRK visit. Suh Hoon, chief of the National Intelligence Service, the country's spy agency, will travel to Japan on September 10 as a presidential special envoy to brief Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the outcome of the DPRK visit. Chung and Suh visited Pyongyang Wednesday (September 5) along with three other special delegates, delivering Moon's letter to DPRK top leader Kim Jong-un. During the meeting with the special envoys, Kim reconfirmed his firm commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, expressing his hope to realize the denuclearization and improve DPRK-US relations within US President Donald Trump's tenure. The Blue House spokesman said the Moon government planned to submit a bill to ratify the Panmunjom Declaration, which the current leaders of the two Koreas signed after their first summit in April, to the National Assembly after approving it at the cabinet meeting on September 4. The estimated costs to implement the declaration will be submitted together next week, the spokesman said. Under the declaration, the two Koreas agreed to completely denuclearize the peninsula, stop all hostile acts toward each other and increase inter-Korean exchange and cooperation. President Moon asked the unicameral parliament to ratify the declaration to push for the inter-Korean cooperation regardless of political situations in RoK. Moon and Kim agreed to hold their third summit in Pyongyang from Sept. 18-20. It would become the third trip by a RoKs president to the DPRK's capital city. The first and second inter-Korean summits were both held in Pyongyang, in 2000 and 2007 respectively. Jack Ma, Chinas richest man, is laying the groundwork for a future away from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., the company he co-founded and turned into an e-commerce juggernaut. On Friday, the New York Times reported that Ma said he will retire Monday. That will be his 54th birthday. In an interview with Bloomberg TV before the New York Times report was published, the Alibaba chairman said he is dedicating more of his time and fortune to philanthropy with the creation of a foundation in his own name focused on education, following in the footsteps of fellow billionaire Bill Gates. Ma has a net worth of more than $40 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Ma sees himself as an accidental executive who only entered the business world with Alibabas founding almost 20 years ago, but he has become one of Chinas most recognized corporate leaders. Even after stepping down as chief executive in 2013, the former English teacher remains the public face of a company with a market value of more than $400 billion and interests including e-commerce, Hollywood film production, cloud computing and online payments. Advertisement Theres a lot of things I can learn from Bill Gates. I can never be as rich, but one thing I can do better is to retire earlier, Ma said in the interview. I think someday, and soon, Ill go back to teaching. This is something I think I can do much better than being CEO of Alibaba. He didnt indicate if he would give away his money or put it into a trust as other billionaires have done. Youll know very soon. Ive prepared a Jack Ma Foundation, Ma said. All these things that Ive been preparing for 10 years. Ma was born in September 1964 to Chinese traditional musician-storytellers living in Hangzhou, an ancient capital thats become a global high-tech hub and bastion of entrepreneurship, in part because of Alibabas base there. He started Alibaba.com in 1999 as a business-to-business marketplace, backed by $60,000 from 18 co-founders. With savvy deals and an investment from SoftBank Group Corp., it has now morphed into a behemoth that can make or break brands. Its customers use its e-commerce platforms to order products that last year saw package deliveries reach 55 million a day. Ma also controls Ant Financial, the online financial platform that runs Chinas largest mobile payment system and money-market fund. The business has more than 870 million users via payment system Alipay and its affiliates. Alibaba has one of the strongest management teams in corporate China, and even if he steps down, he is likely to still have a role in setting top-level strategy, said Brock Silvers, managing director of Kaiyuan Capital. When Jack Ma speaks longingly of retirement from Alibaba, theres no reason not to take him at his word, Silvers said. On a day-to-day basis, Alibaba shareholders probably have little to fear should the charismatic Ma pull back a bit further. A focus on education wouldnt surprise keen followers of Mas, who has spoken frequently of its importance to him and some of his shortcomings as a student, including failing Chinas national university exam twice. I was not considered a good student, but I improved. We keep on learning all the time. So I want to devote most my time to this, Ma said. During his time as chairman, he has helped guide growth at home and overseas while also spearheading the companys 2014 initial public offering, the biggest ever. Ma was among the first foreign business leaders to meet with Donald Trump after Trump was elected president in 2016. Ma has thrived in the spotlight as he became a much sought-after guest for conferences around the world, even as tensions between China and the United States have risen over trade. But he has also said in the past that he isnt happy being the wealthiest person in China, where vast personal fortunes have emerged only in recent years and are subject to intense scrutiny. As someone who has met the leaders of the worlds two largest economies, Ma sees his future philanthropy as a way to bridge the divide between them. People in China and America, one thing we have in common is the heart of love and respect, Ma said. This is a common language we have. The first tech revolution caused WWI. The second caused WWII. Now we are a third revolution; whats gonna happen? It should be a war against poverty, disease et cetera. If he were to leave the company he founded in a Hangzhou apartment, it would remain controlled by its partnership structure, which enables a group of executives at Alibaba and affiliates to decide on board nominations. I have full confidence in my team and in the partner structure which lots of investors dont like, said Ma. Its the system which I think I have contributed to along with my team, and this will be able to make the company last long. Chen and Mackenzie write for Bloomberg. The news that JetBlue and United Airlines have raised fees for checked bags and some flight cancellations has provoked the ire of two U.S. senators and a congressman who are calling for relief from this fee gouging. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) wrote to 11 U.S. carriers last week, including JetBlue, United, Delta and American, asking if they had plans to raise any more fees. The lawmakers are demanding that the airlines justify all fee hikes, saying recent increases dont seem to be tied to any appreciable increase in the cost of the services provided that may justify these higher fees. The federal government deregulated airlines 40 years ago to lower the cost of and increase access to air transportation, and got out of the business of setting fares and deciding routes. But lawmakers still have some leverage to regulate carriers through legislation to fund the Federal Aviation Administration. Advertisement Markey, Blumenthal and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) added language in the latest FAA funding bill requiring that airline fees be reasonable. The language instructs the Department of Transportation to draft regulations to force airlines to achieve that standard but does not specify how it would be enforced. A version of the FAA funding bill was passed by the House in April. A Senate version has yet to come to a vote. In previous funding bills, Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), former Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Los Angeles) and Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.) have tried unsuccessfully to introduce amendments calling for the FAA to adopt minimum seat sizes. The letter from the three lawmakers regarding the latest fee increases comes a week after JetBlue raised the fee for the first checked bag to $30 from $25 and for the second bag to $40 from $35 for travelers booking the cheapest fares. JetBlue also raised its fee to change or cancel some flights to $200 from $150. A few days later, United Airlines also increased its checked bag fees to $30 from $25 for the first bag and to $40 from $35 for the second bag. In the letter, Markey, Blumenthal and Cohen say they suspect airlines are raising passenger fees to squeeze revenues while keeping airfares artificially low. Asked to respond, Alison McAfee, a spokeswoman for Airlines for America, the trade group for the nations airlines, said: To the extent that fees or other surcharges help airlines generate more revenues or avoid costs for services that some passengers may not value, they help overcome an economic climate in which costs are rising steadily, as they are today. hugo.martin@latimes.com To read more about the travel and tourism industries, follow @hugomartin on Twitter. I was educated through my parents eyes, says Meryl Hadida Shabani. A French design heiress of sorts, shes the daughter of Martine and Armand Hadida, who launched the tony Leclaireur fashion boutiques in Paris in 1980 and regularly took their four children on flea-market scouts and showroom buying appointments during Paris Fashion Week. Early on the concept-shop scene, the Hadidas made a name for spotting emerging fashion talent and mixing clothing, accessories, furnishings and art in spaces with unique architectural elements. This month, the West Hollywood location the first in the U.S. and the only art-and furniture-focused Leclaireur celebrates its two-year anniversary. Its a family affair we curate everything together, says Hadida Shabani, who spearheads the West Hollywood store. I might be drawn to something and my parents wont be, or the other way around, but we discuss it and introduce the history and the story. Its always about the message, not just the aesthetics, and very rarely do we disagree. This is our first official design gallery, after having a small one at the Paris flea market for three years. My parents have done fashion in Paris for such a long time that we wanted to break free of that in L.A. because people here dont dress up as much. Its more casual, and there arent really seasons. Leclaireur (Dominique Vorillon) So why Los Angeles versus New York? In a word: love. Hadida Shabani relocated from Paris to L.A. six years ago for now-husband Michael Shabani, a commercial real-estate investor. And New York is already New York, she says. The market is saturated, while here its just starting to blossom. This project might be avant-garde, but we love a good challenge, and whats the point of showing things that people already know about? Advertisement Leclaireur has long kindled a close relationship with famed Italian design house Fornasetti, known for ceramics and furnishings decorated with ornate surrealistic illustrations, and the L.A. shop boasts the largest Fornasetti collection in the U.S., including hard-to-find chairs and cabinets. Fornasetti was a big bet here, but its colorful and fun, not too serious, yet very sought-after and created in limited amounts, she says. People here love the fact that its exclusive. They want something that nobody else can have. Designer collaborations by Italian company Ghidini 1961, with signature die-cast brass and metal accents, are another important U.S. exclusive. The L.A. shops overall aesthetic is a mix of contemporary and 1970s-era pieces, with a heavy dose of Belgian design. It just came naturally that we were drawn to that, notes Hadida Shabani. We didnt even realize it until we started giving tours of the space. There are arty lacquered surfboards by L.A.-based artist Tomoyuki Iwanami, crafted with traditional Japanese techniques, and hand-blown signed-and-dated Murano glassware with gold leaf and bird motifs by French artist Aristide Najean. Seventies finds include numbered and limited-reedition archival ceramic bird figurines and vases by Aldo Londi for Florence-based heritage company Bitossi Ceramiche created exclusively for Leclaireur; pyrite-bedecked slate tables by Belgian designer Pia Manu; and sculptural limited-edition tables by Ado Chale and Philippe Hiquily. Leclaireur (Dominique Vorillon) Many pieces reference nature, such as Atelier Von Pelts limited-edition colored Meteorite tables in resin and fiberglass that mimic natural crystals. The artist is a nature defender, who doesnt want to damage the landscape, so she creates these to inspire people, says Hadida Shabani. In a similar vein, contemporary Belgian artist Arne Quinze crafts nest-like sculptures from colorful metal strips; his trademark use of humble materials and public art installations are moves to help democratize art. Despite Hadida Shabanis protests, the West Hollywood location doesnt exactly eschew fashion, with two under-the-radar cult brands that cant be found anywhere else in the U.S. Top of the line are exquisite, small-batch alligator jackets by Parisian designer Isaac Sellam. Also on display are a collection of high-top sneakers and boots with soles that appear to be dripping rubber; leather jackets with padded prosthetic elbow detailing; and trousers, shirting and jackets with visibly pronounced hand-stitching and thermal glued seaming by edgy Milan-based designer Carol Christian Poel. To top it off, the third floor of Leclaireur has a kitted-out custom kitchen and an expansive dining tablethe heart of any space, according to Hadida Shabaniand can be rented out for events. Were French, but my fathers Moroccan, and we have a big Italian influence in the family so in the end its always about what were eating and drinking, she says with a smile. Leclaireur, 450 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood, (310) 360-0262; leclaireur.com More Design LA With the fall season ramping up, the 99-Seat Beat column is back with the best bets for promising shows on the small-theater scene. American Saga Gunshot Medley: Part 1 at Rogue Machine at the MET Theatre and the Watts Labor Community Action Committee Theatre The Essentials: The 23-year-old playwright Dionna Michelle Daniel sets her precociously poetic play in an old cemetery in the Hereafter, where three long-dead African American slaves, overseen by a mysterious High Priestess, gradually reveal the nature of their torturous fates on Earth. Why this? Although set in a supernatural milieu, Daniels allegorical tale subtly addresses not only past racial atrocities but also the present-day scourge of police violence against African Americans. Director Desean Kevin Terry observes that the play exists outside the boundaries of time, which allows us to observe not only present day impacts of violence committed against the African American community but the history of violence and the notion of historical trauma. The production, Rogue Machines final production at the MET before moving to Venices Electric Lodge, features live music and an alternating cast that includes Obie-winner Cherise Boothe (Milk Like Sugar). Advertisement Details: The MET Theatre, 1089 N. Oxford Ave., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays; 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 23. $40. Starting Oct. 5 at the WLCAC Theatre, 10950 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles. 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays. Ends Oct. 14. $35. Pay what you can for local audience at the door. (855) 585-5185. www.roguemachinetheatre.com Co-writers Charlie Mount and Jeff G. Rack have based their new play on Ray Bradburys writings. (Charlie Mount) Martians An Evening with Ray Bradbury at Whitefire Theatre The essentials: Co-writers Charlie Mount and Jeff G. Rack have based their new play from Bradburys writings, personal interviews and short stories. From the setting of his home office, Bradbury, played by Mount, is captured in the process of writing four of his beloved Martian tales, shortened here into brisk mini-plays that retain the flavor of the originals. As the omniscient narrator, Bradbury meanders freely between outer space and his own past as he invents his stories from scratch. Why this? One of literatures great enthusiasts, Bradbury eloquently expounded on the writing process throughout his career. Freely sampling from Bradburys fiction, as well as his rich trove of personal anecdotes, Mount and Rack offer an entertaining glimpse into what it takes to create. As Bradbury observed to Mount, a personal friend, Dont think. Just start writing. Jump off a cliff and build your wings on the way down. Veteran set designer Rack, a major contributor to the popular Wicked Lit series, directs. Details: Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks. 8 p.m. Fridays through Nov. 2. Also 8 p.m. Saturday Nov. 10. Ends Nov. 10. (800) 838-3006. www.whitefiretheatre.com Andre de Vanny plays Austin Occi Byrne, a brawling, brain-damaged young Irish man (Yure Covich) Swansong at the Skylight The essentials: Conor McDermottroes monodrama, later adapted into a film, traces the fortunes of Austin Occi Byrne, a brawling, brain-damaged young Irish man, as he reflects back on his deprived and violent past. Why this? Raised in the slums by an alcoholic single mother, the casually brutal, always irrepressible Occi has been vividly brought to life by McDermottroe, who exposes the seamy underbelly that spawned his surprisingly engaging monster. Andre de Vanny, who originated the role in Australia to considerable acclaim, reprises his performance for this West Coast premiere. Greg Caroll directs this co-production of the Australian Theatre Company and Skylight Theatre Company. Details: Skylight Theatre, 1816 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles. 8:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 2 p.m. Sundays; 8 p.m. Mondays. Ends Oct. 7. $15-$32. (866) 811-4111. atctix.org or SkylightTix.com Time Stands Still at the Lounge Theatre The Essentials: In this Pulitzer-nominated play, emotionally traumatized freelance journalist James and photojournalist Sarah who has sustained near-fatal injuries from a roadside bomb return home from Iraq to face their own domestic upheavals, including ideological differences that doom their long-term relationship. An old friend and his far younger girlfriend complicate an already fraught situation. Why this? Thrice Pulitzer-nominated, once a winner for Dinner With Friends in 2000 Donald Margulies is a modern-day moralist who charts the emotional shifts among complex characters in ethical crisis. Social justice-minded Sarah and James examine their motives with a brutal insight that leaves little leeway for easy rationalization. Margulies also defies the obvious in his take on Mandy, a seemingly shallow event planner with surprising depths. Details: The Lounge Theatre, 6201 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sundays. Ends Sept. 30. $25. (800) 838-3006. https://timestandsstill.brownpapertickets.com The 99-Seat Beat appears every Friday. Our reviewers shortlist offerings with an emphasis on smaller venues. Some (but not all) recommendations are shows weve seen; other picks are based on the track record of the company, playwright, director or cast. Comprehensive theater listings are posted every Sunday at latimes.com/arts. Saturday at the Toronto Film Festival, stars of The Predator addressed director Shane Blacks decision to cast registered sex offender Steven Wilder Striegel in the film and praised Olivia Munn for speaking out about the move, which prompted a last-minute recut made public in a report by the Los Angeles Times. I wasnt disappointed in Shane, said Trevante Rhodes during a group interview with Munn and Augusto Aguilera at The Times TIFF studio. I was disappointed in the situation, and Im happy that Liv spoke up. I thought about the possibility of this continuing to happen, and where it happens and also to Liv, for speaking up on such a subject, because it takes a lot of courage to be able to say that, added Aguilera. Strieger pleaded guilty in 2010 to felony charges that he attempted to lure a 14-year-old female relative into a sexual relationship via the internet. Advertisement Black subsequently cast Strieger in 2013s Iron Man 3 and 2016s The Nice Guys and gave him a speaking role in The Predator playing a jogger who hits on Munns character. News of the Striegel casting and recut broke on the eve of the films Toronto Film Festival debut. Black issued a statement of apology later that day and skipped red carpet press interviews and a post-screening Q&A at his premiere that night. I apologize to all of those, past and present, Ive let down by having Steve around them without giving them a voice in the decision, his statement read. Shane Black and Olivia Munn, pictured here with fellow Predator star Sterling K. Brown, at the L.A. Times Photo and Video Studio at Comic-Con 2018, in July. (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times) Twentieth Century Fox pulls scene from The Predator after director Shane Black casts his friend, a registered sex offender But Black never made that apology directly, says Munn, who had to read it online along with the rest of the world. I dont accept Shanes apology, she said. It wasnt given to me personally .... I think a real apology has to be done privately, not just read publicly, and I read it with the rest of the world. I didnt get that call. I didnt get any calls from any producers or anybody saying, Thank you for letting us know, or, Thank you for letting us know before the movie. Munn, who has been the most publicly vocal cast member to date about the issue, described the experience as a lonely one. I felt the support from online and the news, everybody was very encouraging and made me feel really good, but it was a very lonely, lonely time for me that day, she said Saturday. I dont care if its my movie. I dont care if this movie was going to give me $100 million, its not worth being quiet over that, my silence is not for sale. Additional interviews scheduled with cast members Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key, Thomas Jane, and Jacob Tremblay on Saturday at the L.A. Times TIFF studio were canceled by Fox due to scheduling and time limitations. FULL COVERAGE: 2018 Toronto International Film Festival The families of famous painters often stay in the shadows. You dont know as much about Lola and Concepcion Picasso as you do their big brother, Pablo. Many choose to stay out of the spotlight that their siblings or parents success inevitably draws toward them. But family is a running theme in the newest award-winning American Masters series on PBS called Artists Flight, a quartet of projects that include films about sculptor-painter Eva Hesse, painter Elizabeth Murray, painter-illustrator Andrew Wyeth and painter-illustrator Jean-Michel Basquiat. Each person in the Artists Flight series was more than the descriptor placed before their names. Hesse was not only a sculptor but also an artist who escaped Nazi Germany as a child and whose life was cut short by a brain tumor at 34. Murray died of cancer in 2007, but the renowned painter was also only the fifth woman ever to be celebrated with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. Wyeth had his first exhibition at age 20, and his immense popularity drew scorn and criticism from the art world of the late 40s and 50s. Conversely, Basquiat was almost universally loved by the art world, and though his art still fetches millions of dollars from Sothebys crowds, his activism and often racially tinted artistry was cut down early by a heroin overdose. Eva Hesse, circa 1986 (Courtesy of Herman Landshoff) Advertisement The artists stories are tinged with sadness, but tragedy is far from the theme of the films, with all celebrating the lives lived through the eyes of not only art historians and museum curators but friends and family as well some of whom had rarely ever spoken about their genius siblings on film. The first, American Masters: Eva Hesse, premiered on PBS Aug. 31 and is available for free streaming on pbs.com/americanmasters (all of the films will be available after they air). Selma Blair is the voice of Eva Hesse, and Evas sister, Helen, features prominently in the film. Helen and her sister escaped Nazi Germany in December 1938 aboard one of the last Kindertransport trains, reuniting with their parents months later. But it was not that early experience that shaped young Eva, according to Helen. Her life was her art. Art was the essence of her being. That comes out so well in the film it was everything to her, said Helen. It gave her security and it gave her her persona. While focusing on Hesses persistence and drive, director Marcie Begleiter also attempted to capture the life of an artist who went from paintings and drawings to sculptures and continued to evolve. What I kept coming back to was that we wanted to make an image of a multifaceted object, said Begleiter. Something that changed. Every time you looked at it from a different direction, it would reflect a different piece, My inspiration from her was her connection to creativity in the face of mortality. And despite her sisters fatal brain tumor, Helen says that her sister was not a tragic figure. Artist Elizabeth Murray at work. (Sidney Felson / American Masters) The theme of family continues with Elizabeth Murray in American Masters: Everybody Knows Elizabeth Murray, which premieres Sept. 7 at 9 p.m. She was well-known in the art world but not so much outside of it. The artist took care of her children and was a full-time painter. Director Kristi Zea identified with her friend and believed others would too when she decided to make the film. [She was] suffering through the same dilemmas that a lot of women do who want to have great lives both as a family person, as a mother, and also as an artist, said Zea. It was such a mission to me to want to explain to people that it is possible. Its hard, but its possible. And also to tell the story of this amazing woman. Unlike other subjects, the film was envisioned while Murray was still a vibrant artist creating colorful works that were bright and full of life. Then the production took a turn. Tragically, very early on in the process, we found out that Elizabeth was very ill. That changed everything, said Zea. When we first started doing it, no one had an inkling of how sick she was. I started filming her immediately ... We never thought it would take a turn as dire as it did. Murray continued to paint until she died of cancer in 2007. Zea unearthed journals that Murray had kept and, through them, found another voice. I thought, Theres another character in the film. I immediately thought of Meryl Streep. I had just finished working with her on a film with Jonathan Demme called Manchurian Candidate, said Zea. Turns out, Streep knew Murrays story well and had met the artist. She made such an impression that, when asked, Streep said yes to narrating the film as the voice of Murray reading her journals. In two hours, we had done them all, and she absolutely channeled Elizabeth, said Zea. Andrew Wyeth (Peter Ralston) It was access that allowed Zea to find the journals. In American Masters: Wyeth, which also premieres on Sept. 7, but at 10 p.m., Andrew Wyeths family allowed filmmakers unprecedented access to family members, including sons Jamie and Nicholas. Jamie recounts how he learned about art and the influences that his famous, and infamous, father and grandfather had on him while growing up. N.C. Wyeth [was] an illustrator who was sort of the flagship of illustration back in the mid-century. I never knew my grandfather, but as a child, he excited me much more than my fathers work. My God, he was painting pirates and knights and battles and so forth, so Id go up to his empty studio which was physically higher up on the hill than our house, and it was full of costumes and cutlasses and rifles. Very exciting things. And then all the illustrations were still there and stacked up. And then Id wander back to our own house, which was our fathers studio, and hed be painting some dead bird. That just bored the hell out of me. There was that contrast. The film shows how Andrew Wyeth was shunned by critics for being too popular with the mainstream masses. His lifelike images and the detail of his drawings and paintings were hits on the commercial art scene more than with the highbrow crowd. Though the bar for art has been raised, there are still some anti-Wyeth naysayers. He still raises hackles on people and thats what [the film] deals with, says Jamie. The hate from certain groups who feel his work is too accessible. If the public likes it they think its gotta be bad, or its got to be pandering, and its not. Its very strange work. David Schulman, director of American Masters Basquiat: Rage to Riches and Jean-Michel Basquiats sister Lisane talk about the artist and his drive to succeed. From popular to uber popular, the last film in the Artists Flight series, American Masters Basquiat: Rage to Riches, premiering Sept. 14, zeroes in on one of the most popular contemporary artists of the last few decades. A Jean-Michel Basquiat painting sold last year for $110.5 million the most ever for an American painting. The artist was known as a champion of civil rights and gave voice to those concerns through his art. But his sister Lisane wants his art to shine whenever he is remembered by fans or historians.Theyre best served seeing my brother as an inspiration instead of a martyr, said Lisane. She and her sister Jeanine contributed to the film despite being very private about family matters. Lisane also saw her brother as not just an artsy type, but a responsible person something she wanted the film to also convey. Just the pure grit that he had and that he exuded in making sure that he met his dreams, accomplished what he set out to accomplish and he took ownership and responsibility for his own success and the path of his own life. Lisane Basquiat, left, and Jeanine Basquiat sisters of artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. (Michael Nagle / For The Times) This sentiment is shared by Basquiat director and producer David Shulman, himself an artist in the 80s New York art scene that Basquiat inhabited. He was incredibly smart, incredibly determined, incredibly resourceful and creative in achieving what he wanted to achieve. It was very much driven by him. He was, to a large extent, in control of his own destiny, and he decided to play this game of the art world on his own terms given the content and the scene that he was actually into, said Shulman. The Artists Flight series aims to show how diverse the art world is and that now, thanks to these pioneers, theres room for everyone, according to American Masters executive producer Michael Kantor. As smaller, art house films, each of these projects did not command the audience that they can through multiple airings on PBS and continued streams on its site. But will people tune in? Begleiter voices what is specific to Eva Hesse, but can most likely be applied to each of the films. You hear the words arts documentary, and some people could be a little shy about delving into that, thinking, I dont know enough about art or This is going to be a not-so-engaging conversation. I can tell you that for our film, we made it for a general audience. Even if Eva Hesses work is challenging, its not objective in other words, its not a picture of something. You can watch this film and get to the end of it and think Oh, thats why they call it art. jevon.phillips@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter: @Storiz That Jim Carrey would reunite with his Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind director Michel Gondry was one of the more exciting bulletins from the now-arriving fall television season. Anything connected to Gondry interests me from his early French music videos to his Instagram account and Carrey, though he has made occasional appearances on the small screen, has not done a TV series since In Living Color went off the air almost a quarter century ago. Kidding, which premieres Sunday on Showtime, is the place fixed for their meeting. Created by Dave Holstein (a writer on Weeds and Raising Hope), with Gondry the director of its first two episodes (and possibly more; four were available for review), it is almost inevitably an odd show, though perhaps not always in ways it means to be. I found it interesting and frustrating by turns, but worth recommending on the strength of its cast and its best scenes. Carrey plays Jeff Piccirillo, host of Mr. Pickles Puppet Time, a long-running and beloved public television childrens show that bears a distinct, clearly intentional resemblance to Mister Rogers Neighborhood, though the puppets are bigger and better, and Jeff is the only human in sight. Gondrys touch is apparent in the design of the show within the show, as well as the opening credits, which change from episode to episode and are reminiscent of the cut-paper and Sharpie animations the director posts on his Instagram feed. America has grown up on Mr. Pickles as a supplemental or surrogate parent; they know his songs by heart. In one episodes cute cold open, thieves steal his car, break it down for parts and, discovering it belongs to Mr. Pickles his talking ukulele puppet, Ukularry (spelling approximate), is in the trunk put it back together and return it to its parking spot. Advertisement Cole Allen plays Will, the surviving son of Jim Carreys Jeff Pickles in the Showtime series Kidding. (Erica Parise/Showtime) With his measured way of talking, as if he were dishing out words by the teaspoon, and his nerdish style of dress, he is a Fred Rogers type, but (if you can imagine it) less worldly. That Carrey himself has, at 58, the face of an aged child, framed here by a haircut flown in from the less stylish years of the 1970s, makes Jeff seem all the stranger, in ways that are not always easy to parse. Jeff is not quite recovering from the accidental death of one of his twin sons a year before. That event has opened a space between his public and private selves between a person compelled to care for strangers (not merely children) and someone in poor command of his own life. Hes unhappily separated from his wife, Jill (Judy Greer), and seeing less than he would like of their surviving son Will (Cole Allen) though enough for Will, who finds him heavy going. Do you always need to talk to people like theyre 4 years old? he asks his father. Jeff is also in conflict with his producer, Seb (Frank Langella), over his desire to address death on Puppet Time. Though Mister Rogers Neighborhood and Sesame Street have tackled the subject and survived, for Seb who is also (mild spoiler) Jeffs father any messing with the product is foolhardy and forbidden: You dont put the Pope in a Speedo, he says. Hes Mike Love to Jeffs Brian Wilson, you know what Im saying, Beach Boys fans. You need to understand something, Seb tells Jeff. Theres two of you; theres Mr. Pickles, the $112-million licensing industry of edu-taining toys, DVDs and books that keeps the lights on in this little charity of ours, and then theres Jeff, a separated husband and grieving father who needs to hammer out a few dents in his psyche -- and never the two should meet to prevent the destruction of them both. But in fact, its hard to tell where Jeff Piccirillo ends and Mr. Pickles begins, or whether Jeff was a substantially or even a slightly different person before the accident that is, a sort of normal, adult person who can carry on an entire normal conversation without his inner child smearing raspberry jam and glitter all over it. Catherine Keener as Deirdre builds a puppet for Mr. Pickles Puppet Time while daughter Maddy (Juliet Morris) makes one of her own on the Showtime series Kidding. (Erica Parise / Showtime) Jeffs goodness is impractical and compulsive; perhaps he is meant to be a little like Prince Myshkin, the saintly main character in Dostoevskys The Idiot. Waffling between needy confusion and a calm certitude, he is wise about some things and a dope about others, sensitive and also overly sensitive. (Fist-bumping someone who works on Puppet Time, he says, I always feel like Im hitting you when I do that.) He has a horror of bad words, but watches violent movies in the loneliness of his barely furnished studio apartment. Theres no reason a character cant be complicated like that, but the effect here is more inconsistent than complex. Kidding has elements too of sad life in the suburbs narratives in which the grown-ups lie to themselves and each other and mourn what theyve lost, while their kids, looking ahead, try to make a life. These stories usually do better by the younger generation, and this is no different. Will falls in with a small tribe of slightly older, lackadaisically delinquent kids he finds smoking pot on his brothers grave, and as familiar as their scenes are, they feel true. And the shows young actors are all very fine. That includes Maddy (Juliet Morris), the daughter of Jeffs sister Deirdre (Catherine Keener), who fabricates his puppets and is the closest thing in his life to an ally. Maddy is refusing to eat vegetables and is being punished by not being allowed to bathe. Later she will emit brief, high-pitched screams. There is a psychological mystery behind this war of wills that will productively fill out Deirdres own story line. In sum: I dont know yet. Theres much in Kidding that merits hanging around for. And nothing is perfect. I hope thats helpful. ALSO: Showtime series Kidding fits Jim Carrey and his search for authenticity Jim Carrey displays a new dimension in grim, exploitative police procedural Dark Crimes Fred Rogers family keeps the legacy of Mister Rogers Neighborhood alive with a candid new documentary Wont You Be My Neighbor?: The documentary that shows how Mister Rogers made goodness desirable Kidding Where: Showtime When: 10 p.m. Sunday Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17) robert.lloyd@latimes.com Follow Robert Lloyd on Twitter @LATimesTVLloyd The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Xi would attend the fourth Eastern Economic Forum from September 11 to 12 in Vladivostok, Russia, at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It will be the very first time for the Chinese head of state to attend the Eastern Economic Forum, marking the most important high-level exchanges between China and Russia in the second half of the year, assistant foreign minister Zhang Hanhui told a press briefing. The Eastern Economic Forum, proposed by Putin in 2015, represents Russia's efforts to push forward cooperation in the Far East, he said. According to Zhang, Xi is scheduled to attend several bilateral and multilateral events, among which will be the two presidents' third meeting this year, the signing of documents, a joint meeting with the press, and a banquet. "The two heads of state will also attend some activities to facilitate people-to-people exchanges and economic and local cooperation," Zhang said, adding that Xi will deliver a speech at the annual meeting of the forum, and have friendly communication with other state leaders. Depending on the situation, Xi may also attend some other activities of the forum, Zhang added. With the strategic guidance of Xi and Putin, Zhang said, the China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination has progressed well and ushered in a new era featuring high level and remarkable development. Xi's upcoming presence at the forum signifies the continuation of the two countries' tradition of supporting each other in holding important international activities, the importance attached by the Chinese side to participation in cooperation in the Far East, and its firm determination to further development and prosperity in cooperation with other countries in the region, Zhang said. Xi's participation is expected to guide bilateral relations to maintain high-level development, promote bilateral all-round cooperation, promote bilateral cooperation in the Far East to yield new outcomes, jointly boost peace, stability, and development in the region, and bring benefits to people in various countries, he said. Zhang said he believes with the joint efforts of both sides, Xi's visit will be a complete success. Lush period drama and the supernatural meet in Masterpieces The Miniaturist when a teen bride in 17th century Holland is given the power to change her fate and the fates of those around her. The three-part series, which premieres Sunday on PBS, is another beautifully staged and expertly acted offering from a franchise that specializes in such rich, velvety fare. But this British series, which is adapted from Jessie Burtons novel of the same name, deviates from other period productions by giving its trapped female protagonist a way out of her predicament through the perceived power of magic. As weird as that sounds, the colorful splendor of the Netherlands golden age mixed with a modern fascination of dark arts (or at least science fiction) makes The Miniaturist an engaging and suspenseful series. Its 1686 and country girl Petronella Oortman (Anya Taylor-Joy) agrees to marry rich and powerful Amsterdam merchant Johannes Brandt (Alex Hassell) in order to pay off her familys debts. The scared young woman has never met her future husband, and hes nowhere to be found when she first arrives to a cold household ruled by Johannes overbearing and pious sister-in-law Marin (Romola Garai). Advertisement When Marin shows Nella (Petronellas nickname) to her new room, which overlooks a lively, bustling thoroughfare along the river, she says, This used to be my room, but it had the better view, so he gave it to you. You must take it back, insists Nella. You misunderstand, says Marin. The view is of you. Amsterdam must see that Johannes Brandt has a new wife. But why?! Mystery abounds, and even the help maid Cornelia (Hayley Squires) and butler Otto (Paapa Essiedu), are fierce protectors of their masters secrets. They and Marin watch the new lady of the house carefully, making sure she never leaves without them. Things look grim until Nella finally meets her groom to be, and he appears to be a kind, handsome and charming gentleman. He could have had anyone, so why her? He hasnt much time for conversation, or anything else with her for that matter, but presents her with a wedding gift before running off to one of his business meetings. The gifted dollhouse replicates Nellas new home. Its to be furnished by a miniaturist whose trade is creating the tiny wooden furnishings and inhabitants for dollhouses. Nella never meets the elusive craftsman in person. Instead, she sends requests for items, and theyre sent to her home, along with curious additions that she didnt ask for. Shes spooked, then enthralled as she realizes that the tiny creations are mirroring whats happening in the household. She unwraps a package to find a tiny chair inside thats an exact replica of the chair shes sitting in. Or theres the painstakingly crafted armoire with a secret drawer and keys inside. She finds its real-life inspiration in a back room of the sprawling townhome. Now the powerless teen bride has the potential to control everyones future- or does she? Secrets unfurl at a rapid pace here, and they often lead to deeper mysteries. The Miniaturist will keep you hooked, and guessing, piece by beautifully handcrafted piece. lorraine.ali@latimes.com @lorraineali Roy Choi has shared new details and a first look at Best Friend, his upcoming restaurant at the Park MGM in Las Vegas. The L.A. chef behind Kogi BBQ truck, Chego, A-Frame and Locol will open Best Friend on Dec. 28, with Choi saying it will be a remixed and remastered collection of the evolution of our Los Angeles its food, its music, its culture. Its Koreatown in a capsule a portal to the streets of L.A., but also rooted in what makes Las Vegas, Vegas, Choi said in a statement. Hip-hop to bibimbop. Kimchi to spaghetti. BBQ and late-night food. My neighborhood mixed with the Vegas good-good. Roy Choi says he cant wait to feed you, Vegas. (Travis Jensen / Best Friend) Advertisement This will be Chois first restaurant in Vegas. Earlier this year, he told The Times that the space located near Eataly in the resort would be roughly 9,000 square feet, with a large open kitchen as well as DJ equipment and subwoofers in the restaurant. The menu, he hinted, would likely pull inspiration from all of his restaurants but would possibly incorporate more high-end ingredients. I can explore different things and ball out a little bit, he said at the time. On Thursday, he shared a number of renderings on Instagram and said the opening was being timed to coincide with the launch of Lady Gagas residency at Park MGMs Park Theater. Its been a crazy year emotionally and professionally but I am so ready for this, Choi wrote. Cant wait to feed you, Vegas. A spokesman said Friday that there will also be branded merchandise and to-go food items. Park MGM, 3770 S. Las Vegas Blvd., Las Vegas, www.parkmgm.com/en/restaurants/best-friend.html andrea.chang@latimes.com Twitter: @byandreachang Instagram: @byandreachang Good morning. Im Paul Thornton, and it is Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018. None of what you will read below was written anonymously. Lets take a look back at the week in Opinion. The news this week was dominated by the implosion of the Trump White House, first reported in excerpts from legendary reporter Bob Woodwards new book Fear, then in an explosive New York Times op-ed article written by an unnamed administration official who tried to reassure the American people that despite all appearances to the contrary, a resistance within the White House was serving as a check on the presidents worst instincts. (Nothing calms voters more than knowing a cabal of unelected bureaucrats is secretly undermining the duly elected president. What a time to be alive.) All of this distracts from the machinery of government actually at work in a very consequential way that is, the Senate Judiciary Committee holding hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, whose confirmation on the slimmest of party-line votes is all but assured. Kavanaughs ascendance to the highest court in the land will be celebrated as a great victory for the president, but in any other time a process rife with polarization and questionable procedures would be regretful. According to The Times Editorial Board, this shows our process for selecting Supreme Court justices may be broken: Regardless of how we got here, the fact is that judicial confirmations especially for the Supreme Court have become alarmingly more partisan in recent years. [Anthony] Kennedy was confirmed by a vote of 97 to 0 in 1988. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was confirmed 96 to 3 in 1993. Flash forward to 2005, when John G. Roberts, like Kavanaugh a federal appeals court judge rated well qualified by the American Bar Assn., was confirmed 78 to 22, with half of Democratic senators voting against him. Partisan polarization in voting became even more pronounced in subsequent nominations. Forty Democratic senators voted against President George W. Bushs nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. in 2006. More than 30 Republican senators voted against Obamas two nominees, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Ginsburg expressed the hope this year that one fine day, Congress will return to the bipartisan spirit that prevailed for my nomination. That also has been our position. We long have argued that, even though presidents can be expected to nominate justices who share their general approach to the law, the Senate in considering those nominees should place the emphasis on legal qualifications and judicial temperament. In that way, the court can remain above politics even if individual justices bring different philosophies to the bench as the White House changes hands.... The question isnt whether the selection of Supreme Court justices should be rescued from excessive partisanship; its how that might be accomplished. Although in the past we have supported abolition of the filibuster, restoring it for Supreme Court nominations might be a way to encourage bipartisan consensus and to prod presidents to nominate broadly acceptable candidates. Its also worth considering whether Supreme Court justices should be appointed not for life but for lengthy fixed terms, which would lower the political stakes in any individual appointment and discourage justices from hanging on to office in the hopes of being able to retire when a president of the same party is elected. Kavanaugh seems certain to join the pinnacle of the American legal profession, but it will be an achievement tainted by acrimony and accusations of unfairness. There must be a better way. >> Click here to read more That old judges as umpires saw: Kavanaugh brought it back, but it needs to go away for good, says UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky. The idea that a judge can be some completely neutral arbiter, free of the bias that comes with being human, is belied by the fact that Supreme Court justices so often disagree on basic questions of the law (which is why we have nine of them and not, say, one). L.A. Times What would Thurgood Marshall say to originalists like Kavanaugh? The late jurist and the Supreme Courts first black justice held the Constitution and the framers in much lower regard than his colleagues who revered it enough to believe it ought to be applied as originally written. The true miracle was not the birth of the Constitution, Marshall said in 1987, but its life, a life nurtured through two turbulent centuries of our own making, and a life embodying much good fortune that was not. L.A. Times Wont you take me to Crazytown? Even by our depressing standards today, this past week in the Trump White House was probably its most chaotic, says The Times Editorial Board. Some of this might be just noise, and perhaps too many of Trumps critics feel some schadenfreude, but the board has a warning: The president is a profoundly powerful man, the commander in chief of an enormous war-fighting force and an executive capable of unilaterally reversing the nations efforts to combat climate change or provide healthcare to its citizens. L.A. Times About that op-ed: The anonymous piece in the New York Times from an administration official largely confirmed what we already knew about the Trump White House, writes Scott Martelle. Separately, Jessica Roy says resisting the president in private while supporting the president in public makes the op-ed writer a coward, not a brave patriot. Yecenia Perez, 17, says she doesnt feel safe commuting to school and home, a one-hour trek each way by bus and two trains. Ive had men push me up against the fence outside school, she said, and she also described an attempted assault by a neighbor. When Perez gets home to her familys one-bedroom apartment in the evening, north of Koreatown, she has no privacy. Tight quarters bring tension and bouts of depression. Were six, she said, telling me she shares the only bedroom with a younger sister and an older sister too when shes home from college. Her brother sleeps in the living room with Mom and Dad. Advertisement This is not a new situation for Perez. This is her life. And in Los Angeles, shes one more invisible face in the crowd. We keep hearing about an economy thats referred to as robust or rip-roaring, which leaves a lot of people wondering how they missed out on the recovery. Earlier this year I began taking a closer look at how a state thats leading the boom has 20% of its children living in poverty. In L.A. Unified, the number is 80%, and at one elementary school Ive been taking a look at in the San Fernando Valley, 20% of the students are homeless. But statistics are dry and overwhelming, and you cant begin to feel the significance of it all without knowing something about the people behind the numbers. High school senior Yecenia Perez, 17, does her homework on the train after school. Being paired with a mentor lets her share her struggles at home and worries about college with someone whos been there. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Yecenia is a senior at Orthopaedic Hospital Medical Magnet High School south of downtown, and she wants desperately to go to college, but shes had a lifetime of hurdles in her way. Yecenia and her older sister, Melanie, told me their strictly religious parents who work low-wage jobs in the clothing industry did not encourage them to go to college. That may be one reason the girls were so determined to do just that, to get good jobs, to defy traditional gender role and cultural expectations, and to escape the circumstances they were born into. My parents always emphasized our spiritual well-being but never looked out for our emotional, educational or even our physical well-being, Yecenia said. I like to write my thoughts down. I compare myself to a bird and I feel caged, but going to college seems freeing. Going to college allows me to have real opportunities and create a life for myself, so I dont have to be dependent on a man. Melanie, now a sophomore at UCLA, was a great mentor for Yecenia. But when Melanie left for school, Yecenia needed someone else with whom to share her dreams and her despair. A high school friend recommended she look into the young civic leaders program at United Way of Greater Los Angeles. Yecenia attended a meeting two years ago and immediately signed on to attend rallies, host candidate forums, march for homeless services, run voter registration drives and speak up about how to make schools better. I feel like the needs of students, and the voice of students, should be more elevated, Yecenia said. Decisions are made based on what adults think we need, but from my experience, I needed to see therapists and school psychologists and I never got that until this year, my senior year. LAUSD Supt. Austin Beutner told me he heard Yecenia express those very sentiments at a forum, and he thinks she and other students hit upon a key to better outcomes. They were articulate and candid, he said, and I could not have heard a more compelling case for mentors and counselors in our schools to help pick them up when they fall. When Yecenia joined the United Way program in 2016, she found such a person in Katherine Kat Trejo, a young college graduate and L.A. Unified alumna who had just become program coordinator. Weve built a relationship, and I take relationships very seriously, said Trejo, 24, who believes her own history makes it easier for her to relate to the students and vice versa. They see themselves in me and theyre very open about their struggles at home and their worries about college. They know Ill understand. Trejo grew up in a studio apartment near Echo Park with her mother, a house cleaner, and a brother with disabilities. Two sets of relatives live in the same building, four of them stuffed into one tiny apartment and five in another. Katherine Trejo, left, and Yecenia Perez. (Steve Lopez / Los Angeles Times) Trejo recalls her anger at being awakened late at night because her brother was hungry and turned on the lights in the room they all shared. Yecenia recalls her embarrassment at school when teachers commented on clothes so old they were too small for her. Trejo recalls wanting to get into a college far from home, and she willed herself to get from LAUSD to UC Santa Cruz. Yecenias top two dream colleges are UC Berkeley and Stanford, and she takes evening classes at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College or studies at Heart of Los Angeles in the evening, so she can concentrate in a quiet, stress-free place. Trejo said that in Santa Cruz, she had barely unpacked when the culture shock set in. When you go to high school in L.A., everyones poor so it doesnt seem weird, she said. But then you go to college and meet students who lived in mansions, or they were middle class, and I realized, Wow, I didnt know how poor I was. Trejo said she had no intention of returning to Los Angeles after school, but her mother was in debt, partly because she had helped pay college bills not covered by the scholarship. So Trejo came back. She wanted to live in an apartment in Echo Park, her favorite L.A. neighborhood. But on her entry-level salary, gentrification had priced her out. So she moved into the same studio shed grown up in, with her mother and brother. Ive come to terms with it in the last couple of years, but I still have feelings of jealousy and anger, Trejo said, telling me that with a college degree and a job, she did not expect to still be poor. A single in Echo Park is $1,800. A house is $1 million. I see people I knew growing up who are living in cars. We looked out the window of her downtown office at all the towering new apartment buildings and other signs of prosperity. If youre poor, Trejo said, none of that applies to you. You just keep being poor. Trejo is both appreciative of her mothers sacrifice her body has deteriorated from work and disappointed that for the three of them, better days seem distant. But rather than let the situation crush her spirit, shes holding on to her conviction that education is still the answer. She wants to go back to school, move up to a better-paying job and live on her own. In the meantime, the young woman who was once provided for is now the provider, both at home and at work. And Yecenia is ever grateful. Whenever I accomplish something, like boosting my GPA or moving up to the next round of a scholarship interview, shes one of the first people I tell, Yecenia said. In the last week, Yecenia left home briefly because of a family dispute, stayed with a friend and slept outside one night. She told me shes exploring the possibility of moving into a foster home. Kats made it possible for me to open up to her. I feel like I can call her anytime, tell her I need to talk and just vent, Yecenia said. Shes always been the support I need. She always found me support for mental health or educational needs. Although shes my program director, shes more than that, she said. I see her as my friend, and sometimes shes my sister. Get more of Steve Lopezs work and follow him on Twitter @LATstevelopez People who repeatedly disrupt public meetings at Los Angeles City Hall could be barred from attending council or committee meetings for several days at a time under a proposal introduced Friday. The proposal, backed by Council President Herb Wesson and five other council members, comes after several weeks of complaints from city lawmakers about disruptions in and outside the council chamber. A small number of people who show up to speak at city meetings have made vulgar, profane and racist epithets a routine part of the councils public comment period. Loud outbursts from the audience, or in the hallways of City Hall, are also commonplace. Councilman Paul Krekorian said this week that the bad behavior of a few speakers is depriving other members of the public of the right to participate in public meetings. Advertisement There is an imbalance that must be fixed, said Krekorian, who backs the Wesson proposal. Civil liberties attorney Stephen Rohde, who has represented City Hall critics who were ejected from meetings, called the plan extremely troubling. The greatest fear the founders had was that the government would not only censor you, but prevent you in the future from speaking, he said. You cannot muzzle and prevent someone in the future based on what theyve done in the past. Under the councils existing rules, people attending L.A. council or committee meetings can be warned and ordered out for being disruptive, including the utterance of loud, threatening or abusive language, clapping, waving their arms repeatedly or other disruptive acts. The new proposal would bar people from attending any council or committee meeting for the rest of the day once they are kicked out of a meeting. If the same person is ejected from another meeting in the next three business days, he or she would be excluded from meetings for the rest of that day and three more business days. If the same person is kicked out again soon after that, the individual would be barred that day and the next six business days. Wesson said Friday that council members have been trying to find a balance between protecting free speech and still controlling the council meetings. He said that the proposed rule change had been vetted by the citys lawyers and that outside experts, including UC Berkeley law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, had also weighed in. Wesson said the proposal was not spurred by any particular incident or individual. Still, it comes two days after a noisy episode on the council floor that resulted in the ejection of two of the most unruly public commenters. The incident began when frequent meeting attendee Armando Herman addressed the council, using profanity, a racial slur for African Americans and a vulgar word for the female anatomy. After Herman spoke, Wesson addressed a woman seated in the front row not far from the lectern. To the mom sitting in the front row, I know that you did not appreciate, nor did your child, what you just heard, Wesson said. You can help us by sending a little note indicating how offended you felt. At that point, Herman began yelling from the audience. Wesson instructed police sergeants to remove him from both the chamber and the entire building. Attorney Wayne Spindler, another regular speaker at meetings, was removed moments later. Minutes afterward, Herman began shouting outside City Hall, making himself loud enough to be heard from the council floor. A city lawyer asked police sergeants to tell Herman he was still disrupting the meeting. Once Spindler and Herman were gone, several council members said they were exasperated with such behavior. Councilman Mitch OFarrell said it was the second time that day that the pair had been removed from a meeting. At that meeting, he said, city staff came to me and they said they felt threatened and afraid. Councilman Mike Bonin described a meeting held this year at which Herman repeatedly said the N-bomb in front of African American audience members. At the time, Bonin apologized to people attending the meeting, one of whom had clapped her hands over the ears of a child. Such comments, Bonin said this week, are very clearly meant to offend and intimidate members of the audience, particularly children. The Times was unable to reach Herman for comment Friday. Spindler, who has sued the city over his free speech rights and other issues, said claims that he was trying to intimidate people were ridiculous, completely defamatory and untrue. I guess after they throw you out, they defame you, he said. Spindler said the city would lose in court and suffer financially if it pursued the new rule. They just dont like to be criticized, he said. A vote on the proposed rule change is expected this month. Federal courts have found that public speakers cannot be removed simply for uttering curse words or hateful language. Five years ago, a federal judge ruled that the city had run afoul of the 1st Amendment while enforcing its rules of decorum and cutting off or ejecting activists from meetings. In several instances, the men had been temporarily banned from speaking at meetings. A year after that ruling, Los Angeles paid $215,000 to settle a case filed by a Venice resident who sued after being kicked out of a city commission meeting. The man, who is black, had worn a Ku Klux Klan hood and a T-shirt emblazoned with a racial slur. Rohde, the civil liberties attorney, predicted that the rules, if approved by the council, would be overturned in court. Each time speakers appear at a public meeting, he said, they must be judged on whether their speech actually disrupts the meeting, not on whether they have been disruptive in the past. This is the price we pay for living in an open society, Rohde said. Times staff writer Laura J. Nelson contributed to this report. emily.alpert@latimes.com Twitter: @AlpertReyes david.zahniser@latimes.com Twitter: @davidzahniser A 10-year-old girl was killed and other family members were injured when a house fire broke out in Cypress Park early Saturday morning, authorities said. The girl was already unconscious when firefighters arrived at the burning house in the 3300 block of North Thorpe Avenue shortly after 4:30 a.m., said Brian Humphrey, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The front door was locked and firefighters had to cut their way into the home with a saw, Humphrey said. Once inside, they found the girl lying on the floor, just a few feet from the door, he said. Advertisement They tried resuscitation efforts, but sadly she was beyond our help, Humphrey said. A man and a woman and three children, ages 10, 9 and 5, were rescued from the smoke-filled house, Humphrey said. They are currently in the hospital. The man sustained severe smoke inhalation injuries and was in critical condition, he said. A family pet died in the flames, Humphrey said. More than two dozen firefighters battled the fire. Firefighters said the heat and smoke inside the house brought them to their knees. However, it took them just 14 minutes from the time that they received the first 911 call to extinguish the fire, Humphrey said. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Humphrey said there was a smoke alarm installed in the home, but it is not yet clear if it was functioning properly. The home, a 1,000-square-foot single story house, was severely damaged, he said. The massive Delta fire that forced the shutdown of a stretch of Interstate 5 in Northern California last week continues to grow, and the major north-south artery is expected to remain closed indefinitely, authorities said. As of Sunday morning, the fire had burned 40, 903 acres, increasing by an additional 4,000 acres overnight, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. The Shasta County Sheriffs Office has issued mandatory evacuations for residents along the Interstate 5 corridor north of Redding. Each day fires resurface along the interstate making it unsafe for vehicular travel which necessitates its continued closure, the agency said in a statement. Advertisement The northbound portion of the highway remains closed at Riverview Drive and the southbound lanes at Flume Creek Road. Only emergency vehicles, utility company staff repairing critical infrastructure, and timber land employees assisting with fire mitigation efforts are allowed through. More than 2,000 firefighters are battling the blaze, according to Cal Fire officials. (Los Angeles Times) Two single-family residences have been destroyed by the fire, as well as two combination residential and commercial buildings, Capt. Brandon Vaccaro, a media spokesman for Cal Fire, said Saturday. Mandatory evacuations were issued in Shasta County and Trinity County, and evacuation warnings have been given to the community of Dunsmuir. Caltrans, the California Highway Patrol and other management organizations have been meeting daily to determine when it will be safe to open the freeway, Vaccaro said. Opening the freeway is our top priority, but it needs to be safe to do so, he said. The Delta fire started Sept. 5 about 1 pm. Investigators are still not certain what sparked it, but they say it was definitely human caused. From the very start, the fires behavior has been extreme. Motorists trapped on the freeway described towering flames up to 300 feet high. So far, there have been no fatalities. Weather conditions appeared to be more favorable to firefighters on Saturday than before, Vaccaro said. Daytime temperatures were lower and the humidity was a bit higher. Vaccaro said the humidity overnight was expected to be high enough to form dew. That could result in less extreme fire behavior and allow fire crews to make more headway, he said. 1 / 23 Wildfires burn Friday on the ridgeline east of I-5 just south of the Gibson Road exit near Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (Hung T. Vu / AP) 2 / 23 Crews from Yocha Dehe Fire Department work Friday to put out a grass fire along I-5 at Earl Sholes Memorial Bridge near Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (Hung T. Vu / AP) 3 / 23 Firefighter Tyler Benson throws a flare to start a back fire as the the Delta fire burns along Pollard Camp Road north of Redding. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 23 Firefighters monitor the Delta Fire along Interstate 5 north of Redding, Calif. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 23 Firefighters struggle to contain backfire in the Pollard Flat area of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 6 / 23 Old vintage trucks burned from the Delta Fire along Salt Creek Road north of Redding, Calif. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 23 Interstate 5 is empty in Lamoine because of the Delta fire, which has burned more than 22,000 acres in Northern California. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 8 / 23 A statue remains at a home destroyed by the Delta fire in Lamoine. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 9 / 23 A burned bicycle is seen among the ruins of a smoldering home destroyed by the Delta fire in Lamoine. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 10 / 23 Embers fly above a firefighter as he hustles to control a backfire as the Delta fire burns in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 11 / 23 Flames from a backfire surround a fire truck in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest on Thursday. (Noah Berger / AP) 12 / 23 A firefighter passes a backfire Thursday in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (Noah Berger / AP) 13 / 23 Crews monitor a backfire Thursday while battling the Delta Fire in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (Noah Berger / AP) 14 / 23 A scorched VW Beetle rests in a clearing after the Delta Fire burned through the Lamoine community in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, Calif. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 15 / 23 A home leveled by the Delta Fire rests in a clearing in Pollard Flat area of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (Noah Berger / AP) 16 / 23 California Highway Patrol Capt. Mark Loveless examines a truck scorched by the Delta fire burning along Interstate 5 in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 17 / 23 A crane lifts a truck scorched by the Delta fire on Interstate 5 in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The highway remains closed to traffic in both directions as crews battle the blaze. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 18 / 23 A scorched truck rests on Interstate 5 as the Delta Fire burns in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 19 / 23 An abandoned smoldering truck rests along Interstate 5 after the Delta fire tore through the region and jumped the road in Delta. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 20 / 23 A firefighter sprays down a burned big rig that was abandoned along Interstate 5 as the Delta fire tore through the region. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 21 / 23 Firetrucks pass the Delta fire burning in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. (Noah Berger / Associated Press) 22 / 23 Fire surrounds an intersection during the Delta fire. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) 23 / 23 Light from a train is seen as it rounds a bend near the Sacramento River as flames from the Delta fire fill a valley in Delta. (Josh Edelson / AFP/Getty Images) UPDATES: 10 a.m.: This article was updated with new information from Cal Fire. This article was originally post at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8 It was a moment Jamie Meach thought would never come. When a Cambodian court sentenced her husband, Meach Sovannara, to 20 years in a hellish prison following what human rights observers dismissed as a show trial in 2015, the Long Beach woman feared she had seen him for the last time. On Saturday, she was happily proved wrong. Sovannara, a Long Beach resident and Cambodian political activist, was nearly tackled by his wife and daughters when he appeared at Los Angeles International Airport, returning to the U.S. for the first time in years and marking the end of an international legal saga that many feared would end with his death in a prison cell on the other side of the world. Advertisement I never thought that he would be released, Jamie Meach said as more than a dozen friends and well-wishers surrounded the family and snapped pictures. A former teacher and journalist-turned-political activist, Sovannara was acting as a spokesman for the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party when he was arrested for criticizing Prime Minister Hun Sen during a speech in 2014. Although no evidence was presented at trial, Sovannara was sentenced to 20 years in Prey Sar prison, an infamous, overcrowded complex in the nations capital where many of those who oppose Hun Sens authoritarian rule have died. Sovannara suffered chronic migraines, high blood pressure, jaundice and diarrhea inside Prey Sar while also receiving poor medical care for a head injury he suffered in a car accident months before his conviction, his family has said. An appeal of his conviction had previously been denied, and with Hun Sens Cambodia Peoples Party continuing to amass power, Sovannaras release seemed unlikely. The Cambodia National Rescue Party, or CNRP, was dissolved by the government earlier this year and Hun Sens party won all 125 seats in the National Assembly during an election process that most observers have dismissed as rigged. But Sovannara was one of 14 CNRP members released from Prey Sar in late August. Experts believe Hun Sen freed Sovannara and the other prisoners in the hopes of gaining relief from financial sanctions imposed by nations that have been long critical of his autocratic government. Cambodia has been the target of U.S. sanctions for years. In recent months, the Trump administration stepped up sanctions and visa restrictions against Cambodian officials who undermine democracy, including Hun Sens chief bodyguard. As he appeared at Tom Bradley International Terminal in a dark suit, Sovannara let loose a wry smile while clasping his hands together and bowing toward supporters and loved ones. His muted reaction was met by shouts and cheers from his three daughters, who raced across the terminal to hug their father. Sovannaras oldest daughter, Samantha, hid her face from photographers as tears streamed down her cheeks. Nearby, someone waved a CNRP flag in the air. I feel very happy. I missed my family, my children. My friends, Sovannara said through an interpreter. Its been almost four years. Sovannara is surrounded by family upon his arrival at LAX on Saturday. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Sovannara declined to discuss what, if any, conversations his legal team had with Cambodian officials about his release. He said he plans to continue speaking out against Hun Sens government. We will continue to fight for democracy, justice and fairness in my motherland, he said. Sovannara first gained notoriety for challenging the Cambodian government when he published stories through Radio Free Asia about the misuse of public funds in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Jamie Meach told The Times during a 2016 interview. After Sovannara received death threats over a story in 2003, the family fled to Long Beach. They were granted asylum in 2004, and Sovannara holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Cambodia. As he stood at her side, Sovannara praised Jamie for protecting their daughters and encouraging him to continue fighting despite what it nearly cost their family. Shes been struggling to feed the family shes been fighting, he said. At the same time she continued to encourage me to fight for justice, freedom and democracy in Cambodia. She is my everything. james.queally@latimes.com Follow @JamesQueallyLAT for crime and police news in California. Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed two bills that would block new offshore oil drilling in California by barring the construction of pipelines, piers, wharves or other infrastructure necessary to transport the oil and gas from federal waters to state land. This locks into law the vows of Brown and other state officials who declared earlier this year they would do whatever it takes to stop the Trump administration from opening California waters to drilling on an unprecedented scale. Today, Californias message to the Trump administration is simple: Not here, not now, Brown said in a statement. We will not let the federal government pillage public lands and destroy our treasured coast. Read more: First came the proclamations against Trumps offshore drilling plan. Now comes the legislation Advertisement Bills AB 1775 and SB 834 prohibit the State Lands Commission, which has jurisdiction over tidelands and waters extending roughly three miles offshore, from granting leases for new pipelines and infrastructure the most economical way to transport oil and gas to land. The Senate version of the bill also bans the commission from renewing an existing lease if that action would result in increased oil or natural gas production from federal waters. A similar Senate bill last year had failed amid pressure from oil and business interests that said stripping the state of this decision-making authority could do more harm than good. Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), who wrote the Senate bill last year and this year, said she was pleased to see it succeed: From the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill to the 2015 Refugio spill, I represent a community that knows all too well the devastation oil spills can bring to our economy and environment. Polls today show 69% of California residents oppose more drilling off their coast. Both the Republican and Democratic candidates vying to be the next governor have declared that the states commitment to block new offshore drilling would not change under their leadership. Oil and gas production from the states tidelands peaked in the 1960s and has been more or less declining ever since. The state has not issued a new offshore oil and gas lease since the devastating 1969 spill in Santa Barbara turned public sentiment against offshore drilling. In 1994, the state Legislature passed the California Coastal Sanctuary Act, which prohibits new leasing in state waters. Over the decades, governors across party lines, as well as the State Lands and California Coastal commissions have fought off additional offshore drilling successfully challenging federal efforts in court when necessary. Read more: Here is where the Trump administration wants to expand offshore oil and gas drilling (Los Angeles Times) Now, with the Trump administration proposing to open vast areas off the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to oil and gas exploration and drilling through a leasing program beginning as early as 2019, state leaders say California is waking up to a new reality. We are standing up to protect our states entire coast from the threat of more offshore oil drilling and ugly oil rigs, said Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance), who wrote the Assembly bill. I thank Gov. Brown for leading the resistance and Sen. Jackson for working with me to protect our states multibillion dollar coastal economy and beautiful beaches and coastline. rosanna.xia@latimes.com Interested in coastal issues? Follow @RosannaXia on Twitter. For any Chicago politician, becoming mayor represents a lofty and rare opportunity, but the complexities of governing the nations third largest city and tending to its many nagging problems can quickly ground the victor in a grim reality. Rahm Emanuels stunning decision Tuesday not to seek a third term as mayor underscored the grueling job that lies ahead for the next person who occupies the suite of offices on City Halls fifth floor. Even Emanuel a hard-charging veteran who is no stranger to playing the role of political bully to force through his agenda realized that for him, holding the job for four more years wasnt worth another fight. I made a number of phone calls to tell people my decision, and everyone was surprised. Nobody ever thought the person who lives, breathes, eats, sleeps politics would ever have the courage to push the table away and say, Im done, Emanuel said in an interview with the Chicago Tribune hours after he made public his decision to step aside. It was baked into the cake, and Im taking the baking powder, baking soda, the flour and the eggs away. Only those of us who sit in these chairs especially the chief executive one only they can fully appreciate the sacrifices. Now, a crop of well-known local players sees an opportunity to seize the moment and join the field for a Feb. 26 election, including Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, state Comptroller Susana Mendoza, former U.S. Commerce Secretary William Daley and Democratic U.S. Reps. Luis V. Gutierrez and Mike Quigley. Those potential candidates and others have been furiously dialing big-dollar donors, labor bosses and community leaders in the days since Emanuels departure from a race that already included a dozen other challengers. Advertisement Who ultimately gets to go through the political wringer at City Hall next is up to voters, but for all the hopefuls, there are warnings to heed. The job of mayor has a mythic standing in our politics, and very rarely does the office come open, so its hard when the grail is dangling not to reach for it, said veteran political strategist and Emanuel friend David Axelrod, who also served as a senior advisor to former President Obama. But, he said, being Chicagos mayor is a relentless and monstrously complex job. You have to have the mastery of a lot of different issues, but you also have to have the ability to deal with lots of different people and constituencies. Im sure everyone whos thinking about it has the confidence that they can handle it, but it behooves them to think through really what the demands of the job are. On the horizon for Chicagos next mayor: a rampant violent crime problem that shows little sign of relenting, a police department that will be forced into reforms by a federal judge, more than $700 million in increased pension payments that could warrant substantial tax increases, South Side and West Side neighborhoods that continue to experience population loss and a shortage of economic opportunities, and a declining citywide student population that could lead to more school closings and consolidations. Also on the to-do list is trying to bridge the citys long-standing racial divides at a time when theyve been inflamed by the ongoing murder trial of white Officer Jason Van Dyke for the 2014 police shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald. Add to that a job thats highly visible with around-the-clock demands even in good times, and the next mayor is staring at perhaps the most difficult four-year mayoral term weve seen in recent history, said Chicago Alderman Brendan Reilly. The next mayor is going to be the first person to receive phone calls about overnight shootings, homicides, a nearly daily occurrence. Never mind all the other issues, like the pension obligations that have to be met in a very aggressive fashion, and there are no easy solutions there, Reilly said. Whomever wins this office will probably enjoy that victory for all of 12 hours before they have to get knee-deep in it and do some really hard work. Having a towering persona, an influence to command the national political stage and a stamina that matches the strength and grit of Chicagos working class long have been key attributes to winning and keeping the job of mayor. Its a really, really hard job, and theres a reason why the people who are most successful at it tend to be larger-than-life figures, Axelrod said, before invoking Carl Sandburgs epic poem Chicago. You have to have very, very big shoulders to be the mayor of the city with big shoulders. Just take a look at the past when Chicagos mayors often were mentioned on the citys streets by a single name. There was Hizzoner, Janey, Harold, Richie and then Rahm. Mayor Richard J. Daley was the personification of that style of a city leader, running a vaunted political machine based on patronage that forced aspiring politicians to view him as a gatekeeper to careers from governor and senator all the way to president. Jane Byrne brought an outspoken show-business style in her role as the citys first female mayor, unafraid to attack a male-dominated ruling class in the city government of the late 1970s and early 1980s. After enjoying a more sedate schedule in Congress, an effervescent Harold Washington threw himself into being mayor in the 1980s and learned to embrace its high profile along with its symbolic working-for-the-everyman ethic, particularly in the black community. Richard M. Daley brought his iconic family surname back to City Hall, replacing his fathers hard edges with a willingness to build citywide coalitions that made him Chicagos longest serving mayor. And then came Emanuel, a former congressional leader and veteran tactician for two presidents who arrived with a national pedigree that he tapped often to keep Chicago at the center of the national political discourse, particularly in the era of President Trump. Perhaps unique among political posts in Illinois, the job of Chicago mayor is one of constant scrutiny, visibility, criticism and demands. It may be viewed as a political prize, but its far from a plum job. Alderman Ricardo Munoz, who has served 25 years on the City Council, said few in Chicago know or have what it actually takes to be mayor. Its a really tough job, Munoz said. No. 1, its thankless and you have to have really thick skin; and No. 2, youre expected to solve everyones problems. In addition to the huge albatrosses of crime, schools, neighborhood development and city finances, Munoz said the next mayor can expect to hear complaints from all corners and on all issues, from rats to rezoning. Whether its negotiating with Fortune 500 CEOs or getting the latest weekend homicide reports, Munoz said, there is one characteristic every Chicago mayor should have. To be the moral leaders of a city this size with these types of problems, you got to be stoic about it physically, mentally and emotionally, he said. Your every move is going to be watched. South Side Alderman Roderick Sawyer knows what it takes to be mayor his father had the job. Eugene Sawyer was mayor for 16 months in the late 1980s following Washingtons death. When his dad took office, Sawyer was 24 years old and in law school. Up until that time, he and his father were very close, and he spent many hours along his side at City Hall while the elder Sawyer was alderman. His father became mayor after a bitter City Council feud that saw a bloc of majority white aldermen vote him into the position over then-Alderman Timothy Evans, Washingtons protege. He was my best friend. We were together all the time. When people saw him, they saw me, Sawyer said of his father. Once he became mayor, I hardly saw him. It was few and far between, and that was stressful, because we were very tight. My dad loved the position, hated the circumstances that got him there, and he was distraught about it. The noise around it, the names he was called, the things he was accused of being that he was not. It was extremely stressful on all of us. With Emanuel out, the field of mayoral candidates for the February election stands at a dozen. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote a strong likelihood then the top two vote-getters will square off in an April 2 runoff. The main candidates who have declared so far: former Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy, former Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Paul Vallas, former Police Board President Lori Lightfoot, Cook County Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown, millionaire businessman Willie Wilson, Chicago Principals and Administrators Assn. President Troy LaRaviere, activist JaMal Green, tech entrepreneur Neal Sales-Griffin, attorney Jerry Joyce, policy consultant Amara Enyia, attorney John Kozlar and DePaul student Matthew Roney. A number of politicos are weighing whether to jump into the field, but the biggest names remain Preckwinkle, Mendoza, Gutierrez, Quigley and Bill Daley, the 70-year-old brother and son of two former mayors. Ruthhart and Pearson are Chicago Tribune correspondents. US troops and military equipment that will take part in the Bright Star 2018 military manoeuvres have arrived in Egypt according to an Egyptian Armed Forces communique released last week. The exercises are scheduled to take place from 8 to 20 September at the Mohamed Naguib Base, west of Alexandria, and in designated areas of the Mediterranean. Land, naval and air forces from Egypt, the US, Greece, Jordan, the UK, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Italy and France will take part in the drills. Lebanon, Rwanda, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Djibouti, Mali, South Africa, Niger, Senegal and Canada have been invited to attend as observers. That India and Pakistan will attend together is in itself remarkable. Such a large array of participants makes this years manoeuvres the largest in the history of the Bright Star operations which began in the early 1980s. According to the Armed Forces communique the Bright Star 2018 manoeuvres will promote the exchange of expertise and interoperability among participant forces, hone their skills, develop operational and training methods in counter-terrorism and non-conventional warfare, furnish training in administrative support processes, medical evacuation, anti-mining operations and the latest methods of countering threats to maritime security, and develop expertise in planning and implementing joint aerial operations. We are looking at manoeuvres that began big and strong and which have continued to grow in terms of the numbers of participants, the types of training exercise and the kinds of arms and training programmes used, says General Hisham Al-Halabi, a military advisor at the Nasser Military Academy. That so many countries with military and political weight in their own continents want to take part in the drills is testimony to Egypts own political and military strength. Egypt has equipped the Mohamed Naguib Base with state-of-the-art facilities. It has outstanding capacities for coordinating between and hosting a large number of participants from different branches of other countries military forces, says Al-Halabi. The exercises change each year as new weapons enter service in participant countries and new training methodologies and programmes emerge. This year will see the development of counter-terrorism programmes, crucial for an operational theatre such as the Middle East which has seen a massive expansion of the kinds of military technologies used in counter-terrorism efforts. The design of exercises also takes into account the diversity of weaponry among participants and any differences in combat creeds. There are logistic matters that need to be dealt with, the different cultures and languages of the participants, transportation and accommodation. That Egypt can do this seamlessly is an indication of the countrys strengths and its excellent planning skills, credit for which goes to the Egyptian Armed Forces, says Al-Halabi. The manoeuvres also reaffirm the closeness of Egyptian-US military relations and their strategic partnership. General Chief-of-Staff Mohamed Qashqoush, coordination commander for the Egyptian paratroop forces in the first three joint manoeuvres, told Al-Ahram Weekly: The numbers involved in the current manoeuvres are significant, which gives an indication of Egypts political and military strength, and of the growth in the level of cooperation between Egypt and the US. They also underscore the importance of these exercises and the attention they have drawn. Last year there were 18 participants. This year there are six more. This underlines the growing conformity of the political and security policies of friendly nations when it comes to addressing the threats and dangers in our own region and elsewhere in the world. Bright Star 2018 is the 14th in the series of training operations which began in 1981. The series has twice been interrupted, first in 1991, when participant nations were engaged in the liberation of Kuwait, and later as a result of the Arab Spring uprisings consequent conflicts in Libya, Syria, Yemen and Iraq. General Al-Halabi describes the latest Bright Star manoeuvres as a powerful return after a hiatus due to the regional circumstances. The training programme combines lectures with practical exercises. The latter will include preparing and organising battlefield and command and control activities as part of a joint command project. There will also be training focused on contending with weapons of mass destruction, intelligence exchange and live ammunition targeting, urban warfare and the elimination of terrorist bases. A senior leaders seminar will be held at the end to discuss the best practices. All sides gain from these manoeuvres, said General Qashquoush. Egypt benefits greatly. There is the confidence and esteem it receives from all these major powers. Particularly remarkable in this years Bright Star is the level of African participation. Egypt has returned in force to the African sphere at all levels Today, Egypt is working to enhance these important cooperative relations, says Al-Halabi. * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 September 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: The brightest yet Search Keywords: Short link: The extensive criminal and drug abuse history of Parkland school shooting suspect Nikolas Cruzs biological mother could be a key factor in whether he is sentenced to die for the massacre that killed 17 people, legal experts and officials say. Brenda Woodard, 62, played no role in Cruzs upbringing after giving him up for adoption after he was born. But her past, which included a crack cocaine purchase arrest while she was pregnant with Cruz, will almost certainly be brought up for a jury considering whether he should live or die. It is not necessarily her past, but how her past contributed to his genetic makeup, said David S. Weinstein, a former state and federal prosecutor now in private practice. Her use of drugs and alcohol while she was pregnant with him, and how her genetic makeup was passed on to him. It might not carry the day, but it will give the jurors another mitigating factor to consider, he added. Advertisement Woodards identity, first reported Wednesday by the Miami Herald, was confirmed to the Associated Press by a person close to the case who spoke on condition of anonymity because it is an ongoing prosecution. The American Bar Assn. guidelines for defense lawyers in death penalty cases say they should closely examine the defendants family, going back at least three generations. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, the chairman of a state commission investigating the shooting separate from the prosecution, said that all of Cruzs background is relevant. If information has come to light about his biological mother and there is some relevance there, of course we will take a look at it, Gualtieri said. We are looking heavily at his background and his whole life. Cruz, 19, is charged with 17 counts of murder and 17 counts of attempted murder in the Feb. 14 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. His lawyers say he will plead guilty if spared the death penalty, but prosecutors have refused that offer. Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein declined to discuss how Woodards past might become part of the case. But he repeated that Cruz is ready to end it now. Lock him up forever. Throw away the key and never speak his name, Finkelstein said in an email. Maybe it will curtail some of the pain and hurt that certainly will happen if this case continues on a decades-long march to death. If the case goes to the death penalty phase, all 12 jurors must agree on capital punishment or Cruz will get an automatic life prison sentence. Cruz and his brother, Zachary, were adopted by Roger and Lynda Cruz soon after Woodard gave birth to them. Roger Cruz died when Nikolas Cruz was a young child and Lynda Cruz died last November, just a few months before the school shooting. Nikolas Cruz had numerous behavioral and learning problems throughout his life, along with a fascination with guns and his own problems with alcohol and drug abuse. Court and prison records show that Woodard was arrested more than two dozen times from the 1980s through the 2000s on suspicion of crimes including drug offenses, car theft, weapons possession, burglary, domestic violence and battery charges. She served a variety of prison sentences over those decades, including one 18-month stretch for car theft and fleeing from a law enforcement officer. Woodard was charged in 2010 with using a tire iron to beat someone she shared an apartment with in a senior living complex. Her last arrest was in 2011, records show. Cruzs half-sister and Woodards daughter, Danielle Woodard, has had her own extensive brushes with the law and is currently imprisoned as a habitual offender, Corrections Department records show. Her most recent convictions include attempted second-degree murder, cocaine possession, battery on and fleeing from a law enforcement officer and credit card fraud. She is scheduled for release in 2020. Civic leaders in New Mexicos capital city turned the page Friday on a grinding dispute over the annual reenactment of a 17th century conquistador reclaiming Santa Fe after a Native American revolt. The decades-old pageant of Spanish soldiers in armor was replaced with new gestures of reconciliation at Santa Fes autumn festival, which started with Catholic Mass and a performance by Indian Pueblo dancers. Today marks a new beginning as we lay the past to rest through our mutual acknowledgement of the pain, agony and suffering that took place, said Paul Torres, chairman of a council of tribal governors in New Mexico that helped negotiate an end to the reenactment. A proclamation signed Friday by Hispanic and Native American civic leaders acknowledged wounds older and deeper than any on this continent. Advertisement On behalf of those from the past who cannot ask forgiveness, we do so now, the proclamation said. Public statues and tributes to Spanish conquerors have encountered mounting criticism tied to the brutal treatment of American Indians centuries ago by Spanish soldiers and missionaries. Activists draw parallels to the national controversy over Confederate monuments. Santa Fes Entrada reenactment depicted the reentry of conquistador Don Diego de Vargas into Santa Fe after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. Latino organizers for many years insisted that the reenactment was a celebration of Spanish settlers who defied the odds, settled hostile territory and came to an understanding with Native Americans unlike Europeans in other parts of the present-day United States. Critics of the reenactment say it glorified colonialism and glossed over the continued violent subjugation the regions Native American tribes endured. Under the new plan, Santa Fe will host to a monthlong celebration that ends with Indigenous Peoples Day on Oct. 8 at Santa Fes central plaza. Tens of thousands of low-level marijuana convictions could be erased with the OK of Brooklyns top prosecutor under a new plan for wiping records clean of offenses no longer being prosecuted in parts of the nations biggest city. Dist. Atty. Eric Gonzalez announced Friday that he is inviting people to request conviction dismissals. He expects prosecutors will consent in the great majority of a potential 20,000 cases since 1990 and an unknown number of older ones. To Gonzalez, whose office has stopped prosecuting most cases involving people accused of having small amounts of pot, its only right to nix convictions that wouldnt be pursued now. Its a little unfair to say were no longer prosecuting these cases, but to have these folks carry these convictions for the rest of their lives, the Democrat told the Associated Press. Advertisement Several states have laws allowing for expunging or sealing marijuana convictions in certain circumstances. And prosecutors in San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle all in states where pot is now legal have taken steps toward clearing marijuana convictions en masse. California lawmakers approved a measure last month that would require prosecutors to erase or reduce an estimated 220,000 pot convictions. It is awaiting action from Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown. The Brooklyn initiative envisions a case-by-case wipeout of thousands of convictions obtained under a law that still stands. New York allows marijuana-derived medications for some conditions, but recreational pot remains illegal, although Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo has appointed a panel to draft legislation that could legalize it. Meanwhile, Gonzalez and Manhattan Dist. Atty. Cyrus R. Vance Jr. decided this year to decline to prosecute most misdemeanor pot possession and smoking cases. The men oversee prosecutions in two of the citys five boroughs. The district attorneys said the prosecutions did little for public safety but sometimes a lot of harm jeopardizing job opportunities, housing, immigration status and more in the lives of defendants who were overwhelmingly black and Latino. District attorneys in the other three boroughs the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island still pursue such cases, however. All five prosecutors are Democrats. Queens Dist. Atty. Richard Browns office said that virtually all misdemeanor marijuana possession cases there are ultimately dismissed, but it will review any that have not been. Bronx Dist. Atty. Darcel Clark, meanwhile, is looking to state lawmakers to seriously consider decriminalizing marijuana and establish a uniform policy on voiding old pot convictions. The piecemeal approach to enforcing marijuana laws county by county creates disparity and will not change the underlying fact that marijuana is still illegal, she said in a statement. Under Gonzalez new initiative, people already convicted of pot possession misdemeanors or violations in Brooklyn can ask a court to dismiss their cases. Legal groups are ready to help people with the paperwork. The district attorneys office will oppose requests from people with additional convictions for drug sales, certain violent felonies or sex offenses, for instance. But Gonzalez expects those cases to be few. This is really a relief that I think we can provide, and we do it in a way that is safe, he said. A dismissal will ultimately be up to a judge. In general, judges often dismiss cases when prosecutors consent to it. New York City overall has been shifting its approach to policing marijuana, which spurred more than 50,000 arrests a year as recently as 2011. Last year, there were 17,880, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services. A 2014 city policy called for police to issue summonses citing violations instead of making misdemeanor arrests for most small-time marijuana possession cases, though not public pot smoking. As of Sept. 1, officers have been directed to issue tickets in most marijuana smoking cases, too. Donald Trump hates to lose unless he wins by losing. So, the president is quick to portray himself as a victim, especially when he thinks he has been defamed. On Wednesday, in response to the publication of excerpts from Fear: Trump in the White House, author Bob Woodwards new, critical book on his presidency, Trump called on Washington politicians to change our nations libel laws. Earlier this year Trump called libel laws a sham and a disgrace, shortly after his lawyers had threatened a possible libel suit in an unsuccessful attempt to block publication of another book Michael Wolffs Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House. He then renewed his campaign promise to open up Americas libel laws, pledging to take a strong look at them. Changing our libel laws is easier said than done and, upon reflection, Trump might not want to push for change. Neither the president nor Congress can easily change defamation laws, and Trumps own inflammatory rhetoric would most certainly be a casualty were libel laws toughened. Trump has never brought a successful defamation case in court. Still, his lawsuits, including litigation deemed frivolous, are an effective tool for attacking his critics, forcing them to spend lots of time and money defending themselves. Bob Woodward's new book, "Fear: Trump in the White House," comes out Tuesday. Mark Lennihan / Associated Press A 2016 USA Today analysis found that Trump and his businesses had been involved in more than 4,000 lawsuits over 30 years in U.S. state and federal courts, including seven speech-related actions brought against media outlets and other critics. It and a subsequent report commissioned by the American Bar Assn. showed these actions were part of a broader attack on the media that included countless cease-and-desist letters and threats of much more litigation. The ABA report, prepared by Susan E. Seager, a Los Angeles-based 1st Amendment lawyer, concluded that four of the seven actions were dismissed on the merits and two were withdrawn voluntarily, and that Trump won one arbitration case against a former Miss Pennsylvania by default. Seager said there is some question whether the defendant paid any of the $5-million judgment against her before or after Trumps lawyers filed a Notice of Satisfaction that ended that case. Trumps ability to change libel laws is limited by the 1st Amendment, the Supreme Court, and the fact that libel cases are decided in state courts interpreting the law of that state. The 1st Amendment prohibits Congress from passing any law that abridges the freedom of speech, or of the press, and the 14th Amendment extends that prohibition to the states. The Supreme Court, in a 1964 case, laid down a federal rule requiring public officials to prove actual malice that a statement was made with the knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not. That landmark, 9-0 decision in New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan has been extended in subsequent cases to include public figures as well as public officials. While the presidents most prominent libel lawyer, Charles J. Harder, has effectively used privacy laws when suing media companies on behalf of celebrities, including Terry Bollea (a.k.a. Hulk Hogan), it is difficult to see how Trump could successfully assert that his right to privacy extends to his actions in office or while campaigning. Nor does the Supreme Court seem likely to reverse its libel rulings. Although Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016, told me in a 2005 interview that, given the chance, he would have voted to reverse Sullivan, no sitting justice has voiced similar sentiments. Congress commitment to the 1st Amendment and that of the Supreme Court seem secure, even with the addition of a new justice to succeed Anthony M. Kennedy. On Wednesday, Trumps tweet asked, Isnt it a shame that someone can write an article or book, totally make up stories and form a picture of a person that is literally the exact opposite of the fact, and get away with it without retribution or cost. What Trump describes is a near-perfect definition of actual malice, and as such, it is already covered by the Sullivan decision. In addition, Sullivan and the precedents the court relied on in reaching its decision protect the president from suits asserting his most outrageous attacks are themselves libelous. Authoritative interpretations of the 1st Amendment guarantees have consistently refused to recognize an exception for any test of truth, Justice William J. Brennan wrote in Sullivan. His opinion went on to accept the fact that politicians at times [resort] to exaggeration, to vilification and even to false statement. Impassioned rhetoric notwithstanding, there is no reason to believe President Trump really wants to do anything that would jeopardize that protection. Not only has the deeply dysfunctional California Department of Motor Vehicles failed in its basic responsibility to process applications for new or renewed drivers licenses and state identification cards in a timely manner resulting in wait times so long it prompted legislative hearings last month but the agency just revealed that it has bungled the states new motor voter program as well. DMV Director Jean Shiomoto alerted the secretary of state to the situation in a letter on Sept. 5, saying that 23,000 people had been improperly registered to vote due to an administrative processing error. Some people who asked not to be registered were registered anyway. And some others who did want to register were given the wrong party designation or incorrect preferences, such as whether they wanted to receive vote-by-mail ballots and which language they wanted election materials printed in. The erroneous information was sent to the secretary of states office and added to the voter database. This news would be troubling anytime, but with less than two months before the midterm elections and just weeks before vote-by-mail ballots go out its particularly poor timing. Californians should be able to vote without worrying that the rolls are inaccurate. This particular goof is relatively minor and fixable, accounting for just a fraction of the 1.4 million people who have registered to vote at the DMV since the motor voter program went into effect. But it does make you wonder: What else might the DMV have messed up? What mistakes might it make in the future? This would this be the perfect time to launch a thorough audit of the DMV, its processes and its 1980s-era technology. Advertisement Elections officials say immigrants who are in the country illegally are definitely not being registered to vote. Thats because the DMV keeps citizens license applications completely separate from the applications from noncitizens for conditional licenses, preventing noncitizens data from being inadvertently sent to the elections headquarters. But how can anyone be sure of this in light of the DMVs other failures? This would this be the perfect time to launch a thorough audit of the DMV, its processes and its 1980s-era technology. Too bad the Democrats who lead the state Legislature recently killed a Republican bill that asked the state auditor to examine the DMV. The auditor cant initiate one on her own and the legislative session is over for the year, so thats not going to happen anytime soon. At the time, legislators said they didnt need an audit to know what was wrong with the DMV. Now it falls to Gov. Jerry Brown to seek accountability at the agency. He hasnt said whether he will seek the resignation of Shiomoto or any other DMV officials, or whether hes considering any other changes. But it would be entirely reasonable for him to change the agencys leadership in light of the ongoing crisis in customer service (although wait times are down, they are still too long) and now the bungled voter registration. While the registration foul-ups appear to be minor, that they happened at all casts a shadow over the integrity of the states voter rolls and hands voter-fraud conspiracists a boatload of ammunition for the next ginned-up commission to attack Californias elections. Enter the Fray: First takes on the news of the minute from L.A. Times Opinion No one should be pushing harder for accountability at the DMV for its handling of voter registration than Secretary of State Alex Padilla, the states top elections official. Fair or not, the public will blame him if there are problems with the voter rolls. Only three weeks ago, before the latest revelations came out, Padilla proclaimed his confidence in the DMVs ability to process voter registrations. I do believe we have safeguards and checks along the way to catch any errors or problems so we dont end up with those problems materializing on the voter rolls, he told the Los Angeles Times editorial board. The DMV played him for a chump. Neither he nor any Californian has a reason to trust the agency not until its management is called to account for its failures. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Letter writers to the Los Angeles Times know they cannot get away with sharing their opinions but not their names (and, of course, their cities of residence). Ive had to explain the rules of disclosure to readers uneasy about putting their ideas and identities into public discourse more times than I can count. So it isnt surprising that the vast majority of our letter writers, many of whom likely consider themselves part of the resistance to President Trump, are unimpressed by the senior administration official who wrote anonymously in the New York Times of the resistance inside the Trump administration. Weve already published a handful of letters about the op-ed; most of them agreed with the writers character assessment of Trump but strongly questioned his or her motives. That opinion that the op-ed was a self-serving apologia for high-level staffers in the administration, evidenced by the writers anonymity was shared by most of the few dozen readers who sent us letters on the topic. Francis X. Fashing of Palm Desert wants the Republicans in power to grow a spine: Advertisement I have mixed feelings about the anonymous op-ed. I expect senior officials to be openly able to confront the president, but to thwart his decisions by subterfuge is as anti-American as voter suppression, gerrymandering and colluding with foreign adversaries. If members of Trumps Cabinet are pursuing an agenda contrary to the presidents something that cannot be denied considering how often his proclamations have been walked back or outright rejected by those around him there are constitutional remedies. When is the GOP going to grow a spine and put country above party? Laurie Jacobs of San Clemente prefers an electoral remedy: The anonymous administration official identifies as a member of the resistance inside the White House, a group of highly placed staff who are working to thwart Trumps most dangerous impulses. These people see themselves as heroes, but they are no such thing. They know this country is threatened by an erratic and ill-informed president, and yet they try to work around Trumps dangerous behavior in an effort to keep the administration running and the Republican Party in power. They want us to appreciate the administrations accomplishments and trust them to keep us safe. The officials who keep a dangerous president in power for the sake of their party are betraying the American people. The only solution is to vote the Republicans out of office. Michael D. Leventhal of Rancho Mirage checks in on the aftermath: It appears that members of the White House staff are, in an obvious attempt to appease their leader and save their jobs, now rushing like lemmings to the cliffs to declare, I am not Spartacus. P.S.: Im not anonymous. Carolyn Adamick of Valencia repeats Trumps gutless remark: I think it is truly scary that gutless Republicans cant confront and openly defy Trump. They all know he is unfit for office and needs to be removed, the sooner the better. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Allies balk at Trump administration bid to block Chinese firm from cutting-edge telecom markets By David S. Cloud Britain and Germany are balking at the Trump administrations call for a ban on equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, threatening a global U.S. campaign to thwart Chinas involvement in future mobile networks. Both countries are expected to limit Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing core components including routers. But other types of Chinese equipment for next-generation, high-speed communications could still be installed on British and German networks, officials and analysts say. The U.S. push to ban Huawei has provoked a global dispute in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, publicly urging NATO allies in Europe to exclude the company and warning that the United States might limit its military presence in countries that did not do so. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Confucius Institutes: Do they improve U.S.-China ties or harbor spies? By Don Lee Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Marylands Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the last 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from Chinas central government. But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they werent looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept under wraps since it started in 2004. American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings one that could also bring warmer ties with China and, importantly, an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Live: White House holds surprise news briefing amid government shutdown Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. policy toward China shifts from engagement to confrontation By David S. Cloud For decades, China had no closer American friend than Dianne Feinstein. As San Francisco mayor in the 1970s, she forged a sister-city relationship with Shanghai, the first between American and Chinese communities. As U.S. senator, she dined with Chinese leaders at Mao Tse-tungs old Beijing residence. And in the 1990s, she championed a trade policy change that opened a floodgate of Western investment into China. Today the Democratic senator sees China as a growing threat, joining a broad array of Trump administration officials, national security strategists and business executives who once favored engagement with Beijing and now advocate a confrontational approach instead. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Mnuchins attempt to calm markets backfires as Trump takes another shot at the Federal Reserve By Jim Puzzanghera An attempt by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to calm plunging financial markets backfired Monday, further rattling investors with new fears about whether major U.S. banks have enough cash on top of worries about interest rates, political instability in Washington and a slowing global economy. Adding to the volatile mix was a fresh attack on the Federal Reserve by President Trump, who declared that the central bank was the U.S. economys only problem and that it didnt have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who cant score because he has no touch -- he cant putt! Trump said on Twitter. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print He speaks to Democratic hearts. But is Beto ORourke a serious White House contender? By Mark Z. Barabak Hes a failed U.S. Senate candidate with an undistinguished congressional record who, for the moment, is a blazing-hot 2020 presidential prospect despite the fact that he may not run and faces long odds if he does. Beto ORourke suggests the will-he-or-wont-he speculation is something he himself cant quite fathom. I think thats a great question, he responded in a Dallas Morning News interview when asked whether his unsuccessful November Senate bid merited a promotion to the White House. I ask that question myself. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Associated Press) Months after President Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups. Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday. Read more Timberg, Romm and Dwoskin report for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement President Trump announces Mick Mulvaney as acting White House chief of staff By Associated Press President Trump says budget director Mick Mulvaney will serve as acting chief of staff, replacing John F. Kelly in the new year. I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration.... Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print It aint over when its over: In Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, losers seek to undermine election results By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Gavin Newsom has yet to become California governor, but already a candidate for state Republican Party chairman is promoting a recall effort. In Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers have rushed through legislation to thwart their incoming Democratic governors and hamper others in the opposing party from doing the jobs voters chose them to do. In Congress, GOP leaders have echoed President Trump and sought to undermine the legitimacy of Democrats strong midterm performance, raising unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and political malfeasance. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print New CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger says she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera On her first full day leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger said she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney, the controversial acting director whom she replaced in the powerful regulatory position. To underscore that point, the former White House aide said she would even reconsider a Mulvaney action that critics saw as a gratuitous jab at Democrats who championed the agencys creation: changing its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Kraningers declaration during a meeting with reporters Tuesday addressed one of the main criticisms of her selection. She is considered a protege of Mulvaney, her boss at the White House Office of Management and Budget who has executed a dramatic, industry-friendly shift at the watchdog agency. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trumps pick for chief of staff, Nick Ayers, out of running By Associated Press Nick Ayers, right, with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush on Dec. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Associated Press) President Trumps top pick to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is no longer expected to fill that role. Thats according to a White House official who is not authorized to discuss the personnel issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ayers is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. The official says that Trump and Ayers could not agree on Ayers length of service. The father of young children, Ayers had agreed to serve in an interim capacity though the spring, but Trump wanted a two-year commitment. The official says that Ayers will instead assist the president from outside the administration. Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would be departing the White House around the end of the year. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause. #Georgia Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement U.S. hiring slows to 155,000 jobs, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% By Jim Puzzanghera Job growth slowed significantly in November but still was solid, indicating the economy remains in good shape but not expanding so quickly that it will lead to sharply higher interest rates. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs last month, well below analyst expectations and a steep decline from Octobers strong 237,000 figure, the Labor Department reported Friday. Still, monthly job gains are averaging 206,000 this year, the best since 2015. Even the slower pace of 170,000 over the last three months is close to last years average of 182,000 and well above the amount needed to keep up with population growth. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump is expected to pick State Department spokeswoman for U.N. ambassador By Associated Press Heather Nauert at a briefing at the State Department on Aug. 9, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump is expected to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trumps announcement. Trump has previously said Nauert was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Trump has been known to change course on staffing decisions in the past. Nauert was a reporter for Fox News Channel before she became State Department spokeswoman under former Secretary Rex Tillerson. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Senate confirms new consumer financial protection chief: Kathy Kraninger, protege of industry-friendly Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera The Senate, in a party-line vote Thursday, confirmed White House aide Kathy Kraninger to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and experts predicted a continuation of the industry-friendly shift it has taken since President Trump installed an acting director last year. Kraninger is a protege of acting director and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, an outspoken critic of the agency that was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and other abuses that led to it. Democrats and consumer advocates have denounced him for sharply departing from the aggressive watchdog role the bureau had pursued under its first director, Obama-appointee Richard Cordray, including scaling back enforcement and moving to reassess tough new rules on payday loans and narrow the definition of abusive practices by banks and other firms. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Shutdown postponed by two weeks under plan approved by Congress By Erik Wasson Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), shown at the Capitol on Tuesday, says President Trumps border wall is a waste of money. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Congress passed a two-week stopgap spending bill that will delay the chance of a partial government shutdown until Dec. 22 as lawmakers and President Donald Trump negotiate over his demands to pay for a wall on the southern border. The House and Senate passed the measure Thursday without dissent, and Trump has indicated hell sign the bill before the current shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. Negotiations were delayed by memorial services this week for former President George H.W. Bush. The temporary measure gives Democrats and Republicans more time to find a resolution to their biggest hurdle: funding a wall on the U.S. Mexico border wall. Trump says he wants $5 billion for parts of a concrete wall on the southern border and is willing to shut down the government if he doesnt get it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will provide no more than $1.6 billion for border security, because the wall is a waste of money. The presidents demands for wall funding from Congress come after he said during the campaign that Mexico would pay for it. This week he said on Twitter that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months, without providing evidence. Most of the U.S. governments $1.2 trillion discretionary budget has been appropriated already by Congress for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Departments at a risk of a partial shutdown late this month include the departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security. Talks to resolve the differences have been on hold since a meeting among Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California originally slated for Dec. 4 was postponed due to Bush memorial events. The three are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters the rest of the seven-bill spending package being negotiated is basically done. Shelby in recent weeks had tried to broker a compromise in which Trumps $5 billion request would be split over two years, but Schumer has rejected that. Some Democrats have been willing to trade border wall funding for deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants. Pelosi ruled out such a deal in remarks to reporters Thursday. The stopgap government funding measure also would extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized coverage for homes in flood-prone areas, to Dec. 21. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bipartisan Senate group wants to formally blame Saudi crown prince for journalists killing By Karoun Demirjian Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Associated Press) A bipartisan group of senators filed a resolution Wednesday condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directly challenging President Trump to do the same. This resolution -- without equivocation -- definitively states that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. [Jamal] Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement accompanying the release of the resolution. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter. But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe. The resolution put forward by Graham and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are expected to lead the Judiciary Committee together next year, comes just one day after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed leading senators about the details of the agencys assessment that Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Senators emerged from that closed-door briefing furious not only with Saudi Arabia, but Trump as well for dismissing the heft of the CIAs findings. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi, Graham said following the briefing, referring to Mohammed by his initials. He added that Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who briefed senators last week, were at best being good soldiers and at worst were in the pocket of Saudi Arabia for presenting the evidence of Mohammeds involvement as inconclusive. The release of the resolution condemning Mohammed also comes as the Senate is preparing to move ahead with debate on a resolution to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Though the Yemen resolution does not directly address Khashoggis murder, its popularity is a sign of how strained the United States patience with Saudi Arabia is on multiple fronts, including its role in worsening the civilian cost of the war in Yemen, cited by the United Nations as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Last week, the Senate voted 63 to 37 to advance the Yemen resolution past an opening procedural hurdle. But Graham and Feinsteins resolution on the crown prince has the potential of drawing broader support, especially from Republicans, who are deeply divided about how fiercely to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggis killing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken advocate for human rights and is seen as one of the more influential foreign policy voices in the GOP, did not vote for the Yemen resolution last week or sign on to a bipartisan measure last month to sanction Saudi officials and cease weapons transfers to the kingdom. But he is an original co-sponsor of the resolution condemning Mohammed over Khashoggis death. So is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who represents the other end of the GOP spectrum in terms of recent Saudi-related votes and endorsements. Young was an initial co-sponsor of the bill Graham wrote with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction Saudi officials deemed responsible for Khashoggis killing and stop the sale of anything but exclusively defensive weapons to the kingdom until it ceased hostilities in Yemen. Young also voted to advance the Yemen resolution something Graham did as well, though Graham has signaled he will not be lending any similar support to the measure, fearing it may establish a precedent of invoking the War Powers Act too broadly. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are listed as original co-sponsors of the resolution condemning Mohammed, which also urges Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Houthi rebels to end the Yemen war, work out a political solution to its standoff with Qatar and release political prisoners. But how much sway the resolution has probably comes down to how forcefully the administration decides to heed it -- and thus far, Trump has not shown any interest in condemning the crown prince the way the senators hope he will. Demirjian reports for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Los Angeles County offices and U.S. Postal Service closed Wednesday in honor of George H.W. Bush By Brian Park The Honor Guard carries the casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his funeral on Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery Wednesday, which President Trump has declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. All retail postal outlets will be closed, and package delivery will be limited. In Los Angeles, all nonessential county departments, offices and libraries will be closed for the day, L.A. County officials said. The Los Angeles County Library said no overdue fines will be assessed for books, and due dates will be moved forward one week. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offices also are closed Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, clinics and hospitals will continue to operate, the county said. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinics are being operated with reduced staffing, and the department asked patients to confirm or reschedule any appointments. All county courts and the disaster recovery centers for the Woolsey fire in Malibu and Agoura Hills will remain open. Larger federal government operations will be closed Wednesday. To honor the life and legacy of President Bush, the Postal Service will observe the National Day of Mourning. Learn how Postal operations will be affected. https://t.co/Mffch7bPCh pic.twitter.com/vG46BsIOpm U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 4, 2018 L.A. County offices and libraries will be closed tomorrow (Dec 5) in observance of the #NationalDayOfMourning for President George H. W. Bush. The Countys Disaster Recovery Centers in Malibu & Agoura Hills will remain open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Sv1J7GoJ7T Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) December 4, 2018 @LAPublicHealth offices will be closed tomorrow December 5 in observance of the national Day of Mourning for President George H. W. Bush. Essential Services including clinics and other services will remain open: https://t.co/tZGoGGHRlg pic.twitter.com/ypXsV6vlYY LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to skip 2020 White House race, sources say By Associated Press Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks during an interview in Boston on Dec. 15, 2014. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will soon announce he wont launch a 2020 presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with his plans. They did not say why the Democrat decided against a run. A formal announcement was delayed as the country observed a day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush, one source said. News of Patricks plans was first reported by Politico. Patrick, 62, served two terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration and since leaving the governors office has been a managing director for Bain Capital. Patrick traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates in the recent midterm election. Earlier this year, some of Patricks supporters and close advisors started the Reason to Believe political action committee, a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a positive, progressive vision for our nation in 2018 and 2020. Reason to Believe PAC had been holding meetups across the country, including in early presidential primary states. While Patrick is opting against a 2020 run, dozens of Democrats are considering jumping in, including nearly a half-dozen members of the Senate, several House members, and other Massachusetts politicians. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels and a vocal critic of President Trump, said in a statement that he would run. Patrick had previously expressed some concerns about breaking through if he sought the nomination, telling David Axelrod, a former advisor to President Obama, that he wasnt sure he could stand out in such a large field. Its hard to see how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being shrill, sensational or a celebrity, and Im none of those things and Im never going to be any of those things, Patrick said in a September interview with Axelrod. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Former Trump adviser Roger Stone invokes 5th Amendment right and wont testify before Senate Judiciary Committee By Associated Press Roger Stone in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, says he wont provide testimony or documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. An attorney for Stone said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committees top Democrat, that Stone was invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to produce documents or appear for an interview. Stone has been entangled in investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about whether Trump aides had advance knowledge of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. Stone has not been charged and has said he had no knowledge of the timing or specifics of WikiLeaks plans. In the letter to Feinstein, Stone said the committees requests were far too overbroad, far too overreaching and far too wide-ranging. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure has bipartisan support. But who gets to pay for it? By Jim Puzzanghera The grades for major U.S. infrastructure would give any parent indigestion if they were on a childs report card. Roads: D; bridges: C+; dams: D; ports: C+: railways: B; airports: D; schools: D+; public transit: D-. The nations overall grade: D+, which translates to being in fair to poor condition and mostly below standards with significant deterioration and a strong risk of failure, according to an evaluation last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump calls former lawyer Michael Cohen a weak person who is lying By Associated Press President Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is lying to get a reduced sentence. The president is reacting to Cohens guilty plea Thursday to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia. During a surprise court hearing, Cohen admitted to lying in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen in his guilty plea said he made the false statements to be consistent with Trumps political message. Cohens lawyer says he continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Mark Z. Barabak When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Sarah D. Wire When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Michael Cohen, President Trumps ex-lawyer, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about Trump real estate project in Russia By Associated Press Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal lawyer, pursued a Russian real estate project on candidate Trumps behalf well into the 2016 campaign, he said Thursday while pleading guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen had previously said that the project was abandoned in January 2016, but he now admits he continued to pursue a deal and says he updated Trump and members of his family about the negotiations, according to a new court document. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement James Comey says acting Atty. Gen. Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer By John Wagner Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Justice Department in Washington on Nov. 14. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Former FBI Director James B. Comey apparently isnt too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trumps acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Comey was asked by WGBH News in Boston if he thinks Whitaker could derail the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Whitaker has spoken critically of the probe, and Trump as recently as Tuesday continues to call it a witch hunt. I think its a worry, but to my mind not a serious worry, Comey said. The institution is too strong, and [Whitaker], frankly, is not strong enough to have that kind of impact. He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons, and Im sure he doesnt want that, added Comey, who was fired by Trump last year and later wrote a book that portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, was Sessions chief of staff before being picked by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Trump has called Whitaker a very smart man. Earlier this year, Trump called Comey an untruthful slime ball. Wagner writes for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Interior Department watchdog clears Zinke in investigation of Utah national monument By Juliet Eilperin Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from the left, and Gov. Jerry Brown tour fire damage in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 14. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Interior Departments Office of Inspector General has cleared Secretary Ryan Zinke in a probe of whether he redrew boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a Republican state lawmaker and stalwart supporter of President Trump. In a Nov. 21 letter to Zinkes deputy, David Bernhardt, Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office found no evidence that the secretary or his aides changed the boundaries of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in an effort to help former Utah state representative Mike Noel, who serves as executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District. Last December, Trump shrank the monument, first established by President Clinton in 1996, by 46% based on Zinkes recommendation. Noel owns 40 acres that had been surrounded by the monument, but now lies outside its boundaries. The new boundaries also would make it easier to construct the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would deliver water to sites in Kane County that include Noels property. Earlier this year, the Interior Department had proposed selling off 120 acres of federal land from the former monument that lay adjacent to some of Noels land holdings, but later reversed the plan. We found no evidence that Noel influenced the DOIs proposed revisions to the [monuments] boundaries, that Zinke or other DOI staff involved in the project were aware of Noels financial interest in the revised boundaries, or that they gave Noel any preferential treatment in the resulting proposed boundaries, Kendall wrote. Neither the Interior Department nor the inspector generals office would release the actual investigative report. In the letter, Kendall writes that her office will provide the report to Congress no sooner than 31 days from Nov. 21, when it is provided it to Zinkes office. The Associated Press first reported the inspector generals conclusions Monday night, but did not provide details from the report itself. Noel emailed Zinke about the effort to alter Grand Staircase-Escalante, according to emails released by Interior under the Freedom of Informational Act. But those emails do not make references to Noels land holdings. Noel also pushed to rename a Utah highway in honor of Trump, but abandoned that effort in March after some of his fellow Republicans objected to the idea. Noel did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The inspector generals office still has at least two ongoing probes of the secretary, including one focused on his real estate dealings in Whitefish, Mont., and another regarding his decision to deny a permit to two Connecticut tribes who were hoping to jointly run a casino after MGM Resorts International lobbied against it. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift welcomed the watchdogs conclusions. The report shows exactly what the secretarys office has known all along that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws, she said in an email. This report is also the latest example of opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IGs office. But Kendalls spokeswoman, Nancy DiPaolo, defended the inquiry, even though she said the report has not been publicly released and we will not be speaking specifically about the matter at this time. The OIG opens investigations based on credible allegations and reports our findings objectively and independently, DiPaolo added. Any time or resources spent investigating conduct or activity that may be a violation of law, regulation or policy is a service to the public, Congress and the Department. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that he still intended to investigate the way Zinke and his colleague redrew the boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante and another Utah national monument, Bears Ears, next year. I have great respect for the inspector general, and I accept these findings, but Secretary Zinke should have known the people he listened to while destroying our national monuments had disqualifying conflicts of interest, he said. Should I chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, the process he and President Trump used to destroy Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be front and center in our oversight and investigations efforts. We need to know why they ignored overwhelming public expressions of support for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, why they ignored Native American tribes throughout their decision-making, and why they removed protections on parcels of land with known mineral deposits. Eilperin and Rein report for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump advisor Larry Kudlow says China must do more to end trade war By Jim Puzzanghera Larry Kudlow, President Trumps top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Chinas response to U.S. efforts to rework the two economic superpowers trade relationship has been extremely disappointing but the planned meeting this weekend between the nations leaders is an opportunity for a breakthrough. They have to do more. They must do more, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of a Saturday dinner between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina. I think the president is exactly right to show strong backbone when prior administrations did not, to break through these Chinese walls, Kudlow said. Theyre so resistant to change. We have to protect the country. We have to protect our technology, our inventiveness, our innovation. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Democrat TJ Cox grabs lead over Republican David Valadao in nations last remaining undecided House race By Maya Sweedler Democrat TJ Cox slipped past Republican incumbent David Valadao on Monday to take the lead in the countrys sole remaining undecided congressional race, positioning Democrats to pick up their seventh House seat in California and 40th nationwide. Cox, who trailed by nearly 4,400 votes on election night, has steadily gained as ballot counting continues nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election, a pattern consistent with the states recent voting history. On Monday, he pulled ahead by 438 votes after Kern County updated its results. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former CIA director Michael Hayden hospitalized after suffering a stroke By Deanna Paul Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden testifies before a Senate committee in 2008. (Saul Loeb / Getty Images) Former CIA Director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his family said Friday. He is receiving expert medical care for which the family is grateful, according to a statement issued by his namesake organization. The General and his family greatly appreciate the warm wishes and prayers of his friends, colleagues, and supporters. Hayden, 73, served as director of the CIA and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He retired from the CIA in 2009. Hayden has been a vocal critic of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency. Earlier this year, after Trump decided to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, Hayden was one of several former intelligence leaders who signed a statement in opposition. Criticizing the president for crossing a line, he quickly became one of the individuals whose security clearance Trump threatened to review. Deanna Paul writes for the Washington Post. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump tells troops hes thankful for what hes done for the U.S. and rails against courts and migrants By Associated Press President Trump talks with troops via teleconference from his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thanksgiving. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump used his Thanksgiving Day call to troops deployed overseas to pat himself on the back and air grievances about the courts, trade and migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trumps call, made from his opulent private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., struck an unusually political tone as he spoke with members of all five branches of the military to wish them happy holidays. Its a disgrace, Trump said of judges who have blocked his attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration law, as he linked his efforts to secure the border with military missions overseas. Trump later threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines Mexico has lost control on its side. The call was a uniquely Trump blend of boasting, peppered questions and off-the-cuff observations as his comments veered from venting about slights to praising troops You really are our heroes, he said as club waiters worked to set Thanksgiving dinner tables on the outdoor terrace behind him. It was yet another show of how Trump has dramatically transformed the presidency, erasing the traditional divisions between domestic policy and military matters and efforts to keep the troops clear of politics. You probably see over the news whats happening on our southern border, Trump told one Air Force brigadier general stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, adding: I dont have to even ask you. I know what you want to do, you want to make sure that you know who were letting in. Later, Trump asked a U.S. Coast Guard commander about trade, which he noted was a very big subject for him personally. Weve been taken advantage of for many, many years by bad trade deals, Trump told the commander, who sheepishly replied, Mr. President, from our perspective on the water we dont see any issues in terms of trade right now. And throughout, Trump congratulated himself, telling the officers that the country is doing exceptionally well on his watch. I hope that youll take solace in knowing that all of the American families you hold so close to your heart are all doing well, he said. The nations doing well economically, better than anybody in the world. He later told reporters, Nobodys done more for the military than me. Indeed, asked what he was thankful for this Thanksgiving, Trump cited his great family as well as himself. I made a tremendous difference in this country, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump contradicts CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi killing By Josh Dawsey | Washington Post (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIAs assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had feelings but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. He denies it vehemently, Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that maybe he did, maybe he didnt. I hate the crime .... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, Trump said. Asked who should be held accountable for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very, very vicious place, the president said. He also seemed to suggest that all U.S. allies were guilty of the same behavior, declaring that if the others were held to the standard that critics have held Saudi Arabia to in recent days, we wouldnt be able to have anyone for an ally. Trumps remarks came after he held a conference call with U.S. military officers overseas, during which he repeatedly praised his administration and sought to draw the officers into discussions of domestic policy. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Former FBI Director James Comey gets subpoena from House Republicans By Bloomberg Former FBI Director James B. Comey said he has received a subpoena from House Republicans, according to a Twitter post on Thursday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Comey would be receiving a subpoena alongside former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch as part of continuing probes into their handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling, according to a top House Democrat. Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see. James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018 Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Republican David Valadaos lead slips to 447 votes over Democrat TJ Cox in still-undecided Central Valley House race By Mark Z. Barabak Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), right, finds himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) On election night, it looked like Rep. David Valadao had survived a close shave and was destined to return to Washington for his fourth term. But on Wednesday, when Fresno County announced its latest vote totals, the Hanford Republican found himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox, with his lead in the Central Valley district shrunken to 447 votes. Thousands remain to be counted. Valadao, a repeated Democratic target, finished election night with a lead of nearly 4,440 votes. Cox, an engineer and a business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, has steadily gained ground in the 21st Congressional District ever since. The trend is consistent with historic patterns showing Republicans in California tend to vote early and Democrats later, meaning their mail ballots continue to stream in past election day. Under California law, ballots postmarked up to midnight on Nov. 6 will be counted. Democrats have already picked up six House seats in California. They ousted Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Jeff Denham and won the seats of retiring Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa. All six represented districts that backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Valadao was the seventh California Republican in a district Clinton won, though his previous successes he last won reelection by a 14-point margin suggested his ouster was a longer shot for Democrats. If Cox prevails, it would give Democrats a 40-seat gain nationwide, far more than the 23 seats needed to take control when Congress reconvenes in January. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump says no new punishments against Saudi Arabia in Jamal Khashoggi murder By Eli Stokols In this Oct. 25 photo, candles are lit in front of a photo of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Lefteris Pitarakis) President Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he does not intend to punish Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident killed by Saudi officials in Turkey in October. In a remarkable statement replete with exclamation points, Trump cast doubt on the CIAs reported conclusions that it has a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis murder and sent his closest allies to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to carry it out. Read MoreThis article has been updated with staff. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Sixteen House Democrats vow to oppose Nancy Pelosi as next speaker By Mike DeBonis | Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sixteen House Democrats said Monday that they will vote to deny Rep. Nancy Pelosi another stint as House speaker, a show of defiance that puts her opponents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as their party prepares to take the majority. Their pledge to oppose Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both in an internal caucus election and a Jan. 3 floor vote, delivered in a letter sent to Democratic colleagues, comes as Pelosi has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. But her opponents said Monday they are convinced it is time to select a new leader. We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus, they wrote. However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change. Pelosi has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speakers gavel in January eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House. Come on in, the waters fine, she said Friday about a potential leadership challenge. The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have already won 232 seats, according to the Associated Press, with five races still undecided. All those races have Republican incumbents, but the Democratic challenger is ahead in only one of them. If the leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats would have won 233 seats, a 16-seat majority. That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker on Jan. 3. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democratic senators sue over Whitakers appointment as acting attorney general By Associated Press Acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) Three Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and asking a federal judge to remove him. The suit, filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, argues that Whitakers appointment violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker was chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and was elevated to the top job after Sessions was ousted by President Trump on Nov. 7. The Constitutions Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm all principal officials before they can serve in their office. The Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that said Whitakers appointment would not violate the clause because he is serving in an acting capacity. The opinion concluded that Whitaker, even without Senate confirmation, may serve in an acting capacity because he has been at the department for more than a year at a sufficiently senior pay level. President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nations top law enforcement official, Blumenthal said in a statement. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called constitutional nobody and thwarting every senators constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts. The lawsuit comes days after a Washington lawyer challenged Whitakers appointment in a pending Supreme Court case dealing with gun rights. The attorney, Thomas Goldstein, asked the high court to find that Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and replace him with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein, the second-ranking Justice Department official, has been confirmed by the Senate and had been overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker is now overseeing the investigation. The Justice Department issued a statement Monday defending Whitakers appointment as lawful and said it comports with the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and legal precedent. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a temporary basis, the duties of a Senate-confirmed position, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gov. Rick Scott says Sen. Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race By Associated Press Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott speaks with his wife, Ann, by his side at an election watch party in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race. Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson graciously conceded their Senate race shortly after the states recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday. The defeat ends Nelsons lengthy political career. The three-term incumbent was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Before that he served six terms in the U.S. House and as state treasurer and insurance commissioner for six years. Scott spent more than $60 million of his own money on ads that portrayed Nelson as out-of-touch and ineffective. Nelson responded by questioning Scotts ethics and saying he would be under the sway of President Trump. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats By Michael Finnegan Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange Countys undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the states six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. With Cisneros victory, Democrats will constitute the entirety of Orange Countys seven-member congressional delegation, the first time since the 1930s that the birthplace of Richard Nixon, home of John Wayne and spiritual center of the Republican Party will have no GOP representative in the House. Sitting back in the 1960s, I would never have believed this would happen, said Stuart K. Spencer, a party strategist who spent more than half a century ushering Republicans, including President Reagan, into office. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance By Michael Finnegan For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that its possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election again, in blowout fashion but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit After major defeats in Orange County and the Central Valley, two longtime strongholds, Republicans will have a significantly smaller footprint on Capitol Hill. (Democrats hold both Senate seats.) When the vote-counting is finished, the GOP may not even have enough lawmakers in Californias 53-member House delegation to field a nine-person softball team. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker By Maya Sweedler Democratic Rep.-elect Katie Porter is congratulated by volunteers at her campaign headquarters in Irvine. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter said she plans to support Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for speaker of the House and will make campaign finance reform her top priority when she enters the chamber in January. Im going to continue to have conversations, but so far I feel like Leader Pelosi is definitely making the things that were a priority to the families that elected me her priorities, including announcing her support for campaign finance reform and anti-corruption as HR1, Porter said in her first public appearance since being declared the winner in Californias 45th Congressional District on Thursday evening. It means a lot to me that she is a Californian. She understands our state, Porter added. When we talk about environmental protections, this is a person who understands as a Californian how fragile our environment is and whats at risk in things like drilling off our coasts. Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Porter became the third Democrat to claim a Republican-held seat in Orange County, following the victories of Harley Rouda in the 48th District and Mike Levin in the 49th. A fourth, Gil Cisneros, is running slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in the race for the open seat in the 39th District, which extends into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Porter attributed the massive political shift in the county, for decades a conservative stronghold, to increased levels of political engagement. Folks here care about education, they care about the environment, they believe climate change is real, they want healthcare that protects preexisting conditions, they want a tax system that doesnt punish California, they want our schools and places of worship to be safe from gun violence, she said. Those are the issues we campaigned on, and to the extent that Donald Trump and Mimi Walters were on the wrong side of those issues, the voters have made clear what direction they want us to go. Porter was flying back from the East Coast when her race was called, she said. She turned on her phone to find 167 text messages from friends and supporters. Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was one of Porters teachers in law school and with whom she has remained close. The pair spoke via FaceTime this morning, she said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Bitter battle for Senate seat in Florida goes to hand recount By Associated Press Employees look through damaged ballots during a recount Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas acrimonious battle for the U.S. Senate headed Thursday to a legally required hand recount after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by less than 13,000 votes. But the highly watched contest for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum appeared to be over, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded the contest on election night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted. The recount so far has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. We gave a heroic effort, said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. Media in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Counties were ordered last weekend to do a machine recount of three statewide races because the margins were so tight. The next stage is a manual review of ballots that were not counted by machines to see whether there is a way to figure out voter intent. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. Its time for Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served, the governor said in a statement. The recount has triggered multiple lawsuits, many of them filed by Nelson and Democrats. The legal battles drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this, Walker said during a morning hearing. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers and Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. But he said he could not extend the recount deadline because he did not know when Palm Beach County would finish its work. This court must be able to craft a remedy with knowledge that it will not prove futile, Walker wrote in his ruling turning down the request from Democrats. It cannot do so on this record. This court does not and will not fashion a remedy in the dark. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision by locking in procedures that do not allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee as well at least one lawsuit filed in state court. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they have not been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans appealed the ruling, but an appeals court turned down the request. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge appointed by President Obama refused the request, calling it inappropriate. Under state law, a hand review is required with races that have a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website put the unofficial results showing Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. The margin between DeSantis and Gillum was at 0.41 points. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelsons campaign. But he said that he expected the vote tally to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. The developments fueled frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrat Gil Cisneros pulls ahead of Republican Young Kim as more votes are tallied in Orange and San Bernardino counties By Michael Finnegan Congressional candidate Gil Cisneros (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democrat Gil Cisneros pulled ahead of Republican Young Kim in one of Californias undecided congressional races Thursday, an ominous sign for a GOP already reeling from its loss of four House seats in the state. In updated vote counts released by the registrars for Orange and San Bernardino counties, Kim fell 941 votes behind Cisneros in the contest to succeed Republican Rep. Ed Royce in Californias 39th Congressional District. The 39th straddles Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties. In another unresolved House race, Democrat Katie Porter pulled further ahead of Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th District, which includes Mission Viejo, Tustin, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills. Porter, a consumer attorney and UC Irvine law professor, is now 6,203 votes ahead. The Nov. 6 midterm election has been devastating to Republicans in California. If Cisneros and Porter win, the party will have lost six of its 14 House seats in the state, essentially a wipeout in every contest that both parties spent heavily to win. The three Republicans already bounced from Congress are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Jeff Denham of Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista in the fourth district flipped so far. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Florida Senate race likely headed to second recount By Associated Press A Palm Beach County Sheriffs deputy walks past boxes of ballots before a recount on Nov. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee) Unofficial Florida election results show that the governors race seems to be settled after a machine recount but the U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a hand recount. Republican Ron DeSantis is virtually assured of winning the nationally watched governors race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Florida finished a machine recount Thursday that showed Gillum without enough votes to force a manual recount. Unofficial results posted on a state website show the margin between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is still thin enough to trigger a second review. State law requires a hand recount of races with a margin of 0.25 percentage point or less. Counties have until Sunday to inspect the ballots that did not record a vote when put through the machines. Those ballots are re-examined to see whether the voter skipped the race or marked the ballot in a way that the machines cannot read but can be deciphered. The election will be certified Tuesday. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Pelosi says she has the votes to become the next House speaker By John Wagner Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in Washington on Nov. 14. (Susan Walsh) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she has the votes to become the chambers speaker despite solid opposition from more than a dozen Democrats who want fresh leadership when the party takes control next year. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, the San Francisco lawmaker told reporters. I happen to think at this point, Im the best person for that. A vote within the Democratic caucus is scheduled for Nov. 28. The full House votes on Jan. 3 to elect a new speaker. During her remarks, Pelosi touted the size of the Democratic victory in the midterms, which she called almost a tsunami. With a few races still to be decided, Democrats are poised to pick up close to 40 seats in the chamber. Pelosi called that the biggest victory for the Democrats since 1974, when the Watergate babies came in. Pelosis comments come as she faces solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats, setting the stage for a battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. After a campaign in which some Democrats prevailed in competitive districts by promising to oppose her, a coalition of incumbents and newly elected members has denied her a smooth path to the speakership. The defections, if they stand, would leave Pelosi, who has led the Democrats for more than 15 years, several votes short of the 218 she would need when the full House votes for speaker Jan. 3. However, no Democrat has stepped forward to run against her for a job she held from 2007 through 2010. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday that shes being encouraged to stand for speaker if Pelosi doesnt have the votes. In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, she said she has been overwhelmed by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker. Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said, adding that there are probably closer to 30" Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi. Things could change rapidly, Fudge said. Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies in the caucus, moderate Democrats and newly elected members. To this point, Pelosi has enjoyed the strong backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of its members, wrote a letter to colleagues praising her insight, fortitude and strategic thinking and urging support for her speakership bid. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., an African American who is contemplating a 2020 presidential bid, also voiced support for Pelosi, praising her in a tweet as an architect of the recent midterm success. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a leader of the resistance to Pelosi, said during an interview on CNN on Thursday that Fudge is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. Shes in touch with middle America. She understands what the American people want. Shes a next-generation leader that people will look to and say, Thats the future of our party, thats the future of our country, and thats exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker. Wagner reports for the Washington Post. The Posts Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement GOP Rep. Jeff Denham concedes to Democrat Josh Harder in Central Valley race By Maya Sweedler Rep. Jeff Denham (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has conceded to Democrat Josh Harder in the race to represent Californias 10th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. It has been an absolute honor to serve our community and represent the Central Valley in Congress over the past eight years, the 51-year-old congressman said. The enormity of the responsibility was never lost on me. My wife Sonia and I look forward to starting the next chapter of our lives. Harder said he had spoken with Denham and the two were committed to a productive transition. Denham, an Air Force veteran, previously represented the region in the state Senate for eight years and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture. While a member of Congress, he sat on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. First-time candidate Harder was born and raised in the district. After graduating from Stanford University, he served as vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Since moving back, he has been teaching at Modesto Junior College. Denhams House seat is one of four in California that Republicans lost in the Nov. 6 election, with two contests in Orange County still undecided as of Thursday morning. Jeff Denham called me this morning and we had a very productive conversation. I'm honored that I've been chosen to serve our community in Congress, and we're both looking forward to a productive transition that best serves the people of District 10. Josh Harder (@JoshHarder) November 14, 2018 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Democrat Katie Porter now nearly 3,800 votes ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters By Maya Sweedler Rep. Mimi Walters thanks all of her supporters as she watches election results in Irvine on Nov. 7, 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press) Democrat Katie Porter opened a 3,797-vote lead Wednesday over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange Countys 45th Congressional District. In the neighboring 39th, Democrat Gil Cisneros has nearly tied the race against Republican Young Kim. Cisneros now trails Kim by a razor-thin margin of 122 votes. The 39th District straddles Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties; Wednesdays updated ballot counts came from the latter two. There are more than 202,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, which includes parts of seven congressional districts. The 45th is entirely in inland Orange County. In California, the ballots counted first tend to lean Republican and those tallied later skew Democratic. In the Central Valleys 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger TJ Cox has pulled within 2 percentage points of Rep. David Valadao, who is serving his third term. The Associated Press had projected a win for Valadao on election night, but his 4,839-vote advantage has shrunk to 2,090. Back in CA-21, Valadao (R) wins a batch of ballots from his stronghold in Kings Co., but by a considerably smaller margin (14 points) than his previous ~30-point margin in the county. We're moving to Lean R from Likely R; today a bit scary for Valadao.https://t.co/WqJVUVkqGW Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 15, 2018 A spokesman for Valadao told the Fresno Bee that the changes were expected and that [s]tatistically, David Valadao has won this race. Democrats in California have already flipped four House seats, defeating three Republican incumbents and claiming an open seat previously held by the GOP. Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Jeff Denham of Turlock have already lost their races, and retiring Rep. Darrell Issas San Diego County seat was claimed by Democrat Mike Levin. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump aide departs West Wing after rebuke from Melania Trump By Associated Press First Lady Melania Trump. (Alain Jocard / AFP-Getty Images) Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel is leaving the White House, one day after First Lady Melania Trumps office issued an extraordinary statement calling for her dismissal. No replacement was named. Aides said Ricardel clashed with the first ladys staff over her visit to Africa last month. Yet it is highly unusual for a first lady or her office to weigh in on personnel matters, especially the presidents national security staff. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel would have a new role in the administration. On Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham, the first ladys spokeswoman, released a statement saying, It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House. President Trumps White House has set records for administration turnover. Ricardel was the third person to hold the post under Trump. An ally of national security advisor John Bolton, Ricardel began her service in the Trump administration as associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then moved to the Commerce Department last year. Bolton brought her into the West Wing shortly after taking the job in April. He is traveling in Asia this week alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Race for House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthys to lose By Associated Press (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is running to take over next years shrunken caucus in closed-door elections that will set the tone for the new Congress. The race for minority leader is McCarthys to lose Wednesday. But the California Republican, who is an ally of President Trump, must fend off a challenge from conservative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan is a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The two encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with lawmakers Tuesday night as the GOP sorted through the midterm defeat that put Democrats in the majority next year. Elections Wednesday will also determine party leadership in the Senate. Voting for the biggest race, Nancy Pelosis bid to return as the Democrats nominee for speaker, is later this month. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Melania Trump calls for the firing of deputy national security advisor By Justin Sink First Lady Melania Trump arrives at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris on Nov. 11. (Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trumps office said she wants Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security advisor, ousted from the White House. It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House, Trumps spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement in response to a question about reports the first lady had sought Ricardels removal. Ricardel is the top deputy to national security advisor John Bolton. She drew the first ladys wrath after threatening to withhold National Security Council resources during Melania Trumps trip to Africa last month unless Ricardel was included in her entourage, one person familiar with the matter said. Grishams statement comes as several media outlets have reported that President Trump is considering a broader shakeup of his administration, including ousting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Sink and Jacobs report for Bloomberg. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acostas White House press credentials By Jim Puzzanghera CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last week. The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that he frequently accuses of disseminating fake news for its aggressive coverage of him and his administration. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acostas 1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment rights to due process, CNN said in a written statement. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Maxine Waters to take aim at Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as new head of House Financial Services Committee By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on two big banks Wells Fargo & Co. and Deutsche Bank when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The Los Angeles congresswoman, now the committees top Democrat, is widely expected to gain the gavel after her party won control of the House in last weeks elections. While Waters has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, she said her focus on bank oversight will target two large institutions she has been tangling with for a while including one, Deutsche Bank, that spills into her bitter feud with President Trump. With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for Americas consumers and investors will continue to be challenging. But I am more than up to that fight, Waters wrote in a letter last week to her Democratic colleagues on the committee that was obtained by The Times. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Heres how a controversial voting system will decide a congressional race in Maine By Kurtis Lee For the first time in U.S. history, a controversial voting system known as ranked choice is being used to decide a federal election. Its happening in Maine, which adopted the system in 2016. Rather than marking a single candidate, each voter ranks them all, assigning a first-place vote, a second-place vote and so on down the ballot. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print ACLU files suit to stop Trumps new asylum limits By Associated Press A group of Central American migrants march to the office of the U.N.'s humans rights body in Mexico City on Nov. 8. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a legal challenge to President Trumps order denying asylum to migrants if they cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and argues the new rules are against the law. Attorney Lee Gelernt said the regulations will put families in danger. The suit seeks to declare the regulations invalid and wants a judge to stop the rules from going into effect while the litigation is pending. The new rules were spurred in part by caravans of Central American migrants slowly moving north on foot, but officials say they will apply to anyone caught crossing illegally. Officials say about 70,000 people who enter the country illegally claim asylum. The order invoked the same national security powers Trump used to push through his travel ban. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Trump on new acting AG: I dont know Matt Whitaker By Associated Press President Trump talks with reporters before departing for France on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 9. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump is moving to distance himself from Matthew Whitaker as he faces criticism over his choice for acting attorney general. Trump told reporters Friday that I dont know Matt Whitaker and said he didnt speak with Whitaker about special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker has made public comments critical of Muellers investigation, and critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the inquiry. Under former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the investigation was overseen by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Of the scrutiny Whitaker is facing, Trump said: Its a shame that no matter who I put in they go after. He also called Whitaker a very highly respected man. Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff before Trump made him Sessions interim replacement. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of hospital after fall By Associated Press The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall. The court said Ginsburg was released Friday. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says she is doing well and working from home. The court had previously said the justice fell in her office at the court on Wednesday evening and went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gun-control activist Lucy McBath defeats GOP Rep. Karen Handel in Georgia By Associated Press Lucy McBath speaks during a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 2 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Democratic gun-control activist Lucy McBath has defeated Republican Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia in a suburban congressional district long considered safe for the GOP. Handel had to seek reelection after winning her seat last year in a close special election race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath became an advocate for stricter gun laws after her son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot at a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man angry over loud music the teenager and his friends were playing in a car. McBaths margin of victory was narrow enough for Handel to have requested a recount. The Associated Press declared McBath the winner Thursday after Handel conceded. Handel conceded in a statement Thursday morning, stating that after reviewing all of the election data, its clear she came up a bit short in Tuesdays vote. Handel congratulated McBath, offering good thoughts and much prayer for the journey that lies ahead for her. McBath, who is African American, declared victory Wednesday. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall By Associated Press Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the hospital. The court says the justice went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. The court says the fall occurred Wednesday evening. Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation after tests showed she fractured three ribs. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print White House suspends press pass of CNNs Jim Acosta after heated exchange with Trump By Associated Press The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, Thats enough! and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. Pardon me, maam, he told her. Acosta tweeted that Sanders statement that he put his hands on the aide was a lie. CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acostas press pass in retaliation for his challenging questions Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acostas actions. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporters colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history. Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Contrary to CNNs assertions there is no greater demonstration of the Presidents support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters... Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 As a result of todays incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice. Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Sanders provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better, CNN said. Jim Acosta has our full support. Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trump spars with reporters at post-election news briefing, ordering several to sit down By Associated Press President Trump assails CNNs Jim Acosta at a White House news conference. President Trump sparred with reporters at his post-election news conference, ordering several to sit down and telling another hes a rude, terrible person. He told another reporter hes not a fan of yours, either. The presidents mood turned sour Wednesday after reporters pressed him on why he referred to a migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. on foot through Mexico as an invasion. Trump ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric against the caravan in the final days of the midterm elections. Trump was also pressed on why his campaign aired an ad featuring a Mexican immigrant convicted of killing American police officers and linking the mans actions to the caravan. Several television networks pulled the ad after airing it or declined to air it at all. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Im living one hour at a time at this point By Christine Mai-Duc Republican congressional candidate Young Kim and gubernatorial candidate John Cox campaign in Rowland Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Republican congressional candidate Young Kim greeted gubernatorial candidate John Coxs giant campaign bus, the words HELP IS ON THE WAY emblazoned across it, as it rolled into the parking lot outside her Rowland Heights field office. Standing beside Cox on Saturday, Kim predicted that a string of GOP victories Tuesday would start with voters repealing the gas tax hike. Can you imagine Gavin Newsom being our governor? Can you imagine Gil Cisneros being your representative? Kim asked the crowd, to loud boos and cries of Nooo! The former state assemblywoman who worked for retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) is vying for his seat with Democrat Gil Cisneros. She led the crowd in chants of Enough is enough! and, though short-lived, Drain the swamp! Ive served you in Sacramento and Ive seen dysfunction personally, Kim continued. We cannot continue that route. She urged her supporters to stay and help make phone calls or walk neighborhoods. Lets get out there the 72 hours is really critical. Its all going to come down to a few votes, it could be your vote, she said pointing to her left, then pivoting right, it could be your vote. So dont sit back and do nothing. Every night I go to sleep thinking, OK, how many more votes can I get or how many more people can I call tomorrow? Kim said. It can be physically exhausting but Im mentally, emotionally very energized. She listed off her events so far that day and the next one she was heading to. Thats just what I can remember, she said. Im living one hour at a time at this point. Kims campaign invited press to two of her events on Saturday. After she was whisked away to her next event a high tea fundraiser in Walnut, a couple dozen volunteers remained. John Freeman, a statewide field manager for the state Republican Party, tried to pump them up. This is the Super Bowl. Were not in an NFL stadium, were not getting paid millions of dollars, but you know what? Freeman said. Were walking on the field right now. This is that high-stakes-level game. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Its going to be tough out there Democratic candidate Katie Porter speaks to volunteers in Mission Viejo. Jon Bauman, Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na, is in the background. (Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times ) Judging from the cheers in the crowd, about half those assembled at Katie Porters campaign headquarters in Mission Viejo Sunday morning were old enough to remember 70s rock n roll star Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na. Jon Bauman, as Bowzer is known off stage, said it was her position on senior issues including retirement and social security that has him out supporting Porter over her opponent, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters. I want you to make sure every phone is called and every door is knocked, he told the crowd of about 80 volunteers. There has never been a more important election. Both Bauman and his nephew, California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, were interrupted by yells from Trump supporters coming from an adjoining hillside. We love Trump, the voice cried out. We love him too, he makes great fodder, the younger Bauman retorted, before introducing Porter. Porter, a UC Irvine law professor and first-time candidate, acknowledged the uphill battle some of her canvassers might face in this more conservative end of the long-red Orange County district. I know its going to be tough out there, she said, motioning to the hillside. But she said the attacks meant the other side viewed her campaign as a significant threat. This election is going to be close, she said. If we dont fight all the way to the finish line, until 8 oclock on Tuesday, this could slip away. Bowzer then took to a keyboard piano to lead the crowd in a reworded rendition of the song Good Night Sweetheart: Good night, Mimi Walters, he crooned. A woman in a black tank top, jeans and flip flops holding a cup of coffee later joined the crowd with her two sons, 17 and 14, the younger one wearing a Trump 2016 T-shirt. She declined to give her name, saying she was concerned about being attacked, but said she lived up the hill and said she had been the one yelling. She said she was encouraging her sons to talk to people on both sides and make up their own minds. We need to have a government that runs the way government teachers are telling kids its supposed to be run, said the woman, a retired registered dental assistant who voted early for Mimi Walters. Referring to Democrats, she said: Theyve had control over all these years and Californias gone to crap. Among those canvassing was Stacie Campbell, 37, who was at the launch with her husband Jerome and three children, the youngest of whom was 2 months old. Campbell, a Mission Viejo resident who runs a business, had never canvassed or volunteered for campaigns before, and her husband is a French citizen and unable to vote. She said they had been talking to their children the older ones are 5 and 2 about the presidency and the government since Trumps election. Together, they worked on homemade Katie Porter lawn signs and put them up around town. This is the first time its felt like a big deal and there isnt a president up for election, she said. Because her city is a mix of conservatives and liberals her next-door neighbor is an NRA-supporting Republican she the race felt m This weeks Senate hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh lived up to or perhaps down to expectations for how modern-day justices are confirmed. A sharp partisan divide was on display from the first minute and lasted until the bitter end. In an unprecedented move on the first day, Democrats tried to shut down the hearing by complaining that Republicans were withholding documents about Kavanaughs record. Republicans accused Democrats of political grandstanding. When it was all over, the highly qualified and reliably conservative judge was headed for approval in the Senate Judiciary Committee, albeit with Republican votes only. This surely has been the most contentious hearing since [Clarence] Thomas in 1991, said University of Georgia law professor Lori Ringhand, who has written a history of court confirmation hearings. Cooperation among the committee members seems to have completely broken down. Advertisement She said the hearing continued the trend of revealing less and less about a nominees views. Kavanaugh seemed to provide firm answers to even fewer substantive questions than [Justice Neil M.] Gorsuch, who provided fewer firm answers than any nominee for decades. In my opinion, this strips the process of much of its value. The Thomas confirmation in 1991 had stood alone as unusually contentious for two reasons. Thomas was a 43-year old black conservative with a thin record when he was tapped to succeed Justice Thurgood Marshall, a civil rights legend. And after a week of hearings, the public learned that Anita Hill, a former aide, had accused him of sexual harassment. Nonetheless, Thomas won confirmation on a 52-48 vote in a Senate controlled by Democrats. He then joined a court where most of the justices had won unanimous Senate confirmation, including Antonin Scalia and Anthony M. Kennedy. Since then, there has been a steady decline in the number of senators who will cross party lines to confirm a high court nominee. In 1993, President Clintons first nominee, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, won with a 96-3 vote. In 2005, President George W. Bushs first nominee, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., won on a 78-22 vote. In 2009, President Obamas first nominee, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, won on a 68-31 vote. And last year, Gorsuch, President Trumps first nominee, won by a 54-45 vote. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina was the lone Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee to support Obamas nominees. On Thursday, he bemoaned the raucous partisanship. People wonder, he said, are these hearings turning into a circus? But Graham said this was not fair nor accurate. Circuses are entertaining, and you can take your children to them. This hearing is neither entertaining nor appropriate for young people. He referred to the regular shout-outs from protesters who were dragged from the hearing room. Senators from both major parties often speak of their desire for a neutral judge who will simply follow the law and rule fairly without bias. But their actions tell a different story. All the Republicans joined together in 2016 to block even a hearing for a highly qualified Obama nominee, Chief Judge Merrick Garland of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. Now all the Democrats, at least on the committee, are united in their opposition to Kavanaugh to fill the seat of the recently retired Kennedy, the high courts swing justice. Conservative scholars credited Kavanaugh with a strong, steady performance amidst the partisan squabbling. He is an experienced, thoughtful and intelligent mainstream judicial conservative. I do not believe we learned anything new about him, but we have learned a bit about the new normal in terms of collegiality in the Senate and the depth of activists frustration with the administration, said Notre Dame law professor Richard Garnett. Womens rights advocates and liberal scholars said they were not reassured by his testimony. Our fears about the future of this country deepened this week when Judge Kavanaugh repeatedly refused to answer questions about his views on abortion, employment discrimination, immigration and healthcare. Our civil rights, dignity and autonomy will be in grave danger if he is confirmed, said Fatima Goss Graves, president of the National Womens Law Center. Elizabeth Wydra, president of the progressive Constitutional Accountability Center, pointed to the jarring contrast between Kavanaughs public praise for the Brown vs. Board of Education school desegregation ruling and his private White House memos deriding affirmative action policies. Seeing him use words like naked racial set-aside and racial spoils system to refer to race-conscious measures intended to redress entrenched systemic racism is upsetting, Wydra said. Trump promised to appoint justices who would vote to overturn the 1973 Roe vs. Wade ruling that established a womans right to choose abortion, and Democrats pressed Kavanaugh to explain his views. He repeatedly said Roe was a precedent, but would not say it was correctly decided. But he described the 1974 ruling in United States vs. Nixon, which required the president to turn over the Watergate tapes, as correct and one of the great moments in the courts history. Cornell law professor Michael Dorf was a law clerk for Kennedy in 1992, when the court reaffirmed the right to abortion in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey, and he said Kavanaughs comments did not signal he would uphold abortion rights. Understood in context, he said very little, Dorf said, except that Roe and Casey are indeed precedents. There is good reason to think that in addition to Justice Thomas, Chief Justice Roberts and Justices [Samuel A.] Alito and Gorsuch would overrule Roe if presented with the opportunity, he said. If so, he said, Kavanaugh could supply the fifth vote. When asked about same-sex marriage, Kavanaugh took a different approach that may be significant. He spoke of a passage from Kennedys opinion in June in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case that endorsed equal rights for gays and lesbians. Kavanaugh noted correctly that nearly all the justices, including the leading conservatives, signed the opinion, which as he paraphrased it said that the days of treating gay and lesbian Americans, or gay and lesbian couples, as second-class citizens or inferior in dignity or worth are over in the Supreme Court. Thats a very important statement. Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) had asked him to say whether the 2015 ruling in Obergefell vs. Hodges legalizing same-sex marriage was correctly decided. It is a yes or no question, she said. Kavanaugh refused to answer, repeating his statement that a nominee should not give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down response to recent rulings. Leading gay rights advocates said they were not reassured. They noted the court in the Masterpiece case ruled that the Colorado cake maker was treated unfairly based on his Christian beliefs. Sharon McGowan, a lawyer for the gay rights advocacy group Lambda Legal, said Kavanaughs bobbing and weaving to avoid endorsing Obergefell speaks volumes. It signals not only to us, but also to his most fervent supporters, that he is prepared to grant religious opt-outs from nondiscrimination laws that are designed to protect LGBT people and their families. In the next year, the court is likely to take up another religious rights case, possibly from a florist in western Washington state who refused to provide flowers for a same-sex wedding. The courts conservatives are likely to look favorably on her claim for a religious exemption from the states civil rights law. But there is no sign the courts conservatives are interested in revisiting the issue of same-sex marriage. Abortion remains highly disputed, and several Republican-led states are likely to enact bans on abortion that will send the issue back before the court. However, conservative lawmakers are not pressing to enact new bans on same-sex marriage, and as Kavanaughs comment suggested, there is no reason to believe such a challenge would be welcome at the high court. The latest from Washington More stories from David G. Savage david.savage@latimes.com Twitter: DavidGSavage The love and respect Hussein Abdel-Razek commanded were obvious during his funeral service on Monday at Omar Makram Mosque, attended by hundreds of journalists, politicians and intellectuals of all political stripes. A hardline leftist and journalist who fought on behalf of the poor for over 60 years, Abdel-Razek, who passed away at Maadi Military Hospital at the age of 81 on 30 August, enjoyed warm relations with various political trends, making no enemies even among his political adversaries. Born in 1936 in Aswan, Abdel-Razek was a founder of the modern left which emerged after president Anwar Al-Sadat ended the single party rule of the Arab Socialist Union (ASU). In 1976 three opposition political parties were allowed, the liberal Wafd Party, the centrist Labour Party and the leftist Progressive Unionist Nationalist Party, known in Arabic as the Tagammu. Sadat himself presided over the ruling Misr Party which later changed its name to the National Democratic Party (NDP). The Tagammu was founded by late Khaled Mohieddin, a member of the Revolutionary Command Council that led the 1952 army revolt against the monarchy. Despite the many changes that the Tagammu Party went through Abdel-Razek remained loyal to the party until his death, retaining his post as a member of its political bureau. In 2013 Abdel-Razek made a final attempt to become Tagammus president, counting on the support of his colleague for decades, the late Rifaat Said. But Said, who had become Tagammu president after the retirement of its founder Mohieddin, switched sides and supported Abdel-Razeks opponent, Sayed Abdel-Aal. As a consequence Abdel-Razek lost the election by a single vote. Following the loss Abdel-Razek devoted more time to fighting for freedom of the press in Egypt and amending laws that limited freedom of expression, using his position as a member of the committee of 50 that drafted a new constitution following the ouster of Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi on 3 July 2013. The new constitution was approved in January 2014 by a massive majority, though many of its articles relating to freedom of the press remain on hold. Abdel-Razek also served several terms as an elected member of the Press Syndicates board, always fighting against laws that allowed journalists to be imprisoned for publication offences or limited freedom of expression. Abdel-Razek graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science in the early 1960s and received his political training within Egypts communist movement. His career as a journalist began as a reporter at Ishtiraki (The Socialist), the newspaper issued by the ruling ASU. Abdel-Razek first experienced prison after joining student protests in 1972 pressing Sadat to launch war against Israel to restore Arab territories which Israel had occupied in 1967. Though he would later become a journalist at the government-owned Al-Akhbar, Abdel-Razek remained on the radar of the State Security department. His longest prison experience, following bread riots in January 1977, lasted nearly two years. Sadat dubbed the massive protests that broke out after his decision to slash subsidies as the thieves riot and blamed the disturbances on leftist and Nasserist (Arab nationalist) parties opposed to his moves to liberalise the economy and build strong ties with the United States. Like other communists, leftists and Nasserists, Abdel-Razek opposed Sadats unilateral push for peace with Israel which culminated in the signing of the Camp David accords in 1979. Shortly before his assassination on 6 October 1981 Sadat rounded up more than 3,000 opponents, from the extreme right to the extreme left, claiming this was necessary to protect the peace agreement. Sadat also suspended the three opposition parties and their newspapers, including the Tagammus mouthpiece Al-Ahaly. Abdel-Razek was among the thousands arrested on 5 September 1981. He remained in prison until Hosni Mubarak took office following Sadats assassination. Mubarak wanted to open a new page with opposition parties. The political opening allowed the republication of opposition newspaper and Abdel-Razek became editor-in-chief of Al-Ahaly in 1982. Over nearly six years as editor-in-chief Abdel-Razek, together with a group of prominent leftist writers including his wife Farida Al-Naqqash, her sister Amina Al-Naqqash, Salah Eissa, Philipe Galab, Nabil Zaki and Mahmoud Al-Maraghi, turned Al-Ahaly into the key opposition newspaper. Al-Ahalys headlines were usually harsh in criticisng the governments economic policies, human rights record, corruption and close ties with the United States. Given Al-Ahaly was the official mouthpiece of the Tagammu, which had many internal differences among its leftist and Nasserist factions, Abdel-Razek had a tough job keeping the partys leadership and rank and file satisfied. He faced fierce opposition from the more moderate factions within the party who accused Abdel-Razek of communist and leftist bias. He caused a wide controversy when he became the first Egyptian journalist to visit Afghanistan following the 1986 Soviet occupation. Al-Ahaly regularly praised the Soviet intervention in its headlines, claiming it was necessary to modernise Afghanistan. At the time Egypts official policy was to support the US-backed Afghani mujahideen. Abdel-Razek was removed from his post as Al-Ahalys editor-in-chief in late 1987. As compensation he was appointed editor-in-chief of Al-Yassar (the Left), a magazine issued by the Tagammu. Despite limited resources the magazine was run from a couple of rooms on the roof of the Tagammus downtown headquarters Al-Yassar became a mouthpiece for leftist and communist parties in Egypt. Abdel-Razek was basically responsible for all editorial and administrative tasks, helped by a handful of young leftists who worked for free. The magazine was forced to shut down in 2011 due to lack of funds. After the popular revolt against Mubarak broke out on 25 January 2011 Abdel-Razek joined the crowds in Tahrir Square. He was among the founders of the National Salvation Front (NSF) that united secular parties in Egypt, and strongly opposed the Muslim Brotherhood and their attempt to build a religious state in Egypt. Abdel-Razek never doubted the goal of the Brotherhood was to replace the Mubarak dictatorship with an Islamist dictatorship of their own, something that he believed would lead to the disintegration of the modern Egyptian state. Abdel-Razek will not only be remembered for his principled stands but also for his big, warm smile that allowed him to build good relations with friends and foes alike. He leaves behind his wife, Farida, daughter Rasha and son, Gasser, a prominent human rights activist. * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 September 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: A founder of Egypts modern left Search Keywords: Short link: Former President Obama urged Californians on Saturday to rise up against the anger and division of President Trumps Washington and replace more than a half-dozen Republicans in the U.S. House. In the first stop of a national tour to promote Democrats as they try to seize control of Congress, Obama told hundreds of campaign volunteers in Anaheim that things can get worse if too many of the partys voters fail to cast ballots in the November midterm. When were not stepping up, other voices fill the void, he said. But the good news is in two months we have a chance to restore some sanity in our politics. We have a chance to flip the House of Representatives and make sure that we have checks and balances in Washington. The rally came a day after Obamas blistering attack on Trump in an Illinois speech outlining his rationale for a Democratic takeover of the House. He cast Trump as a shameless demagogue who protects the privileged and the powerful while undercutting U.S. interests abroad and exploiting racial, ethnic and religious divides at home. Advertisement The only way we reverse that cycle of anger and division is when each of us as citizens step up and say were going to take it upon ourselves to do things differently, he said. Yes we can! a man shouted from the back of the convention center ballroom, reprising an old Obama campaign line and drawing a roar of cheers. It was one of many signs of nostalgia for Obamas insurgent campaign for president in 2008. Fired up, ready to go! the volunteers chanted. The rally underscored Californias pivotal role in determining which party will control the House for the rest of Trumps term. It also highlighted Orange Countys demise as one of the nations most reliable Republican strongholds, part of the states drift away from the GOP as Californias population has diversified. Joining Obama on stage at the end of his remarks were six Democrats running to replace House Republicans from California. Voters in all of their districts favored Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016. Four of them are running to represent at least part of Orange County: Gil Cisneros, who is seeking to replace retiring Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton; Katie Porter, who is trying to unseat Rep. Mimi Walters of Laguna Beach; Harley Rouda, whos challenging Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa; and Mike Levin, whos running for the seat that Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista is giving up. Obama heaped praise on each of them, as well as T.J. Cox, an engineer hoping to oust Rep. David Valadao of Hanford, and Josh Harder, a former venture capitalist challenging Rep. Jeff Denham of Turlock. Josh and T.J. may be running in different districts, but theyre running for the same reasons, to make sure every Central Valley kid has the same kind of opportunities that they had, he said. Obama also lauded Katie Hill, who is running to bounce Rep. Steve Knight of Palmdale, but was unable to attend the rally. All the Democrats, Obama said, were reaching out not just to true-blue, die-hard party loyalists, but to independents as well. Republicans, however, cast doubt on the breadth of his influence, even as they acknowledged the tough election climate that the GOP faces under a president as unpopular as Trump. I am confident we are going to hold most if not all of those seats in California, said Jim Brulte, the California GOP chairman. Im very comfortable with most of those races. In a Fox News interview set to run on Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence said it was disappointing to see Obama break with the tradition of ex-presidents and become so political, and roll out the same tired arguments that he and liberals have made over the last eight years. But Democratic strategists welcomed Obamas return as the face of the party. Obama is a symbol of when government was stable, decent and effective to a lot of people, and its not just Democrats, said Mike Shimpock, a Democratic consultant in Los Angeles. He could stand there and not say a single word and be effective at this point. The Orange County districts are home to many suburban voters with college degrees, one of the groups most put off by Trumps presidency. If you want ground zero for the Trump effect on Republicans in Congress, its Orange County, said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic consultant. Obama opened with a lighthearted recollection of a misadventure at nearby Disneyland during his time as an Occidental College student. When cops caught him and his friends smoking after a Kool and the Gang concert, they kicked them out of the park. This is a true story, everybody, I was booted from the Magic Kingdom, he recalled. Outside the rally, a cluster of Trump supporters protested with bullhorns. This is Orange County, this isnt Rainbow County! one of them shouted. Obama fans tried to drown them out by hollering, Take it back, a campaign slogan for Democrats vying for House seats. michael.finnegan@latimes.com Twitter: @finneganLAT Christine.MaiDuc@latimes.com Twitter: @cmaiduc UPDATES: 3:15 p.m.: This article was updated with a comment from Vice President Mike Pence. 2:35 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments from President Obama, Jesse Ferguson and protesters. This article was originally published at 1:35 p.m. Residents from Studio City and Sherman Oaks, as well as airport officials are asking the Federal Aviation Administration to reconsider its proposal to change departure paths from Hollywood Burbank Airport. A grassroots group called Studio City for Quiet Skies launched a petition on Change.org about three weeks ago that object to the federal agencys plans for two new waypoints near the Los Angeles city neighborhoods, which members of the group think would increase aircraft noise in those areas. As of Friday, 1,850 people had signed the petition. The FAA issued a statement on Aug. 21, stating that the proposed changes would better separate departing flights out of Burbank from arriving flights into Los Angeles International Airport as well as into Burbank. Residents from the L.A. neighborhoods have already expressed concerns about the recent increase in noise from departing flights from Burbank since the implementation of the Next Generation Air Transportation System, known as NextGen, in Southern California. Charles Bergman, a Studio City resident who works in Sherman Oaks, said hes noticed how much lower the planes have been flying over his neighborhood and the noise associated with the aircraft being at a lower altitude. Living near the hillside in Coldwater Canyon, Bergman said the noise has gotten so bad that he and his wife have to make sure that all the doors and windows in their house are closed to keep the aircraft noise out. The planes only started going over our house over the last few months, he said. When my wife and I are in the backyard of our house, we have to stop our conversation when the planes fly over until we can hear ourselves, he added. Its not just residents who have had concerns. Patrick Lammerding, deputy executive director of planning and development at the Hollywood Burbank Airport, wrote a letter to the FAA on Aug. 21 saying the proposed departure procedures would likely cause an increase in noise over Studio City and Sherman Oaks. It is equally important to us that we act as a good neighbor to the surrounding communities that we serve and who support us, Lammerding wrote. To that end, we cannot express support for the proposed procedures in their current layout, but we believe that shifting the waypoints north to an area that is more compatible with the overflights between these two waypoints, in this case the 101 Freeway, would provide the users with the same advantages of the proposed procedures while mitigating the noise effects to the communities, he added. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), whose district covers the western and southern portions of the San Fernando Valley, wrote to acting FAA Administrator Dan Elwell on Aug. 22, stating the proposed changes would have a negative impact on those who live in his district. Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian, whose district includes Studio City, Valley Village and North Hollywood, also wrote a letter to Elwell on Aug. 23 opposing the proposed departure changes. Krekorian, a former Burbank Unified school board member and former state assemblyman, asked the federal agency to conduct a thorough environmental impact study before even considering implementing any new departure procedures. He added that flights going over the hillsides and canyons of the Santa Monica Mountains would amplify the noise for those who live in the south side of his district, as well as those outside of his jurisdiction. Concentrating the flights causes big problems, Krekorian said on Thursday. At minimum, the FAA needs to ensure complete environmental review and opportunity for public input. Being familiar with the noise issues surrounding Hollywood Burbank, Krekorian said residents need to remain vigilant and organized until the FAA listens to them. I certainly hope that my constituents and everybody in the East [San Fernando] Valley will continue to be forceful in speaking out about this, he said. The people need to be heard before significant changes are made in those operations, he added. anthonyclark.carpio@latimes.com Twitter: @acocarpio Chocolates, gift wrap and Shakeys Pizza have certainly become the local norm in terms of fundraising. The Burroughs High School Vocal Music Assn. and Choir, however, is thinking outside the pizza box in hosting its second annual mattress fundraiser on Saturday. The association is teaming up with Ohio-based Custom Fundraising Solutions, which will be selling mattresses in the schools small gym between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. The sizes range from twin to king as well as California king, with prices beginning at $199. This uncommon approach to building capital is something that stood out to Ian Goyanes, vice president of Burroughs vocal music association. Theres a lot of creativity thats needed to raise funds for these particular organizations within the school, and weve come up with a mattress fundraiser sale, Goyanes said. We did this last year for the first time, and it was a success. It was something unique that we never had heard of and that stands out. Goyanes said 88 mattresses were sold last year, which raised approximately $10,000. This year, hes hoping to surpass that total. Im looking to double that at least, Goyanes said. You know the biggest sales that they ever had was $52,000 raised. Im kind of greedy, and I think it would be amazing if we beat that. Goyanes said that the association would receive between $100 to $150 per mattress, depending on the type and price, while student referrals would receive an additional bonus. Part of the money raised Saturday will be earmarked for the Burroughs on Broadway production scheduled to be presented Oct. 12 to 14. andrew.campa@latimes.com Twitter @campadresports The Greater Huntington Beach Interfaith Council will present its Blessing of the Waves ceremony at 8:30 a.m. Sunday at Pier Plaza, 301 Main St. Surfers and tourists from all over the world gather annually to watch spiritual leaders honor the ocean through prayer and song. This years event is in tribute to the Rev. Christian Mondor and Blaine Sumo Sato, regular participants in the Blessing of the Waves who died this year. Laguna Beach police offer car seat safety inspections Laguna Beach police will offer free car seat inspections by certified technicians from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in front of the Laguna Beach police station at 505 Forest Ave. Inspection appointments will be in half-hour increments. To make an appointment, contact Debi Jensen at (949) 497-0396 or djensen@lagunabeachcity.net. Traffic disruptions coming to Adams Avenue Drivers should expect delays overnight Saturday on Adams Avenue in Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach because of planned Southern California Edison activity. Work is scheduled for 10 p.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday on Adams between Shantar Drive and Brookhurst Street, according to the city of Costa Mesa. Most of the work will affect one lane in each direction, but there also will be a brief full closure. Spanish teacher wins Laguna Beach Unified Spirit of Laguna honor Jason Fritze, a Spanish teacher in the Laguna Beach Unified School District, is the 2018 recipient of the Spirit of Laguna award. The award, in its 11th year, recognizes a Laguna Beach Unified employee who exemplifies extraordinary service to others. Fritze, who regularly presents at state, regional and national language conferences and conducts workshops for language teachers throughout the United States, has taught in Laguna Beach Unified since 2009, alternating his time between El Morro and Top of the World elementary schools. The energy and passion that Senor Fritze displays in teaching his students Spanish make his classroom a favorite of mine to visit, El Morro Principal Chris Duddy said in a statement. You wont see children completing grammar worksheets. Instead, youll find them physically and mentally immersed in speaking and reading Spanish. Im never surprised to find Spanish instructors from around the world visiting his classroom to observe his teaching strategies. Laguna Beach emergency training taking sign-ups Laguna Beach police have opened the next Community Emergency Response Team training classes to residents interested in learning to prepare for a natural disaster. The first class starts Sept. 20. Applicants must work or live in Laguna Beach and commit to 25 hours of training over several weeks. To apply, visit lagunabeachcity.net/cityhall/police/emergprep/cert.htm. Four of the 32 restaurants in the Newport Beach-based Rubys Diner chain have filed for bankruptcy. They are in Huntington Beach, Laguna Hills, Oceanside and Palm Springs, according to a news release. The company, which started on the Balboa Pier in 1982, said the issue is expected to have little to no impact on the restaurants or employees. According to Rubys, the four restaurants will be supported by Steven Craig, who owns other Rubys franchises. In recent years, as Rubys has evolved with a changing industry, the company suffered some financial setbacks from which we have been working to recover, Doug Cavanaugh, Rubys chief executive, said in a statement. For the most part, we have been successful. We believe the agreement [with Craig], once implemented, will significantly improve our capital structure and provide Rubys the best opportunity for long-term success. Specifically, all employees, franchisees, guests and vendors will be paid on a prompt and timely basis going forward, and our restaurants will remain open. Women on Boards panel comes to Costa Mesa on Wednesday The Center Club in Costa Mesa will host a discussion titled Women on Boards: The What, How and Why from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Confirmed panelists are Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire, Jane Buchan and Julie Hill. Tickets are $65 and are available by searching for the event at eventbrite.com. The Center Club is at 650 Town Center Drive. Grater Grilled Cheese and Springdale Cafe open in H.B. Two new restaurants opened recently in Huntington Beach. Grater Grilled Cheese, which sells burgers, grilled cheese sandwiches and pastas, is at 120 Fifth St. Grater also has locations in Irvine and San Diego. Springdale Cafe at 15752 Springdale St. offers a menu including pancakes, breakfast burritos and burgers. Hornblower offers cruises to benefit CHOC Hornblower Cruises and Events in Newport Beach is offering a series of CHOCtail cruises on Wednesdays and Thursdays in September, Childhood Cancer Awareness Month, to support Childrens Hospital of Orange County. The company also is accepting donations of socks. Cruise tickets are $52, excluding taxes and service fees. For more information, visit hornblower.com. Landsea Homes moves base to Newport Beach Landsea Homes has moved its headquarters from Irvine to Newport Beach. The homebuilder, founded in 2013, has moved to a 10,671-square-foot space at 660 Newport Center Drive. The Newport location will serve as the companys center of U.S. corporate strategy, legal, finance and capital markets and provide oversight of its homebuilding operations nationwide, according to a news release. Fountain Valley apartment complex acquired for $85.8 million Los Angeles-based TruAmerica Multifamily, in partnership with Washington, D.C.-based ASB Real Estate Investments on behalf of its Allegiance Real Estate Fund, has acquired Corte Bella, a 251-unit apartment complex in Fountain Valley for $85.8 million, according to a news release. The property at 9580 El Rey Ave. was built in 1969 on a 12-acre site. It contains one- and two-bedroom units. The companies plan to install washer/dryer connections in the apartments and convert the laundry facilities into amenities such as a business center, pet spa and bike storage. Porktoberfest returning to Five Crowns Five Crowns restaurant in Corona del Mar will host its seventh annual Porktoberfest on Oct. 11, featuring a five-course pork-centric meal paired with beers by Firestone Walker Brewing Co. The beers will included a barrel-aged stout that has been kept in Five Crowns beer cellar, enhancing the flavor and complexity of this limited-edition ale, according to a news release. David Walker, co-founder of Firestone, will be onsite to talk about the beers during dinner. Porktoberfest will start at 6:30 p.m. and costs $120, including tax and gratuity. Five Crowns is at 3801 E. Coast Hwy. For reservations, call (949) 717-4322 or search for the event at eventbrite.com. A proposal to build 38 townhomes near downtown Costa Mesa will go to the city Planning Commission for review Monday. Pitched by The Olson Co., which is based in Seal Beach, the project would redevelop roughly 1.86 acres to the north and south of Ford Road at its intersection with Newport Boulevard replacing public storage and RV storage facilities with new, three-story homes. Twelve of the townhomes would have two bedrooms, and the remainder would have three, according to planning documents. Units would range in size from 1,288 to 1,814 square feet and feature Spanish Colonial architecture. Our proposed project will serve to revitalize the site and surrounding area, providing an attractive residential community that will serve to enhance the area, buffer the existing residential neighborhood from the commercial corridor and reduce traffic intrusion from commercial and through traffic, Haggai Mazler, director of development for The Olson Co., wrote in a letter to the city dated Aug. 30. When the project was publicly unveiled last year, the most controversial aspect was the developers proposal to close a portion of Ford Road near Newport to through traffic. Some nearby residents including in the Rolling Homes and Ponderosa Mobile Estates mobile home parks objected to that concept, saying they routinely use Ford Road as a way to get to Harbor Boulevard without having to battle the traffic that builds up where the 55 Freeway ends at 19th Street. Others said they were worried such a closure would make it more difficult for emergency responders to access the area or for residents to leave quickly should the need arise. The closure will not only make commuting and travel difficult for us but will worsen the traffic on Newport Boulevard as it flows south out of the 55 Freeway, nearby resident John Boccia wrote in an Aug. 10 letter to the city. From an environmental standpoint, the area needs more relief from traffic, and this project will not only worsen traffic but inconvenience taxpaying citizens and raise pollution in an area severely impacted as is. The response wasnt universally negative, however. Some residents living along Ford have expressed support for the idea, as they think it could help slow traffic and reduce problems stemming from people cutting through or loitering in their neighborhood. In response to the public concerns, The Olson Co. has revised the project to include a one-way, privately owned access from Newport Boulevard for vehicular, bike and pedestrian access, according to planning documents. Vehicles would use Ford Road to exit the site. Mondays Planning Commission meeting starts at 6 p.m. in City Hall, 77 Fair Drive. luke.money@latimes.com Twitter @LukeMMoney A Huntington Beach city attorney candidate the city disqualified from running for the office may have to wait until at least the next election cycle to get his name on the ballot after an Orange County Superior Court judge Friday denied his request to expedite a hearing challenging the citys position. Jerry Friedman, who earned his law degree at the University of West Los Angeles in 2013, was disqualified by City Clerk Robin Estanislau on July 30 because he didnt graduate from a law school accredited by the American Bar Assn., one of the four requirements to run for Huntington Beach city attorney. About a week later, Friedmans attorney, Christine Kelly, petitioned the California Supreme Court for an order to stop the city from enforcing the rule and to reinstate him to the race. Kelly contends the accreditation requirement is unique, arbitrary and capricious and violates Friedmans fundamental right to hold elected office. The case was passed down to the state 4th District Court of Appeal, and a hearing was scheduled for Sept. 21 in Orange County Superior Court. But for Friedman to be able to make the ballot, Kelly needed to try to move up the hearing to beat the Orange County registrar of voters Sept. 11 cutoff date. However, on Friday, Judge Robert Moss denied that request, meaning that whatever happens at the hearing, Friedman more likely than not will have to sit out this election unless the city chooses to do the right thing, Kelly said in an interview. Filing an appeal isnt an option, she said. Friedman said he was outraged that Huntington Beach has obstructed his every effort to get on the ballot. But he hasnt lost hope, he said. The court has the power to order the ballots be reprinted if it [rules] in your favor, he said. City Attorney Michael Gates, who is seeking reelection in November, has called Friedmans legal action politically motivated and inappropriate and said it doesnt make sense to challenge only one of the four requirements. Moss ruling suggests the end of the line for Friedman, Gates said Friday. Kelly, referring to Gates, said, If a candidate is confident in his abilities, he wouldnt mind having an opposition. This is Friedmans second dispute with the city this year. In April, Gates took legal action intended to stop Friedmans client Daniel Horgan from circulating a petition seeking to put a proposal on the local ballot to ban semiautomatic and automatic guns in Huntington Beach. Gates argued that Horgans proposal was unconstitutional, invalid and not entitled to a place on the ballot. Friedman hit back in May by filing a motion accusing the city of violating his clients free-speech rights. At the end of May, Gates asked the court to drop the citys lawsuit after learning that Horgan wouldnt submit signatures from his gun petition, making the case moot. In July, Friedman filed a court motion seeking $14,385 from the city for 46 hours of work on behalf of his client. A judge denied his request Aug. 3. Priscella.Vega@latimes.com Twitter: @vegapriscella An Orange County Superior Court judge this week ordered the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to restore many of the redactions in a report prepared by a firm that investigated what led to alleged inaccuracies in application for a prestigious academic award submitted by Mariners Elementary School. District officials filed the report with Judge Linda Marks in March so she could conduct a private court inspection to determine how much of the report could be made public. Newport-Mesa officials had argued they shouldnt publicly disclose many of the findings in the interest of protecting the privacy rights of employees. After reviewing the report filed under seal, Marks found the redactions exceeded those necessary to protect the privacy of third parties and instructed the district to black out only to the extent they identify employees, staff or students, according to minutes dated Sept. 4. Marks directed the district to not overly redact information ... directly relevant to then-Principal Laura Canzone or the program at issue. Lastly, Marks ordered Newport-Mesa to un-redact the credibility determinations of the investigator with the exception of employee identities and the dates of interviews. Asked for comment, district spokeswoman Annette Franco said in an email Friday that to our knowledge, there has not been a final ruling on this matter and therefore we do not have information to share at this time. John Caldecott, the districts former director of human resources, petitioned last year for a court order to make public documents related to the investigation. After promising the public that this report would be available, they have delayed and challenged and appealed, and theyre finally going to be held accountable for what they committed to the public, Caldecott said in an interview this week. In 2016, teachers at the Newport Beach school alleged inaccuracies in a Gold Ribbon Award application that Canzone submitted to the California Department of Education the previous fall, when she was known as Laura Sacks. The school received the award. Canzone later requested new duties and was transferred to Costa Mesa Middle School as a principal on special assignment. Shortly after the district announced that an independent investigation of the matter had been completed by Dana Point-based Nicole Miller and Associates, Canzone submitted a letter of resignation in March 2017. Priscella.Vega@latimes.com Twitter: @vegapriscella An Armenian gay and lesbian group in Glendale will be holding its third roundtable Saturday for LGBTQ Armenians, their parents, families and friends to discuss issues about their sexual identity and brainstorm ways to reduce stigma in the Armenian community. The biggest fear that everyone has is the fear of isolation from the community, said Erik Adamian, a board member of the 20-year-old Gay and Lesbian Armenian Society, or GALAS. By meeting and sharing experiences and concerns in what Admanian describes as a culture still fixated on traditional gender roles, a kind of subcommunity builds within the Armenian community that hasnt existed before, he said. The sessions, moderated by mental health professionals and typically kicked off with a short film as a conversation starter, draw on the Armenian custom of socializing over a cup of coffee, or soorj. The first Soorj Session held in April was so popular the group decided to make it a recurring event. By the second session, Adamian said he could already see a bond forming between some of the attendees. According to Adamian, like other minority groups, Armenians often emphasize the importance of preserving their culture by marrying someone of the opposite sex, having children and passing down traditions. Those who dont choose that path can be marginalized, Adamian said. Everyone has their own place and sometimes that place is very gendered, he said. While the Soorj Sessions were initially envisioned as youth-focused, GALAS organizers realized that parents and allies also needed a place to process and share their experiences an aspect that became the focus of the last two sessions. While Adamian, who learned about GALAS four years ago, has noticed a positive shift in the Armenian community toward LGBTQ individuals over the past few years, he said its still tempered. Its a shift of complicity its, its OK you exist, as long as you dont talk about your experiences. Still, he said when he went to Armenian-owned businesses looking to participate in fundraising, he was surprised by the lack of hostility, and some businesses were willing to help. For its two-decade anniversary, GALAS will roll out additional programs in the coming months, including presentations at local schools with significant Armenian populations. The organization also plans to offer college scholarships to students of Armenian descent involved in LGBTQ activism. To protect the privacy of attendees, the location of the Soorj Session, running from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday is only provided to those who RSVP and confirm participation. To participate or learn more about this or other GALAS events, email info@galasla.org or visit the Facebook page GALASLosAngeles. lila.seidman@latimes.com Twitter: @lila_seidman Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we ponder all the money in purses at Kentucky Downs. If you plan to make a trip to Los Alamitos this meet, Saturday is probably the best day. There are two stakes races, yes, only worth $75,000 each, but with a lineup of some nice graded stakes horses. Ive often mentioned that I like going to Los Al every once in a while. Sure, it needs updating and there is no turf course. But, the longest stretch in the U.S. and the tight turns make it interesting andif your horse is in frontexcruciating to watch. So, heres whats on tap. The first stakes is the $75,000 E.B. Johnson Stakes for Cal-breds going a mile. It should be off just before 3:30 p.m. The very popular Soi Phet is the two-time defending champion, but his popularity comes from him being 10 years old, which for racing thoroughbreds is about 1,000 in human years. (OK, exaggeration.) Need we say hes a gelding? He likes Los Al, having won five stakes races there. In fact, in nine starts, hes finished first or second seven times. Hes won 15 of his lifetime 60 races. Hes 3-1 on the morning line. The favorite is Edwards Going Left, who is dripping in class. Hes won seven of 13 races but has been running, but not winning, on the graded stakes level. He finished fourth in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby at Del Mar, third in the Grade 1 Triple Bend at Santa Anita and second in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes, also at Santa Anita. Hes 5-2 on Russ Hudaks morning line. The other stakes is the $75,000 Beverly J. Lewis Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going six furlongs. It should be going just before 4:30 p.m. Gas Station Sushi is the favorite in that and has a trainer-jockey combination of Richard Baltas and Mario Gutierrez . Gas Station Sushi has won two of her three races including a Grade 3 at Keeneland. In her only non-winning start she finished third in a Grade 2 at Churchill Downs. Well leave it to you to figure out what to do with Rayya, who is 2-1 on the morning line. Shes won two of six but has been running the big-time races. She finished second in the UAE Derby in Dubai but was 13 th in the Kentucky Oaks. She hasnt raced since the Oaks. Shes now in the Bob Baffert barn and will have Joe Talamo riding her. Talamo jumped off Spiced Perfection, owned in part by Times contributor Mike Tierney , to ride the Baffert horse. Tiago Pereira picked up the mount on Spiced Perfection. I have to say that the Kentucky Downs meeting in Franklin is really something to behold. I should try and get there next year. This is the only time I can recall in the Big Races preview (see below) that every race on the card is worth more than $100,000. Thats some serious coin. And, all 10 races are on the turf. Its truly the little track that could. Hardcore Troubador went gate to wire to win Fridays 5 -furlong allowance feature for Cal-breds. He held a 2 length lead entering the stretch but held firm to win by one length under jockey Ruben Fuentes . Hardcore Troubador paid $8.40, $4.00 and $3.60. King Abner was second and JTs A.T.M. was third. Los Alamitos announced that beginning next Thursday they are moving the post back to 2 p.m. Its the same time as the Fair meeting had between 2014 and 2017. Los Al is also adding another pick five on the final five races. It has a 50-cent minimum and starts on Thursday. As for Friday, we did the preview of the stakes races up top, so not much left to say. But here are the field sizes, in order: 6, 6, 9, 6, 10, 7, 12, 7, 10. She dueled 3-wide through the first opening quarter, she then settled behind the two leaders, made wide move around the turn and battled the entire stretch to just miss by a nose. A repeat effort makes her a top contender and I like that she has a win over this track. Fridays result: Always Never was strong from the gate but didnt have anything left mid-stretch and got passed by a pack of horses to end up fifth. Jose Contreras is an excellent handicapper and well known on social media and familiar to racing fans watching on TVG. You can follow him on Twitter at @losponies or check him out at his website . Trainer Valentin Zamudio has a terrific record with first-out claims and he shows great confidence with this gelding who returns for maiden $8,000 after dropping a neck photo at the maiden $4,000 level in last start five weeks ago. He also gets a positive rider switch from Juan Andrade to Ramon Sanchez . I suggest a win wager on Wire Tap while making exactas of 6-4 and 6-5. Always looking to add more subscribers to this newsletter. Cant beat the price. If you like it, tell someone. If you dont like it, then youre probably not reading this. Either way, send to a friend and just have them click here and sign up . Remember, its free, and all we need is your email, nothing more. Any thoughts, you can reach me at johnacherwa@gmail.com . You can also feed my ego by following me on Twitter @jcherwa Los Alamitos Race Course Charts Results for Friday, September 7. Copyright 2018 by Equibase Company. Reproduction prohibited. Los Alamitos Race Course, Los Alamitos, California. 2nd day of a 12-day meet. Clear & Fast FIRST RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $21,000. Maiden Claiming. Fillies. 2 year olds. Claiming Prices $50,000-$40,000. Time 22.71 46.82 59.40 1:06.17 Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 5 Pretty Hussar 122 5 1 31 21 11 11 Pereira 0.90 3 Don'tbeboisterous 122 3 5 6 6 41 22 Talamo 4.10 2 Derby Royalty 117 2 3 2hd 32 36 31 Figueroa 15.40 1 Sharp Image 122 1 2 1 1 2hd 42 Bednar 3.50 6 Zo Lo's Lov 117 6 6 51 51 58 517 Espinoza 4.20 4 Great Salvation 113 4 4 48 47 6 6 McDaid 52.40 5 PRETTY HUSSAR 3.80 2.20 2.20 3 DON'TBEBOISTEROUS 3.60 3.20 2 DERBY ROYALTY 4.20 $1 EXACTA (5-3) $6.10 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (5-3-2-1) $5.34 $1 TRIFECTA (5-3-2) $25.40 WinnerPretty Hussar B.f.2 by Fighting Hussar out of Lovely Instinct, by Henny Hughes. Bred by BG Stables (CA). Trainer: Hector O. Palma. Owner: BG Stables. Mutuel Pool $72,591 Exacta Pool $42,806 Superfecta Pool $25,955 Trifecta Pool $29,918. Scratchednone. PRETTY HUSSAR dueled three deep, took a short lead in upper stretch and gamely inched away in the final furlong under some left handed urging. DON'TBEBOISTEROUS broke slowly, settled outside a rival then a bit off the rail, came three wide into the stretch and finished well. DERBY ROYALTY dueled between horses, fell back slightly leaving the turn, continued outside a rival in the stretch and bested the others. SHARP IMAGE had good early speed and dueled inside, fought back on the turn and into the stretch and weakened in the final furlong. ZO LO'S LOV hesitated to be away well behind the field, angled and saved ground off the pace, came out some into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. GREAT SALVATION tossed her head at the start, pulled and stalked a bit off the rail then inside on the turn, came out in the stretch and gave way. The stewards conducted an inquiry into the start before ruling ZO LO'S LOV was the cause of her own trouble. SECOND RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $12,000. Waiver Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $6,250. Time 21.81 45.20 57.12 1:03.46 Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 5 Montu 124 5 7 5hd 4hd 1hd 1 Quinonez 1.40 6 Canada 124 6 5 4 52 2hd 22 Mt Garcia 35.10 3 Hackleton 124 3 3 31 31 31 31 Pedroza 4.10 4 Particle of Energy 124 4 2 2hd 2hd 4 43 Harvey 12.50 1 Always Never 124 1 1 11 11 58 511 Bednar 3.80 7 Rafter One 124 7 6 61 61 61 63 Sanchez 2.40 2 Sterling Wager 124 2 4 7 7 7 7 Allen 72.20 5 MONTU 4.80 3.40 2.60 6 CANADA 18.20 7.60 3 HACKLETON 3.00 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (5-5) $10.20 $1 EXACTA (5-6) $39.90 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (5-6-3-4) $45.62 $1 TRIFECTA (5-6-3) $144.40 WinnerMontu Dbb.c.4 by Dialed In out of Casa Pippo, by Deputy Commander. Bred by Ladyswell Bloodstock LLC (KY). Trainer: Leonard Powell. Owner: Deegan, Joseph, Pais, Alfred and Zephyr Racing LLC. Mutuel Pool $57,974 Daily Double Pool $17,775 Exacta Pool $40,538 Superfecta Pool $20,358 Trifecta Pool $23,083. ClaimedMontu by Chung, Greame, Hui, Patrick and Tipton, John. Trainer: Isidro Tamayo. Scratchednone. MONTU chased off the rail, came three wide into the stretch, bid four wide between horses to gain the lead nearing the eighth pole and gamely prevailed under urging. CANADA stalked three deep between foes then outside on the turn, came four wide into the stretch, bid five wide a furlong out and continued willingly alongside the winner. HACKLETON close up stalking the pace a bit off the rail then inside, bid between rivals in the stretch and bested the others. PARTICLE OF ENERGY pressed then stalked the pace outside a rival bid outside the pacesetter in upper stretch then between foes in the drive and weakened in the final furlong. ALWAYS NEVER sped to the early lead, inched away along the inside into the turn, fought back along the rail in upper stretch and weakened. RAFTER ONE stalked four wide then three deep on the turn and into the stretch and had little left for the stretch. STERLING WAGER saved ground stalking the pace, continued inside on the turn and in the stretch and gave way. THIRD RACE. 6 Furlongs. Purse: $28,000. Starter Allowance. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $50,000. Time 22.14 45.43 57.35 1:09.65 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 5 Invasion Looming 124 5 1 3 2hd 1 1nk Pena 5.20 6 Saratoga Morning 115 6 4 41 41 42 21 Espinoza 3.00 2 It Makes Sense 120 2 2 2hd 1hd 3hd 3 Roman 1.10 1 Old Indian Trick 120 1 3 1hd 31 21 42 Pereira 7.90 3 Bob's Bad Boy 124 3 5 51 51 54 56 Elliott 8.60 4 Isee It in Hiseyes 120 4 6 6 6 6 6 Ceballos 7.20 5 INVASION LOOMING 12.40 5.00 3.60 6 SARATOGA MORNING 4.00 2.80 2 IT MAKES SENSE 2.40 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (5-5) $51.20 $1 EXACTA (5-6) $22.30 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (5-6-2-1) $17.75 $1 TRIFECTA (5-6-2) $81.60 WinnerInvasion Looming Grr.g.4 by Exchange Rate out of Lily Luna, by Saarland. Bred by VinMar Farm (KY). Trainer: Charles S. Treece. Owner: Andrews, Andy and Martindale, Ken. Mutuel Pool $78,827 Daily Double Pool $5,473 Exacta Pool $49,168 Superfecta Pool $19,062 Trifecta Pool $27,381. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (5-5-5) paid $44.40. Pick Three Pool $21,709. INVASION LOOMING dueled three deep, took a short lead in midstretch and held on gamely under urging. SARATOGA MORNING pressed the pace four wide then stalked on the turn, came four wide into the stretch, re-bid outside the winner in deep stretch and continued willingly. IT MAKES SENSE dueled between horses, put a head in front in upper stretch, fought back between foes in the drive and held third. OLD INDIAN TRICK had good early speed and dueled inside, fought back along the rail in the stretch and was edged for the show. BOB'S BAD BOY bobbled at the break, stalked a bit off the rail then inside, came out into the stretch and again in upper stretch and lacked a further response. ISEE IT IN HISEYES chased outside then off the rail, came five wide into the stretch and weakened. FOURTH RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $40,000. Maiden Special Weight. 2 year olds. Time 21.46 44.96 57.15 1:03.70 Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 6 Strictly Biz 122 6 5 1hd 11 12 14 Pereira 14.60 1 Tut 122 1 4 52 41 32 23 Gutierrez 1.50 7 Midnight Mystery 122 7 2 31 2hd 2hd 3ns Talamo 0.90 8 Bully for Eric 122 8 6 4hd 64 41 43 Hernandez 54.10 2 Lincoln City 122 2 7 75 72 72 5 Pedroza 72.50 4 Tikkun Olam 122 4 3 64 5hd 61 61 Franco 76.50 5 Gleyber 122 5 1 2hd 31 51 72 Bejarano 5.00 3 Lingua Franca 122 3 8 8 8 8 8 Conner 32.90 6 STRICTLY BIZ 31.20 9.20 4.60 1 TUT 3.20 2.60 7 MIDNIGHT MYSTERY 2.20 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (5-6) $138.00 $1 EXACTA (6-1) $56.60 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (6-1-7-8) $81.73 $1 TRIFECTA (6-1-7) $115.90 WinnerStrictly Biz Ch.c.2 by Fed Biz out of Ipi Tombe (ZIM), by Manshood (GB). Bred by Colts Neck Stables LLC (KY). Trainer: Brian J. Koriner. Owner: Jay Em Ess Stable. Mutuel Pool $112,008 Daily Double Pool $10,582 Exacta Pool $57,035 Superfecta Pool $31,087 Trifecta Pool $36,082. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (5-5-6) paid $160.40. Pick Three Pool $9,845. STRICTLY BIZ dueled between horses, inched away off the rail on the turn, drifted out a bit into the stretch and won clear under some urging and steady handling. TUT stalked inside, came out on the turn and three deep into the stretch, angled back to the inside and was clearly second best. MIDNIGHT MYSTERY dueled three deep then stalked outside a rival leaving the turn, came three wide into the stretch, drifted in a bit and just held third. BULLY FOR ERIC had speed four wide then stalked outside, came four wide into the stretch and was narrowly edged for the show. LINCOLN CITY came off the rail and chased off the inside on the backstretch and turn and lacked a rally in the lane. TIKKUN OLAM stalked a bit off the rail, came out in the stretch and weakened. GLEYBER had good early speed off the rail, angled in and dueled inside, stalked on the turn, came out into the stretch and also weakened. LINGUA FRANCA broke a bit slowly, angled in and saved ground off the pace, continued inside on the turn and in the stretch and was not a threat. FIFTH RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $25,000. Starter Allowance. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $25,000. Time 23.75 47.48 1:12.12 1:24.10 1:36.21 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 4 Beantown Boys 124 4 5 4 51 3hd 1hd 1 Pena 5.30 3 Exotic Ghost 124 3 3 22 21 1hd 21 2ns Quinonez 4.30 6 Point Piper 124 6 4 6 6 6 41 3 Gutierrez 1.10 2 Crown the Kitten 119 2 2 51 3hd 41 3 42 Espinoza 4.60 5 Upper Room 124 5 6 3hd 4hd 5hd 52 59 Conner 6.80 1 Kona Coast 119 1 1 1 1hd 21 6 6 Figueroa 11.00 4 BEANTOWN BOYS 12.60 5.40 2.80 3 EXOTIC GHOST 5.60 3.00 6 POINT PIPER 2.20 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (6-4) $175.60 $1 EXACTA (4-3) $33.20 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (4-3-6-2) $16.44 $1 TRIFECTA (4-3-6) $99.10 WinnerBeantown Boys Dbb.g.4 by Midnight Lute out of Dina Gold, by Seeking the Gold. Bred by Gabriel Duignan & Maidenhead Bloodstock (KY). Trainer: Genaro Vallejo. Owner: Battle Born Racing Stable, Pristinus Stables and Branch, William. Mutuel Pool $89,346 Daily Double Pool $9,450 Exacta Pool $42,790 Superfecta Pool $14,372 Trifecta Pool $22,178. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (5-6-4) paid $290.90. Pick Three Pool $16,690. $1 Pick Four (5-5-6-4) 4 correct paid $727.90. Pick Four Pool $45,632. 50-Cent Pick Five (5-5-5-6-4) 5 correct paid $1,189.00. Pick Five Pool $199,133. BEANTOWN BOYS stalked the pace three deep, came four wide into the stretch, gained the advantage outside a rival in midstretch, drifted in some and held on gamely under urging. EXOTIC GHOST stalked early then bid outside a rival to duel for the lead, took a short advantage three deep into the stretch, fought back off the rail, also drifted in some in the final furlong and went on willingly to the wire. POINT PIPER four wide into the first turn, chased off the rail, came three wide into the stretch and closed gamely. CROWN THE KITTEN saved ground stalking the pace, continued inside in the drive and finished willingly along the rail. UPPER ROOM four wide into the first turn, angled in and stalked between horses and lacked the needed rally. KONA COAST sped to the early lead, set the pace inside then dueled along the rail, came out into the stretch, then drifted in and weakened. SIXTH RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $15,000. Starter Allowance. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $8,000. Time 21.71 45.06 56.95 1:03.48 Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 10 Red Wine and Dine 124 10 1 11 11 11 1 Delgadillo 10.10 9 New Karma 119 9 3 5 51 52 2 Figueroa 4.70 1 Louden's Gray 124 1 4 4hd 41 21 31 Pedroza 15.40 2 Hot Perfection 119 2 2 92 8hd 6 4 Espinoza 28.40 3 Tomasino 124 3 7 31 3hd 4hd 52 Pereira 4.20 8 Mason B 124 8 5 2hd 21 3hd 6 Maldonado 50.50 5 Bow and Arrow 124 5 10 10 10 10 7 Roman 1.20 7 Pick One 124 7 8 73 72 83 8 Allen 40.30 4 Tiz Love 124 4 6 61 6hd 7hd 92 Aragon 13.10 6 Go Ghetto 119 6 9 8hd 92 9hd 10 Payeras 8.60 10 RED WINE AND DINE 22.20 11.00 8.20 9 NEW KARMA 6.20 4.60 1 LOUDEN'S GRAY 7.40 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (4-10) $239.80 $1 EXACTA (10-9) $55.30 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (10-9-1-2) $1,062.70 $1 TRIFECTA (10-9-1) $826.70 WinnerRed Wine and Dine B.g.5 by Prime Timber out of Romance Writer, by Bertrando. Bred by Richard Barton Enterprises (CA). Trainer: Rafael DeLeon. Owner: Jaime Roberto Renella. Mutuel Pool $158,924 Daily Double Pool $10,043 Exacta Pool $104,549 Superfecta Pool $60,263 Trifecta Pool $70,860. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (6-4-10) paid $1,072.80. Pick Three Pool $20,036. RED WINE AND DINE had speed outside than inched away and angled in a half mile out, set the pace off the rail then inside on the turn, came off the inside in the stretch and held on gamely under urging. NEW KARMA four wide early, angled in on the backstretch, stalked outside then three deep on the turn and into the stretch and finished well. LOUDEN'S GRAY stalked inside, came out in upper stretch then angled back to the rail and bid along the fence in deep stretch. HOT PERFECTION between horses early, chased inside and finished with interest along the fence. TOMASINO close up stalking the pace a bit off the rail then outside a rival leaving the turn, could not summon the needed late kick. MASON B had speed off the rail and was in bit close off the heels of the winner a half mile out, stalked off the inside, bid outside that one into the stretch and weakened in the final furlong. BOW AND ARROW dropped back off the rail on the backstretch and turn, came three wide into the stretch and lacked the needed rally. PICK ONE stalked between horses and steadied in tight on the backstretch, continued outside and four wide into the stretch and also lacked a rally. TIZ LOVE chased between foes and also steadied in tight on the backstretch, continued off the rail on the turn and into the stretch and did not rally. GO GHETTO also chased between horses and steadied in tight on the backstretch, continued outside a rival then a bit off the rail on the turn and weakened. SEVENTH RACE. 5 Furlongs. Purse: $45,000. Allowance Optional Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Price $20,000. Time 21.71 44.62 56.50 1:02.96 Pgm Horse Wt PP St 3/8 Str Fin Jockey $1 1 Hardcore Troubador 124 1 1 11 1 12 11 Fuentes 3.20 3 King Abner 119 3 2 2hd 31 2 23 Espinoza 2.20 2 J T's A. T. M. 120 2 5 3 22 33 3hd Franco 8.30 4 Tanners Pride 122 4 6 61 41 42 44 Pereira 3.00 7 Older Brother 120 7 4 5hd 7 51 5 Gutierrez 2.70 5 Pamper Me Now 124 5 7 7 6 6 61 Pena 44.30 6 Croissant 115 6 3 41 5hd 7 7 Payeras 60.70 1 HARDCORE TROUBADOR 8.40 4.00 3.60 3 KING ABNER 3.40 3.00 2 J T'S A. T. M. 5.40 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (10-1) $162.00 $1 EXACTA (1-3) $14.00 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (1-3-2-4) $17.52 $1 TRIFECTA (1-3-2) $80.50 WinnerHardcore Troubador B.g.4 by Roi Charmant out of Farallon, by Good Journey. Bred by Richard Barton Enterprises (CA). Trainer: Edward R. Freeman. Owner: Edward R. Freeman. Mutuel Pool $166,377 Daily Double Pool $14,082 Exacta Pool $86,485 Superfecta Pool $43,070 Trifecta Pool $56,113. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (4-10-1) paid $324.70. Pick Three Pool $16,028. HARDCORE TROUBADOR sped to the early lead, set the pace inside, drifted out on the turn outside a rival leaving the turn, drifted out again into the stretch, kicked clear and held under a steady hand ride. KING ABNER had speed between foes then stalked off the rail, came three deep into the stretch and finished willingly. J T'S A. T. M. stalked inside, bid along the rail leaving the turn, continued inside and held third. TANNERS PRIDE pulled between foes chasing the pace, continued off the rail on the turn and three wide into the stretch and was edged for the show. OLDER BROTHER had speed four wide then stalked outside, came five wide into the stretch, drifted in and weakened. PAMPER ME NOW squeezed back at the start, settled off the rail then angled in and saved ground chasing the pace and did not rally. CROISSANT had speed between horses then stalked between foes then outside on the turn, came four wide into the stretch, drifted in and weakened. EIGHTH RACE. 1 Mile. Purse: $15,000. Maiden Claiming. 3 year olds and up. Claiming Prices $20,000-$18,000. Time 24.21 47.37 1:12.39 1:25.29 1:38.42 Pgm Horse Wt PP St Str Fin Jockey $1 9 Acclimate 119 9 5 3hd 43 31 11 12 Figueroa 6.40 6 Spend It 124 6 9 8 82 52 41 21 Delgadillo 3.00 7 Supreme Giant 124 7 4 51 51 4hd 52 3ns Ceballos 2.70 3 Pulpit's Dirty Red 120 3 1 41 2hd 1hd 3hd 4 Roman 2.10 4 Violent Affair 120 4 2 2 3hd 2 21 54 Elliott 7.30 2 Game of Roans 120 2 8 9 9 81 72 61 Fuentes 32.40 1 Skagit River 120 1 7 72 7hd 7hd 6hd 710 Blanc 18.70 5 Gold and Guns 122 5 3 1hd 1hd 6 83 83 Conner 34.80 8 The Chadinator 118 8 6 62 6hd 9 9 9 Allen 102.50 9 ACCLIMATE 14.80 6.40 4.00 6 SPEND IT 4.40 2.80 7 SUPREME GIANT 2.80 $2 DAILY DOUBLE (1-9) $63.40 $1 EXACTA (9-6) $20.80 10-CENT SUPERFECTA (9-6-7-3) $23.80 $1 SUPER HIGH FIVE (9-6-7-3-4) $414.60 $1 TRIFECTA (9-6-7) $69.60 WinnerAcclimate B.g.4 by Acclamation out of Knows No Bounds, by Boundary. Bred by Old English Rancho, Sal Berumen & PatsyBerumen (CA). Trainer: Kenneth D. Black. Owner: The Ellwood Johnston Trust and Timmy Time Racing. Mutuel Pool $206,821 Daily Double Pool $52,833 Exacta Pool $103,143 Superfecta Pool $58,906 Super High Five Pool $6,083 Trifecta Pool $70,735. Scratchednone. $1 Pick Three (10-1-9) paid $407.40. Pick Three Pool $74,337. $1 Pick Four (4-10-1-9) 4 correct paid $3,189.10. Pick Four Pool $170,135. $2 Pick Six (5-6-4-10-1-9) 5 out of 6 paid $4,714.80. Pick Six Pool $20,961. Pick Six Carryover $11,002. ACCLIMATE five wide into the first turn, dueled four wide then three deep leaving the second turn and into the stretch, inched away under left handed urging a furlong out and won clear. SPEND IT chased a bit off the rail then three deep leaving the backstretch, split horses leaving the second turn, came three wide into the stretch and gained the place. SUPREME GIANT chased off the rail, continued outside on the second turn and four wide into the stretch and edged rivals for the show. PULPIT'S DIRTY RED had good early speed and dueled inside, fought back on the second turn and in the stretch and was edged for third. VIOLENT AFFAIR dueled between horses, also fought back between foes in upper and midstretch and was outfinished for the show. GAME OF ROANS settled outside a rival then off the rail, came three wide into the stretch and lacked a rally. SKAGIT RIVER saved ground chasing the pace, came out some in upper stretch then drifted and also weakened. GOLD AND GUNS dueled three deep between foes, dropped back and angled in on the second turn and gave way. THE CHADINATOR four wide into the first turn, chased off the rail, angled in some on the second turn and had nothing left for the stretch. For seven decades Marie Assaad tackled Egypts controversial social issues with gentle grit and unwavering resolve. A pioneer in the social development field, Assaad gave impetus to combating the prevalent practice in Egypt of female circumcision, also known as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Her initiative in the mid-1990s garnered community organisations, NGOs, the media and the government itself. The persistent campaign brought to national attention a topic that had hitherto been taboo. The campaign was born out of Egyptian civil societys preparation for the UNs International Conference for Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994. A taskforce headed by Asaad to combat FGM was formed. In 2008, the Egyptian government issued a law criminalising FGM, with the first case tried in 2015. Her versatile stints in communal service were characterised by her ability to initiate grassroots action and bring in a broad spectrum of partners in what she called her community of love. She held key positions in both Egyptian and international chapters of the Young Womens Christian Association (YWCA) and was the first woman and non-clerical figure to become deputy secretary-general of the Geneva-based World Council of Churches in 1980. During her six-year tenure with the World Council of Churches, Assaad placed womens issues on the councils agenda, and presented a study on women and sexuality in the different religious traditions. She played a central role in establishing, as well as formulating, a vision for the Moqattam-based Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE). A landmark experiment in Egyptian social development, APE follows a comprehensive approach, empowering the zabbaleen (garbage collectors) community through education, entrepreneurial projects and instilling awareness of the importance of a sound environment. Born Marie Bassili on 16 October 1922 in the Cairene district of Faggala, Assaads voluntary social work started early. As a schoolgirl at the Cairo American College for Girls, she volunteered to tend to disadvantaged families suffering tuberculosis, and giving literacy instruction to their children. She became active with the Egyptian branch of the YWCA as junior leader, and held a 16-month stint with the World YWCA in Geneva in the early 1950s. She became secretary-general of the Egyptian YWCA, which became more closely consolidated with the World YWCA, but resigned when she married in 1954, though continuing to volunteer for the organisation. In 1965, Assaad joined the American University in Cairos Social Research Center, focusing her anthropological research on population studies. In 1970, she published her seminal study on FGM in Egypt and Africa, the first of its kind to cover such a wide-scale range as well as shed light on the social and cultural factors perpetuating female circumcision. It became the basis of work for the committee preparing for the 1994 ICPD Conference. During the campaign against FGM, Assaad typically opened up boundaries, bringing both Muslim and Christian clerics to the table. Despite her autonomy and refusal to take on formal positions, she did not hesitate to solicit the support of the government. Combating FGM consequently took centre-place in the agenda of the government-affiliated Council for Motherhood and Childhood. Born an Orthodox Copt, Assaad was a deeply spiritual woman who played a role in establishing The Coptic Churchs Bishopric for Social and Ecumenical Services. Her concept of service was faith-based, laced with a warmth emanating from her ability to reach out and with empathy to accept diverse strains of thought. She called the friends and working partners whom she garnered and cherished over the years her social capital: a community of love, given and reciprocated. At the funerary service which was held on Sunday, family and friends of all ages attended. Bishop Moussa, bishop of youth at the Coptic Orthodox Church spoke of Assaad as an icon of love, touching upon her diverse roles as a mentor in public life, within the Church, and through the deep personal bonds she forged with people of all denominations. She transcended the boundaries of rich and poor, educated and ignorant, Christian and Muslim, Moussa said. Assaad is survived by her three sons Adel, Hani and Ragui, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and the countless people whose lives, like this writer, she touched with her legacy of love. * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 September 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: A legacy of love Search Keywords: Short link: While Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, a key Kremlin ally, is poised to be reelected with no serious challengers Sunday, the real political test in this round of Russias regional elections appears to be President Vladimir Putins ability to stem growing public discontent over his proposed reforms. As Russians across the country go to the polls to elect governors, mayors and regional legislatures, opposition leaders left off the ballots are calling for nationwide protests against a Putin-backed proposal to raise the countrys retirement age. The unpopular reform plan has driven Putins public approval rating down by 15 points since the proposal was introduced in June. The discontent is the most serious to Putins rule since 2011, when hundreds of thousands demonstrated against voting fraud in his election to a third term. Putin last month made a public plea on live television for Russians to accept the pension reform plan. The plan, which is currently making its way through parliament, would raise the retirement age from 55 to 60 for women and from 60 to 65 for men. Critics of the plan say its an attempt by the Kremlin to shortchange its citizens, since statistically few will live long enough to collect. The average life expectancy for Russian men is 67. Advertisement Sobyanin, 60, is a key figure in Putins circle of power. Moscows mayoral election is particularly important because of the Russian capitals economic might. But a low turnout could mar Sobyanins all-but-assured win. The city has countered the demonstration calls with a get-out-the-vote campaign that enlisted 10,000 volunteers. Posters around Moscow promised music, food and childrens activities at polling stations, and voting hours were extended to 10 p.m. A former chief of staff for the Russian president, Sobyanin was appointed by then-President Dmitri Medvedev in 2010 to replace Yuri Luzhkov, who was dismissed amid allegations of corruption and that he ran Moscow like his personal fiefdom. Sobyanin will face four other candidates on Sunday who are generally seen as Kremlin approved. None of them are polling higher than 14%. Since his appointment, Sobyanin has overseen massive renovation projects that have changed the face of Europes biggest city to the tune of about $3.5 billion. Sobyanin supporters praise the mayors project to widen city sidewalks, repave streets and build new metro stations. Polls have shown his approval rating as high as 70%. His opponents accuse him of corruption, nepotism and silencing political opposition. A recent public survey suggested that less than one-third of Moscows 7 million registered voters would turn out on Sunday. Another study by the independent Levada Center polling outfit found that 53% of Russians were ready to public protest against the proposed pension plan. As with other elections, including Putins reelection to a fourth term in March, Russias disparaged opposition has been left off the ballot on Sunday. United Russia, Putins unofficial party, is expected to dominate the races across the country. This election is important only for the authorities, and more precisely, the attendance of the elections is important to the authorities, according to Alexander Goode, 26, a Moscow designer who said he wasnt planning to vote on Sunday. Its so that they can then show everyone how many people voted for the candidate for whom the government forces people to vote for without giving any choice. Looking to capitalize on public fury, opposition leader Alexei Navalny has called for demonstrations against the pension reform plan across the country on Sunday. The fact that he has chosen Sobyanins reelection day is no coincidence: Navalny scared the political establishment when he challenged Sobyanin five years ago in Moscows last mayoral election and received nearly 30% of the vote. Since then, Navalny has become a thorn in the side of both Sobyanin and Putin. His demonstrations against what he claims is a Kremlin-orchestrated system of corruption in the country have drawn thousands of protesters to the streets. Hundreds have been arrested at the unsanctioned rallies. A fraud charge he said was politically motivated precluded Navalny from registering to run against Putin for president earlier this year. A court last month sentenced Navalny to 30 days behind bars for organizing an unsanctioned protest in January, meaning the opposition leader will not be in attendance Sunday. On Thursday, Navalnys team released a video on his popular YouTube channel accusing Sobyanin of financing a troll factory to promote his bid for reelection, among other transgressions. I do not plan to go to the protest, because to be honest, I do not see the point in this either, said Margarita Kovalchuk, 29, an account director in Moscow who didnt support Sobyanin and didnt plan to vote on Sunday. Despite not supporting Sobyanin politically, Kovalchuk credited him for Moscows new, green riverfront parks and extensive system of bike paths, which she likes. She has participated in protests since 2011, when Russia saw massive demonstrations against vote falsification during Putins election to his third term. I burned out, she said in reference to Sundays protest. Not because my opinion has changed, but simply because it is physically unpleasant to look at the fact that all your attempts and actions lead to nothing. sabra.ayres@latimes.com Twitter: @sabraayres Ayres is a special correspondent. Iraqi security forces deployed on the streets of Basra on Saturday, a day after protesters in the southern city stormed the Iranian consulate and torched government buildings in violence that rocked the oil-exporting Shiite heartland and sparked alarm across a conflict-weary country. Masked troops in combat fatigues set up checkpoints and rode through the city center in black pickup trucks with heavy weapons mounted in the back. Security forces in Humvees deployed at intersections. The deployment came after an alliance of powerful Shiite militias, many of them backed by Iran, vowed to respond to the violent protests that have gripped the city for the past week, raising the threat of further violence. At least 15 people were killed and 249 injured in clashes between protesters and security forces this week, health officials say. Advertisement Since June, Basra has been shaken by the most serious protests in the oil-rich southern region in years, with angry residents complaining of poor public services. In recent days, protests escalated as crowds turned their rage on neighboring Iran, blaming its outsized influence in Iraqs political affairs for their misery and calling for radical change. Iran controls powerful Shiite militias in Basra, home to some of the largest oil fields in Iraq. Raad Abdelhamid, a Basra firefighter, said he fears for Iraq. The militias are responsible for this corruption, he said as he stood outside the still-smoldering provincial government building on Saturday, his second day of working to put out a fire there. I fear Basra is headed for more blood, he added, in tears. A banner on one side of the building read in Arabic: No to the militias, your militias under our feet. Despite the oil wealth, the city has long suffered from government neglect, soaring unemployment and a crumbling infrastructure. Over the last month, thousands of people were hospitalized after drinking polluted water. Angry protesters have torched government buildings and offices belonging to the Iranian-backed militias in the weeklong protests demanding improved services and an end to corruption. On Friday night, protesters chanting anti-Iranian slogans including Iran, out, out! stormed the Iranian consulate and set it on fire. They also burned an Iranian flag and trampled on a portrait of Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghasemi, condemned the attack on the consulate, which he said caused significant damage to the building. He called for maximum punishment for the assailants. The ministry also summoned the Iraqi ambassador to relay Tehrans strong protest. On Saturday, an Iraqi flag was placed at the entrance to the consulate after the Iranian one was torn down and set ablaze. Sprayed in red on the concrete wall of the consulate were the words: Down with Iran, down with the militias, the revolution will continue. The U.S. State Department criticized the attack, without explicitly mentioning Iran. The United States condemns violence against diplomats, including that which occurred today in Basra, it said in a statement Friday. The consulate, which handles visas for four southern governorates and issues between 5,000 to 8,000 tourism and medical visas a day through a travel agency located next to the embassy, stopped issuing visas. The government-sanctioned Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces Hashed in Arabic threatened retaliation Saturday, raising the specter of further escalation. We will have a response to those who are carrying out acts of arson and sabotage, the militias commander, known as Abu Yasser Jaafari, told reporters in Basra. Jaafari said the lack of response thus far should not be taken as a sign of weakness. He spoke at the citys presidential palaces compound, where Shiite paramilitary troops are stationed. On Saturday morning, assailants fired three Katyusha rockets at Iraqs Basra airport, which houses the U.S. consulate, adding to the tensions. An airport official said the attack did not cause casualties or disrupt flights in or out of the city. He spoke on condition of anonymity, citing security concerns.There was no immediate claim of responsibility. During the 70 years that the Kim family has ruled, North Koreas 30-plus massive military parades have been used as much for propaganda, intimidation and internal unity as for commemorating important anniversaries. A look at how the parades have evolved ahead of another march on Sunday, the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Koreas authoritarian government: In this February 1948 photo, Kim Il Sung attends the military parade celebrating the creation of the North Korean Peoples Army. (Associated Press) Advertisement Kim Il Sung (1948-1994) Kim Il Sung, a former guerrilla who gained fame battling Japans colonial rule, established the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea on Sept. 9, 1948. North Koreas first military parade occurred seven months earlier, on Feb. 8, when the country was under Soviet control. The parade at a Pyongyang train station plaza drew Soviet generals and about 20,000 North Korean soldiers wearing Soviet-style insignia. Kim Il Sung, then 35, delivered a speech and repeatedly cheered on his military and fellow dictator Josef Stalin. On Aug. 15, 1949, Kim held a military parade at the same plaza to mark the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of the Korean Peninsula from Japanese occupation. The next year, he launched a sneak attack on South Korea that started a three-year war; parades stopped during the bloodshed. Less than a month after the war ended with an armistice in July 1953, Kim staged another military parade on the liberation anniversary. He then conducted parades every year until 1960, all on Aug. 15, in a bid to boost internal solidarity and control during a series of executions and purges of his political rivals. These parades happened at the square in Pyongyang named after him. From the 1960s to 1980s, he held only three parades as he cemented his grip on power. North Korean women soldiers toting rifles stand at attention during a massive military parade in Pyongyang in 2002. (Katsumi Kasahara / Associated Press) Kim Jong Il (1994-2011) Kim Il Sungs son, Kim Jong Il, took power after his father died in July 1994. But even before this, Kim Jong Il had been sharing power. He was anointed heir apparent in 1973. In 1991, the younger Kim was made the supreme commander of the Norths Korean Peoples Army, the backbone of his familys authoritarian rule. In 1992, Kim Jong Il attended and reviewed a parade marking the armys founding from an elevated veranda along with his father. In a high-pitched voice, the younger Kim briefly shouted to soldiers and residents gathered at Kim Il Sung Plaza, Glory to the heroic Korean Peoples Army soldiers! It was the first chance for outsiders to hear his voice, something that wasnt repeated until 2000, when his conversation with visiting South Korean President Kim Dae-jung was broadcast. From 1993 to 2011, North Korea held a dozen big military parades featuring goose-steppers, tanks, trucks loaded with rockets and missiles. The increase in big parades over the previous two decades came as Kim Jong Il initiated his military first policy while grappling with an international standoff over his nuclear ambitions and a famine that killed hundreds of thousands in the 1990s. Kim Jong Il died in December 2011, and his son Kim Jong Un inherited his power. Kim Jong Un at the end of a parade in Pyongyang in 2012. (David Guttenfelder / Associated Press) Kim Jong Un (2011-present) Previously little known to the outside world, Kim Jong Un made his public debut at a military parade in October 2010, standing next to his gaunt-looking father on an observation platform. Kim, then 26, had a striking resemblance to his late grandfather, Kim Il Sung. He smiled, clapped and waved his hands as goose-stepping soldiers, tanks and long-range missiles rolled past. The parade was carried live by state TV for the first time, allowing North Koreans and the rest of the world to have a good look at the future leader. In April 2012, Kim made his first televised speech during a military parade marking the 100th birthday of his grandfather. In the speech, Kim said he would strengthen his fathers military-first policy. During his nearly seven years of rule, Kim Jong Un has conducted six big parades, introducing a series of intermediate- and long-range ballistic missiles that he eventually test-launched in defiance of United Nations resolutions. The display of such sophisticated missiles shows Kim is confident about his militarys strength, or he may be trying to use them as leverage in negotiations with the United States, experts say. After three intercontinental ballistic missile launches and a powerful nuclear test last year, Kim said his country had gained the ability to attack the entire U.S. mainland with nuclear missiles. If he shows a new ICBM during Sundays parade, it would probably further complicate relations with the United States amid a stalemate over nuclear diplomacy. They have both spent over five years in jail for crimes they say they never committed, but there were contrasting fortunes for an Egyptian photojournalist and a U.S. citizen on Saturday as a judge ruled that the photojournalist could go free but the American was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid, 31, and Egyptian American dual citizen Moustafa Kassem, 53, were both part of a mass trial of 739 defendants, who largely are suspected to be members of the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, and accused of taking part in a sit-in protest that ended in violence in 2013. For the record: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect first name for former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. Seventy-five of the defendants, including senior Brotherhood members, were given the death penalty and 47 others, including Mohamed Badie, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood, were sentenced to life in prison. In a trial that Amnesty International called a grotesque parody of justice, 419 of the defendants on trial were tried in absentia and five others died before the verdict was issued. Advertisement All the defendants faced the same raft of charges including membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, as well as possession of a weapon, illegal assembly and murder, among other charges. Kassem and Abou Zeid had originally faced the death penalty but learned after the second postponement of the verdict in July that they had been spared that fate. Cheering could be heard coming out of the defendants box nearly the length of the entire large courtroom in Cairo when several prisoners, including photojournalist Abou Zeid popularly known as Shawkan learned that they were one of the 215 prisoners to be sentenced to five years. Since they have already served that amount of time while awaiting trial, it means they can now go free once their release is processed. All, however, will remain under police observation for five years. Standing a few feet from where a beaming Abou Zeid who has become an international symbol for the Egyptian states crackdown on the press was waving and giving a thumbs up to the mainly journalists and lawyers in the courtroom, his lawyer Karim Abdelrady said, I feel happy. Its not a fair sentence but its good because he will be free thats whats important. A few minutes later outside the courtroom Abdelrady added Abou Zeid was just a journalist doing his job and that he intended to launch an appeal in order to clear Abou Zeid entirely of all charges. The prosecution also has the right to appeal the verdict. I just want to see him, said Abou Zeids relieved-looking older brother Mohamed. Standing alone against a car on a nearby street as family were not allowed in the courthouse attached to Tora prison in southern Cairo, the reserved 35-year-old appeared lost for words. I want to see him, he said again. I need to. Kassems sister Eman Kassem said from her home in New York that she was saddened and shocked as she expected a shorter sentence of five years so her brother like Abou Zeid would go free. The 15-year sentence is so unjust, she said. Both Abou Zeid and Kassem, a New York auto-parts dealer, were arrested on Aug. 14, 2013, after security forces raided a protest camp in Rabaa al Adawiya Square in support of the countrys first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi. Six weeks earlier the Muslim Brotherhoods Morsi had been overthrown by the army, with popular support. Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 817 people were killed when security forces moved in to break up the protesters camp. In July the U.S. administration confirmed they were releasing $195 million in military aid to Egypt that had been withheld owing to human rights concerns and Egypts relations with North Korea, though analysts say there has been no improvement on human rights. Abou Zeid, a freelance photojournalist, had been covering the dispersal for a now-defunct British photo agency when he was arrested. Kassem said he had gone to exchange money two miles from the violence in Rabaa al Adawiya Square but was arrested as he returned to his car more than an hour later and found that the chaos has spilled to where he was. What a disgrace, said Kassems U.S.-based lawyer Praveen Madhiraju. Moustafa was beaten and jailed for being an American, he said, referring to Kassem being beaten and arrested by security forces after he pulled out his U.S. passport, according to his brother-in-law who was present at the time. Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have raised Kassems case with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi, whom Trump has previously referred to as fantastic. President Sisi told the Trump administration that hed look into the case and had his prosecutors and courts deliver a middle finger, Madhiraju said. The White House should not sit idly by when so utterly disgraced by an ally. Weve seen what President Trump is prepared to do to free other Americans in Turkey and Venezuela. Moustafa deserves the same attention. Islam is a special correspondent. China is cementing its position as Africas top trade partner and aid donor. At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), a triennial gathering of Chinese and African leaders that has been convening at a summit level since 2000, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised $60 billion of aid, investment and loans to African states. The new pledges, which include $10 billion of investments from Chinese companies, coincide with concerns over the growing level of indebtedness of some African states, particularly to China. Since the launch of FOCAC Africa has borrowed heavily from China. On Monday, when the two-day FOCAC meetings opened, African states indebtedness to Beijing had reached $130 billion. There is a growing sense of worry over the volume of debt African countries owe China, and there are serious concerns over the ability of the most heavily indebted African countries to repay and service the loans, says Mohamed Fayez, Asian Affairs expert at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies. It has been easy for African states to borrow, and Beijing has been keen to provide loans for Africa. China is an easy partner for African states, says Fayez, in the sense that unlike Western donors Beijing does not require borrowing countries to observe any democratic or human rights standards or adopt a particular economic system. It does not place constraints on the spending of the loans or request any follow-up auditing. It is very basic give and take: African countries get aid, loans and investments and China gains influence in a continent rich in natural resources and with an important presence in the UN General Assembly. China is competing over Africa with the US, Japan, India and the old colonial powers and it is winning, says Fayez. Beijing has much more economic presence in countries where it was competing with the US, Japan and India and has significantly marginalised the influence and presence of the old colonial powers. It has not been easy or cost-free for Beijing, says Fayez. The Chinese government and Chinese companies had to be fast and forthcoming in their economic reach-out to a continent desperate for aid, infrastructure and commodities, from cheap kitchenware to armaments. In the process several African countries have significantly improved their infrastructure, either through direct aid or loans from the Chinese government or through cooperation with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, established in 2016 with capital of $100 billion, and the Silk Road Fund, established two years earlier with $40 billion capital. Beijings motivation is to gain economic clout. But it is also about a specific trade strategy, the Belt and Road Initiative [BRI], which Beijing believes will consolidate its economic status internationally, says Fayez. BRI, an ambitious trade and development plan that seeks to connect most of Asia, a good part of Africa and the entire Mediterranean basin, was launched in 2013. An enormous project which requires mega infrastructure, it has proved convenient for many countries in Asia and also in East Africa. Beijing aims to connect Asia with Africa through a series of ports on the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, and through connected railways and roads. Much of the infrastructure is already under construction. China already has a series of connected railways that link cities in east China to cities across Asia and in southern Europe. There is an expressway in Uganda, railways in Angola and Nigeria, an advanced railway in Ethiopia, a railway connecting Tanzania with Zambia and one connecting the capital of landlocked Ethiopia to the port of Dijbouti where Beijing has a military base. In the process, says Fayez, China has become the single largest bilateral financer of infrastructure in Africa. Yes, this helps the development of countries with an established partnership with Beijing, but it is all in the service of BRI. When Egypt thinks of its relations with China it will certainly be eying potential benefits from BRI which will extensively use the Suez Canal, and have spinoffs for Egypt in terms of its trade relations with Africa, especially East Africa with which Egypt has major strategic interests and a sub-regional preferential trade agreement. Intercontinental trade between Egypt and other countries of Africa has always been hampered by the absence of efficient commercial transportation. Now China is building the infrastructure. Egypt and China have excellent relations. Egypt just needs to consolidate its African presence to make the most of an opportunity that is up for grabs. Though BRI is designed to serve the interests of China other countries will inevitably benefit. To what extent depends on how hard they work at it. Fayez agrees with analysts and diplomats who say the ongoing trade battle between the US and China is resulting in Beijing moving faster with its BRI plans. China could end up losing its share of US markets in which case it will need alternatives, and Africa is a big market. As China seeks to move faster with BRI it may well, in the pursuit of stability, lend its backing to conflict management in African countries, says Fayez. China has been during the past year controlling a bigger share of the military purchase of African countries, Fayez said. He explained that some of these armaments are being tried in Africa and are bringing more strength to civil wars there. With the advanced plans of BRI, we could actually see a strategic change in the position of China there, he said. As China continues to build in Africa, African countries accrue more debt. A recent IMF report identified 40 per cent of low-income countries in Africa as suffering a debt distress. There are worries that if countries fail to honour their debts they might have to concede land, ports or natural resources to China, says Fayez. Beijing has already discussed such concessions with Asian countries that are deep in hock to China. Chinas engagement in Africa is not philanthropic. It is seeking advantages, not least the inevitable political influence it will have over African states in the UN which, when needs arise, could be used to halt any attempt by Taiwan to seek UN recognition of its independence and prevent rival Asian powers Japan or India from joining the UN Security Council following any reforms at the international body. But what do African countries gain in return? They might not gain as much as China but there are development and connectivity benefits, says Fayez. Chinese leader Xi Jinping insists Beijing is placing no political conditions on its economic cooperation with Africa. And the current chair of the African Union (AU), Rwandan President Paul Kagame, points out those who are warning Africa of a Chinese debt trap have hardly been at the forefront of aiding the continent. Kagame spoke of the importance of greater cooperation in identifying and meeting Africas development needs and said African countries should work together beneath the AU umbrella to maximise the benefits that accrue through cooperation with China. * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 September 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Development vs debt Search Keywords: Short link: A unit of PLDT Inc. which enables digital business solutions in the Philippines has received a global accreditation for its newly inaugurated Vitro Data Center in Cebu City. NTT Communications recognized the new robust facility of ePLDT as part of its network of Nexcenter-certified data centers, which are located in more than 140 locations in 18 countries. All Nexcenter-accredited data centers passed rigorous in-house parameters set by NTT Communications, ensuring that all facilities meet the globally consistent data center standards in service quality, flexibility and cost efficiency. NTT Communications employs consistent operational procedures across all its data centers worldwide, backed with the benchmarks set by international certifications and operational guidelines such as ISO and Information Technology Infrastructure Library. To date, ePLDT carries a total of five Nexcenter-accredited data centers in Makati, Pasig, Paranaque, Clark and Cebu.This accreditation comes at a very opportune time for the company as we recently launched our premiere data center in Cebu, said Eric Alberto, ePLDT Group president and chief executive. As part of the international network of the state-of-the-art data center facilities around the world, Vitro Cebu 2 is now more capable of offering technology solutions to businesses that are looking to expand their operations in the region. Similar to other Nexcenter-certified data centers across the globe, Vitro Cebu 2 is positioned to empower both local and multinational businesses with global scalability that conforms with NTT Communications consistent data center standards and service quality, Alberto said. Vitro Cebu 2 is ePLDTs 10th data center facility in the country. It houses up to 800 racks, completing ePLDT Vitro Networks 9,150 total rack capacity. The Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday the Philippine government is extending all possible assistance to a Filipino domestic in Kuwait who is being held by the authorities there for allegedly stabbing her employer. The Philippine Embassy in Kuwait is assisting Ulambai Singgayan from Maguindanao, and is in touch with the Kuwaiti authorities investigating her case, the department said. Our Embassy in Kuwait continues to look after our kababayan and is coordinating with the authorities to ensure that her rights are protected, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs Sarah Lou Arriola said. Singgayan and her family here in the Philippines have our assurance that the DFA will provide her with legal and other assistance that she may require, she said. Foreign Affairs said as soon as the embassy learned about the incident, it dispatched a team to the hospital where Singgayan was being treated for injuries inflicted on her by the members of her employers family. Initial reports from the Philippine Embassy said Singgayans employer threatened to have her visa revoked and transfer her to another house where she would be killed.She then allegedly stabbed her employer to defend herself who beat her up for still unknown reasons. Charge dAffaires Charleson Hermosura said Singgayan suffered bruises in her face, chest, and arms. An x-ray conducted in the hospital also showed internal bleeding in her abdomen. Foreign Affairs said it was not immediately clear if Singgayan had been maltreated by her employer before the stabbing incident. He said Singgayan, who was deployed to Kuwait as a household service worker in February 2017, was facing felony charges and was now under hospital arrest. Camp Siongco, MaguindanaoAnother bombing attempt in Mindanao has been foiled after government troops killed two suspected members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in a firefight near a bridge linking North Cotabato and Maguindanao on Friday afternoon. The slain were part of a group under BIFF Commander Esmael Abdulmalik alyas Abu Torayfe, which was transporting three improvised explosive devices (IEDs) through the Kabacan River that would be detonated in Kabacan, North Cotabato. Torayfes group was responsible for the twin bombings in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat that killed five people last week, Col. Alfredo del Rosario, commander of the Philippine Armys 602nd Infantry Brigade, said in text messages to reporters. Three civilians were also wounded in the clash as the ISIS-inspired group exchanged fire with government forces at around 3 pm Friday. One BIFF member, identified as Mohamid Kambilan, was arrested and was being interrogated at the Army base here. Soldiers brought the injured civilians, who lived near the river bank of the encounter site, to the Kabacan hospital. The encounter near Tunggol Bridge in Datu Montawal, Maguindanao was part of government forces pursuit of the ISIS-inspired elements after they received intelligence reports that the BIFF group were transporting the explosives through the Kabacan River.The IEDs came from Sitio Kabasalan, Barangay Darampua, Sultan sa Barongis in Maguindanao and were intended for Kabacan town, Del Rosario said. Ten armed men aboard a motorboat, led by a certain Gapang Sapal, shot at soldiers manning checkpoints at the approach of Tunggol Bridge and another group of soldiers from Bravo company of the 7th Infantry Battalion. As the Armymen pursued the gunmen, another band of armed men engaged them in a 15-minute firefight that forced the closure of highway linking this province with Cotabato for over an hour, the colonel said. Recovered at the site were two M-4 rifles, a Garand rifle, a cal. 45 pistol and several pieces of ammunition, Del Rosario said. The Army colonel advised motorists to avoid traveling at night between Kabacan and Midsayap, North Cotabato, passing the towns of Pagalungan and Datu Montawal in Maguindanao. The portion of the highway linking Pikit, North Cotabato and Pagalungan, Maguindanao had been opened at past 4 pm. President Rodrigo Duterte on Saturday said the military and police should not nurture loyalties to him or any of his Cabinet members but to remain loyal to the flag, saying he is willing to discuss with them (military and police) if they wanted him out as President of the Republic. Duterte made the pronouncement after Senator Antonio Trillanes IV claimed some members of the military were extremely bothered with the presidential proclamation that voided his 2011 amnesty. I said, You should focus your loyalty to the flag of the Philippines and the Constitution.' I told them, frankly, I said I do not need loyalties, Duterte said in a speech on his arrival in Davao City from a six-day state visit to Israel and Jordan. He said he was elected as President and intended to serve the people, adding But if somehow...there is anything that is really demanded of the moment, then there is no problem. Do not bring me the armor or anything. Just tell me. We can have coffee, Ill invite you and I willwell, anybody who is interested, I will administer the oath. Now, what followed or what will follow, rather, thats not my problem, he said. Duterte said there were many ways to oust a president which included impeachment, mutiny, and coup detat. Well, I just want to work. If the Filipinos do not like me, then I will step down. No problem, he said. Trillanes, the most vocal critic of the Duterte administration, said he received messages from some military personnel he did not identify who conveyed their conflicted thoughts on the issue of voiding his amnesty. They are bothered. They are extremely bothered by this political move of their commander-in-chief that they are being subjected to this uncertainty, the senator said.The President said he was not afraid of any coup to oust him, but will step down if the people wanted him out. He said: I dont want them to shoot each other. The military shooting police. So why would I sacrifice the lives of people, my own countrymen to do the? We can go somewhere else? But for me to order to shoot at each other, I will not do it. Duterte said this was not the first time he called on the military to be loyal to the flag. And I do not, I said time and again, this is about perhaps the nth time and all commanders are You can ask them...Dont thank you owe me a debt of gratitude, you deserve to be where you are now and what you got, you have no problem with me, Duterte said. But the intrigues about coups, look, I am here to enforce the law. In the case of Trillanes, the truth is the one who did the research was Calida, just like the research on Sereno. Calida was the one, Duterte said. He was referring to Solicitor General Jose Calida and ousted Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno. iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) -- A New York City taxicab driver who was arrested in Egypt when he went to visit his wife and children has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in a case his lawyers call "bogus" and "a disgrace." Moustafa Kassem, whose sentencing on Saturday came in a mass trial with more than 700 co-defendants, was convicted of trying to overthrow the government of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The U.S. citizen has already been held in Egyptian jails for five years, since his arrest in August 2013 at a checkpoint in Cairo while visiting his wife and two children, then 3 and 6 years old. He was out shopping when security officials detained him, accusing him of being part of protests in a nearby square against a military takeover led by then Gen. Sisi, Kassem's lawyers said. One of Kassem's lawyer called the charges against his client "bogus" claims against "an innocent American." "What a disgrace," said lawyer Praveen Madhiraju, who is executive director of Pretrial Rights International. "The White House and State Department should not sit idly by when so utterly disgraced by an 'ally,'" Madhiraju added. The Egyptian embassy and the White House have not yet responded to ABC News' requests for comment. A State Department spokesperson said it is "deeply concerned by the conviction" and has raised his case "repeatedly with the Egyptian government." The Department of State takes seriously its responsibilities to assist U.S. citizens abroad, the spokesperson said. We will continue providing appropriate consular services. Kassem's case has been followed by the Trump administration, with Vice President Mike Pence saying he raised it directly with Sisi when the two met in Cairo in January. The administration has made a noted priority of freeing Americans unlawfully detained abroad. But Pence's appeal was not enough to free Kassem at the time or help him avoid a conviction now. Kassem is just one of several U.S. citizens currently held by Egypt, swept up in Sisi's enormous crackdown on political opposition and civil society since the military took power following days of protests against the democratically elected government of Mohamed Morsi. While there are about 20 Americans in Egyptian jails, there are as many as 60,000 political prisoners, according to a Human Rights Watch report last year. Sisi has 10 to 12 times as many political prisoners as former Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak, who was forced out in the 2011 Arab Spring, according to a Freedom House report in 2006 during Mubarak's reign. Saturday's mass trial resulted overall in 75 people getting sentenced to death and over 600 to prison for the August 2013 protest that was put down by security forces in what human rights groups say was the single deadliest incident in Sisi's sweep to power, with as many as 800 killed. Kassem, 53, is diabetic with a heart condition. But in Egyptian jails he has been denied regular access to medical treatment, including insulin, his lawyers said. Multiple requests by his family to have him hospitalized have been denied or simply ignored by Egyptian authorities, according to his lawyers. "Moustafa can only be so strong," his sister Iman Kassem said in a statement Saturday. "For his children and to prevent another tragedy, we urge President Sisi to release and pardon Moustafa immediately and for U.S. authorities to help see him home." Without that treatment, Kassem has experienced frequent body tremors, lost control of his extremities temporarily, and had his vision worsen. "It is not clear how much longer he can survive" in detention, his lawyers warned in a petition to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention last month. When Kassem was arrested and presented his U.S. passport, his lawyers say he was beaten, accused of being a spy, and charged with intent to cause chaos and overthrow the government for his alleged involvement in the protests. The Egyptian government had been seeking the death penalty for him, too. Along with the more than 700 other defendants, he had his detention renewed en masse every 45 days for more than five years, according to his lawyers, even though Egyptian law allows for pretrial detention of only two years. Among the others convicted and sentenced Saturday for their alleged roles in the protests are famed Egyptian photojournalist Shawkan, who was covering the protests, as well as several senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders. Cases were dropped against five people who had died while in prison, judicial sources told the news agency. The Trump administration has been accused of going soft on Egypt, with a tight bond and warm words between strongman Sisi and President Trump. In July, the State Department announced it was releasing $195 million in aid to Egypt that had previously been withheld over human rights concerns. Despite Egypt taking no noticeable steps to address human rights issues, the State Department said it was providing the aid "in the spirit of our efforts to further strengthen this partnership," an official told ABC News. The U.S. effort has at times yielded some rewards. In April 2017, Egypt freed Aya Hijazi, a U.S. citizen and humanitarian aid worker, her husband Mohamed Hassanein, and four others after Trump and top aides urged Sisi to do so as a gesture of goodwill. But even then, Trump seemed to blame ousted President Morsi for her detention, according to Hijazi. Morsi is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, a political party with support throughout the Middle East that is seen as a terrorist network by some in the U.S. Hijazi told PBS Newshour that Trump had a "conviction" that Morsi's government arrested her, not the strongman Sisi whom the U.S. president described as "a fantastic guy" just days before Hijazi's release. Copyright 2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. The Ministry of Environment refutes claims Cairo is the most polluted city in the world The Ministry of Environment has criticised a report compiled by the UK-based Eco Experts and published by Forbes magazine which named Cairo the most polluted city on Earth. The ministry released a statement refuting the report which said the Egyptian capital had the worst overall scores of 48 cities when it came to light, noise and air pollution. According to the study, Cairos air is 11.7 times more polluted than the levels recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the citys metropolitan area is bathed in artificial light that is 85 times brighter than the natural sky, making it among the most light polluted worldwide. Noise pollution means Cairenes lives are like spending all day inside a factory. Ambient air quality is monitored year round, said the Ministry of Environment in its response to the report. This kind of study is conducted only by the National Network for Monitoring Ambient Air Pollutants [NNMAAP], which is affiliated to the Ministry of Environment. The data mentioned in the magazine was not obtained from the ministry, which is the only authority legally tasked with identifying indicators of air quality. The Ministry of Environment releases an annual report on its website with all the correct information. The World Health Organisation (WHO), the statement continued, has identified six polluting factors particulate matter, lead, ground level ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide according to which air quality is determined. The magazine article focused on just one factor, particulate matter, and ignored the rest. In this regard, said the Environment Ministry, we note the findings of the 2017 NNMAAP report which clarified that the five other factors didnt exceed Egypt and the WHOs maximum limit. The articles information contradicts the Ministry of Environments own data regarding particulate matter less than 10 micrometres in diameter [PM10]. The article stated that the annual average is 284 micrograms per cubic metre whereas according to the 2017 annual average released by the NNMAAP it is 127 micrograms per cubic metre in Greater Cairo and the Delta. Despite the fact that the NNMAAP data for 2017 showed an increase in the annual average of PM10 levels it also noted that on 70 per cent of monitoring days the levels were within legal norms. Besides mentioning inaccurate data, the article also failed to take into account that the environmental situation is evaluated through a set of indicators, not a single factor. Egypt placed 66th among 180 countries in the 2017 Environmental Performance Index (EPI), advancing 38 positions on its 104th ranking in 2016. The EPI evaluates the environmental performance of countries based on 24 environmental indicators in 10 main fields air and water quality, waste water, heavy metals, agriculture, forests, fisheries, biodiversity, water resources, climate change and energy. The government has set goals to improve air quality as part of its strategy to achieve sustainable development and aims to reduce PM10 levels by 50 per cent by 2030. PM10 levels had fallen by 19 per cent by the end of 2017, said the Environment Ministry. The reduction was achieved through enforcing strict limits on industrial emissions, using agricultural waste in alternative energy systems, developing public transport and increasing energy efficiency. * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 September 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Pollution disclaimer Search Keywords: Short link: The Upton Economic Development Board (UEDB) invites applications for an Executive Director that will ensure the accomplishment of the mission, vision, and goals of the UEDB. The three main duties that are expected for this position are Board/Organization Management, Business Recruitment and Marketing, and Existing Businesses Retention and Expansion. The UEDB is a 501 c 4 non-profit, in addition, the board manages a 501 c 3 non-profit, the Upton Redevelopment Corporation (URC). The URC has similar goals to that of the UEDB with the additional ability of obtaining donations with tax benefits to the donor. The UEDB was developed with the mission to "serve as stewards that promote, develop, and support a strong Greater Upton Community". Located in Upton, Wyoming, the UEDB has been fulfilling this mission through several community and economic enhancement projects throughout the years. The Board is now looking to increase its activity and focus on attracting and retaining businesses and primary jobs. Additionally, the Board looks to facilitate the expansion and development of existing businesses to achieve sustainable growth and improve the economic well-being of the citizens of the greater Upton, Wyoming area. Full time salaried position with benefit and incentive package Salary range: Depends on Experience Reports to: Board of Directors For full description of duties, please go to http://www.uptoneconomicdevelopment.com. We request submission of a resume accompanied by a cover letter and three professional references sent to Upton Economic Development Board, P.O. Box 731, Upton, WY 82730 or emailed to [email protected]. All submissions are due by 12:00 pm Mountain on Monday, October 1st, 2018. Last Wednesday, Reed Point Superintendent Heather Jarrett received a huge check, both literally and figuratively, for the improvement of school facilities. Pattern Development, the company currently building a wind farm north of Reed Point, donated $100,000 to the Reed Point elementary school "to assist the school as it recovers from damage caused by its recent bat and termite infestations, which caused the school to close," according to a Pattern press release. Jarrett describes Pattern as "a great neighbor," and in the release she notes that the donation "will have a direct, positive impact on our students and school community. These funds will ensure the health and safety of our elementary students and staff." By: Mikaela Koski SCN Reporter https://www.stillwatercountynews.com/content/energy-project-brings-windfall-rp-schools 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. Egypt's Coptic Pope Tawadros II led a fortieth-day memorial service on Saturday for Bishop Epiphanius, an abbot who was found dead inside the monastery he led in July. The pope and other bishops gathered at Abu Maqar monastery in Wadi El-Natroun, about 90km north-west of Cairo, to pray for the former abbot. Two monks from the same monastery are currently detained and being investigated by the prosecution, having reportedly confessed to conspiring to kill Epiphanius. Epiphanius death prompted 12 new decrees regulating monks behaviour from Pope Tawadros, including a temporary freeze on new recruits, a ban on monks leaving monastery grounds without permission, and restrictions on monks use of social networks and media appearances. The pope also shut down his Facebook page. The Coptic Orthodox Church typically holds a memorial service on the fortieth day after a person's death, as do some other Christian traditions. Search Keywords: Short link: An Egyptian criminal court issued on Saturday a death sentence to 75 members of the terrorist-designated Muslim Brotherhood group in the criminal case known as "the Rabaa Dispersal Case." Those convicted sentenced to death include prominent Brotherhood members Essam El-Erian, Mohamed Beltagy and Wagdy Ghoneim. All convicted have the right to appeal the verdict within 60 days. There have been initially 739 defendant tried in this case including the former Brotherhood's Supreme Guide leading Mohamed Badie. Badie and 47 others defendants in the case were sentenced to life in prison on Saturday. The case dates back to the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in by supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in August 2013. The dispersal left hundreds dead including dozens of police officers. The defendants were charged by the prosecution of several crimes including premeditated murder, attacking citizens, resisting authorities, destroying public property, and possessing firearms and Molotov cocktails. Search Keywords: Short link: : yzb (yzb), : PhotoGear : Sony following annoucement : BBS (Fri Sep 7 21:50:14 2018, ) zz from SAR (SR5) Whats confirmed: 1) Sony pro camcorder launch on September 14 2) Sony E-mount lens launch around September 18 3) WX700 compact camera launch on one of the upcoming events 4) Sony press conference on September 25 5) Zeiss FF fixed lens camera on September 27 6) One more Sony event in October (SR4) Whats highly likely: 1) 24mm f/1.4 GM launch on September 18 (SR3) Whats totally in the wild yet: 1) Sony APS-C High End E-mount camera is ready to launch but we dont know when! 2) Sony A7sIII is ready to launch but we dont know when Sony will announce it. And it might be a longer wait than for the APS-C E-mount camera! 3) Sony 135mm f/1.8 GM could be announced on September 18 4) New APS-C lens to be announced with the new High End APS-C camera 5) There is a rumor about a completely new FF E-mount camera launch (more about that soon on SAR) 26 Zeiss Batis 40mm f/2.0 to be announced on September 10 -- :WWW mitbbs.com [FROM: 67.] Award-wining Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Shawkan Abu Zeid will be released from prison shortly after having been sentenced by a court on Saturday, his lawyer has told Ahram Online. A Cairo criminal court sentenced Shawkan and 215 others tried in the same case, related to the dispersal of the Rabaa sit-in in 2013, to five years in prison. "Shawkan has already spent more than five years in prison since he was arrested on the day of the disperal of the 2013 Rabaa sit-in," lawyer Ahmed Abdel-Naby said. The freelance journalist was arrested in August 2013 while covering the dispersal of the Rabaa El-Adawiya sit-in in Cairo, where supporters of ex-president Mohamed Morsi had gathered to protest his ouster. He was charged with illegal assembly, being a member of illegal groups, and attacking state institutions. All 739 convicted in this case were facing similar charges includin premeditated murder, attacking citizens, resisting authorities, destroying public property and possessing firearms. "I will be working on the next couple of days on Shawkan's release procedures," said Abdel-Naby. Shawkan's lawyer said he would also be appealing the five-year sentence. Shawkan, 31, is the first Egyptian to win the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Press Freedom Prize, having been selected by an independent jury of international media professionals. The court on Saturday also sentenced 75 members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group to death, including leading members Essam El-Erian and Wagy Ghoneim, among others. It also sentenced the group's spiritual leader, Mohamed Badie, as well as 67 others, to life in prison. All convicted on Saturday have the right to appeal the court verdict within 60 days. Search Keywords: Short link: President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed on Saturday with the Head of the US Central Command Joseph Votel means to boost military cooperation between Egypt and the US, said a statement by the spokesperson of the presidency. The meeting was attended by Egypt's Minister of Defence General Mohamed Zaki and the US Charge d'Affaires Thomas Goldberger. The Egyptian President stressed the importance of the growing strategic relations between Egypt and the United States, particularly in the area of military cooperation, the statement read. El-Sisi also welcomed the launch of the joint training exercises between the two countries, "Bright Star 2018", which are taking place from 8 to 20 September. The president also praised the recent exchange of experiences in the field of combating terrorism between the two countries. In this context, El-Sisi discussed with Votel ongoing developments in counter-terrorism efforts on all strategic fronts. The presidency spokesman added that Votel praised the strength of the military relations between the two countries, stressing his country's keenness to continue to develop and strengthen partnership relations with Egypt in all fields. Votel also pointed out that "Bright Star 2018" highlights the depth of the military cooperation between the two countries, especially in light of the current conditions in the region, which require concerted efforts to address the challenges that threaten the security and stability of the region and the world. He also praised Egypt's efforts in combating terrorism and Egypt's role in strengthening regional security and stability. El-Sisi and Votel also discussed the latest regional developments in light of the crises in a number of countries in the area, the presidency statement added. Search Keywords: Short link: Hello NEON Fans, I caught four films today. My first film of the day was DUELLES (MOTHERS INSTINCT), directed by Olivier Masset-Depasse. This domestic, period thriller has made an interesting choice in renaming itself for English speaking audiences. Whereas the French title actually means dual, theyve gone a different direction by calling it Mothers Instinct for English speakers. Heres the short synopsis from TIFF: When a sudden tragedy uproots the lives of two women and their families, they begin to question the relationships they once held so dear, in this psychological thriller from Olivier Masset-Depasse (Illegal). This doesnt really tell you much of anythingso Im going to spoil the first 12 minutes. A little boy is involved in an accident that results in his death, and the neighboring mother who witnessed the accident begins to feel as though the boys mother blames her for not saving the day. As the story progresses, more unfortunate circumstances occur, and the mother in question begins to feel more and more suspicious. We often wonder is this maternal instinct at workor is this just paranoia (bordering on mental illness)? Some of the score at the beginning of the film sets up the idea that we might not have the most reliable narrator, so we as audience members have to doubt whether or not we are always shown the truth. Though the film works on a number of levels, theres ultimately something missing. Im glad I saw it, but its not a masterpiece. FIRECRACKERS, a French Canadian film from director Jasmin Mozafarri, borrows a lot of spirit and tone from FISH TANK and AMERICAN HONEY. Heres TIFFs short synopsis: An intense drama about two young women desperate to escape their repressive small town, whose friendship is challenged after a night of debauchery threatens to undo their grand plans for freedom. The yearning to escape their current life is honest, the performances are rich, and the camera is restless. But I couldnt help feeling that wed seen this before (and better) from Andrea Arnold. And finallya Masterpiece. CAPERNAUM, directed by Nadine Labaki, is a film that will clearly be a highlight for me at this years festival. I fell in love with Labaki with her film CARAMEL that played at the festival (and at THE NEON) several years ago. Shes a gifted director and a talented actress. Heres the brief synopsis from TIFF: Nadine Labaki (2011 TIFF Peoples Choice Award winner Where Do We Go Now?) explores the lives of children living on the fringes of Lebanese society, in this political and heartbreaking story of a young boy who sues his parents for bringing him into the world when they couldnt properly care for him. This film is about so many things, and its Labakis call to action for us to help the disenfranchised children of the worldand for the people who need paperwork to prove their worth. This film is heartbreakingly honest, and I couldnt avert my eyes. The central performance is so strong among the best child performances ever on screen. With over 500 hours of material shot for this film, the documentary-like style helps create a realism that is so refreshing in a narrative film. This movie has been picked up by Sony Classics. That means THE NEON will almost certainly play itand I have a feeling it will almost certainly be nominated for Best Foreign Film this year. BEAUTIFUL BOY, directed by Felix van Groningen, was my last film of the day. Though van Groningen was the only person to introduce the film, the audience was in for a treat when the cast and authors of the source material all came onstage after the screening for a Q&A. Here is the brief TIFF synopsis: Based on the bestselling pair of memoirs by father and son David and Nic Sheff, Felix van Groeningens film chronicles the heartbreaking and inspiring experience of survival, relapse, and recovery in a family coping with addiction over many years. Timothee Chalamet gives another Oscar-worthy performance as a boy dealing with drug addiction, and his performance along with Steve Carells, are what help to keep this film above water they are both magnificent. The repetition of using, recovery, relapsing, recovery is all part of how recovery from drug addition often works, but it becomes a little exhausting as a narrative device (as Im certain it does for the families dealing with this very issue). I think this film could be used as a tool, and I think as the death toll rises annually for drug overdoses, its a much-needed topical film about an epidemic that is plaguing us. I met up with a friend for a couple drinks after my screenings this evening, and it was good to catch up (and realize that hes even working with more people I know). Looking forward to a couple even bigger films tomorrow. Thanks for reading, Jonathan Lelectricite est devenue, de nos jours, un besoin dune importance majeure, et cela, dans tous les domaines dactivite. Que ce soit dans les maisons ou [] Egypt's Minister of Defence General Mohamed Zaki met on Saturday with the Head of the US Central Command Joseph Votel where they discussed means of bolstering bilarteral military ties in light of the latest regional and international developments. In a statement, Egypt's army spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said Minister Zaki expressed his appreciation of the partnership between the armed forces of both countries, hoping that the current period witnesses more joint cooperation in all fields. Votel praised the Egyptian armed forces success in achieving security and stability as well as combating terrorism, stressing the depth of the strategic partnership between the two countries. The meeting also tackled Egypt's efforts to combat terrorism and reach security and stability in the region. Zaki and Votel also discussed the Bright Star 2018 joint military drills, which are taking place at Mohamed Naguib military base in Egypt from 8-20 September with the participation of forces from Egypt, the US, and a number of brotherly countries. Votel also met with army's Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid to discuss a number of issues and topics of mutual interest, including the joint Bright Star drills. The meeting was also attended by a number of armed forces commanders. Search Keywords: Short link: Many people are feared dead after an Islamist militant attack on a northeast Nigerian town, two residents and a vigilante said on Saturday. The militants struck Gudumbali in the Guzamala region of Borno state at around 4 p.m. on Friday wearing military uniforms and firing upon Nigerian soldiers and residents, the witnesses said. The Nigeria troops and thousands of residents have fled, they said. Search Keywords: Short link: State Governor appeals for citizens contribution towards relief fund DIMAPUR, SEP 8 (NPN) | Publish Date: 9/8/2018 12:27:30 PM IST DCs asked to collect donations within 7 days Expressing serious concern over landslides and flash floods that wreaked havoc in the state, Nagaland Governor and president of Indian Red Cross Society, Nagaland branch has fervently appealed to all citizens to come forward and generously donate towards Nagaland flood relief through the Chief Ministers Relief Fund (CMRF). In an appeal, Acharya reminded the people that Our State Nagaland witnessed unprecedented incessant rainfall resulting in major disaster and havoc that affected the normal life of the people of our State. He said Landslides to sinking landmass in many areas, flooding and water logging in urban areas have claimed 12 lives and displaced over 300 families in the State owing to floods and numerous landslides besides causing destruction to properties. Despite the state requiring Rs.800 crore for the restoration of damages caused by landslides and flash floods, Acharya lamented that the State has received only Rs.1 crore so far. Delhi will help us but what about our share and care, he asserted. He said that a film actor, Sushant Singh Rajput, had come all the way from Delhi to Dimapur personally and handed over an amount of Rs.1.25 crores to the chief minister (total Rs.1+1.25= Rs. 2.25). In this regard, he called upon all the students of universities, colleges and schools to participate in rebuilding of lives of the affected people by contributing minimum of Rs.10/- each. He also appealed to all NGOs, hohos, NMA, NSF, businessmen, social workers, bureaucrats, religious groups, political activists, workers, kissans and all to share and care for our flood affected brothers and sisters. The Governor said Kiphire, Tuensang and Phek were the worst affected and have been cut off from the rest of the country. Essential infrastructures like power supply lines, communication networks, etc. have been damaged. Supplies of essential commodities to all districts including petroleum products have not been possible which has added to the misery of those in the affected areas. Properties and crops/vegetation worth crores of rupees have been damaged and many families still in relief camps, he added. Acharya also said that environment and nature, when exploited carelessly, rebounds and calamities occur. Acharya once again appealed to all to open up their minds and come forward to contribute generously to the CMRF (A/c No.10530527879 IFSC SBIN0000214) or through the IRCSN (A/c No.35316602410 IFSC SBIN0006485) by cash or cheque. In this regard, the Governor has also directed all Deputy Commissioners to collect the money within seven days. National Nuns, priests protest police inaction against rape-accused Jalandhar bishop KOCHI, SEP 8 (AGENCIES) | Publish Date: 9/8/2018 12:20:01 PM IST Members of various catholic reformation organisations took to the streets in Kochi Saturday to protest the alleged laxity in the probe into a complaint of rape filed by a nun against a Roman Catholic Church bishop. Five nuns from a convent in Kottayam, to which the victim belonged, also took part in the demonstration and alleged that the victim had been denied justice by the church, police and the government as no action has been initiated against accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar diocese. We are fighting for our sister. She has been denied justice by the church, government and the police. We are ready to go to any extent for ensuring justice to our sister, a nun told protesters here, who held placards demanding the arrest of Bishop Franco. She sought to know why Bishop Franco has not been arrested despite sufficient evidence against him and also questioned the churchs stand on the matter. Seventy-four days have passed since the complaint was made against Bishop Franco. The police recorded her statements several times. But the accused bishop was interrogated only once, the nun said. They alleged that the police probing the case was trying to sabotage the investigation. Catholic reformation organisations, including Kerala Catholic Church Refomation Movement (KCRM), took part in the protest, KCRM office bearer George Joseph said, adding some organisations, including KCRM, were planning to continue the stir till justice is delivered in the case. In her complaint filed at Kuravilangad Police Station, the victim had alleged that she had received death threats from unknown people two months ago. The nun has accused Jalandhar Bishop Franco of raping and having unnatural sex with her multiple times between 2014 and 2016. A special team probing the case has said according to a preliminary investigation, Bishop Franco abused his position and repeatedly raped the nun. Responding to a petition seeking speedy probe, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kottayam, K Subhash had informed the Kerala High Court on August 13 that the probe was proceeding effectively and impartially. The police, in a statement based on initial investigation and available evidence, had said it was found that the Bishop allegedly committed unnatural offence and raped the nun against her will. In the statement, it was alleged that the bishop confined the nun to a guest room in St Francis Mission Home in Kuravilangad in Kottayam district of Kerala. Clashes erupted on Saturday between U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters and Syrian troops in the centre of the city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria that left at least 18 people killed, Kurdish forces said. The fighting took place after a Syrian military convoy entered areas in the city which the Kurdish YPG militia's internal security forces said were under their control. "They entered our areas of control and arrested civilians and members of the patrol targeted our forces," the internal security forces, known as the Asayish, said in a statement. Kurdish forces said seven of its fighters and 11 Syrian military were killed in the clashes. Pro-government sources told state media an army patrol was attacked by Kurdish forces while on its way to the airport. It said several troops were killed. The Kurdish YPG militia, which spearheads the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), controls most of the city and pro-government forces holding the airport and part of its centre. Fighting in Qamishli, near the Turkish border, which erupts occasionally, disturbs a peaceful co-existence where the Syrian state has slowly expanded its influence, residents say. Syrian President Bashar al Assad has turned a blind eye to YPG control of Kurdish-populated cities since the 2011 uprising in which his army has focused on fighting mainly Sunni rebel factions seeking to topple his rule. But the government has not ruptured ties with salaries of many state employees in these areas still paid and authorities still getting a share of proceeds from oilfields now under Kurd control. The SDF has expanded beyond mainly Kurdish parts of the north, where the forces have carved out autonomous cantons since the onset of Syria's conflict. The region they control spreads across much of northern and eastern Syria, which is rich in farmland, oil and water. Senior members of the YPG have recently held talks with Syrian officials seeking a political deal which would retain their autonomy in Syria. Search Keywords: Short link: M C Vaijayanthi By Express News Service MUMBAI: Impending US sanctions on Iran are likely to affect Indias crude oil imports from the country as tight markets make it difficult to replace lost barrels. While the oil ministry has said it would continue negotiating with the US, it is currently uncertain how India will manoeuvre between Indo-US relations and its long standing bilateral equations with Iran. On Thursday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said it would consider waivers where appropriate, but stuck to the demand that importers reduce Iran imports to zero by November. This time, it is going to be severe, said K Ravichandran, senior vice-president and group head, Corporate Ratings, ICRA, There is uncertainty on how much oil Iran would eventually be able to export. India imports over 80 per cent of its crude oil requirements and provisional data shows it imported 220 million metric tonnes (mmt) in 2017-18. Imports from Iran by public sector refiners were 9.8 mmt for the year, according to an oil ministry Lok Sabha submission, while data from PwC pegs overall crude imports from Iran for the same year at 22.8 mmt. During the current fiscal, public sector refiners have imported 5.67 mmt as of June. However, industry experts believe that this fell sharply in August following difficulties faced by oil firms in finding insurance for cargoes. While the Iranian government moved quickly to partly resolve the issue by allowing refiners to use its own tankers on a CIF basis (cost, insurance, freight), insurance issues will remain a headache since insurers were denied reinsurance for refineries processing Iranian crude the last time such sanctions were in place. So will finding banking channels or financing for Iran imports, Ravichandran said. Following the lifting of sanctions in 2016, Iran offered discounts accounting for a sharp rise in imports. The assessment now is that the kind of volumes we buy from Iran would be difficult to replace, despite OPEC members responding positively in committing to increase production to compensate for the shortfall. India, however, is still taking Iranian cargoes and using Iranian tankers to import oil, enjoying almost free shipping and extended credit periods, similar to the Chinese strategy. But, it remains to be seen if India can continue to withstand US pressure... we believe Iranian exports and production will likely fall by between 1-1.5 mmbpd (million barrels per day) after US sanctions kick in, DBS Group said in a research report. Experts like Vandana Hari add, however, that the US cannot expect negotiations to be as straightforward this time with India (or China, for that matter) as they were during the 2012-2015 era. Diplomatic skills will be put to the test on all sides, Hari noted in her Vanda Insights Oil Viewsletter. The possibility of rising US crude supplies to India being used as a bargaining chip was also been raised, with Hari estimating that while average Indian imports of Iranian crude slumped by a third in August from around 628,000 barrels a day (b/d) in July, US-origin crude imports have spiked to 342,000 b/d from just 90,000 b/d over the January-July period. Iran, India working to keep up oil supply Responding to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeos statement that India needs to bring Iranian oil imports to zero by November, Irans Roads and Urban Development Minister Abbas Akhoundi said that the US was an outsider and insiders should come together. While Akhoundi admitted that trade would be impacted, he assured that oil would continue flowing. At the end of the day, both sides will find a way to carry on their relationship, he said. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Contrary to speculation that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might launch the much awaited electrical vehicle (EV) policy in the presence of industry stalwarts at the MOVE: Global Mobility Summit, no such announcement was made on the first day. PM Modi, however, assured stake holders that India will come up with a stable policy soon for electric vehicles and alternative fuel-driven vehicles, but didnt give any timeline. Policies will be designed as a win-win for all who want opportunity in the automobile sector, Modi said, adding that his vision for mobility in India is based on seven Cs: Common, Connected, Convenient, Congestion-free, Charged, Clean, Cutting-edge. He further stated that India is best placed globally to be an early mover in future mobility. India does not carry a legacy of resource-blind mobility and solutions built on the back of private car ownership, thus it gives us a window of opportunity to create an all-new seamless mobility ecosystem. Indias automotive industry has been asking for clarity in the way the government wants to go ahead and realize its electric vehicle ambitions for quite some time. A day before the summit, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) urged the government to announce a clear EV policy as setting up of an ecosystem requires large investments. Another announcement which was expected to be made at the summit by Modi was the second edition of the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (Fame) programme. As per reports, the finance ministry has already approved Rs 5,500 crore for the second phase, and it is only a matter of days until the second edition will come into effect. Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari also asked auto companies for a little change in mindsets by giving more priority to the future, while assuring them of the governments support. Responding to industry leaders who wanted a clear policy, Gadkari said that the government was clear in its goal to reduce imports of oil and end pollution, for which it is encouraging alternative fuel technologies like biofuels and electric mobility. By Express News Service MUMBAI: Three state-run banks Union Bank of India, Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra were on Friday fined a total of Rs 3 crore each by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for failing to timely detect and report fraud in some accounts. The central bank, in three separate releases, said it has imposed Rs 1 crore each on the three banks. The RBI on August 30 imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 10 million on the banks for contravention of the instructions contained in Master Circular on Fraud Classification and Reporting issued by it, the releases said. The bank has taken necessary preventive measures and has implemented a comprehensive corrective action plan to strengthen internal controls and to ensure that such incidents do not recur, Union Bank of India (UBI) said in a regulatory filing. The bank added that while the representatives of the bank made oral submissions during the personal hearing on April 4 this year before the Committee of Executive Directors of RBI, The reply as well as the submissions... and additional documents furnished have not been found adequate by RBI.... Meanwhile, Bank of India stated in its exchange filing that the penalty imposed on the bank is to be paid within 14 days of receipt of the order. Archanaa Seker By Express News Service CHENNAI: So how many LGBTIQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex and Queer) persons you know are going to come out of the closet now that their sexual rights have been recognised? A friend called me up to ask as soon as the Supreme Courts verdict on Section 377 of the IPC was delivered. No one, I responded as I allowed the weight of those words to sink in, slightly chipping away the celebratory mood I was in. There is no doubt that the reading down of the archaic law, by a bench of SC that has decriminalised homosexuality and concluded that sex among consenting adults is not an offence, is a huge victory to a decade-long struggle. But as the verdict points out, this legal win is only the beginning of the process that enables sexual minorities to enjoy full citizenship, and its here that my response is rooted. This revised law will help keep non-heterosexual individuals out of jail, and as with all laws that guarantee the protection of fundamental rights for citizens irrespective of their identity, will allow for legal recourse if violated. The SC verdict will still not serve as a deterrent to discrimination experienced by sexual minorities, and is only the start to the herculean journey of queer persons finding acceptance in a society that ranks high in ridicule and homophobia. So no, queer persons will not come out of the closet till families accept, health providers care, institutions include, employers evolve, landlords let and no one ostracises. In that, the battle to normalise queerness is a tougher, long-drawn one that follows the first step of the legal battle to recognise queer rights. This judgement concludes that, The provisions of Section 377 will continue to govern non-consensual sexual acts against adults, all acts of carnal intercourse against minors, and acts of beastiality while stating that insofar as Section 377 criminalises consensual sexual acts of adults (i.e. persons above the age of 18 years who are competent to consent) in private, is violative of Articles 14, 15, 19, and 21 of the Constitution. It is, however, clarified that such consent must be free consent, which is completely voluntary in nature, and devoid of any duress or coercion. The verdict could give rise to a number of legal reforms that have not been discussed in it like marriage and divorce, adoption and guardianship, bank loans and inheritance. A public debate on the aforementioned in the case of queer couples may fuel a discussion on the very ideas of family, parenthood, partnership, abuse and rape giving rise to a fight against heteronormativity in scripture and society, preaching and practice. What we have with us today is a powerful law, rich with possibilities for a future in which both love and the freedom to love exist. But in a time when laws are being reduced and rights activists need defending, where dissent is frowned upon and the face of the lynch mob is growing larger, a progressive judgement such as this can reach its fullest potential only if the leg work to both protect it from dilution and place it alongside laws that govern other minorities is done. "Let us move from darkness to light, from bigotry to tolerance and from the winter of mere survival to the spring of life as the herald of a New India to a more inclusive society" says the judgement, and what it has done is only set us on the path toward this goal. (The writer is a columnist with The New Indian Express) Tanushree Roy By Online Desk CHENNAI: Chennais Amjikarai locality erupted in celebration as soon as the Supreme Court scraped Article 377 legalising gay sex in India. Members of the LGBTQ community, who were visibly delighted, had gathered here at Sahodarans office, with posters in hands and hope in their hearts. Painted with rainbow colours, their placards screamed for freedom and pride. The members of Chennai's LGBTQ Community awaiting the supreme court's decision. ((Photo | Tanushree Roy/EPS) After the historic decision was aired and confirmation was passed, joy knew no bounds. After a quick formal celebration with cake cutting and dance, members of the LGBTQ community hit the streets to spread their happiness. Random passersby were treated with chocolates and hugs, joining the grand celebration. This is a historic moment for us. We no longer will fear of being shamed for being a gay or lesbian. I can walk proudly holding my girlfriends hand. Pride always wins, said a teary-eyed Malini Jeevarathnam, LGBT Activist. WATCH: In India where sex is a hush-hush topic, legalising homosexuality is a watershed in the history of the judiciary. Activists around the country had been fighting the legal battle since the 1990s for the decriminalisation of homosexuality. The Delhi High court had legalised gay sex in 2009 but was reinstated by the Supreme Court later in 2014. LGBTQ community members celebrate after the Supreme Court verdict which decriminalises consensual gay sex. (Photo | Tanushree Roy/EPS) However, with homosexuality ruled off as a criminal offence now, many ancillary legal battles still arise. The questions on same-sex marriage', gay parents adoption rights, education and job have yet to be answered. In India every religious community has its set of marriage rules for heterosexual men and women, but the LGBTQ community is devoid of this. The Parliament has also enacted The Special Marriage Act in 1954 allowing inter-religious weddings but so far no such legislation has been made for marriages among members in LGBTQ community. LGBT community supporter celebrates after the Supreme Court verdict which decriminalises consensual gay sex in Chennai. (Photo | Anirudh Kumar/EPS) This is just the stepping stone. We have a long way to go. So far we have been very optimistic and we will continue our fight. The society always has some negative comments, but in spite of that we will go ahead and fight for equality, said Delphina, a LGBTQ activist. ALSO READ | Relief for those accused of consensual gay sex and facing trial: Officials The celebrations at Amjikarai ended with lighting candles in memory of those who have lost their lives fighting for gay rights. In a short statement to the media, Srijit Sundaram, an activist thanked the media on behalf of the community for the key role it played in supporting the ones who have been fighting for gay rights. The media has been there for us when our friends and family didnt stand by us. We cannot be more thankful, Thank You, Thank You so much, said Srijit Sundaram. However, with this historical victory, the community is all optimistic that it will be successful in the battles of rights in the future. By Express News Service CHENNAI: The first meeting of the DMKs MPs, MLAs and district secretaries after MK Stalin took charge as party president, which was held here on Saturday, launched a scathing attack on the BJP and accused it of running electoral dictatorship for the past four years with a view to crushing the parliamentary democracy in the country. The meeting also charged that the BJP-led government at the Centre was acting against Tamil Nadu on every count, thus jeopardising the interests of the State as a whole. A lengthy resolution, adopted at the meeting chaired by Stalin, vowed to thwart the attempts of the BJP to saffronise the entire country, besides resolving to take up field works required for defeating the fascist BJP rule. The resolution also said the DMK would not allow oppressive measures against those working for the Dravidian ideologies. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Former UN chief Ban Ki-Moon and former Norwegian premier Gro Harlem Brundtland on Friday visited Aam Aadmi Mohalla Clinics (AAMC) in Delhi and praised the AAP governments initiative to provide basic healthcare free of charge to the poor. Moon and Brundtland are here on behalf of The Elders, a London-based organisation of independent global leaders who work for promoting peace, justice and human rights. They were taken to a mohalla clinic at Peeragarhi Relief Camp area in West Delhi. It was the first clinic that was established by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government three years ago. The group visited another AAMC in Paschim Vihar. Both CM Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendra Jain accompanied the visitors. I am very much impressed with what I have seen. I have travelled to many places. What I have seen today, the clinics are much systematic, well organised and well kept. I am very impressed. The mohalla clinics are taking good care of the vulnerable, Moon said after the visit. The mohalla clinics are not only treating people but also working for childcare, pregnancy care, immunisation and promotion of healthcare. This is impressive, and it should be like this all over the world, said Brundtland. The AAP government has planned a mega PR exercise on the high-profile visit of the two members of the global organisation, which was founded Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela. Terming this as a proud moment for the entire country, Kejriwal said the Delhi health model is appreciated throughout the world. Delhi govt grateful to forrmer UN Secy Gen Sh Ban ki Moon, former PM of Norway Harlem for visiting Mohalla Clinic and polyclinic, he tweeted. In its poll campaign in 2015, the AAP had promised setting up 1,000 such clinics across Delhi. In the last three years, about 180 such clinics have been established and the approval for many more were recently given by the Delhi government. Vijaya Pratap By Express News Service HYDERABAD : Hungary is a landlocked country in Europe that boasts the maximum hot water springs. Placed almost in the centre of Europe, Hungarys hot and healing waters are due to the favourable geometrical qualities of the Carpathian Basin: the Earths crust is an average 10 km thinner here than elsewhere. If a well is dug in any corner of the country, thermal water is likely to be found. Those who inhabited the land in the past 2000 years loved, respected and used these magical, medicinal waters. More than a hundred medicinal hot springs feed dozens of baths in Budapest with water. Its numerous and architecturally varied thermal baths are ideal destinations for both tourists and locals intent on relaxation. While some Baroque and Art Nouveau bathing halls exist from the 19th and 20th centuries, some baths date back to the Turkish period. There is no other capital in the EU where genuine medieval Turkish baths are still in operation. The baths in Budapest are worth a visit for their own artistic beauty and they are the most ideal for chilling out especially after hectic sightseeing. Each bath, Gellert Bath, Rudas Bath and the summer pools like Palatinus, have a lot to offer, and will give you a special experience in Hungary. After a frenzied day in Budapest, I chose to chill out in Szechenyi Baths to wallow in the warm water and feel rejuvenated as the hot springs contain minerals that are said to have healing effects. This is the biggest and most popular of all the thermal baths, not just in Budapest but one of the biggest natural hot spring spa baths in Europe as well. I fell in love with its beautiful exteriors. Built in a modern renaissance style between 1909 and 1913, the medicinal waters of the Szechenyi Baths are sourced from a depth of 1,246 metres, the second deepest well in Budapest, and its temperature is 76 degrees centigrade. A bath existed here as early as 1881, but since it was a temporary one, it started to lose goodwill. Gyozo Czigler came up with the plans to create a more permanent structure in 1913 and it was expanded in 1927 with public bathing for men and women. By the middle of the 1960s, it was time to bring further improvements to the facility by adding a group thermal section and an outpatient clinic. A fancy bath was installed, which is a whirling pool that twirls you around like an amusement ride. Effervescent devices, neck showers, and water-beam back massages were added in the sitting bank areas. A model of this building can currently be seen at the Mini Europe exhibition in Brussels as part of Hungarys contribution. The entry ticket includes a number of wellness services like gyms and saunas, as well as aerobic and group exercises in the pool. At the Szechenyi baths, the citys residents chat breezily, while octogenarians gather in groups around floating chessboards and play more chess and swim less. This is one of the largest spa complexes in Europe. I was told that the 18 pools in Szechenyi Bath are open every single day throughout the year, including national holidays. Besides the outdoor and indoor geothermal pools, you can get massage treatments, relax by the pools with some beer, wine or even taste the natural waters that supply the pools from over thousand metres below the surface. One can have fun trying their whirlpools, water jets, the underwater aqua massage, and explore the labyrinth of the many pools. Or simply walk around and explore the Neo-Baroque palace and the historical beauty of Szechenyi Baths; or relax, soak in the spring waters day or night, summer or winter. You can book a massage in advance to enhance the effectiveness of the waters healing powers. The water in the thermal pools, high in calcium, magnesium and hydrogen carbonate, is deemed to be good for pains in the joints, arthritis, blood circulation and disorders of the nervous system. All of the thermals treat muscular, bone, and some respiratory ailments. Youre not supposed to stay in the hottest thermal pool for more than 20 minutes at a time for health reasons. Since all pool facilities are open to both men and women at all times, bathing suits (bring your own or hire one here - I took mine along) must be worn. If you wish to do lane swimming, you must wear a bathing cap too (you can also buy one here), and it makes sense to carry flip-flops. The baths host club nights, appropriately named Sparties, every Saturday: a variety of weekly club nights in the baths combining drinking, a light show, house and funk DJs, VJs, acrobatics and bathing with a very up-for-it and underdressed crowd: brainchild of a Hungarian party producer to combine spa and party to have a massive rage in a spa. Well, thats a Sparty! Sounds good? The author is a documentary filmmaker and travel writer; she blogs at vijayaprataptravelandbeyond.com By Express News Service HYDERABAD: The Congress is fully prepared to face the Assembly elections, AICC secretary and in-charge of Telangana Congress affairs RC Khuntia has declared. Interacting with the editorial team in Express Chat on Friday, Khuntia said that they constituted a five-member committee for consultations with other parties for forging pre-poll alliances. The partys election campaign committee would be constituted by September 15 and the names of the Assembly candidates would be declared by the end of this month. Khuntia, who had attended an emergency meeting of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee at Gandhi Bhavan earlier in the day, said that he would head the five-member committee that was formed to hold consultations with other parties. The PCC chief, working president, opposition leader in the dissolved Assembly and opposition leader in the Council are the other members. We will soon start consultations with other parties. READ HERE: IT minister KT Rama Rao threw the 'Apple' away: RC Khuntia Khuntia said that there was need to forge alliances in the state in order to oust the TRS, which failed in the last four years. Asked about several Congress leaders joining the TRS, he said, Those who are after power are joining the TRS. Those who are fighting against the corrupt rule of the TRS are with the Congress. Former Assembly speaker KR Suresh Reddy joined the TRS for selfish reasons. If one or two leaders desert the Congress, there will be no impact on the party. The Congress is still strong in Nizamabad district, the AICC leader claimed. When asked whether he thought that the TRS purchased Suresh Reddy, he replied in the negative but added: "He must have been promised something. But I would not say he was purchased. In the week to come, leaders of other parties would be joining the Congress, he said. About the criticism by TRS that there were 12 chief ministerial candidates in the Congress, Khuntia shot back: Who will be the chief ministerial candidate in TRS after the Assembly elections, KTR or Kavitha, if KCR floats the Federal Front? ALSO READ: KCR is a bigger buffoon, says Telangana Congress leader RC Khuntia MIM and BJP are BFF? Although many might consider Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) to be antithesis of each other, the two political parties have been often accused of working for each others mutual political benefit by the Congress. On Friday again, RC Khuntia levelled the same allegation. He even said that AIMIM was interested in its own progress rather than the progress of the Muslim community. Khuntia alleged that AIMIM fielded candidates in the Maharashtra, UP and Bihar Assembly elections in order to divide minority votes, which would otherwise have gone to Congress, in turn benefiting the BJP candidates. He alleged that the secret pact helps AIMIM too, as it guarantees no electoral troubles by the BJP in AIMIM dominated areas of Hyderabad. Khuntia said this while interacting with the editorial team of TNIE as part of Express Chat. It may be recalled that the first such accusation came forward in 2016, when Yatin Oza, a former BJP MLA, accused BJP and AIMIM of having a secret pact in Bihar elections. Iraqi lawmakers met Saturday in emergency session to discuss the crisis in public services in main southern city Basra after 12 protesters were killed this week, the Iranian consulate torched and its airport hit by rockets. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi described the unrest as "political sabotage" as he joined the session along with several ministers, charging that "the question of public services" was being exploited for political ends. His government has announced the allocation of an unspecified amount of extra funds for Basra, although demonstrators say that billions of dollars in emergency funding pledged in July has failed to materialise. In a session attended by 172 deputies in the 329-seat house, Abadi traded barbs with Basra's governor, Asaad al-Eidani, who is also parliament speaker. Basra has been rocked by protests since Tuesday, with demonstrators setting ablaze government buildings, the Iranian consulate and the offices of pro-Tehran militias and political parties. The anger flared after the hospitalisation of 30,000 people who had drunk polluted water, in an oil-rich region where residents have for weeks complained of water and electricity shortages, corruption among officials and unemployment. At least 12 demonstrators have been killed and 50 wounded in clashes with security forces, according to the interior ministry. Hours before parliament met, four rockets fired by unidentified assailants struck inside the perimeter of Basra airport, security sources said. Staff at the airport, which is located near the US consulate in Basra, said flights were not affected. The attack came after a day of rage in the southern city where hundreds of protesters stormed the fortified Iranian consulate, causing no casualties but sparking condemnation. Abadi said he had instructed security forces to "act decisively against the acts of vandalism that accompanied the demonstrations". Iraq's Joint Operations Command, which includes the army and police, vowed a "severe" response with "exceptional security measures", including a ban on protests and group travel. The foreign ministry called the attack on the consulate "an unacceptable act undermining the interests of Iraq and its international relations". Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi denounced the "savage attack", Iran's Fars news agency reported. A spokesman for the consulate said that all diplomats and staff had been evacuated from the building before the protesters attacked, and that nobody was hurt. Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, said the consulate was "totally demolished" and charged that "foreign agents close to the US, Zionists and some Arab countries are trying to sabotage Iran-Iraq relations", Iran's ILNA news agency reported. The wave of protests first broke out in Basra in July before spreading to other parts of the country, with demonstrators condemning corruption among Iraqi officials and demanding jobs. Since then at least 27 people have been killed. "We're thirsty, we're hungry, we are sick and abandoned," protester Ali Hussein told AFP on Friday in Basra after another night of violence. "Demonstrating is a sacred duty and all honest people ought to join." The anger on Basra's streets was "in response to the government's intentional policy of neglect", the head of the region's human rights council Mehdi al-Tamimi said. Iraq has been struggling to rebuild its infrastructure and economy after decades of bloody conflicts, including an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, the US-led invasion of 2003 and the battle against the Islamic State group. In August, the oil ministry announced that crude exports for August had hit their highest monthly figure this year, with nearly 112 million barrels of oil bringing $7.7 billion to state coffers. Iraq, however, suffers from persistent corruption and many Iraqis complain that the country's oil wealth is unfairly distributed. Parliament said lawmakers would hear speeches by Abadi and key ministers and discuss the water contamination crisis, the latest breakdown in public services to spark public anger. The meeting was demanded by populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose political bloc won the largest number of seats in May elections although a new government has yet to be formed. Sadr has called on politicians to present "radical and immediate" solutions at Saturday's session or step down. Two months ago, Abadi pledged a multi-billion dollar emergency plan to revive infrastructure and services in southern Iraq, one of the country's most marginalised regions. The premier is trying to hold onto his post in the next government and has formed an alliance with Sadr, a former militia chief who has called for Iraq to have greater political independence from both neighbouring Iran and the United States. Search Keywords: Short link: By Express News Service HYDERABAD: A multi-level marketing money circulation fraud, operating from Haryana, that duped over 20 lakh investors across the country under the pretext of quick returns on investments and looted more than `1,200 crore from its customers, was busted by the Cyberabad police. The Economic Offences wing of the Cyberabad police arrested two key suspects -- Radheshyam and Surender Singh, belonging to Haryana and seized `200 crore from them. Another person is absconding. According to Cyberabad commissioner V C Sajjanar they have set up an investment company by name Future Maker Life Care Global Marketing Pvt. Ltd (FMLC) and registered it with Registrar of Companies (ROC). They launched their operations in Hyderabad, three months ago, trapped more than 20,000 customers in the Telugu states and had collected huge amounts from them. The scam came to light after a Kukatpally-based private employee lodged a complaint with police a week ago. He found the companys claims suspicious after he approached them to invest based on an advertisement. Based on clues and evidences, Cyberabad police nabbed FMLC chairman Radheshyam and distributor Surender Singh from Haryana and brought them to the city on a transit warrant. Police said that Radheshyam is a class VII drop-out, while Surender Singh is a graduate. Both became friends while working for an MLM firm. According to Sajjanar both the accused had initially worked for MLM firms, where they learned marketing techniques and thought of floating a company of their own and left the jobs. Radheshyam and his friend Bansilal floated the firm three years ago the firm and got registered with the Registrar of Companies (ROC) also. The duo along with Surender Singh initially started operations in Haryana and very soon spread to all north Indian states. Their modus operandi was to lure gullible persons with a promise of high income and target youngsters, homemakers and retired employees.They charged `7,500 for every person as joining fee for the scheme and the promise was that they would get a pair commission of `500 for joining two more new members apart from a credit of `2,500 every month for two years. This way, the cheated were promised `60,000 in two years for an investment of `7,500, Sajjanar said. The victims were spread across the country and majority of them got attracted to the ads published in leading newspapers. An amount of `200 crore was seized from them deposited in various banks. The accounts in these banks have also been seized, Sajjanar said. Cyberabad police will write to RBI on banks The accused accepted online payments into the 6 accounts operated by the firm in different banks. Police found that around `75 crores were deposited in the accounts on Friday alone. Though there was regular money flow into these accounts, none of the banks suspected the transactions, said Cyberabad police Commissioner VC Sajjanar. We will write to the Reserve Bank of India on how the banks failed to identify the scam at an early stage. he said S Viswanath By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: Legislators of the ruling party, who generally hail the policies of the government and counter attack charges levelled by the Opposition parties in the Legislative bodies, however, looked different on Friday with many TDP MLAs raising questions to the ministers on different issues. Thus, the second day of the monsoon session witnessed the ruling party MLAs donning the role of Opposition along with the BJP members. Expressing concern over the declining education standards, TDP MLAs M Venugopal Reddy and others brought to the notice of the House about the jokes being circulated on social media. Though admitting that values in education are not up to the mark, Human Resource Development Minister Ganta Srinivasa Rao maintained that the government was allocating more budget for the sector to improve standards. Another TDP MLA BC Janardhan Reddy from Kurnool district expressed dissatisfaction over the reply of Mining Minister R Sujaya Krishna Ranga Rao on illegal blasting in Banaganapalle constituency.The government should appoint a committee to probe illegal blasting. I dont understand why the government is not taking action against cement factories for blasting mines without taking any precautionary measures, Janardhan Reddy said and sought to know how can the Mines Minister deny illegal mining and blasting. We should not merely depend on the reports being submitted by our officials, the MLA said. Similarly, Tenali MLA Alapati Rajendra Prasad and Ponnur MLA D Narendra Kumar pointed out that reforms implemented by the revenue department have failed to achieve the desired results. A senior TDP leader said that unlike the YSRC members, who boycotted the Session without any concern over public issues, the TDP MLAs are bringing peoples problems to the notice of the government thereby discharging the responsibility of the Opposition. SIT report BJP floor leader P Vishnu Kumar Raju sought to know why the government is not revealing the Special Investigation Team (SIT) report on Visakhapatnam land scam. Though we have raised the issue in the last session of the Assembly in March, the government is yet to respond, he said. He alleged that some influential persons have encroached lands worth thousands of crores in Visakhapatnam using the names of politicians. Even after getting the SIT report, the government is not disclosing the same, he said. Encroachers had occupied land worth `4,000 crore to `5,000 crore, he alleged. He alleged that at least 100 acres of land worth `400 crore were given to fake ex-servicemen in Visakhapatnam.Deputy Chief Minister KE Krishna Murthy said the report would be placed before the next Cabinet meeting. In fact, the SIT was appointed by CMO and not the Revenue department, he added. Tackle sand mafia, BJP tells govt Before commencement of business in both the Houses, BJP members, holding placards, demanded that the State government tackle sand mafia. The BJP leaders said under the free-sand policy, rampant corruption is being taken place during loading and transportation of sand46,290total number of vacancies as reported by all departments23,550 People to be recruited in govt service soon Minister K Srinivasulu says the Centre is giving less amount in housing scheme By IANS MUMBAI: Section 377 of the IPC has been repealed, and actor Manoj Bajpayee, who played the lead role in 'Aligarh', is celebrating the fall of the draconian law criminalising homosexuality. ALSO READ | Supreme Court decriminalises homosexuality: Bollywood hails 'historical judgment' Manoj said: "When I played the homosexual professor Ramchandra Siras in 'Aligarh', I realised what true loneliness is. The man's isolation was more of an issue to me than his sexual orientation. I feel the Supreme Court verdict is a triumph for all discriminated and persecuted people of our country -- whether it is segregation on the basis of sexual orientation, or gender, or caste or economical condition. "We all need the law and the government to support the weaker sections. If the professor in 'Aligarh' were alive today, he wouldn't have to die." The actor recalled the struggle he went through while playing the gay professor. "I felt the man's isolation, his need for companionship more than sex. All our friends in the LGBT community need our help and support. This Supreme Court verdict is one major step in normalising the status of gay people. But we are a long way off from giving them their due rights." Contrary to many, Manoj doesn't think the industry is particularly homophobic. ALSO READ | Section 377: Huge thumbs up for humanity, says Karan Johar on Supreme Court verdict decriminalising homosexuality "There is as much of it in this industry as anywhere else. But I don't think our film industry is specially homophobic. When 'Aligarh' faced so many hurdles, the media stood by us. Although the trailer was given an 'A' certificate and we couldn't show it on television, the channels still invited us to promote the film on music and dance shows. "When we had a special screening, everyone who is someone came forward to see and recommend the film. So I would say our industry is inclusive and liberal to a large extent." Manoj feels there is a need for films which highlight the problems of fringe communities. "In my new film 'Gali Guleiyan', I play a man who is even more isolated and lonely than the gay man in 'Aligarh'. Such films need support. I am proud to play discriminated characters. What frustrates me is the lack of movie theatres and proper show timings for such films. "I am bitter about the film exhibitors' obsession with mainstream masala films at a time when public tastes are changing radically." By ANI NEW DELHI: Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has revealed her fierce look in a new still from her upcoming period drama 'Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi'. The 'Rangoon' star, who will be portraying Rani Laxmibai in the upcoming biopic, shared a behind-the-scenes image of her look on social media. Photo | Twitter Dressed like a warrior, Kangana can be seen with blood on her face. Hollywood action director, Nick Powell is giving her directions as she holds on to a sword, ready for battle. "The Warrior Queen, getting ready to battle. #KanganaRanaut, bloodied & resilient, shoots for #Manikarnika s Action sequences with Hollywood Action Director #NickPowell #ManikarnikaOn25thJan." read the caption. The period drama also features Atul Kulkarni as Tatya Tope and Ankita Lokhande as Jhalkarbai. The film, which was earlier supposed to release in April this year, will now hit the big screens on January 25, 2019. Sudhir Srinivasan By Express News Service Director: Manoj Beedha Cast: Guru Somasundaram, John Vijay, Ciby, Chandini Tamilarasan An investigative journalist channels his inner investigator not so much his journalist in Vanjagar Ulagam. Hes interrogating people, sniffing out clues, following leads and its all not so much to arrive at an award-winning expose. Its apparently just on account of his philanthropic desire to bring a dreaded gangster to justice. Hes constantly shuffling in and out of a police station an unwelcome visitor as the inspector, more a caricature than a crime solver, keeps imploring him to stop returning. A constable is constantly looking to protect the inspector from mental strain, and there is an attempt to milk this for humour. It annoys more than it amuses. In any case, such ideas are wholly misplaced in a film that seems to want to be a gritty thriller. The problem is, you never truly get a feeling of any real urgency, and part of the problem is scenes which are often longer than they should be. And the scenes are mostly full of incessant chatter. Its a film buried under the rubble of limitless dialogue, and they dont always serve to help the story progress. After lunch at a retired police officers place, one of the guests thanks him. The cop retorts, Edhukku? Chicken illama dosai kuduthadhukaagava? Its hard not to be a bit taken aback. The film needed more moments of quiet, more atmosphere building. In another scene, one person says, Thuppariyum Simbu, and someone corrects him, Its Sambu. Such frivolity kills immersion, and stops you from taking the material seriously. Theres more than an instance of characters behaving in ways they shouldnt only so the audience can be misled. After you learn some secrets of Shanmugham (Ciby, who I rather liked), you realise that his reaction to a tragic news in the beginning doesnt make much sense. He may have been pretending, but the performance needed more nuance to establish that something was off. In hindsight, it instead feels like a cheap manipulative tactic to build up to a twist. Some main characters, I suspect, must have had no more than a single line of description. Samyuktha (Anisha Ambrose) is the girl who scowls; Mythili (Chandini Tamilarasan) is the unfaithful woman; Vishagan (Vishagan Vanangamudi) is the nosey reporter. There are lip sync issues too. Samyuktha seems to be saying something, the dubbing something else. Even an acclaimed actor like Guru Somasundaram, playing a gangster called Sampath whom everyone calls Sambath delivers a performance that could have done with a lot more restraint. It rings false, much like his transformation in the flashback. The tragedy is, Vanjagar Ulagam is not a lazy film. There are all the twists, the slow reveals, the flashbacks, and the framing and staging that are clearly products of much thought. Mythilis house for instance is mainly painted red, likely to indicate lust and of course, the impending violence. A murder scene inside a theatre is particularly beautiful to behold. The story also rather likeably doesnt paint characters to be wholly evil or good, with Maaran (John Vijay, who hams it up) being an exception. Sampath, Mythili, Shanmugham they are all victims of circumstances. The idea at the heart of this film an affair gone wrong results in the decimation of a dreaded gang sounds fairly interesting in theory, but through the painfully long running time of 161 minutes, you can never get yourself to care for anyone in this film not Sampath, not Mythili, not Shanmugham. They are all predominantly either cold characters, one-note, and/or underdeveloped. The music of this film by CS Sam has been much hyped, and it is quite intriguing. One solo mridangam bit that flavours a lovemaking scene is strange. But in a sense, its a bit like the film. Its clearly the product of much thought, and its definitely not run-of-the-mill but it also doesnt ever really affect. The tragic truth is, hard work doesnt always pay off. Akram Mohammed By Express News Service BENGALURU: Smartphones that support NavIC - Navigation with Indian Constellation - the navigation system developed by India using Indian Regional Navigation Satellite Systems (IRNSS), will be out in the market for the first time by the end of 2018. A receiver chip that supports NavIC will be installed on the phones from next year. It is not yet clear as to whether the Central government will insist on the use of NavIC as the default navigation system in India. According to Manuel del Castillo, associate director of Broadcom, which developed the receiver, Xiaomi Mi8 will be the first phone with the receiver. Apple, Samsung and Huawei, too, have bought the chip, so phones manufactured by them next year will enable NavIC navigation. The receiver has the ability to access signals from all navigation systems, such as GPS, Galileo and GLONASS. NavICs service will be restricted to India and its surrounding regions. While Huawei will add NavIN to its navigation bouquet by the end of this year, Samsung is expected to launch phones with the Broadcom chip in early 2019. NavIC is expected to have an accuracy of up to 50-60 cm. India is the sixth country in the world that has an indigenous navigation system. While countries like Russia insist on using GLONASS - its own navigation system - along with GPS, it is not yet clear whether NavIC will be put on the same pedestal in India. By Express News Service An Air India flight on Friday landed on an under-construction runway that was yet to made operational at Velana International Airport in Male, the capital of Maldives, putting the lives of 132 passengers at risk. According to a DGCA official, Flight AI 263 operating from Thiruvananthapuram to Male landed on the wrong runway at 3.55 pm. Fortunately, all 136 passengers and crew on board the new Airbus A320neo aircraft were safe. The official said two tyres of the aircraft got deflated while landing and the plane had to be towed back to the parking bay. The tyres could have developed a flat after the pilots applied breaks upon realising they got the runway wrong. The aviation regulatory authority of Maldives is investigating the incident. A DGCA statement said, this being a serious incident, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) has been informed. Both the pilots have been off rostered. The under-construction runway is 3,400 metre long and 60 metre wide. This is second such incident within a month that a flight operated by Indian airline company has landed at or tried to take off from the wrong runway. On August 3, pilots of a Jet Airways Boeing 737 had attempted take off from a taxiway parallel to the runway. The aircraft then went off the paved area of the taxiway and got stuck there. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh slammed the economic policies of the Narendra Modi -led NDA government, saying demonetisation and a flawed GST have derailed the Indian economy. At the launch of former Union minister Kapil Sibals book Shades of truth: A journey derailed on Friday, Singh also targeted the Centre for the widespread farm crisis. Farmers were forced to come out and protest on the streets, he asserted. Nothing concrete has been done to bring back the promised billions of dollars allegedly held abroad as black money. Singh also expressed concern over the safety of women and Dalits in the country, and noted there was an atmosphere of fear all over. Former vice-president Hamid Ansari was also present at the book launch. Later, former Union minister P Chidambaram, CPI-M general secretary Sitaram Yechury, LJD patron Sharad Yadav and TMCs Chandan Mitra took part in a panel discussion on the book. READ HERE: It will be Modi vs India in 2019, say opposition leaders at Kapil Sibal's book launch Im afraid that Modi has understood the power of democracy. That is why he is on a mission to destroy it. Attacks on institutions are part of an ideological background, Yechury said in his observation at the event. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and NC patriarch Farooq Abdullah were also present on the occasion. In a reference to the Congress leaders in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh promising cow protection, Sibal told the audience that there was nothing wrong in protecting cattle. He recalled that the meeting with yoga guru Ramdev during the anti-graft protests in 2012 was a big mistake by the then UPA government. We were told it was a social movement, Sibal said. Earlier, Sharad Yadav had made observations on the issue. The former Union minister said the purpose of his book was to present a data-based critique of the Narendra Modi government which had only made hollow promises to the people over the past four years. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The Delhi Polices Special Cell has arrested two alleged operatives of Jammu and Kashmir-based affiliate of ISIS (ISJK) near Red Fort. The duo, identified as Parvez Rashid and Jamshed Jahoor, both residents of Kashmirs Shopian and engineering students, were arrested from the Jama Masjid bus stop on Thursday night, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Cell, P S Kushwaha told the media. Two pistols and 10 cartridges, which the duo had acquired from Uttar Pradesh and were taking back to Kashmir for terrorist activities, were seized from them, according to the police. The two men have been booked under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Getting bail is tough for those arrested under the Act. Delhi was not a part of their plan. They were here for transit. They told us that the leader of the outfit (ISJK) is Umar Ibn Nazir, and the number 2 is Adil Thokar, whose orders they were following, the DCP told the media at a press briefing. The brother of Parvez was gunned down in an encounter by security forces in January. He was initially a member of Hizbul Mujahideen, but later joined ISJK. Aishik Chanda By Express News Service KOLKATA: The Eastern Railways' missive warning the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA) about the poor condition of the Majerhat bridge just 39 days prior to its collapse, was made public on Saturday. "The condition of RCC beam which supports utilities services are not in good condition, and it requires suitable replacement in programmed manner at the earliest. You are requested for your preparedness for shifting of utilities by your end as well as the work will have to be carried out in traffic and power block of Railways," the Deputy Chief Engineer (WS) of Eastern Railways' Sealdah division wrote to the superintending engineer of south circle, GAP sector of KMDA. "The nearby span towards Mominpur of the same ROB over existing drain found visible deflection towards Sealdah end. This needs a complete inspection from your side and necessary action thereof." Railway officials had inspected the Majerhat Bridge on July 21. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had blamed vibrations of Metro work for the September 4 collapse that claimed three lives and injured 25 people. Forensic experts found that tram lines were not removed from the collapsed bridge even after tram services were discontinued along the route 17 years ago. Instead, tar was layered on the tram lines which increased the weight of the bridge by around 100 kg every meter which, forensic experts believe, may be one of the reasons for the collapse. In view of the massive traffic jams across south Kolkata, the Public Works Department has proposed to build a concrete road over the railway tracks parallel to the collapsed bridge to restore the connectivity. The Eastern Railways has agreed to the proposal and a meeting will be held at the state secretariat on Monday to finalise the works. On Saturday, Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar said any form of goods carriers would hereafter be barred from plying on Arabinda Setu, Belgachia Setu, Bijon Setu and Tollygunge Bridge. He added that the police and the administration were working overtime to bring traffic normalcy across south Kolkata which has been facing severe traffic congestions. The two leading groups in Iraq's parliament on Saturday called on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to resign, after lawmakers held an emergency meeting on unrest shaking the country's south. "We demand the government apologise to the people and resign immediately," said Hassan al-Aqouli, spokesman for the list of populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr which won the most seats in a May election. Ahmed al-Assadi, spokesman for the second-largest Conquest Alliance list, denounced "the government's failure to resolve the crisis in Basra", a southern city where 12 protesters have been killed this week. Search Keywords: Short link: By Express News Service NEW DELHI: The two-day BJP national executive meet beginning on Saturday will see the party brass spelling out the poll agenda to its functionaries for the elections to the Lok Sabha and state Assemblies. After having carried out extensive assessments, BJP chief Amit Shah is likely to set targets for each state for the 2019 general elections. Ahead of the meeting, Shah would preside over a meeting of the national party bearers to give shape to the political resolution. The BJP will address a host of contemporary issues in the political resolution that will be adopted by the national executive. The achievements of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government to address key issues, including aspirations of OBCs through a Constitutional commission, and the decision to count their population in the 2021 Census, and the enactment of the amended SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, said a senior BJP functionary. READ HERE: BJP's national executive meet begins today amid upper caste backlash The BJP national executive meeting is being held after a gap of almost a year even though it is supposed to meet every three months. The last such meeting was held in the run up to the Gujarat elections. Shah will meet all the state unit presidents and spell out targets to them for the general elections. The BJP was able to win a number of states on the back of the campaign by the Prime Minister. Now, the chief ministers of the BJP-ruled states have to work towards the goal of helping Modi become the PM again in 2019, added the BJP functionary. The BJP is approaching the Lok Sabha elections on the development planks, with the party building a campaign narrative on substantial outreach through a host of welfare schemes among the vulnerable sections, who offer opportunity to build a new vote bank for the party. Elections loom large on horizon Other than Telangana, the BJP is preparing for the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram. The saffron party is in power in the first three states. By PTI MUMBAI: The Pune police claimed on Saturday that all the seven organisations, to which some of the left-wing activists arrested recently for alleged Maoist links belonged, were fronts of the banned CPI (Maoist). The police have arrested 10 activists during the probe into alleged Maoist connection behind the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune in December last year. According to a media report published on Saturday, only one of the outfits to which eight of the arrested activists belonged was declared as unlawful. A senior Pune police official, however, said all the seven outfits were "formations and front organisations" of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), banned in 2009. The ban on the CPI (Maoist) covered all its offshoots, Pune Joint Commissioner of Police Shivajirao Bodkhe said, citing the Union government's gazette of June 22, 2009. "The Central Government hereby makes an order so as to add that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and all its formations and front organisations as terrorist organisations," the gazette said. According to the police, arrested Telugu poet Varavara Rao is allegedly connected with the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), which has been declared unlawful in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana for allegedly being a front of the CPI (Maoist). Besides, Gautam Navlakha is allegedly connected with the People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) and Sudha Bharadwaj and Surendra Gadling with the Indian Association of People's Lawyers. Rona Wilson is allegedly connected with the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners, Shoma Sen with the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights, Sudhir Dhawale with the Republican Panthers and Mahesh Raut with the Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan. Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira are allegedly associated with the Maharashtra State Committee of the CPI (Maoist), the police have said. Rao, Navlakha, Bharadwaj, Gonsalves and Ferreira were arrested last month, while the five others were arrested in June. Following the arrest of the five activists last month, the Supreme Court had ordered to keep them under house arrest on a petition challenging the police action. By UNI DEHRI-ON-SONE: A day after three criminals were lynched in Begusarai district, a woman was beaten to death near Ambedkar roundabout under Dehri Town police station area in Rohtas district today. Police said here that the woman, identified as Mala Devi (40), living in Dalit hamlet was beaten to death after a dispute among children. Sources said three people had been arrested in this connection. Police said the body has been sent for autopsy. The nabbed outlaws are being interrogated to get vital clues from them, sources added. Manish Anand By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Blowing the poll bugle for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP chief Amit Shah tasked the party workers with twin challenges - expose the "falsehood of Mahagathbandhan (Opposition unity) and counter with facts and figures P Chidambaram & Co", while asserting that the NDA would seek another mandate on the basis of achievements of the Narendra Modi government. In his inaugural address to the BJP national executive, Shah seemingly admitted that the semblance of the Opposition unity and the economic narrative being pushed forth by the Opposition are key electoral challenges for the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "The BJP president has directed the party workers to expose dhakosla (falsehood) and bhranti (illusion) of the Mahagathbandhan. Also, the party workers have been asked to counter P Chidambaram & Co with facts and figures (on the state of economy," Union Minister for Defence Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters, while sharing details of Shah's inaugural address. Exuding confidence that the BJP would be able to repeat its governments in 19 states where the party is in power with full majority, Shah also sought to portray an image of "Ajey (invincible) BJP", saying that the party is number two in West Bengal, Telangana, and Odisha and the outfit would be making gains out of the anti-incumbency against the ruling parties in the respective states. While giving broad details of various Central schemes "touching lives of 50 crore people in the country", Shah spelt out the campaign agenda - performance of the Modi government during 2014-19. Slotting the BJP in the role of "Making India", Shah dubbed the Congress, which is largely seen emerging as the fulcrum of the Opposition unity, being in the company of whose who espouse "Breaking India". Invoking the legacy of former Prime Minister Atal BIhari Vajpayee whose images and videos were all around at the venue of the national executive at the Ambedkar memorial, the BJP chief reasoned that the Opposition has embarked on the path of disruptive politics, while arguing that the no confidence motion had been moved against the Modi government with no rationale. Earlier in the day, Shah, while addressing the office bearers of the party, asserted that the Opposition is indulging in misinformation campaign against the amendments to the prevention of atrocities against scheduled castes and tribes, while asking the party workers to counter the campaign. Shah's assertions came amid raging campaign led by the upper castes against the changes in the law. Portraying an image of "Ajey BJP", Shah noted that the party is in power in states commanding 70 per cent of the geographical areas of the country. "Along with the Parliamentary nod to the Constitutional status to the backward commission, 126 schemes of the Central government have benefited 50 crore people in the country, including the poor and women. The BJP chief has asked the party workers to go to the villages to spread the achievements of the Modi government," Sitharaman said, while quoting from Shah's speech. By PTI NEW DELHI: Amid signs of unrest among the upper castes over its push for pro-Dalit laws, the BJP will hold a two-day meeting of its key decision-making body here starting Saturday, in which the ruling party is likely to highlight the Narendra Modi government's steps for "social justice" and "economic successes". The national executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party is also likely to respond to concerns over the rise in oil prices and refer to the previous UPA government's "mismanagement of the economy" as it meets ahead of the Assembly polls in five states, with the Lok Sabha election less than eight months away, party sources said. BJP president Amit Shah will deliver the inaugural address in the presence of the party's top leaders, including Prime Minister Modi, on Saturday afternoon, while the latter is scheduled to give the valedictory speech on Sunday. READ HERE: Amit Shah likely to set individual targets for state, general elections at BJP national executive meet Significantly, the saffron party has chosen the Ambedkar International Centre, which works to promote the works and ideas of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, for hosting the meeting, a symbolism for its Dalit outreach. However, it will have to do a balancing act as groups claiming to represent the upper castes, its core vote bank, have been protesting the government's decision to restore the original and stringent provisions of a law on atrocities against Dalits and tribals, after the Supreme Court had relaxed those. The groups had called a "Bharat Bandh" on Thursday. Delhi: BJP two-day National Executive meeting will begin today in Delhi. Visuals from outside Ambedkar International Centre where the meeting will take place. pic.twitter.com/FheYuMuPT7 ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2018 Senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra has gone on record seeking a rethink on the law, which non-Dalits/tribals claim is often misused. The issues of the National Register of Citizens, passage of key bills -- including the one to restore the original provisions of the law on atrocities against Dalits and another that accorded constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) -- in Parliament will also come up for discussion at the national executive meet, the sources said. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters that the executive will discuss all the topical issues. He, though, did not elaborate further. It will be the first such meeting of the party following the death of its stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The executive will pay tribute to the former prime minister, Hussain said. The sources said the hike announced by the government in the Minimum Support Price for a number of farm produce and the rise in the economic growth in the last quarter to 8.2 per cent would also find a mention, besides the ongoing "Gram Swaraj" campaign to cover the poor with a host of welfare programmes. Modi has often cited his government's pro-poor programmes and push for laws to empower the Dalits and Other Backward Classes as an evidence of its work for "social justice", a theme likely to be picked by the BJP national executive. The BJP is likely to present itself as a party that has promoted the interests of the backward classes -- a constituency it has constantly been wooing to big electoral successes since 2014. Party leaders said the government's "honest" image and "successful" handling of the economy, besides the Hindutva credentials of the organisation, would keep its core constituency tethered to it in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. They added that the likely alliance of its rivals such as the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party and other regional parties would be a red herring for the upper castes. The BJP national executive is meeting almost after a year. By PTI NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court, which unanimously struck down part of the British-era law that criminalised gay sex, has traced the history of the 158-year-old provision in its judgement back to the reign of King Henry VIII in 1533. A five-judge constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said that the Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) violated the constitutional right to equality and dignity. Justices Nariman and Chandrachud, in their separate concurring judgements, dealt in detail about the evolution of the section as it exists in the present form. Justice Nariman said section 377 was modelled on Britain's Buggery Act of 1533 which was brought in by the then King Henry VIII which prohibited "the detestable and abominable offence" of buggery (anal intercourse) committed with mankind or beast. The word "buggery" is derived from the old French word "bougre" and was taken to mean anal intercourse, Justice Chandrachud said in his judgement. "The Buggery Act, 1533, which was enacted by Henry VIII, made the offence of buggery punishable by death, and continued to exist for nearly 300 years before it was repealed and replaced by the Offences against the Person Act, 1828. Buggery, however, remained a capital offence in England until 1861, one year after the enactment of the IPC," Justice Chandrachud said. He said that Section 377 was allowed to operate in Independent India as under Article 372 (1) "all laws in force prior to the commencement of the Constitution shall continue to be in force until altered or repealed". Justice Nariman said 8,921 men were indicted between 1806 and 1900 for "sodomy, gross indecency or other unnatural misdemeanours" in England and Wales. On an average, ninety men per year were indicted for homosexual offences during this period, he said. "Most of the men convicted were imprisoned, but between 1806 and 1861, when the death penalty for sodomy was finally abolished, 404 men were sentenced to death. Fifty-six were executed, and the remainder were either imprisoned or transported to Australia for life," he said. Referring to the rule of East India Company in the country, Justice Nariman said the then Parliament had established the Indian Law Commission and in 1833, Thomas Babington Macaulay was appointed as its head. Justice Nariman wrote that Lord Macaulay's draft was substantially different from what was finally enacted as Section 377. He wrote that even in the most "prudish of all periods of English history", Lord Macaulay had recognised a lesser sentence for the crime of "unnatural lust" if performed with consent. After several reviews of the draft, the Commission concluded that the Draft Penal Code was sufficiently complete, and, with slight modifications, fit to be acted upon, noted Justice Nariman in his 96-page judgement. "The revised edition of the Penal Code was then forwarded to the Judges of the Supreme Court at Calcutta in 1851, and also to the Judges of the Sudder Court at Calcutta." "A Council was formed with Bethune (the Legislative member of the Legislative Council of India), Chief Justice of the Supreme Court at Calcutta, Justice Buller, Justice Colvile, Sir Barnes Peacock as members to review the Penal Code," Justice Nariman wrote. He noted that it was the Committee of Peacock which finally sent the draft equivalent of Section 377 for enactment, said Justice Nariman. After twenty-five years of revision, IPC entered into force on January 1, 1862. The IPC was the first codified criminal code in the British Empire. Justice Nariman, who wrote a separate concurring verdict, referred to Irish poet Oscar Wilde and said his trial paved the way to consider the law and practice relating to homosexual offences in Victorian-era England. By IANS NEW DELHI: Former Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', who is now the Co-Chairman of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP), called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Saturday to discuss bilateral ties. "The two leaders discussed the progress in India-Nepal relations, as well as other issues of mutual interest," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement. "The Prime Minister fondly recalled their previous interactions, and thanked Dahal for his valuable contributions in strengthening India-Nepal relations," it stated. Modi also said that India-Nepal relations have received a boost with frequent high-level interactions. Modi last visited the Himalayan nation in August to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) regional group's summit. Earlier in the day, Prachanda met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Following the meeting, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted that the two leaders "exchanged views on advancing bilateral ties between the two countries". Prachanda arrived here on Thursday on a three-day visit with the aim of improving bilateral relations. After the merger of the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist), Prachanda is sharing the post of Chairman with another co-chair and Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. He aims to become the Prime Minister after Oli completes his tenure. By IANS SRINAGAR: Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a student in Hazratbal area of Srinagar city on Saturday, police said. Gunmen fired at Ishfaq Ahmad, a student of Islamic University, in Hazratbal area of the city this evening, said a police officer here. ALSO READ: Youth killed by gunmen in Srinagar was active militant "The victim died on the spot. An identify card recovered from the slain person, he was Ishfaq Ahmad, a student of the university. However, the identity is being confirmed. "The area has been cordoned off for searches to trace the assassins," the officer said. Earlier in the day, unidentified gunmen killed an activist of separatist Hurriyat group led by Syed Ali Geelani in Bomai area of Sopore town. The activist, Hakim-ul-Rehman Sultani, had been recently released from jail. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that Hindus have no aspiration of dominance and Hindu society will prosper only when it works as a society. He also urged the community leaders to unite and work for the betterment of the mankind. Bhagwat said this while addressing a gathering of some 2,500 delegates attending the second World Hindu Congress in Chicago. He said one of the key values to bring the whole world into a team is to have controlled ego and learn to accept the consensus. The second World Hindu Congress marks the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's historic speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893 in Chicago. "If a lion is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy the lion. We must not forget that. We want to make the world better. We have no aspiration of dominance. Our influence is not a result of conquest or colonisation,' he said. Bhagwat said a sense of idealism is good and described himself not as "anti-modern", but as "pro-future". He sought to describe Hindu dharma as "ancient and post-modern". In this context, he alluded to the war and politics in the Hindu epic Mahabharata, and said politics cannot be conducted like a meditation session, and it should be politics. To work together, we have to accept the consensus. We are in a position to work together," Bhagwat said. Bhagwat said the Hindu society has the largest number of meritorious persons. But they never come together. Coming together of Hindus in itself is a difficult thing," he said. Bhagwat also noted that Hindus had been suffering for thousands of years because they forgot to practice its basic principles and spiritualism. Addressing the Congress on the theme drawn from the Mahabharat, 'Think Collectively, Act Valiantly,' Bhagwat highlighted the need for such an action, and how Hindus should work together. By Express News Service BHOPAL: As a multi-agency probe into the alleged inter-state AK-47 gunrunning racket has gathered pace in the last week, more skeletons are tumbling out of the closet of the countrys defence and national security apparatus. A joint probe by the Madhya Pradesh and Bihar police along with the Military Intelligence and Central intelligence agencies have revealed a strong possibility of around 3-4 serving civilian officers of the local defence establishment being part of the nefarious racket involved in smuggling discarded AK-47 rifles and their parts from 506 Army Base Workshop in Jabalpur town. There could be 3-4 more civilian officers who also could be key facilitators of the racket, just like serving COD civilian officer Suresh Thakur. More action is likely in the coming days in the case, Jabalpur district police superintendent Amit Singh told The New Indian Express on Thursday. Interrogation of retired armourer of Indian Army Purshottam Lal and Thakur have revealed that another retired armourer of the Indian Army who hails from Bihar, but now settled in Lucknow, may be involved in the racket. He worked with Purshottam in the Army in various locations of the country and after retirement helped start this racket. Meanwhile, four days after arresting 54-year-old Purshottam Lal from MPs Rewa district, the cops arrested his wife Chandrawati and 26-year-old son Shilendra on Thursday. The discarded/condemned AK-47 rifles which were sent by the armed forces and paramilitary forces to local defence establishment in Jabalpur for smelting were handed over to Purshottam by Thakur since 2012. These discarded/condemned assault rifles were re-assembled by Purshottam at a makeshift gun making unit at his house in Jabalpur. These guns were subsequently transported in train by Purshottam and wife Chandrawati to Bihar for delivery to gunrunner Imran Alam, who was arrested in Munger by Bihar police along with three AK-47 rifles, magazines and spares on August 29, said Singh. The couple embarked on train journey from Katni railway station in MP along with the AK-47 rifles consignment destined for Bihar, as there was no X-ray scanner at Katni railway station that could detect the assault rifles stashed in the bag, said Singh. The gunrunner Imran arrested in Munger on August 29 is a close relative of the retired armourer now living in Lucknow. His other relative Shamsher, who too resides in Munger district is the missing link of the supply chain that ultimately sold the re-assembled AK-47 rifles to criminals in Bihar, East UP and Bengal. The Jabalpur police have so far seized Rs 11.78 lakh cash from Purshottam Lal and Suresh Thakur, besides several AK-47 parts from the illegal gun making unit being run by Purshottam at his house. 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 Iran executed three Iranian Kurdish men accused of belonging to a militant group and taking part in attacks against civilians and security forces in the Kurdish region of western Iran, the judiciary's news service reported on Saturday. The executions took place despite a call on Friday for them to be halted by two U.N. human rights special rapporteurs, Javaid Rehman and Agnes Callamard, who said in a statement that the men had not been given a fair trial. Amnesty International said the accused men had been denied access to their lawyers after being arrested and had said they were tortured into making confessions. "We are horrified by the news that the Iranian authorities have executed these men, despite widespread condemnation of their death sentences and calls from U.N. human rights experts and other bodies to halt their executions," Philip Luther, Amnesty International's research and advocacy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement on Saturday. The judiciary's Mizan news service said Loqman Moradi and Zanyar Moradi were accused of carrying out an attack in the western town of Marivan in July 2009 that killed three people, including the son of a prominent cleric. Ramin Hossein Panahi was accused of participating in an assault targeting security forces in the town of Sanandaj in June 2017. Iran has one of the world's highest execution rates. According to Amnesty International, 51 percent of all recorded executions in 2017 were carried out in Iran. Search Keywords: Short link: By IANS NEW DELHI: Amnesty International on Saturday castigated the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for doing little to ensure justice and rehabilitation for the survivors of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal violence. On the fifth anniversary of the deadly riots in Muzaffarnagar district that claimed at least 60 lives and displaced over 50,000 people, the Amnesty International India blamed the state government's apathy for seven gang-rape survivors still awaiting justice and the displaced continuing to look for rehabilitation. "The Uttar Pradesh government has forgotten the riot survivors of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. The state has done very little to redress the injustice they have faced. The government's attempt at rehabilitation and compensation has been woefully inadequate", said Asmita Basu, Programmes Director, Amnesty International India. She said justice remained elusive for the seven gangrape survivors who have received little assistance from authorities to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. "There has not been even one conviction in any of the seven cases so far. In 2016, one of the survivors died during childbirth," she said. Quoting one of the survivors, a mother of five, Amnesty International India said the victims have lost all hope of getting justice and are now hoping for survival of their families. "Their rapists are out in the open for years now. Women are scared to pursue their cases and they cannot be blamed for this. There are media reports of compromises being made and of money being offered and accepted by many of the seven families. We need to understand the realities in which these women have survived all these years. They are scared and have lost all faith in the system," said Rehana Adeeb, an activist working with the survivors. The rights body said an overwhelming majority of families in resettlement colonies lack access to basic services like clean drinking water and drainage facilities. "The Uttar Pradesh government's callous treatment of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli riot survivors is a breach of its commitment to uphold basic constitutional values. The riot survivors have been forced to live in a vicious cycle of poverty and discrimination. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister must ensure that the voices of the survivors are heard immediately and justice is delayed no further", added Basu. Ramananda Sengupta By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Nepal's participation in the first joint military exercise among armies of the seven BIMSTEC members in Pune next week is in doubt following a political row over the issue in Kathmandu. On Friday, Nepal's foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali told a parliamentary committee that though Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had highlighted the exercise during the fourth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit in Kathmandu early last week, there had been no agreement on the deal because other member states including Nepal had opposed it. "India was free to float the agenda, but we did not endorse it," he said. The House committee had summoned Gyawali to explain after both the foreign and defence ministries declared that the decision to take part in the exercise had been taken without consulting them. Code-named Milex 18, the six-day anti-terrorism (Sept 10-16) drill will see the participation of 30 army personnel each from the seven member states -- India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Thailand-and conclude with a conclave of army chiefs from these nations. According to the Kathmandu Post, although three Nepal Army officials are already in Pune, the participation of the full squad is now in doubt following the controversy. Army officials from all member states participated in the planning conference of the exercise held in the third week of June. Earlier, briefing the media in Pune, Southern Army Commander Lt Gen D R Soni said, "The armies of seven BIMSTEC members are participating. The core theme of this military exercise is counter-terrorism in a semi-urban backdrop. Platoon sized contingents of the national armies of the BIMSTEC nations will participate in this week-long training exercise. Five officers and 25 Junior Commissioned Officers, plus Other Ranks of all member countries, will be participating, except Thailand, which will only be sending its group of observers due to certain prior commitments." According to Gen Soni, "We are looking to start a dialogue, sharing of procedures, thoughts, processes and certainly strategies to deal with terrorism collectively." By UNI MUNGER: A week after recovery of AK assault rifles in the district, police seized three A K assault rifles from a house at Bardhe village under Mufassil police station area in the district on Friday. Police Superintendent Babu Ram told newspersons here that three AK 47 assault rifles were seized from a house at the village on the basis of confessional statement by Purushottam Lal Das, a retired military armourer of a government-run ordnance depot at Jabalpulpur in Madhya Pradesh during his interrogation. Jabalpur police had arrested Purushottam on the basis of the confession by Bihar-based arms-supplier Mohammad Imran Aalam, a resident of Mirzapur Bardhe village in Munger. He said that one magazine, DBBL and SBBL gun each were also recovered from the spot. SP said that Purushottam Lal Das during his interrogation had admitted that he had already supplied 60-70 A K assault rifles to arms smugglers in Munger from 2012 to 2018. He said that Munger police had recovered six A K 47 rifles so far. He said that arms smugglers had sold A K 47 assault rifles to dreaded Maoists too. By Express News Service JAIPUR: The Rajasthan police filed a 25-page charge sheet against three accused for the lynching of Rakbar Khan on Friday. It took 49 days to file the charge sheet. There were reports that no policeman was named in the charge sheet. Rakbar was attacked on the night of July 20 near Alwars Ramgarh. The police had drawn flak as it some rescued cows were taken back before taking Rakbar to a hospital. The delay of three hours in getting medical help resulted in Rakbars death, as the post mortem report stated that he died due to shock and excessive bleeding. There are three main accused Paramjit, Naresh and Dharmender . The trio was charged under Section 302 , 341 , 323 and 34 of the IPC . These are the people who beat him (Rakbar), and thats why he died, said Deputy SP, Alwar, Ashok Chauhan. Police role is under probe by a judicial magistrate. Thats a separate inquiry. An ASI had admitted that there had been a delay in taking Rakbar to a hospital. Subsequently, he was suspended and three other personnel were transferred. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: Ruling out a possibility to conceded to the demand for withdrawal of amendment in the SC/ST Act, 1989, Republican Party of India (RPI) chief and Union minister Ramdas Athawale said that it was a collective decision taken by all political parties together in the Parliament. Athawale said that the Act could not be changed now and it was the duty of all sections of society to support Dalits on this issue. Expressing concern over the protests by upper castes and OBCs aga9inst the amendment in the Act, the RPI chief said that he would soon meet representatives of upper castes and clear the misconceptions over the issue they had. "There is a need for a better coordination among various sections of society, especially, between upper castes and Dalits and this is what Dr Ambedkar also wanted," said Athawale. He added the fear of misuse of the Act by Dalits against upper castes were misplaced as the chances of cases against them over verbal abuse are negligible, he claimed. The union squarely blamed the opposition parties for inciting protests and violence in BJP-ruled states on the issue. "It is more of a political conspiracy against the ruling alliance in the election year," he maintained. The RPI chief expressed his party's wish to contest a few, 3-4, Lok Sabha seats in alliance with the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. "We won't do anything dent the prospects of the BJP but we can sure snatch a seat or two from the BSP if we contest here," he stated. Rejecting the opposition's claim that BJP would lose seats this time around, Athawale claimed that BJP's tally would touch the figure of 300 in 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The ruling party had 282 in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi governance had delivered results and that the people were by and large happy with the present Central government. By PTI NEW DELHI: Countries across the globe which paved the way for equality and justice for the LGBT community were cited by the Supreme Court while striking down part of Section 377 of IPC this week, and quoted liberally from the judgements delivered by their courts on the issue. A five-judge constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra on Thursday unanimously struck down part of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which criminalised gay sex, saying that it violated the constitutional right to equality and dignity. CJI Misra and Justice Khanwilkar, who wrote the main 166-page judgement, mentioned the constitutional courts of United States, Canada, South Africa, Republic of Philippines and the European Court of Human Rights which have passed similar verdicts. Referring to one of the judgements of the Supreme Court of the United States on the issue, they said that the court wrote, "LGBT were entitled to respect for their private lives and that the State could not demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime, because their right to liberty under the Due Process Clause gives them the full right to engage in their conduct without the intervention of the State". In "Roberts versus United States Jaycees", the US top court observed that the choices to enter into and maintain certain intimate human relationships must be secured against undue intrusion by the State, CJI Misra and Justice Khanwilkar wrote. They further said that the Constitutional court of South Africa, in one of the cases related to LGBT community, observed the "stigma attached to a significant proportion of our population is manifest". "As a result of the criminal offence, gay men are at risk of arrest, prosecution and conviction of the offence of sodomy simply because they seek to engage in sexual conduct which is part of their experience of being human," it had said. The Constitutional court of South Africa drew a parallel between the discrimination faced by homosexuals and the apartheid system that was in place in the African countries. "Just as apartheid legislation rendered the lives of couples of different racial groups perpetually at risk, the sodomy offence builds insecurity and vulnerability into the daily lives of gay men." The CJI and Justice Khanwilkar noted that the Supreme Court of Canada in Delwin Vriend case had observed that the most important outcome is the psychological harm which may ensue from the state of affairs as the fear of discrimination would logically lead them to concealment of true identity. They said that the European Court of Human Rights had observed that homosexuality cannot be criminalised owing to public opinion. "Although members of the public who regard homosexuality as immoral may be shocked, offended or disturbed by the commission by others of private homosexual acts, this cannot on its own warrant the application of penal sanctions when it is consenting adults alone who are involved," the court had said. Similarly, the Supreme Court of the Republic of the Philippines, too had observed that the court cannot impose its views on the populace. Justice D Y Chandrachud, who also wrote a concurring judgement, said according the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, "74 countries criminalize same-sex sexual conduct, as of 2017. Most of these countries lie in the Sub-Saharan and Middle East region. Some of them prescribe death penalty for homosexuality". He wrote in his judgment about another breakthrough for LGBTQ rights that came from the Supreme Court of Nepal, in Sunil Babu Pant versus Nepal Government. Pant, the first openly gay Asian national leader had filed a PIL before the Supreme Court of Nepal praying for the recognition of the rights of lesbians, gays, and third gender persons. "The issue of sexual activity falls under the definition of privacy. No one has the right to question how do two adults perform the sexual intercourse and whether this intercourse is natural or unnatural," the court had said. Namita Bajpai By Express News Service LUCKNOW: The war of words between SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and UP CM Yogi Adityanath intensified on Saturday when the former Chief Minister launched a fresh salvo at CM Yogi a day after the latter had likened him with Mughal emperor Aurangzeb at a function in state capital Lucknow. Retorting to the Aurangzeb jibe of the CM, Akhilesh took to twitter to teach 'Rajdharma' to Yogi on Saturday. He claimed that the Chief Minister should give equal respect to the father of everyone. "For the CM, everyone's father should be treated as his own. Even Unnao rape survivor's helpless father also who died a custodial death. Similarly, every daughter should be treated by him as his own. Even the one who was incarcerated for showing him black flags," Akhilesh tweeted sayig that was the genuine 'Rajdharm'. Notably, UP CM Yogi Adityanath on Friday had drawn parallels between Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Mughal emperor Aurangzeb who had imprisoned his father. Without taking names, the CM had claimed that the person who talked about connecting with people was not loyal to his own father and uncle. "If we see the history, Aurangzeb had imprisoned his father. This is why Muslims don't name their sons after the Mughal emperor. Something like this is also connected with Samajwadi Party," said the CM while speaking at Nishad Sammelan in Lucknow. UP CM's statement came in the wake of a new secular front floated by senior SP leader and Akhilesh's uncle Shivpal last week. Shivpal has decided to part ways with nephew and contest all 80 Lok Sabha seats in the upcoming general elections. Ahead of the 2017 Assembly polls, Akhilesh had deposed his father as party chief in a coup of sorts and had himself replaced him at a hurriedly called national Executive of the party to which Mulayam Singh Yadav and Shivpal were not invited on January 1, 2018. Even he had removed his uncle Shivpal from the post of state president and since then the veteran leader wasn't given any position in the party. By Express News Service MUMBAI/PUNE: India is heading for a disaster due to government under Narendra Modi that enmassed over Rs 11 lakh crore in four years by increasing petrol prices and lost them on likes of Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, said AICC general secretary Mallikarjun Kharge. Khage was speaking at a public meeting at Pune which marked the concluding ceremony of first stage of the "JanSangharsh Yatra" undertaken by state Congress on Saturday. "We had controlled Petrol-Diesel prices by giving subsidies. But, BJP didn't care for the common man of the country. The same attitude of not caring for the common man was even seen during the demonetization," Kharge said while enumerating Modi government's failures on the economic front. The BJP has only become an election machine and hasn't fulfilled even a single promise, Kharge said. Modi just brought in various schemes in different names but, didn't care to implement them in true sense, he added. Congress leader in Rajya Sabha Gulam Nabi Azad, who started his political career from Maharashtra too addressed the meeting along with the state leaders. The BJP government has increased the taxes on petrol by 211 per cent, while those on diesel have been increased by whopping 443 per cent since 2014 adding to the difficulties of the common men. Hence, to condemn the government and pledge for a change, everybody should participate in the shutdown on Monday as appealed by Congress President Rahul Gandhi, said MPCC president and former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan. The JanSangharsh Yatra that travelled over 1200 km to cover five districts in a week received a huge response, he said and added that the next phase of the Sangharsh Yatra would make it the MahaSangharsh Yatra. "While the Congress renamed the state secretariat as Mantralaya for ministers (Mantry) sit there to serve people. But, during BJP rule that building has been turned into 'Atmahatyalaya' (Suicide House)," Chavan said while referring to recent suicides committed by some farmers and others at the state secretariat. "Instead of any real measures, the government is content with tieing nets in the building premises to prevent suicides," he said. The leader of opposition Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil criticized the state government for shielding the extrimist Hindu activists like Sambhaji Bhide and Sanatan Sanstha head Dr Jayant Athawale and demanded that action needs to be taken against them instead of harassment of Dalit activists in Bhima Koregaon case.-"Top police officers have started speaking the language of the RSS. This needs to be stopped,-" he said while referring to the recent press conference in Elgaar Parishad case. Vikhe Patil also appealed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to clarify his stand on Sanatan and other fringe organizations. "If it happens, that would expose the so-called Hindu force," he said. Former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan enumerated the shortcomings of the union as well as the state government on the economy front and said that people are all prepared for a change. Kalyan Tholeti By Express News Service VIJAYAWADA: Nara Lokesh has dropped enough hints to indicate that his party is willing to strike strategic alliances with Prof M Kodandarams Telangana Jana Sena (TJS), and importantly, the Congress, in the neighbouring Telangana. Though he didnt say so in as many words, he made it amply clear that his party will do whatever it takes to keep the BJP and its comrade-in-arms the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) out of power. My personal view is that BJP should not win and clearly, TRS and BJP are going together. It is match-fixing. If you look at the last three months, the sequence of events in Telangana is leading towards it. Telangnana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said not one word against the BJP or Modiji. He claimed their gotras are different. Gotra may be necessary for a marriage, not for illicit relationship! he quipped. In an exclusive interview to TNIE at his chambers in the State Assembly, the 35-year-old, at the end of a tiring day, was confident and combative without being complacent. Munching on papaya pieces, the son of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu reasoned that aligning with Congress, the party which divided the State, would not backfire on the TDP. They are willing to give special status to Andhra Pradesh. When a person from Odisha asked how could you give special status to Andhra, Rahul Gandhi said at the CWC clearly that it was a commitment made by Parliament. Finally, our politburo will decide but we will work with whoever does justice to Andhra Pradesh. Definitely, we want to defeat the BJP at the national level, he said. Asked if the TDP is also looking at joining hands with Prof Kodandaram, the architect of the Telangana movement who spewed venom on the yellow party, Lokesh, while pointing out that the Professor sidelined by the TRS, had attacked everyone from Andhra at the height of the movement, claimed they now realise they got the State but did not get any real freedom. To a pointed query on whether the TDP has initiated talks with the Congress, TJS and the Left in Telangana, he replied in the negative. We have not initiated talks with other parties. Discussions will take place tomorrow with our party cadre when Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu visits Hyderabad. They will take it forward, he clarified. Wait and watch. Tomorrow we will tell you. Tomorrow we will give clarity after talking to our cadre and leaders, he said. The TDPs strategy seems to be to rope in Kodandaram, a credible face in Telangana, before striking an alliance with the Congress. It serves two purposes. One, it will help in neutralising the TRS accusations of an opportunistic alliance between the TDP and the Congress and two, it will blunt the TRS charge of TDP being an Andhra party. TDP sources indicated the professor was also in favour of joining hands with the TDP. It is also obvious that the TDP has decided to adopt a similar political strategy in both Andhra and Telangana, which is to make the BJP enemy number 1 and show how the TRS in Telangana and YSRC in Andhra are in cohorts with it. Lending credence to this, Lokesh cited several instances of the TRS-BJP bonhomie. Our CM sought time to meet the PM but he didnt get it whereas KCR and even KTR were given appointments. If you look at the zonal system or for that matter, anything in Telangana, everything is okayed by the Centre in a jiffy. But when AP asks its rightful dues, nothing is cleared. Niti Aayog advised the Centre to grant an additional Rs 666 crore for Amaravati, but the PMO has not endorsed it. And, look at the speed at which KCRs resignation was accepted and Assembly dissolved. I was shocked. Even more shockingly, KCR gave out the election schedule even before the Election Commission! I wonder who is the election commissioner. What does all this mean? he questioned and alleged the TRS has not announced candidates wherever there are sitting BJP MLAs. Also questioning the TRS achievements, he sought to know what has it done in the last four years. KCR brands TDP as an Andhra party. He became CM that way. But he did not deliver. Telangana development came about because of TDP. Cyber Towers, ORR, airport, widening of Hyderabad roads, flyovers everything materalised because of TDP. Have they built even one flyover? Even now in rural Telangana, be it cement roads or water schemes, it was all done by TDP, he asserted. Lokesh, nonetheless, sounded pragmatic when he admitted that this message of the party will have to be taken to the people by the cadre in Telangana. Yes, leaders have left the party but our cadre is strong. If CM Naidu calls for a meeting in Hyderabad, 5,000 people come. What does it indicate? We have a number of youngsters. We can build a young leadership, he asserted and sounded upbeat about the partys prospects, pointing out that TDP had garnered the second highest vote share in the GHMC polls. But he felt it was unfortunate that the first elected government in Telangana did not last its full term and wondered why KCR had resorted to it. He also lashed out at the TRS recalling that the party leaders, including KCRs daughter Kavitha, had at one time supported special status to Andhra but later walked out of the Lok Sabha when it came up for discussion. It is now convenient for them to blame Andhras, is it? he questioned and accused the TRS of failing to deliver on big promises. They delivered on routine things like pension, ration etc. However, where are the double bedrooms for the poor? KCR had famously said he would not seek votes if he failed to give tap connections to every household. When asked about it, he now says it doesnt matter if those who did not get it dont vote for him. It is all pomp and show. They are great orators but that is where it starts and ends for them, he added and mocked at the 21 per cent growth rate claimed by the Telangana Chief Minister, exclaiming, I dont know what to say! By Express News Service GUNTUR: A 25-year-old bank consultant from Tenali in Guntur district was on Thursday gunned down in a shoot-out at the Fifth Third Banks headquarters where he worked near Cincinnatis Fountain Square in Ohio, USA. Pruthvi Raj Kandepis family was informed of the death on Friday morning by friends of the youngster. Kandepi was among the three people shot by the gunman Omar Enrique Santa Perez from Ohio. The youngster died of multiple bullet injuries. Telugu Association of North America is coordinating with US officials to bring the body home. Former President Barack Obama is in California to campaign for Democratic congressional candidates one day after issuing a stinging rebuke of his successor in the White House. Obama is set to appear later Saturday at the Anaheim Convention Center in the heart of Orange County, a once-solid Republican stronghold that voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election that Donald Trump won. Obama will share the billing with seven Democratic candidates in competitive U.S. House districts across California. Those races are considered crucial to the party's efforts to retake control of the House from Republican. Four of those districts are at least partly in Orange County. Obama issued a scorching critique of President Donald Trump on Friday in a speech at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Search Keywords: Short link: By Express News Service VISAKHAPATNAM: Vizag has got its first cyber crime police station and analysis lab after years of wait. DGP RP Thakur, along with City Police Commissioner Mahesh Chandra Laddha, inaugurated the facility at VUDA Complex here on Friday. According to the DGP, the lab will have advanced mobile forensic tools, including social media analysis tools, video analysis tools, forensic tools, password detection tools and a few other sophisticated equipment, which are required to track cyber crooks. The facility will have a circle inspector, three sub-inspectors, 12 constables, a few home guards and a technical team. While in 2016, the recovery percentage in cyber crime cases was 0.18 per cent, last year it was 2.6 per cent. In the current year (till date), the recovery rate has been 16 per cent. Till now, Visakhapatnam cyber crime police have arrested about 90 cyber crooks. With the newly inaugurated police station, the investigation procedure will improve and property recoveries will be better, said Thakur. For record, Vizag tops the State in cyber crime cases. It has also been registering the most number of cyber crime cases in South India. In 2017, the city registered 576 cyber crime cases as against 442 in 2016. Even this year, 406 cyber crime cases have been registered in the city so far. The city police, in spite of problems related to shortage of staff and inadequate equipment, have been running a cyber crime investigation cell at II Town Police Station. Hundreds of cases therefore, have been pending in the police cell, as it has been tough for the cops to pursue complex cases, in the absence of adequate manpower and proper equipment. Initially after the GO was passed to set up a cyber crime PS in 2015, there were problems related to land acquisition. After finalising a temporary block at the VUDA complex, works began at the beginning of the year. Initially, assistance was received from the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), Thiruvananthapuram. Modern cyber forensic lab in Vijayawada Director-General of Police RP Thakur has said state-of-the-art cyber forensic lab (CFL) will be set up in Vijayawada with an estimated budget of H300 crore. The DGP was speaking after inaugurating Cyber Crime Police Station and Analysis Centre in Visakhapatnam on Friday, the second one in the State after Vijayawada. Training centres-cum-cyber crime police stations will be set up in Anantapur, Kurnool, Tirupati, Rajahmundry and Vizianagaram. Two are already functioning in the State, he said. Cyber kits just like forensic kits, will be given to the cyber crime police teams. These kits will help them collect evidence during investigation, he said. By Express News Service BENGALURU: A case has been filed against the noted playwright and Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad for wearing a Me too Urban Naxal placard around his neck at an event organised to mark the death anniversary of journalist Gauri Lankesh recently. Writer Girish Karnad wearing the Me too Urban Naxal sign around his neck at an event recently. | Express Photo Services High Court lawyer and social activist N P Amrutesh has lodged a complaint with the Vidhana Soudha police. I have registered a complaint with the police to investigate his connection with Naxalism and interrogate him in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence, Amrutesh said. The lawyer claimed that by wearing the placard, Karnad tried to promote and propagate violent and criminal activities of Naxals. On one hand, police are trying to fight Naxals with the Anti-Naxal Force, while on the other hand, they are allowing people like Karnad to not just display, but also participate in events like Kala Kabir Manch, an event allegedly organised by a front of CPI Maoists. There is no such thing as urban or rural Naxal. A Naxal is a Naxal and a Maoist too. Being a Jnanpith awardee, he should know what he is talking about. If he wants to protest, let him return his award to the government. Amrutesh told The New Indian Express. He further asked the Vidhana Soudha police to find out if other people working as accomplices or supporters of Karnad, such as actor Prakash Rai, activist Swami Agnivesh, Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mewani and student leader Kanhaiya Kumar are also linked with the Bhima-Koregaon violence. Speaking to TNIE, Girish Karnad said, We live in a democratic country. He has the right to file a case. I have the right to do what I want to say or do. Let the law take its own course. Police can decide to take action, if need be. I am perfectly ok with it. However, Vidhana Soudha police said a complaint has been lodged but the case has been transferred to Halasur Gate police station as the event was held at Jnana Jyothi auditorium. Karnad and other activists, during the Gauri memorial event, had protested against the recent arrests of five activists from different cities on the grounds that they were urban Naxals. Amruthesh, along with his complaint, had attached a picture of Girish Karnad at the protest. The other people mentioned in the complaint had also participated in the event. Muthalik submits memorandum Chief of Sri Rama Sena, Pramod Muthalik, told TNIE, "I met Additional Commissioner of Police Seemath Kumar Singh and gave a memorandum to take immediate action against Girish Karnad by filing a suo motu case. If the police fail to do so, our activists will protest in front of Karnad's house, he said. Tushar Kaushik By Express News Service BENGALURU: Zero-budget natural farming (ZBNF) pioneer Subhash Palekar has questioned why the state government is pursuing Israels farm technology when ZBNF is the better option. Palekar, a Padma Sri recipient, is in the city to conduct a two-day workshop -- Back to Nature -- where he will discuss sustainable living, ways to practice ZBNF and forming consumer groups to collaborate with ZBNF farmers. Palekar said Israels model had failed in the USA. The Israel method claims to save 60 per cent water by using drip irrigation. But through ZBNF, we can save 90 per cent water compared to chemical farming, he said. Palekar added that Israel has sandy soil which does not have water retaining capacity, which is different from the Indian soil with a high retention capacity. Incidentally, on Friday, Agriculture Minister N H Shivashankar Reddy, Horticulture Minister M C Managuli and Agriculture Department secretary Maheshwar Rao were in Israel to study the countrys farming model. In Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamys budget,`300 crore was allotted to adopt Israeli technology in several districts, while `50 crore was allotted to implement ZBNF. Palekar said following a recent meeting with Niti Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar, agriculture officials and scientists, it was decided to push for ZBNF in all states. He said around 7 lakh farmer suicides per year were reported in India, and not even one of them practised ZBNF. Terrace farming IT professional Sapna Subramani has been practising terrace farming for four years. After attending Palekars workshop two years ago, she switched to his model of natural farming, wherein she prepared the fertiliser herself, used local seeds and did not use any chemicals. My plants are healthier now, and my produce accounts for 90 per cent of the vegetables used at home to feed a family of four, she said. By Express News Service KOCHI: The district administration will begin the assessment of houses damaged in the floods from Monday. The assessment will be done with the help of the mobile App launched by the State IT Mission. The training for the employees of the Information Kerala Mission in this regard has been completed. Since the entire assessment will be done with the help of GPS tagging, the chances for errors will be minimal, according to the IT officers.The MLAs of the district who attended a review meeting in connection with the damage assessment have presented the requirements of their constituencies. Ernakulam Hibi Eden MLA said a total of 279 houses were completely damaged at Cheranalloor. Another 671 houses suffered partial damages. The MLA said the relief kits are yet to be distributed in some areas, which need to be addressed. The boats and country nets at the coastal areas are also damaged. The Fisheries Department should address the issue at the earliest. Various voluntary associations have come forward to construct houses for the victims. The necessary sanctions should be given to them. Muvattupuzha Eldho Abraham MLA said the traders and merchants, both small and large scale, have suffered a huge loss in Muvattupuzha, owing to the floods. Even at this financial crisis, they have contributed to the relief fund. The Ministers should visit various constituencies so as to intensify the relief fund collection. Thirteen persons are under treatment for rat fever in two hospitals in Muvattupuzha ALSO READ | Three former ministers demand judicial probe into Kerala floods Vypeen S Sharma MLA said 78 camps were opened at Vypeen where nearly 75,000 people were sheltered. they were forced to move to camps after sea water entered their houses. Paravur V D Satheeshan MLA said study materials are to be distributed to 25,000 students in Paravur. The Rs 10,000 immediate relief amount should be disbursed at the earliest. The waste removal is being carried out effectively. There should be maximum clarity in data collection on damages. It should be carried out in a transparent manner. Aluva The assessment of damages in Aluva should be carried out at the earliest. It is one of the worst flood-affected areas in the state. The small-scale vendors and merchants have lost their means of livelihood. The compensation amount should be distributed soon. Likewise, many people have lost their houses and vehicles in the floods. The officers concerned should act immediately and help them in getting compensation. An all-party meeting should be convened at the ward-level. By PTI KOCHI: Citing laxity in the probe into the alleged rape charges against Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal, the victims family members and five of her colleagues from the convent at Kuravilangadu in Kottayam took to the streets and joined the indefinite hunger strike organised by the Joint Christian Council (JCC) here on Saturday. According to the nuns, positions of influence and money power have insulated the Jalandhar Bishop from being arrested. As many as 74 days have passed since the complaint was lodged against Bishop Franco Mulakkal. The police had recorded her statements several times. But the accused Bishop was interrogated only once, they said. ALSO READ | Police to continue investigate Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal case Though everyone is equal before the law, when it comes to accused religious leaders, this principle is often subverted in India. They enjoy special consideration, protection and more often, the victims are labelled as offenders in such cases, said George Joseph, vice-president, JCC. Holding placards, the agitators demanded the arrest of Mulakkal. The nuns alleged attempts are being made from various quarters to sabotage the investigation. We are fighting for our sister. She has been denied justice by the Church, government and police. We are ready to go to any extent to see that she gets justice, said a nun at the gathering. In her complaint, the nun had accused Mulakkal of raping and having unnatural sex with her multiple times between 2014 and 2016. The victim had also alleged she received death threats from unknown people two months ago. The police, in a statement based on initial investigation and available evidence, said it was found the Bishop allegedly committed an unnatural act and raped the nun against her will. He confined the nun to a guest room in St Francis Mission Home at Kuravilangad in Kottayam, the statement had alleged. VS flays delay in police action TPuram:The indefinite delay in the arrest and interrogation of the Jalandhar Bishop could create an impression that the investigation officers are under pressure, said Administrative Reforms Commission chairman V S Achuthanandan. In a statement issued here on Saturday, VS said there should not be any further delay from the part of the police in bringing the culprits before the law. The public protest by nuns over the police inaction against the bishop should be viewed seriously, he said. The Church handling criminal cases against its members does not go in tandem with the existing judicial system of the country. LDF Govt, CPM in shackles of heads of organised religions: V Muraleedharan TPuram: The nuns protest against police inaction in the case related to the rape charge against the Jalandhar bishop shows the LDF Government and the CPM are in the shackle of heads of organised religions, V Muraleedharan MP said. The police could not conduct a fair probe into the rape case against Jalandhar Bishop Franco Mulakkal owing to the governments intervention and CPMs control. The government and CPM fear organised religious heads and are unable to disobey their orders. The people want to know the DYFIs stand in the alleged incident in which P K Sasi MLA sexually abused a party worker. The DYFI always claims it is an independent youth organisation. But its failure to respond to the case shows they are slaves of the CPM, he said. Pained by P C Georges rude words, nun calls off plan to address media Kottayam:Even as the Vaikom police probing the rape complaint filed by a nun against Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal failed to make any progress in the investigation, the allegation and ensuing developments took an ugly turn with Janapaksham leader P C George MLA coming out against the victim with derogatory words on Saturday. Meanwhile, Georges outrageous words mentally shattered the nun and she gave up her plans to address the media on Sunday to tell her grievances on the inordinate delay in completing the investigation on her complaint and arresting the accused. Addressing mediapersons here, George questioned the genuineness of her complaint. Why was she silent during 12 occasions of rape and came out with the complaint only after the 13th occasion? he asked. George added when the nun lost her virginity, she ceased to be a nun and should give up her religious habit. At the same time, George demanded that the bishop should be jailed if allegations against him are proven right. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Muslim League is not for the Bharat bandh organised by the Congress in the state, said deputy leader of opposition in state assembly MK Muneer. He told a meet-the-press organised by the Thiruvananthapuram press club on the subject of Kerala after floods that his party has requested the Congress leadership to spare the state from the Bharth bandh as it is yet to recover from the effects of deluge. Muneer attacked the state government for pressurizing government employees to pay one months salary towards the Chief Ministers Distress Relief Fund. They should voluntarily give their contributions. While some people may be wishing to pay two months salary, some may be able to pay only ten days salary. While the government is calling for austerity measures from the public, the appointment of a new minister means appointing a horde of staff members, which will bleed the exchequer, he said. He said that after floods and contamination of water several water-borne viral and bacterial diseases break out and the health department should act cautiously to prevent casualties. He accused the government of not allowing voluntary organisations to conduct medical camps. The information given was that camps would be conducted directly by the government with the DMO in charge. But the government soon withdrew from the scene, resulting in difficulties for the public. The government which is calling for unity at this time of crisis should show unity among its ministers. The situation is such that the order of one department is being annulled by another department with works coming to a standstill. The Chief Minister cannot do a remote control administration at this time of crisis. EP Jayarajan is only meant to preside in cabinet meetings, he said. By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: State government has withdrawn from the decision to handle the flood relief funds received through a special treasury account. The special account was opened on August 31 following calls from various corners that the huge amounts of money, pouring from the public, should be maintained in a transparent manner. The new order states that the contributions of government employees and public sector undertakings need only be kept in the special account. Festival allowance, which was not given to the government employees, will also be maintained in the special account. However, the money which is contributed directly by the public cannot be transferred into this account, and this raises the fear of the money being misappropriated. The total amount received in CMDRF as on Saturday is Rs 1180.02 crores, and the money spent is `408.66 crores. Government has started special flood relief fund account, as funds were flowing into the account from both inside and outside the country. This account was in the name of the finance secretary, and was maintained at the Thiruvananthapuram district treasury. This would have provided transparency as to how the funds are spent. ALSO READ | Kerala to study impact on state's biodiversity after floods However, MV Jayarajan, private secretary to the Chief Minister, told Express: There is no change in account. This is done as the contribution of government employees is deducted monthly from their salary accounts and credited to the treasury account. From this account this money is credited to the CMDRF. The CMDRF account is maintained in SBI and other banks as accounts with 80G can be maintained in banks only and corporates and individuals are contributing money only owing to the 80G. Decision to withdraw flood relief fund account suspicious TPuram: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has said the government decision to withdraw the special flood relief fund account is suspicious. The government decision will lead to the funds donated by people from across the globe being misappropriated, he said. As the money is flowing to the flood relief fund from both within and outside the country, the decision to withdraw the special account is mysterious, Chennithala said. The Opposition has demanded a special account for the flood relief funds and this was precisely for the funds not to be misappropriated, he said. The government had first rejected the demand and when it was later accepted and a new account was opened, the society at large welcomed the decision. Now it is suddenly withdrawn. Doubts are emerging as the same government was not able to fully spend the Ockhi relief fund. To confirm the flood relief fund is not misappropriated the special account should be reinstated and the government decision revoked, Chennithala said. Kerala Congress(M) chairman and former Finance Minister K M Mani has said the government decision to withdraw the special account for flood relief is objectionable. Money which is donated by people from both within and outside the country for the reconstruction of the state should be handled in a transparent manner and for that the special account is indispensable, the veteran leader said. He further said if the special savings bank account is there, then the utilisation of funds will be transparent. By Express News Service BARIPADA: District unit of BJP on Friday observed 12-hour bandh protesting the apathy of State Government towards health services in the area.Daily commuters were the most inconvenienced with the activists disrupting communication between Jaleswar in Balasore district and Baripada-West Bengal till evening. All business establishments, educational institutions, Government and private organisations and fuel stations within Moroda jurisdiction had downed shutters. State vice-president of BJP, Rajkishore Das, who led the activists, took out a bike rally and burnt tyres to draw the attention of Government, Collector and Chief District Medical Officer towards the poor health care facilities in Moroda constituency . He said Community Health Centres (CHC), Primary Health Centres (PHCs) and other Government-run hospitals under Moroda Assembly segment lack infrastructure and staff which is hampering patient care. Kishantandi CHC and PHCs at Moroda, Rashgobindpur and health centres in remote pockets are functioning without adequate number of doctors, pharmacists, nurses, attendants and bed facilities. Only two child specialists are available at the CHC and PHCs. In the absence of doctors, pharmacists have been treating patients in a Government-run hospital, while two out of six nurses are on duty in the entire block. A nurse of Kishantandi CHC has been transferred to Pandit Raghunath Murmu Medical College and Hospital. There is a requirement of four child specialists while two have been posted, said Das. My appeals to the Collector and the Chief District Medical Officer have fallen on deaf ears while a memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister has failed to serve any good for my segment, said Das. The district administration had deployed police force at some market places, busy chowks and in front of government offices. No untoward incident was reported, said police. By Express News Service MALKANGIRI:THE plan of ganja mafia to oversmart police by transporting the cannabis in an ambulance was spoiled by the men in khaki with the seizure of 102 kg contraband on State Highway 47 in the district on Friday. Mudulipada police also arrested five persons, including three residents of Delhi. According to sources, the ambulance with ganja was crossing Mathili-Khairaput bypass road on the State Highway at around 3.30 am when a patrolling team of Mudulipada police intercepted the vehicle near Podaghat suspecting its movement at that hour. The driver tried to escape with the vehicle but lost control over the steering and ambulance skidded off the road. Police seized the contraband worth `12 lakh and the vehicle.The arrested are Rajat Jayant Halder (24), Mukesh Kumar Chorsiya (26) and Anup Kumar (27) from Delhi, Muna Kumar Yadav (22) of Rayagada and Budu Khemundu (30) of Kumbharguda village in Malkangiri district. Muna, the middleman of the deal, along with three others from Delhi, had procured the contraband from Chitrakonda area at `1,700 per kg and they were to sell it at Siwan in Bihar at `12,000 per kg, police said. Budu was providing escort to the smugglers in his pickup vehicle, police added.Investigation into the matter is on to find out the others involved in the racket, said SP Jagmohan Meena, adding that police are determined to wipe out ganja cultivation. Multiple trade agreements signed between China and Egypt during President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisis visit to Beijing have made economic relations between the two countries ever brighter On his arrival in Beijing to take part in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) this week, President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi and the accompanying Egyptian business delegation signed agreements to increase Chinese investment in Egypt by some $18.3 billion. The agreements include the construction of an electric train system, initiating phase two of the Central Business District in the New Administrative Capital, and the setting up of a pumping and storage project at Ataqa. A power station using clean coal technology and generating six gigawatts of electricity will be built at Hamrawein, and the Egyptian Holding Company for Electricity will sign a $4.4 billion deal with the winning bidder that includes Hassan Allam for Construction and Chinas Shanghai Electric Company and Dong Fang. While in Beijing, Al-Sisi met with the heads of Chinese conglomerates operating in Egypt, promoting investment opportunities after highlighting a package of measures to attract investors and fund business activities. Egypt has launched a number of mega-projects that could yield substantial profits and offer many investment opportunities, prime among them being the development of the Suez Canal Zone, he said. Direct Chinese investment in Egypt received a 75 per cent boost during the first half of 2017, recording a $106 million increase on the same period in 2016, ranking China sixth among investor countries in Egypt. In 2016, China ranked 15th, according to the Middle East News Agency (MENA). The political rapprochement between Egypt and China should also reflect positively on the size of Egyptian exports, said Mustafa Ibrahim, vice-chairman of the Egyptian-Chinese Council. Egypt could increase its agricultural exports, such as oranges and grapes and handicrafts, to China. China-Egypt trade reached $11 billion in 2017 and recorded a 25.86 per cent increase worth $2.83 billion during the first quarter of 2018 over the same period last year. Chinas General Administration for Customs announced that Cairo-Beijing trade had grown by 24 per cent on an annual basis during the first seven months of this year to reach $7.5 billion, MENA reported. Ibrahim said that Egypt should increase its exports to China and limit its imports to production materials. When there were problems with foreign exchange in Egypt, we reduced our imports from China. Importing unimportant items, such as lanterns and toys, was also halted. In line with the increased Egyptian exports to China, Beijings exports to Cairo recorded a $6.5 billion increase in the past seven months, marking a 22.6 per cent increase on an annual basis. China received Egyptian exports worth $1 billion during the same period, achieving a 34.1 per cent increase. In 2016 China was Egypts biggest trade partner, until the UAE took its place with a slight margin in 2017. It was also important for Egypt to benefit from the educational grants announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping to African countries, Ibrahim said. Egypt should try to receive a share of the $60 billion in investments China has said it will spend in Africa, he added. Amid rising tensions between the US and China, the latter is looking to the African continent for more investment opportunities. Diaa Helmi, secretary-general of the Egyptian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said that China aims to benefit from the trade agreements Egypt has signed with its African neighbours to enjoy the merits of products made in Egypt. He added that it was crucial to encourage our Chinese partners to set up projects that can generate job opportunities and provide opportunities for the products to be passed on to the African countries Egypt has signed deals with. Egypt has made deals with African countries through the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the South African Development Community (SADC), for example. Helmi said Egypt should capitalise on its exceptionally good relations with China to draw in more Chinese direct investment. The investment deals announced during Al-Sisis visit to Beijing are just the beginning of more agreements to follow, he added. China is trying to revive the Silk Roads trade routes across Asia that connected China and the Arab world in the mediaeval and later periods. In 2013 Beijing launched its Belt and Road Initiative to revive the ancient Silk Roads. Egyptian producers and exporters should study the Chinese market and identify saleable products. The Chinese market, with a population of 1.4 billion people, has numerous opportunities for Egyptian exports, including furniture, clothing and handicrafts, Helmi said, pointing in particular to the Chinese forum on imports that is due to be held from 15 to 18 October. * A version of this article appears in print in the 6 September 2018 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly under the headline: Booming economic relations Search Keywords: Short link: By Express News Service CHENNAI: Two days after the Central Bureau of Investigation raids on his residence, former Chennai Police Commissioner S George on Friday indirectly acknowledged the gutka scam, but rejected allegations of receiving kickbacks from the gutka manufacturer. There was a gutka scam. There was some illegal activity going on and how do you expect the Commissioner to know what happens in all 300 police stations?, said George while pointing out the failure of his junior officials in the Chennai police crime branch to bring the issue to his notice. Entry in the diary of the gutka manufacturer AV Madhava Rao listing out the payment of Rs 15 lakh for Christmas to a former Commissioner of Police is based on someones statement. Why should an ex-Commissioner be paid any money? George said during a hurriedly-convened press conference at his residence on Friday. This comes after the CBI has made first breakthrough in the case by arresting five persons after carrying out raids in the house of George, DGP T K Rajendran, TN Health and Family Welfare Minister C Vijaya Baskar, gutka manufacturer Madhav Rao and several state and Central government officials in TN, Puducherry, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Health min meets CM Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar on Friday met CM Edappadi K Palaniswami at his residence. The meeting lasted for around 20 minutes. The meeting assumes significance as it took place after the CBI raided his residence over the gutka scam. Vijaya Baskar reportedly put forth his points of view to the CM about the raids. Stating that he was not the Police Commissioner during the dates mentioned in the dairy of the gutka manufacturer, wherein it was alleged that money was paid to police officials and politicians, former Chennai Police Commissioner S George also said he was not casting aspersions on the Commissioners who had succeeded him. The former city police chief said someone might have collected the money from the gutka manufacturer, falsely saying that it was for him (George) and entries might have been made in the diary. George said that at the time when the scam surfaced, it was blown out of proportion to prevent him and Rajendran from becoming the Director-General of Police. He also said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was carrying out a probe based on entries made by a gutka manufacturer. To a query on the CBI raids at his home, the former commissioner said that the Central Bureau of Investigation took only the sale deed of his plot bought from the state housing board, certain lease documents and insurance policies. He also claimed he held a preliminary inquiry about the gutka scam and had written a letter to the state government to conduct a probe citing the rumours of police officials being involved in the scam. As the allegations were against the Commissioner of Police, it was not possible for him to order a probe but there were several agencies that could have been entrusted with the task, he said. On Thursday, the Central Bureau of Investigation officials had arrested five persons - three promoters of gutka manufacturing company Jayam Industries, Rao, Uma Shankar Gupta and Srinivas Rao, Food Safety Department official Senthil Murugan and Central Excise Superintendent N K Pandian. By Express News Service CHENNAI: Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu, including the DMK, have extended their support to the Bharat bandh called by national parties for September 10 to protest the spiralling of petrol and diesel prices in the country. DMK president MK Stalin on Friday said, The DMK will give full support, actively participate in the stir and provide cooperation in all ways to make it a success. He slammed the BJP-led NDA government in the Centre for blocking the advantage of slump in crude oil in the international market, for the public. The oil majors keep the prices of petrol and diesel low whenever BJP-ruled states go to polls and raise them, once the polls are over, the DMK chief alleged. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president S Thirunavukkarasar has appealed to all the political parties, general public, traders, industrial units, farmers associations and other organisations to support the nation-wide bandh. He informed that a meeting to discuss the steps to be taken for making the bandh a success would be held at the partys state headquarters Sathyamoorthy Bhavan in Chennai on Saturday. Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) national president KM Kader Mohideen has expressed his partys support to the bandh. Left parties to meet Leaders of Left parties in the State, K Balakrishnan, G Ramakrishnan, TK Rangarajan (CPM), M Veerapandian (CPI), AS Kumar, N Kumaresh (CPIML-Liberation) and V Sivakumar, S Suriliyandavar (SUCI-C) held a meeting here on Friday discussed the strategy for making the bandh a success, which was called by national opposition parties for September 10 Online Desk By TIRUVANNAMALAI: Police on Saturday detained Swaraj Abhiyan founder Yogendra Yadav along with his two aides in Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu. The leaders were at Kanchi village of the district to meet farmers who are protesting against the construction of the Salem-Chennai expressway. Yadav, however, claimed that he was arrested en route to a private meeting with agitating farmers. Finally, I have been arrested. My crime: wanting to meet farmers in their home. Where is rule of law? Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 When Express contacted the collector, he said,"The district administration had given permission to Yogendra Yadav and others to hold a discussion on farmers' issues among themselves only under the supervision of police officials at Kanchi village." Deputy Superintendent of Police Chengam told Express that Yogendra Yadav and two other farmers' leaders were not arrested and no case has been lodged against them. They leaders were only detained twice on the day, he added. On the invitation of the movement against Chennai-Salem eight-lane highway road project, Yadav, along with trade union leader Dalip Singh, farmers' leader from Odisha Lingaraj, state convener of Swaraj India K Balakrishnan and joint convener for the movement against the road project Arul Arumugam. Yadav had come to listen to the grievances of farmers protesting against acquisition of their lands for the proposed Chennai-Salem expressway project. However, he, along with the others, were all detained on Saturday morning before meeting the farmers in the village. In a tweet, he said he clearly mentioned in writing that he had only come to listen to the grievances of the farmers and not indulge in protest of any kind. He claimed to have been detained illegally. Here is my response to the police order restraining me from meeting farmers. As a law abiding citizen, it's my duty to defy this illegal order. pic.twitter.com/8FVejcXJO2 Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 This is when they decided to arrest me. ASP: we have reliable info that you are going to organise public protest Me: I have already given to you in writing that we won't do any public meeting or protest. You can accompany me and check. ASP: sorry, we have orders to arrest you. https://t.co/sP1wACYW6R Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 Out of the five members who were detained by police on Saturday morning, two of them Yogendra Yadav and Arul Arumugham, and Chandra kumar, convener of Movement against Chennai-Salem eight-lane highway project, have now been detained at a new location on Kanchi road. "We were released at 5.00 pm. While we were going to meet farmers at their houses, we were again intervened by police and they detained us at a marriage hall on Kanchi road," said Arul Arumugam. ALSO READ: Chennai-Salem Green Corridor project to eat into medicinal forests of Kalvarayan hills When Express had contacted Yogendra Yadav earlier today, he said, "We met around 35 farmers at Arul Arumugham's house at Athipaadi village in Tiruvannamalai district at around 8.30 am. After a while, we had left for a meeting with farmers. While the four of us were en route to meet the aggrieved farmers, police stopped us and prevented us from going to the meeting. When Arul was capturing video, he was dragged by police, and all of us were manhandled by them. They drove us to a marriage hall at Erayur where we had been detained." ALSO READ: We need our lands, not compensation, say Tiruvannamalai farmers "I had heard about the police reign of terror against farmers who come out protesting against an eight-lane project, and I have now personally seen it. I had also spoken to district collector K S Kandasamy about acquisition and complaints of police excesses, and to which the collector had denied such interferences. The police had alleged that I am a threat to law and order. I had come here to meet farmers and no matter what, I shall follow my conscience and meet them," he added. Meanwhile, DMK President MK Stalin has condemned Yogendra Yadav's detention. The DMK strongly condemns the arbitrary detention of @_SwarajIndia chief @_YogendraYadav who supported farmers affected by #ChennaiSalemExpressway project. The intolerant AIADMK govt will pay the price for denying people the democratic right to dissent & protest. M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) September 8, 2018 "The intolerant AIADMK government will pay the price for denying people the democratic right to dissent and protest," said Stalin. (With inputs from Shyamsundar N) Egypts natural gas output has risen to 6.6 billion cubic feet per day after an increase in production at its gigantic Zohr offshore gas field in the Mediterranean, a petroleum ministry official told Reuters on Saturday. On Friday, Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla said in a statement that daily natural gas production from the Zohr gas field has increased to two billion cubic feet. El-Molla attributed the record-breaking achievement to the efforts of the petroleum employees and the government. Zohr, discovered by Italian energy company Eni in 2015, is the largest ever discovery of natural gas in the Mediterranean Sea. The total gas in place in the field is estimated to be around 850 billion cubic metres. If true, Zohr could almost double Egypt's gas reserves. Egypt seeks to speed up production from recently discovered fields, including Zohr, with the aim of ending gas imports by 2019 and achieving self-sufficiency of natural gas. Search Keywords: Short link: Reporter Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk). Reporter Lyndsay Jones is a reporter covering education at The News-Gazette. Her email is ljones@news-gazette, and you can follow her on Twitter (@__lyndsayjones). Reporter Noelle McGee is a Danville-based reporter at The News-Gazette. Her email is nmcgee@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@n_mcgee). 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). Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi on Saturday chaired the third meeting of the National Payments Council. The prime minister, the governor of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE), the head of the Intelligence Service, the chairman of the Administrative Control Authority, the head of the Financial Supervisory Authority and the ministers of defence, justice, planning, finance, interior and communications also took part in the meeting. The chairman of the board of trustees of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Combating Unit, the CBE deputy governors, the CBE undersecretary of payment systems and information technology, the chairman of the National Bank of Egypt and other CBE officials also attended the meeting. Presidential spokesman Bassam Rady said CBE Governor Tarek Amer reviewed the executive position of the decisions and directives taken by the council, a general framework for a transition to a less cash-based society and measures taken to create a national system of payment cards. The system will be put into force by the end of 2018, Amer said. The CBE governor reviewed a bill for the development of non-monetary financial transactions as well as the most important developments of mobile payment services. He affirmed the CBE's keenness on qualifying cadres specialized in the field of cybersecurity for banking services. The finance minister reviewed efforts exerted to activate the government's financial network. He explained salaries e-payment service has been activated by 100 percent for all government bodies. The planning minister reviewed the ministry's efforts in preparing an integrated map for the development of government services. The interior minister briefed the participants with the latest developments regarding a project to issue national ID cards with smart chips. The council agreed to pass a bill regulating the non-monetary means of payment to cabinet for taking the necessary constitutional procedures to be submitted to the House of Representatives Search Keywords: Short link: They Dangled Stories High in the Air, Then He Let Go (Newser) "Sorry, your stamp is not what you think it is. It's not that special." Workers at the Philatelic Foundation in Manhattan often say such things when shown an unusual postage stamp, but this time foundation curator Lewis Kaufman wasn't so sure. A recent cellphone photo of an "Inverted Jenny"the 1918 stamp with an upside-down plane printed only 100 timeslooked surprisingly real, the New York Times reports. Kaufman told his boss, Larry Lyons, who called back an Illinois man who said his family had stored the stamp in safety deposit boxes for generations. Amazingly, it would be only one of two Inverted Jennies still unaccounted for since financial clerk William Robey spotted the misprint during his lunch hour on May 14, 1918, per the Smithsonian. story continues below Planning to buy a stamp celebrating the new US airmail servicewhich used the Curtiss JN-4 or "Jenny" to deliver mailRobey realized his luck and bought the entire 100-stamp sheet for $24. After telling friends and collectors, Robey fell under scrutiny and sold the sheet for $15,000 to a Philadelphia businessman who then resold for a profit. The stamps were then numbered on the back and resold, sparking an occasional legend (Robey may have spent his windfall on a car that he drove through a wall) and a theft (four were stolen during a stamp convention in 1955). Knowing all this, Lyons flew to an Illinois bank to see the stamp numbered "49" on the back. "I had a big magnifying glass with me, and the colors were so fresh," says Lyons of the stamp that could be worth over $1 million. "And then I turned it over and saw the 49 and went 'Jackpot.'" (Read more Inverted Jenny stories.) (Newser) The confirmation hearing for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh ended Friday with a testy exchange between Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana and John Dean of Watergate notoriety, the AP reports. Kennedy told Dean he only did the right thing in Watergate "when you were cornered like a rat." DeanPresident Richard Nixon's White House Counsel who testified that Nixon was involved in the Watergate cover-up more than four decades agowas one of the witnesses called by Democrats to testify during Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing. To Kennedy, Dean responded that President Donald Trump has also called him a rat, adding that he "tried internally" to end the Watergate coverup. "I didn't succeed." story continues below Dean testified Friday against Kavanaugh. He warned about creating a Supreme Court that takes an expansive view of presidential powers. Dean said he's surprised that Kavanaugh "is not demanding every document that he's ever handled be reviewed by this committee, unless, of course, there's something to hide." Dean predicts the US will have the most "pro-presidential powers" Supreme Court in modern history if Kavanaugh is confirmed. "Under Judge Kavanaugh's recommendation, if a president shot somebody in cold blood on Fifth Avenue, that president could not be prosecuted while in office," Dean warned, per NBC. (Read more Brett Kavanaugh stories.) (Newser) Rapper Mac Miller died Friday at age 26 of a suspected drug overdose in his Los Angeles home, reports USA Today. The LA Times says Miller, real name Malcolm McCormick, "was a rare figure in contemporary hip-hop, equally comfortable accompanying major pop acts and hard-edged hip-hop peers while crafting his own chart-topping, conceptual LPs that often confronted his drug use and depression." Rolling Stone, meanwhile, says he was known for his "canny wordplay and artistic reinvention," adding that his "career was defined by a refusal to fit in an artistic box." Here is one of hits, "Hurt Feelings." story continues below Malcolm McCormick, known and adored by fans as Mac Miller, has tragically passed away at the age of 26, his family said in a statement. He was a bright light in this world for his family, friends and fans. Thank you for your prayers. Please respect our privacy." Miller dated Ariana Grande for two years before they broke up earlier this year, and People has the details on that. When they parted, on good terms, Grande tweeted, "pls take care of yourself," notes Variety. Miller's death comes just days after Vulture profiled him in a lengthy story headlined, "Mac Miller is finally making the music he's always wanted to make." (Read more obituary stories.) (Newser) A 2006 letter from a top Vatican official confirms that the Holy See received information in 2000 about the sexual misconduct of now-resigned US cardinal, lending credibility to bombshell accusations of a cover-up at the highest echelons of the Roman Catholic Church, the AP reports. Catholic News Service published the letter Friday from then-Archbishop Leonardo Sandri to the Rev. Boniface Ramsay, a New York priest who made the initial allegation. Ramsay informed the Vatican in a November 2000 letter about then Cardinal Theodore McCarrick's misconduct with seminarians from Seton Hall University's Immaculate Conception Seminary. Ramsay says he sent the letter at the request of the then-Vatican ambassador because he had heard so many complaints from seminarians that McCarrick would invite them to his beach house and into his bed. story continues below Sandri, now a top-ranked Vatican cardinal who was the No. 3 in the Vatican's secretariat of state at the time, wrote Ramsay on Oct. 11, 2006, seeking his recommendation for a former seminarian for a Vatican job. In it, he referred to Ramsay's 2000 letter, saying: "I ask with particular reference to the serious matters involving some of the students of the Immaculate Conception Seminary, which in November 2000 you were good enough to bring confidentially to the attention of the then-Apostolic Nuncio in the United States, the late Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo." Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, at the center of a storm rocking Pope Francis' papacy, cited Ramsay's 2000 letter in his own expose of a cover-up about the McCarrick affair. (Read more Vatican stories.) Minister of Antiquities El-Enany, Minister of Immigration Nabila Makram, Egyptologist Zahi Hawwas, and a number of foreign ambassadors to Cairo, toured the tomb and funery complexes in Saqqara Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany inaugurated on Saturday the tomb of the sixth Dynasty Vizier Mehu in Saqqara Necropolis, Giza, almost 80 years after its discovery in 1939 by an Egyptian mission led by Egyptologist Zaki Saad. The tomb is one of the most beautiful in the Saqqara Necropolis because it still keeps its vivid colours and distinguished scenes, said El-Enany, adding that among the most peculiar scenes in the tomb is one depicting the marriage of crocodiles in the presence of a turtle. Among the most important scenes shown on the walls are those featuring the owner of the tomb while hunting in the jungle or fishing, as well as those showing scenes of good harvests, cooking and acrobatic dancing all of which has not been previously found in other discoveries in Saqqara before the sixth Dynasty. Minister of Immigration and Egyptian Expatriate's Affairs Nabila Makram and renowned Egyptologist and former Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass, along with 12 ambassdors to Cairo, including the European Union, Brazilian, French and Belgian, attended the opening. Hawwas said that he is very happy to witness such an opening as he studied the lintel and witnessed the tombs restoration. Mostafa Waziri, the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, explains that the ministry is undertaking restoration work on the different scenes of the tomb by consolidating paintings, strengthening colours and developing the lighting system inside. Sabri Farag, the director-general of the Saqqara archaeological site, pointed out that the tomb does not only belong to Mehu himself but members of his family as well. Mehu lived during the reign of King Pepsi I and he held 48 names and titles inscribed on the wall of his burial chambers, as well as his sarcophagus. Among these titles are the scribe of the royal documents, the vizier and head of the juries. The tomb is six meters to the south of the southern wall of Djosers pyramid complex, and consists of burial chambers for his son Mery Re Ankh and grand-son Hetep Ka II. It has a long narrow corridor with six chambers. Inside Mehus burial chamber, a sarcophagus with a lid was uncovered. Mery Re Ankh had 23 titles carved and inscribed on the walls of his burial chamber. He was the overseer of Buttu region. Meanwhile, Muni s grand son lived during the reign of king Pepsi II and painted his false door inside the pillars hall of Mehu. He held 10 titles among them, the holder of the Director of the palace. King Djosers southern tomb renovations After the Mehus tomb opening, El-Enany along with a group of foreign ambassadors to Egypt, including the Brazilian, Belgium and French envoys, embarked on an tour to inspect the latest work carried out at the southern tomb of King Djosers in Saqqara. The tomb is expected to open after the completion of the kings funerary pyramid complex. The minister pointed out that the southern tomb is one of the most important structures of the king Djosers funerary complex. It was discovered in 1928 and it is located in the south- western side of the funerary complex. Waziri explains that the conservation works carried out inside the tomb included the consolidations of the faience tiles that once decorated the inner arches of the tombs well as the floors, walls and ceiling. Farag explained that the tomb has an entrance from the southern side leading to a sloping staircase towards a 28 meter deep shaft where a small granite burial chamber is found beneath. The chamber is 1.6 metres long with corridors whose walls are decorated with scenes depicting king Djosers in the Hebset ritual. The king was featured twice: one time while wearing the white crown, and the second with the red crown symbolizing that he is the king of the north and south. He pointed out that the function of this tomb has perplexed Egyptologists as some suggested that it is a symbolic tomb for King Djoser as the King of Upper Egypt, while others see that it is a place to preserve the kings Canopic jars. A third group believe that it could be the beginning of the construction of side pyramids of other predecessor Kings. Restorations at Tie's Tomb El-Anany also visited Ties tomb in Saqqara, which is now under restoration. The minister said that conservation work carried out at Ties tomb would be completed within days and is scheduled to be open soon. Tie was the supervisor of the Fifth Dynasty royals pyramids. Though he was not a vizier, he was still able to construct a large tomb in Saqqara Necropolis. The tomb was discovered by French archaeologist August Mariette in 1865. It is also considered as one of the most beautiful tombs in Saqqara. It is well-known for its coloured inscriptions and reliefs depicting scenes of baking bread and brewing beer. Waziri pointed out that since its discovery the tomb, no restoration work has been carried out there until recently when an Egyptian-Czech mission in collaboration with Saqqara conservators team started the cleaning and conservation work for its walls. This process meant to remove dust and strength the colours of scenes depicted. Conservation work carried out at Ties tomb at the Saqqara Necropolis is scheduled to be open soon. Tie was the supervisor of the 5th Dynasty royals pyramids, and although he was not a vizier he was able to construct himself a large tomb in the Saqqara Necropolis. Search Keywords: Short link: New Delhi: As many as 19 children, including eight girls, were rescued from an unregistered orphanage in Jammu and Kashmirs Kathua district during a raid and a pastor, who run the orphange has been arrested, officials said on Saturday. On Friday, the civil administration and police conducted the raid following complains by some children that they were being harassed and tortured at the facility, which was run by a pastor from Kerala. Also Read | Delhi Police arrests two suspected ISIS terrorists near Red Fort Senior Superintendent of Police, Kathua, Shridhar Patil said that the rescue operation was conducted based on a complaint and further investigation was on and said that the orphanage had been operating for several years. Officials seized some items from the orphanage. The rescued children are being given medical treatment and counselling, Patil added. The children, aged 5 to 16, have been shifted to government-run Bal Ashram and Nari Neketan, the officials said, adding they belong to different parts of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu. Accused Antony Thomas had been arrested and booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the connection. Thomas, however, denied all charges of any wrongdoing at the orphanage and said a total of 21 children were staying at the asylum and two of them had gone to their native place to attend a marriage. Also Read | Yogendra Yadav detained in Tamil Nadu, alleges manhandling by police Assistant Commissioner Revenue, Kathua, Jitender Mishra, who led the joint raid, said that Thomas failed to produce any document for running the centre during the rai, adding the motive behind operating the facility is under investigation. Meanwhile, a group of Rashtriya Bajrang Dal activists on Saturday protested outside the Press Club in Jammu, seeking severe punishment to the accused. They also set ablaze an effigy of the pastor. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi: Priyanka opted out ofA BharatA just days before she was to join the sets while Katrina was welcomed on the team in less than a week! During the launch ofA Bigg Boss 12 and weeks after PeeCeeas exit, the 52-year-old superstar revealed that Priyanka was initially signed for the role after she requested director Ali Abbas Zafar that she wants to be a part of the film. Salman also added that Katrina Kaif was Babyas (Salmanas sister Alvira Khan) and producer Atul Agnihotri's "first choice" for the female lead anyway: "I'm glad Katrina is part of the film. She was Atul's first choice. But Priyanka called Ali and said she wanted to do Bharat, so we considered her." Well, this definitely explains Katrina's quick entry to the cast after Priyanka's sudden exit? Salman did not missed a chance to take a dig at the Quantico star and said "It was sweet of her to tell us five days before the shoot that she couldn't do Bharat," Since then, rumour mills had been abuzz with Salman being furious with Chopraas sudden departure from the film. AA Bombay Times A report quotes Salman saying that the 36-year-old actress not only rang up the director but also got in touch with Salman's sister Arpita Khan Sharma as she wanted to be cast inA Bharat . Salman has indeed insisted that "it's okay" but the underlying tone may have suggested otherwise:A "I'm really happy for her. Had we got to know about it a little earlier that she had signed a big project there (Hollywood), we would have never stopped her." Said Salman. PeeCee walked out of aBharata because of her impending wedding with her alleged beauA Nick Jonas. But Soon after her exit from Bharat, Priyanka signed two new projects, a Hollywood film, Cowboy Ninja Viking with actor Chris Pratt and Shonali Bose directorial The Sky is Pink. No matter how hard Priyanka tries to mend ways with Salman, the 52-year-old star spoke at length aboutA Priyanka Chopraas voluntary exit from Bharat. Directed by Ali Abbas ZafarasA BharatA is all set to hit screens on Eid next year. Ahead of that, Salman Khan will return to host the new season ofA Bigg Boss, which begins on September 16. New Delhi: Psephologist and founder of Swaraj India Yogendra Yadav on Saturday alleged that he was manhandled and pushed into a police van in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai district while on his way to meet farmers protesting against the Rs 10,000 crore eight-lane Salem-Chennai expressway. "TN police has detained me and team in Chengam PS, Thiru Annamalai district. We came on the invitation of Movement Against 8Lane Way. We were prevented from going to meet farmers, phones snatched, manhandled and pushed into police van. First-hand experience of police state in TN (sic)," Yadav wrote on Twitter. Also Read | Farooq Abdullah threatens to boycott Lok Sabha, assembly elections over Article 35-A The former Aam Aadmi Party leader claimed that the police arrested him minutes after he spoke to Thiru Annamalai Collector Kandasamy about the forceful acquisition of land for the highway. I had spoken to Mr Kandasamy, Collector, Thiru Annamalai about the acquisition and complaints of police excesses for 8 laneway. He completely denied any police interference. Within minutes of the phone call police detained us, Yadav said in a series of tweets. Read More | Manmohan Singh criticises PM Modi on his 2014 poll promises, says BJP failed to create 2 crore jobs The police, however, denied the allegations and clarified that the 55-year-old politician, who had launched the Jai Kisan Andolan for farmers rights in 2017, didnt have the permission to meet the farmers. It said Yadav and his team would have taken away from the spot due to security concerns as the situation there could have turned volatile given the sensitivity of the issue. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Disneyland visitors who explore the new Star Wars: Galaxys Edge expansion that opens next year will be invited to belly up to a dimly lit Star Wars-inspired cantina where, for the first time in the park, they can order alcoholic drinks. The general public will be able to drink booze at Ogas Cantina, a bar named after an alien in the upcoming Star Wars: Glaxys Edge. This is the first time the general public will have access to alcohol at Disneyland, and the bar has sparked strong reactions on social media. The libations will include pre-mixed alcoholic drinks, a significant development at the attraction because Disneyland has never sold booze to park visitors, except to members of the private Club 33, an exclusive dinner club at Disneylands New Orleans Square. Parkgoers who order drinks in the cantina wont be allowed to take them out into the park. Walt Disney himself opposed the sale of alcohol in his parks, saying he felt the introduction of booze would ruin the family atmosphere. The founder of the media giant was quoted in 1956 saying: No liquor, no beer, nothing. Because that brings in a rowdy element. While it's a first for Disneyland, it's hardly a first for Disney parks. California Adventure Park, adjacent to Disneyland, sells beer, wine and spirits, as does Florida's Epcot and many Disney parks in Europe and Asia. This historic change has prompted mixed reactions on social media. Some opposed the decision while a few Disney fans embraced the change. The watering hole is scheduled to open in 2019. For all the Latest Lifestyle News, Travel News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has set up an advisory council committee that will explore plans, which include product endorsements from astronauts and even selling the naming rights of rockets and other spacecraft, according to reports. ALSO READ | NASAs Mars Curiosity rover sends a selfie home from Mars The committee would also consider scrapping obsolete regulations to let US astronauts support private activities aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Companies should not have to turn to Russian cosmonauts for private operations said Mike Gold, head of the Committee. Gold said the possibilities could include having NASA receive reimbursement when commercial space companies sell spots on spacecraft heading for the ISS, and leveraging those funds for access or services on future private-sector space stations. Earlier, US President Donald Trump had complained about NASA expenses even as his administration made the sharpest cuts in government funding of NASA in years. ALSO READ | Mysterious Planet Nine exists at the edge of our solar system: NASA Indias ISRO is also taking concrete innitiatives towards creating opportunities for private players in space exploration. As per media reports, it will also be handing over development and manufacturing of small rockets, PSLV rockets and satellites to private players by 2020. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Lahore High Court on Saturday issued notices to 69 members of Pakistan's National Assembly (MNAs) in connection to a petition challenging Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) 's win in country's general elections, which took place on August 17. The petition, which nominated the PPP and the JI as respondents, states that PTI's win in 2018 general elections was invalid as the 69 members from the national assembly did not cast their votes. It also asked the court to declare that every MNA must perform their constitutional duty of voting for the post of the head of the house and the chief executive of the state. "Members of aforementioned parties abstained from voting and failed to perform their function of participating in the establishment of the federal government. The chosen representatives of the people cannot abstain themselves from casting their votes. It was their constitutional duty to exercise their right to vote," it read. Read | Swami Vivekananda's Chicago speech anniversary: Mohan Bhagwat urges Hindus to work together Furthermore, the petitioner urged the court to declare Khan's victory in the general elections as unconstitutional owing to the large number of MNAs refraining from voting. Khan's PTI in August 2018 beat Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League - (PML-N) and emerged as the single largest party to be elected as the 22nd prime minister of Pakistan. Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), however, did not cast their votes, which is against the norms of establishing the federal government. Casting votes for a Prime Ministerial candidate is compulsory for every MNA under section 91 (4) of Pakistan's Constitution. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Tokyo: The death toll from a powerful quake that triggered landslides in northern Japan rose to 35 on Saturday, as tens of thousands of rescue workers raked through the mud for survivors. The majority of the dead are from the small rural town of Atsuma, where a cluster of dwellings were wrecked when a hillside collapsed from the force of the 6.6-magnitude quake, causing deep brown scars in the landscape. Also Read | China allows Nepal to use land, seaports for trade Public broadcaster NHK said 35 were dead, with around five people still unaccounted for in the town. More than 600 sustained minor injuries, according to the Hokkaido island local government. We never had landslides here, said Akira Matsushita who lost his brother in Atsuma. I couldnt believe until I saw it with my own eyes, he told TV Asahi. When I saw it, I knew no-one could survive. Some 40,000 rescue workers, including Self-Defense Forces drafted in specially, were searching for survivors with the aid of bulldozers, sniffer dogs and 75 helicopters, according to the top government spokesman. Also Read | 15 people, five Indian BPOs, indicted in massive call centre scam, US Theyre doing their best around the clock, Yoshihide Suga told reporters. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he will meet quake survivors in Hokkaido on Sunday, according to Jiji Press. All three million households in Hokkaido lost power when Thursdays quake damaged a thermal plant supplying electricity to the region, but Abe said power was mostly restored. Thanks to hard work to boost power supply throughout the night, the number of households without power has declined to 20,000, he told a cabinet meeting. Abe said the government would release emergency funds to deliver food, water and fuel needed for power generators at hospitals. A total of 31,000 households still have no water and around 16,000 people have evacuated to shelters. The earthquake also collapsed a handful of houses and walls in the main regional city of Sapporo but considering the strength of the quake, the death toll was relatively light, with the majority of victims coming from the landslide in Atsuma. International flights at the main airport in Sapporo resumed operations on Saturday, while bullet trains began service the day before. The quake was the latest in a string of natural disasters to batter the country. Also Read | Lahore HC issues notices against PTI's election win Western parts of the country are still recovering from the most powerful typhoon to strike Japan in a quarter of a century, which claimed 11 lives and shut down the main regional airport. Japan sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire where many of the worlds earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded. On March 11, 2011, a devastating 9.0-magnitude quake struck under the Pacific Ocean, and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and claimed thousands of lives. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: At least six people, including a Japanese national, were killed after a helicopter with seven people on board crashed in a dense forest area in Nepal on Saturday, official sources said adding a female passenger was rescued. Also Read | United States accused of blocking UN climate talks amid protests Six passengers, including a Japanese National, died after a chopper with 7 people aboard crashed in Nepal. One female passenger has been rescued Nuwakot District Chief District Officer Uddab Bahadur Thapa was quoted by ANI as saying. The single-pilot Kathmandu bound Altitude Air helicopter, airlifting a patient along with other passengers from Samagaun in Gorkha had lost radio contact with Kathmandu tower after flying some 20 miles at around 8:10 am, sources said. Also Read | Japan toll rises to 35 after powerful earthquake The Chopper, crash-landed in the forest area bordering Dhading and Nuwakot districts, according to eyewitnesses. A Nepal Army helicopter and a private chopper along with rescuers had been despatched to the crash site. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey met yesterday in Tehran to discuss the war in Syria, with all eyes on a possible military offensive to retake the last rebel-held bastion of Idlib. The summit between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan may determine whether diplomacy halts any military action. Even before it began, an airstrike early yesterday struck Idlibs southern edge, killing at least one person. The leaders each held bilateral talks before the meeting began in Tehran. As photographers took pictures of the three leaders Rouhani, smiling, reached for both of their hands. Erdogan said at the meeting that an attack on Idlib would result in a disaster and massacre and that millions of people would be moving towards the Turkish border in the case that an attack took place. Erdogan continued by saying that a rational solution in Idlib that will address everyones concerns needs to found. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Syrian government should restore control over all of its territory. Pyongyang : North Korea is preparing to mark the 70th anniversary of its foundation this weekend with a series of festivities, expected to include a military parade and the return of its renowned Mass Games after a five-year absence. The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, as the North is officially known, was proclaimed on September 9, 1948, three years after Moscow and Washington divided the peninsula between them in the closing days of the Second World War. Such set-piece dates are a mainstay of the Norths political calendar, particularly when round numbers are involved, and it is pulling out all the stops this time. The military parades overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, the third of his family to rule the country - are crucial to Korea-watchers, who observe them closely for clues about its latest military advances. Traditionally they see nuclear-armed Pyongyang show off its latest hardware, culminating earlier this year in intercontinental ballistic missiles rolling through Kim Il Sung Square. Rescuers are searching around the clock to find survivors following Thursday's deadly earthquake in Hokkaido. 18 people are dead and 19 others are missing. The search effort is focused near the epicenter in the town of Atsuma, where all the missing people are from. The quake registered the strongest possible level on Japan's seismic intensity scale of zero-to-7. It set off huge landslides that buried many homes. The townspeople are closely watching the rescue operation. One of them is Tenma Takimoto. His younger sister, Maika, was buried by rubble. Takimoto said, "'Good night' were the last words we exchanged that night. I feel so sorry that I can't do anything to help her. It's heartbreaking." The 16-year-old high school student was later confirmed dead. There have been more than 100 aftershocks following the magnitude-6.7 quake. Officials warn that strong quakes could hit Hokkaido in the coming week. The tremor also battered parts of Sapporo, the prefecture's capital. Soil liquefaction caused buildings to tilt and roads to crack. A male resident said: "I'm speechless. I've lived here for 20 years, but have never seen anything like this before." Thousands of people evacuated to shelters. Officials are asking supermarkets and convenience stores for supplies as emergency provisions of food and water are running low. Stores are also short of daily necessities. This one has run out of drinking water, flashlights and instant noodles. The store manager says he doesn't know when the store will be restocked. He said: "We feel bad for our customers. I'm sorry we don't have much left but hopefully people can still find what they need." The prefecture's electric utility says power has been restored to more than half of Hokkaido's 3 million homes. It says most of the rest will be back online by Saturday. Restoring power means transportation services such as Shinkansen bullet trains are running again. So are streetcars in Sapporo and the city's subway, though most local train services are still suspended. With power back on at New Chitose Airport's terminal building, domestic flights have resumed. Some international flights will restart on Saturday. - NHK US President Donald Trump has pressured Japan to reduce its trade deficit with the US. Trump told reporters on Friday that Japan knows "it's a big deal" if the two countries cannot reach an agreement in trade talks. Japan and the US began a new round of talks last month, but little progress has been made due to wide differences. Trump said the only reason he isn't in talks with Japan quite yet is that he's still dealing with China. Trump's remarks are apparently an attempt to use the threat of higher tariffs on Japanese vehicles, and push Japan to open its agricultural market. A leading US newspaper reported earlier that Trump is very focused on eliminating trade deficits with US trading partners, and that he is bothered by the current terms of US trade with Japan. - NHK The operator of the Kansai International Airport in western Japan says a budget carrier based in the airport will fly 12 international flights on Saturday. These will be the first international flights from the airport since a typhoon hit the facility. The move follows the partial resumption of domestic flights on Friday. The airport, on a man-made island in Osaka Prefecture, has been forced to shut down since September 4th. This is due to flooding on one of its runways and the crash of a fuel tanker into a bridge that links the airport and the mainland. The operator, Kansai Airports, has started using runway B and Terminal Two to resume part of the airport's operation. They were not greatly affected by the storm. On Friday, Peach Aviation, a budget carrier based in the airport with counters in Terminal Two, flew 17 domestic flights and Japan Airlines flew 2 domestic flights. Peach Aviation on Saturday will put into the sky 12 international flights, going between Kansai Airport and overseas cities like Seoul, Hong Kong and Shanghai. But many other airlines, based in the damaged Terminal One, will remain unable to fly from the airport. The terminal remains without power. Kansai Airports plans to reopen parts of Terminal One in about a week. Meanwhile, operation of special shuttle bus has started between the airport and a railway station on the mainland. It is using bridge lanes that were not damaged by the tanker crash. It is expected to take about a month to resume train services across the bridge. - NHK The Spokesperson for the anti-graft agency, Wilson Uwujaren, told newsmen on Friday that the commission was not sweeping the matter under the carpet.The petitioner, Bako Waziri Kyari, who claimed to be a nephew to Abba Kyari, had during a popular radio programme, Berekete Family, on Human Rights Radio 101.1FM in Abuja, said that Abba Kyari and Sani Ado, whom he claimed worked with the Bureau of Public Procurement, allegedly collected N29.9m from him in order to facilitate the award of a contract.He also said during the programme that he had written a petition to the EFCC but the commission refused to treat it, insisting that it could not investigate the Presidents aide.But in its reaction, the EFCC spokesperson said, The petition by Bako Waziri is being investigated by the commission.Any serious investigation takes time and it is presumptuous to conclude that the EFCC is non-committal simply because you did not receive instant result. This is how investigations are done.Bako, an indigene of Bama, Borno State, had told Berekete Family, Abba Kyari asked if I had a company registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. I told him I did and so he asked me to come down to Abuja.We met at least four times at Caledonia Hotel on Gana Street, Maitama. We discussed there. The hotel should have CCTV and this can be confirmed.Abba Kyari collected the documents of my company. He said I would supply 15 Toyota Hilux vehicles to the Presidential Villa. He gave me an agreement to sign and I signed two documents.He collected two letterheads from me, 12 passport photos and introduced me to Sani Ado and Alhaji Ibrahim.He said anytime they needed money, he would let me know so that I could give the money to Sani Ado.Ado began collecting money from me to process the contract. Before depositing money into Ados account, I always alerted Abba Kyari and he would tell me to go ahead.All the money I transferred to Ado summed up to N29, 950,000. The total contract was worth N300,725,000. They promised me 30 per cent profit of the total contract which is about N94m.He said Ado called him later to tell him that the money had been paid.Bako, however, said he never received the funds as Ado continued to give him flimsy excuses.He said he got frustrated and then wrote a petition to the EFCC.The petitioner, however, said he was disappointed by the response of the EFCC.He added, Some officials loyal to Abba Kyari refused to help me. I went to meet an official petitioner at Block C in the EFCC. He is very close to the acting Chairman, Ibrahim Magu. The official asked me to bring the petition to him but by the time I got there, he had called Kyari to inform him of my presence.Abba Kyari called me on the phone to tell me that he knew I was at the EFCC.Bako said he quickly changed his mind and decided not to use the EFCC any longer. He, however, said friends from whom he borrowed money began to pester him.He said a friend decided to report him to a policeman, DSP Tijani Bulama.The petitioner said he explained the matter to Bulama and even gave him Abba Kyaris number to prove that he was telling the truth.Bako said Kyari promised to return the money in a few days but never did.He added, The policeman threatened to make the matter public, but the following day, men of the DSS stormed Tijanis home and arrested him.While in detention, the policeman under duress, called me, asking me to meet him at Eagle Square. On getting there, men of the DSS arrested me and took me to their office. The DSS men asked if we had informed anyone and we said no.They took our statements and Abba Kyari later came to the DSS. He, however, refused to speak to me. The DSS officials forced me to lie that I gave the policeman N250,000 to blackmail Abba Kyari but I refused. So they detained me for two weeks while the policeman was detained for a month.He said it was Kyari that asked the DSS to release him and promised that the matter was a family one and would be resolved internally.The petitioner said he waited for another seven months but Kyari never paid him his money.Bako said he decided to approach the EFCC a second time but through another official, Nura Buhari.He added, Nura Buhari then told me that if I wanted my petition to be attended to, I must remove Abba Kyaris name. So, I removed Abba Kyaris name and put only Ado.Bashir instructed that the investigation must not include Abba Kyari. They took my statement at Block B but moments later, Abba Kyari called me again. When I picked up, Kyari told me he was told that I was at the EFCC but I denied being thereAll of them at the EFCC began to feel intimidated. Even Magu is afraid of touching the case file.Also speaking on the programme, the policeman who was detained by the DSS, described the entire incident as a case of fraud.Tijani, who spoke amid tears, said the DSS officials arrested him in the presence of his children and harassed his entire household.He said, Initially I didnt believe. I thought it was a fraudster impersonating the chief of staff. I called Ado and he said it was the chief of staff that asked him to collect the money. When I called the chief of staff, he denied it and said it was a mix up.The next day, I sent a text to Ado telling him that the matter would be made public if he did not repay the money. Before I knew it, armed DSS officials in 10 vehicles stormed my home in PENGASSAN Estate, Lokogoma, and arrested me. They didnt even allow me wear my shoes. It was on March 27, 2017, there were eyewitnesses thereThey blindfolded me. My child was even crying in the house and they even pushed the little boy to the floor. It was at that point I realised that it was the chief of staffs handiwork. Even the IG would not send the DSS to my house. I knew that only someone as powerful as Abba Kyari could do such.The deputy superintendent said he was brought before the then DG, Lawal Daura.He added, Daura said, you are the one trying to intimidate the chief of staff, you want to become a whistleblower. When I asked if it was true that Abba Kyari duped the man, he asked me to get out of his office. Faced with the reality of the bigwigs presidential aspirants of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), outgoing Ekiti state governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, the first to have indicated interest for the office, has dropped his ambition.He said on Saturday that he was discontinuing his 2019 presidential ambition.The governor was one of the earliest persons in the country to indicate intention to contest for the nations number one position early in the year, in spite of warnings that the party zoned the position to the North.He dropped the hint on Saturday when he received the duo of former governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and former minister, Kashim Taminu, (both presidential aspirants) who came to lobby him and delegates in the state PDP.He said he had to drop the ambition as mark of sympathy and concern for his deputy, Prof. Kolapo Olusola-Eleka who lost in the last gubernatorial election in the state. I dropped the presidential ambition because of the stolen mandate freely given to my deputy As a good leader, I cannot abandon my loyal deputy whose mandate was stolen by the APC and be pursuing another ambition My posters are there in a room. I am committed to the recovery of the mandate for now more than anything else, he said.It is recalled that before now, Fayose had not only opened campaign offices but also came out with retinue of branded vehicles with which to campaign for the presidential slot.The two visiting presidential aspirants boasted that PDP would regain power in 2019, and urged the Ekiti delegates to consider their candidature so as to make the dream become a reality. The Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, and the governor-elect, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, on Friday engaged in war of words over allegations of sale of some state government properties, including the Oja Oba ultramodern market.Fayemi had during the week through a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, urged the public to beware of moves by the outgoing governor to dispose of some valuable properties of the state via alleged shady arrangements.The statement read, The attention of the Governor-Elect of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has been drawn to the clandestine moves by the outgoing Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, to hurriedly dispose of some valuable properties of the Ekiti State Government through shady arrangements.Some of the properties are: a large expanse of land between the Ondo State Civil Service Commission and Elan Club, in front of the Government Printing Press, Alagbaka, Akure; Erinfun Livestock Development Centre, covering 600 hectares of land along the Federal Polytechnic Road, Ado-Ekiti; the new Oja Oba market.We hereby inform and advise the general public, particularly prospective buyers, to be circumspect in entering into any transaction with the outgoing governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, in respect of any of the properties mentioned above or any other one whatsoever, as the incoming administration may not recognise or give effect to such transactions. A word is enough for the wise!But reacting to the allegations, Fayose said he remained the governor of the state till October 16, urging Fayemi to wait for the time he would be sworn in.He said, The governor-elect is wasting his time. I am still the governor of Ekiti State till October 15 legitimately. He is only ranting. That is ranting. He should wait for his time. Somebody stole a mandate and he is still claiming to have a mandate.It is the kind of leadership we have in the country that causes this kind of issue. I was elected for a four-year term, which will end in about six weeks time. I will function till the last day of my departure. If he likes, he can do what he likes during his tenure. The record will be there for him.Was he the one that built the market? I built it and I am allocating it. The people will have legal backing to protect them. They want to come and give it to their cronies. I will do my legitimate job until the last day of my departure. Even if I want to sell Ekiti property, I am still the governor here. When he comes, everything will be in public domain. Manchester United manager, Jose Mourinho will be happy to allow midfielder, Paul Pogba to join Spanish giants, Barcelona on one condition.Barcelona had hoped to sign Pogba this summer but the Red Devils were unwilling to listen to offers for the 25-year-old and were reluctant to let their star man leave after a disappointing transfer window.According to the Independent, Mourinho will only let the France international join the La Liga champions if United sign Lazio star, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, who is valued at around 100million.The report claimed that Uniteds interest in Milinkovic-Savic dates back to 2017 and the Red Devils believe that United midfielder, Nemanja Matics relationship with the 23-year-old has given them an advantage.Pogba is determined to leave Old Trafford after a deteriorating relationship with Mourinho in the last six months.The midfielder is not giving up on his desire to leave and has admitted on Thursday that a move is possible in January.My future is currently in Manchester, said Pogba. I still have a contract, I am playing there at the moment, but who knows what will happen in the next few months. The Peoples Democratic Party and other organisations, including the Southern and Middle-Belt Leaders Forum; the BringBackOurGirls Coalition; the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project and the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rescue Leah Sharibu from Boko Haram captivity.They said it was tragic that the Federal Government had failed to rescue the girl after spending about seven months in the Boko Haram captivity.Sharibu was one of the 110 girls kidnapped on February 19, 2018 by Boko Haram terrorists from the Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State.The terrorists were reported to have detained her because she refused to renounce her Christian faith.In a video believed to have been released by Boko Haram a few weeks ago, the teenager appealed to President Buhari to secure her release.Condemning the delay in rescuing Sharibu more than 200 days after her abduction, the PDP said Buhari should listen to Nigerians and act as a father by putting effort into securing her release.The PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, while demanding her immediate release, called on Nigerians to pray for the innocent girl.He said, We appeal to President Buhari and his security agencies to please listen to the cry of this little girl. Nigerians were moved to tears recently after listening to her plea via a voice message she sent from the den of her abductors.It was a cry of innocence. This is somebody whose offence was just that she went to school. She didnt want to die as an illiterate. Must we allow her to be punished for this? My answer is no.The primary duty of any government is to provide security for the citizens. That is the little we expect from this government. The President ought to be a father to all the citizens, including Leah. Let him act so by negotiating and freeing this our daughter.Secondus said the government should consider the plight of Sharibus parents and also listen to the girls plea, which was released to the public some days ago.He said it was unfortunate that since the time Boko Haram released other girls abducted alongside the Christian teenager, nothing concrete had been done by the Federal Government to free her.The opposition party therefore asked Nigerians to beg the President to, as a matter of urgency, reach out to her abductors and get her out of their grip.SMLF, SERAP, others demand Sharibus releaseAlso reacting to Sharibus continued stay in Boko Haram detention, the spokesperson for the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, Yinka Odumakin, in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, said it seemed the government had forgotten the teenager, noting that it had not been talking about moves to rescue her.He wondered why the government failed to insist on Sharibus release along with her colleagues who were freed. He, therefore, demanded the rescue of the schoolgirl without delay.Odumakin stated, We just hope that the negotiation that took place was not for her to be kept so she could be released close to the election period. It would be ungodly to play such a game with the life of a young girl.We are demanding that whatever negotiation used in getting out other girls should be used to effect Leahs release from Boko Haram now, the forum insisted.Also, a member of the BringBackOurGirls coalition, Peter Ilya, said the Federal Government had been quiet about rescuing Sharibu, noting that Nigerians should not discount reports of official complicity in the Dapchi girls abduction.He described as curious the manner the girls were kidnapped without resistance from security forces.Ilya said, Is it not curious that they (Boko Haram) abducted the girls and within few days they brought most of them back without any shots being fired and they melted into thin air?Dont you think the Federal Government was responsible for the abduction ab initio? Do you think we should discount the accusations of the soldier who said the whole abduction was arranged? I believe Leah was just being kept somewhere, the anguish must be unbearable for the parents, I can imagine, the BBOG member noted.Two civil society organisations, SERAP and the CDHR called on the President to deploy all instruments of state in rescuing Leah.They noted that the Federal Government must make the rescue of Sharibu and the remaining Chibok schoolgirls a priority.The SERAP Director, Adetokunbo Mumuni, said, I want the President to walk the talk. I call on him to put firm physical commitment to whatever he has promised. What happened to the Chibok schoolgirls is gradually happening to Leah Sharibu. We should not allow her situation to get as bad and prolonged as the remaining Chibok schoolgirls. No government that is serious and responsible will take the life and liberty of its citizens for granted. Sharibu must be reunited with her parents.As we remember Sharibu, we must not forget the remaining Chibok schoolgirls. I recall that they have spent well almost 2000 days in the Boko Haram captivity. The President has promised that whatever it will cost him to get the girls from captivity; he will not hesitate to do such.Also the CDHR President, Malachy Ugwummadu, said, The fundamental rights of Sharibu to life and liberty are being threatened and we want the Federal Government to intensify its efforts in securing her rescue. It is sad that some citizens are suffering from the failure of the government to provide adequate security of life and property. No amount of efforts put in by the government will satisfy us until this girl returns to her parents. It is as simple as that.On Thursday, a British member of parliament protested outside the Nigerian embassy in London to help free Sharibu.According to a CNN report, Liberal Democrat legislator, Tom Brake, staged a sit-in outside the Nigerian High Commission in central London to put pressure on the Nigerian government.There cannot be a clearer example of someone whose human rights are being ignored than that of Leah who is being detained just because she has maintained her Christian faith, Brake said in an email interview with CNN.Brake is taking part in the protest organised by advocacy group, Church World Service, that will last 200 hours as Thursday marks 200 days since Sharibu, who turned 15 in captivity, was taken.According to the report, organisers said members of the advocacy group would take turns to seat at a school desk placed in front of the commissions office with Sharibus portrait.Leahs father said he had been humbled by the international campaign for his daughters release.A former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, also took part in the protest organised by the Church World Service.In a video he posted via his twitter handle later, Omokri demanded the release of Sharibu.He stated, We are trying to call Rebecca Sharibu, Leahs mother. I have spoken with her earlier and i just want to speak with her again so she can tell Nigerians and people all over the world how she feels and tell people who supported this cause to help free her daughter.In the same vein, the President of the Christians Association of Nigeria, Dr. Samson Ayokunle, called the President to mount pressure on the Boko Haram group to release Sharibu and about 100 Chibok girls remaining in captivity of the terrorists.Ayokunle said this while speaking to journalists on Friday in Iwo on the sidelines of the inauguration service held for the new Vice-Chancellor of Bowen University, Osun State, Prof. Joshua Ogunwole.The CAN president said the girls had stayed too long in the den of the kidnappers and appealed to Buhari to ensure that they were freed without further delay,He said, Leah Sharibu is not the only one in captivity, there are still about 100 Chibok girls in Boko Haram captivity and this government has the moral burden of putting pressure on their kidnappers to make sure that they are released.Ayokunle called on the electorate to vote against insecurity and bloodshed in the country during the 2019 general elections, saying Nigerians should not allow any politician to induce them with money in exchange for their votes.Ayokunle, who is also the President, Nigerian Baptist Convention, equally called on the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Buhari administration to conduct free, fair, transparent and violence-free elections in the country. 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. Review: 'The Nun' Begs 'The Conjuring' Franchise To Just Die Already By Kristy Puchko | Film | September 7, 2018 | Its been five years since James Wan terrified us with The Conjuring, and were already on the fifth installment of this fractured film franchise with The Nun. Though inspired by the case files of paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, The Conjuring Universe has been moving away from the Warrens, tossing Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga to far fringes of this prequel, which fills in the backstory of The Conjuring 2s demonic nun. With Wan long gone from the film series helm, there was the potential of exploring horror flavors outside of haunted house and giving new talent in horror a chance to shine. But Corin Hardys sloppy attempt at atmospheric terror suggests it may be time for this franchise to give up the ghost. The Nun is set in 1952, 19 years before The Conjurings tale. Instead of the Warrens, it centers on a newly minted pair of paranormal investigators, exorcist Father Burke (Demian Bichir) and Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga), a novitiate who experiences strange religious visions. The strange suicide of a nun spurs the Catholic Church to sends them to investigate a far-flung abbey in the mountains of Romania. With the help of an arrogant but sexy villager called Frenchie (Jonas Bloquet), the pair uncovers a powerful evil that has overrun the convent and threatens to spread. Aside from the bookends that explicitly tie The Nun into the Warrens story, this prequel feels completely unmoored from the franchise. The Conjuring 1 & 2 both offered intimate haunted house tales that focus on fiercely loving families. The familiar settings of bedrooms and basements allowed us to easily imagine such terror taking root in our own homes. They grounded the horror with the familiar, then made it more menacing by turning the mundane malevolent. Much like the first spinoff sequel Annabelle, The Nun goes to creepy too fast. Just as you might scoff when anyone takes a doll as horrid looking as that into their nursery, you know this abbey is spooky as hell from its first frame. Theres no build and nowhere to go from there. Beyond that, wandering around a massive castle thats been converted into a convent isnt a common experience, which distances the terror from the Conjurings fans. More vexing, Hardy makes no apparent effort to establish the geography of his massive set. In The Conjuring movies, geography was key to driving tension, creating suspense through proximity. Here, its impossible to know where characters are as they wind through the seemingly endless labyrinth of stone hallways that all look the same. Rather than chilling, it becomes repetitive as more crosses and more stony stretches of hallway taunt our heroes. Worse still, The Nun loses faith in its titular ghoul. Instead of building devotedly from that chilling image from The Conjuring 2, her spinoff is quick to wedge in a creepy kid and a cadre of haunted nuns to round out the scares. I get the reasoning. As a leering figure in an ominous painting, the nun was intriguing and spine-tingling. Let loose in a convent, this demonic sister fast becomes a hokey excuse for jump scares. Yet none of the jump scares possess the shock and snap to earn their name. To their credit, Demian Bichir and Taissa Farmiga are committed to this grim endeavor. He brings a stirring steeliness, she a wet-eyed earnestness. But theres a requisite stiffness to their interactions demanded by their vocational relationship, barring us from engaging with them as emotionally as we might the Warrens. Theres a remoteness to the setting and heroes that keeps us at a regretful remove. The only fun comes from Frenchie. Bloquet plays this shotgun-packing stud with a spirited swagger that sells the films rare action moments. Because this is a prequel, the movie could very well kill off each of these principal characters, allowing for a deeply dark chapter to its tale. That should stir dread and fear. But I was only concerned about Frenchie, because he came alive as a character, existing beyond a prudent stereotype of pious devotion and unspoken trauma. Simply put, The Nun isnt scary. Suspense never sparks. The dread is dull. Its cryptic creatures feel carelessly constructed, and the heroes are too vague to invest in. All were left with is the same religious iconography a horde of horror filmmakers have played with before to more haunting ends. Hardy shows no skill in brewing mood, much less satisfyingly harrowing horror set pieces. (Though the ScreenX of it all did him no favors.) Theres nothing in The Nun that even comes close to the masterful build of tension and terror that Wan gave us in The Conjurings clapping sequence. So, the best thing that can be said about this painfully underwhelming prequel is that it proves the death of Hardys proposed Crow reboot was a blessing. What Is ScreenX? And How Does It Work For 'The Nun'? | Brendan O'Neill is the King of Bad Takes Kristy Puchko is the managing editor of Pajiba. You can follow her on Twitter. Header Image Source: Warner Bros. Make Your Markle Jason Wu did not technically debut his spring 2019 collection on a runway, or even at his September 7th presentation. Instead, he scored a coup that has likely made him the envy of every designer on the planet: the first publicly viewed piece from his collection was worn by one Meghan Markle. The Duchess of Sussex looked classically beautiful in Wu's lightly ruffled cobalt sheath dress, which she donned for an appearance at London's 100 Days To Peace gala. Prince Harry also looked sharp, easily maintaining his status as the world's most attractive male redhead. Related | The New Royals No Models, No Problem This season, after eleven years of showing at New York Fashion Week, Wu chose to present his collection on his terms. And so instead of models, he showed his elegant evening wear on mannequins, which he designed himself. They were set against an ornate backdrop of florals and ferns by Putnam & Putnam. Streamlined and Refined Wu showed a limited collection of just sixteen definitive dresses. The delicate gowns were all stunning, the sort of garments that instantly make a woman feel beautiful. I will go to sleep dreaming of Wu's white dress with asymmetrical ruffles, which almost looked like little swinging tassels. And if someone does not wear either the tangerine-colored dress or lilac-covered evening gown to an awards show soon, I'm suing. Crystalline Dreams The Swarovski crystal embellishments on a peach-colored evening dress represented a bold new direction for the designer. We're very excited to see where Wu heads next. Photo via Getty The late CEO and Co-Founder of Apple Steve Jobs chose Foster + Partners in 2009 to design Apple Park, their new Headquarters in Cupertino, California. In the video of Charlie Rose interviewing Norman Foster, the famed designer talks about how the Apple Park project came into being and his initial all day first meeting with Steve Jobs that concluded by having pizza at the home of Steve Jobs and meeting his family. Apple's partnership with Foster + Partners later grew to include a series of new Apple Store Designs such as the ones in Dubai (One and two), Chicago and their latest stunner in Milan Italy. Other Apple Store Photo Galleries could be Found Here under Foster + Partners "Retail" Gallery Foster + Partners Open House Sept. 22-23, 2018 If you're a student or lover of architecture you might want visit the Foster + Partners Open House in London scheduled for September 22-23. (Shown above: Apple Park at Foster + Partners) Foster + Partners will be opening its Battersea studio to the public as part of the 2018 London Open House weekend. Across several buildings in the campus, there will be a display of recent projects and an exhibition showcasing the practice's commitment to sustainability. Visitors will have a view over the 60-metre riverside studio, with interactive displays to give an insight into the work of specialist teams and studios. A number of buildings in London designed by Foster + Partners will also be accessible during Open House 2018. These include for the first time, Bloomberg (City of London), alongside others such as Capital City Academy (Brent), HM Treasury (Westminster); One Bishops Square (Tower Hamlets); and City Hall (Southwark). Open House London is an annual celebration of the capital's architecture. It takes place during the weekend of 22-23 September 2018, when more than 800 buildings, many of which are normally closed, are opened to the public all for free. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the richness of London's architectural heritage. For other information about Foster + Partners, visit their website here. I personally got lost on their site this morning looking at the depth of design this company is into from buildings to lighting and more. There are videos and photo galleries touching on designs for EVA, Lumina Table Light, the incredible DP World Cargospeed Hyperloop, New International Airport Mexico City, Flythrough, Lunar Habitation, Mars Habitat, Fuel Stations of the Future, SkyCycle, the Future Apple Store in Toronto called The One, the National Bank of Kuwait, and the Zayed National Museum in Abu Dhabi / UAE and so much more. Take a journey, visit the Foster + Partners website today. After spending some time on the Foster + Partners site, it makes you wonder if Apple's SVP Industrial Design Jonathan Ive wouldn't be better off starting an Industrial Design Center outside of Apple to develop future smart homes, smart home devices, fixtures, appliances, smart clothing and more. Then again, that's a story for another day. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. With new iPhones just around the corner, the buzz for smartphones with 5G modems is beginning to pick up dramatically. If the buzz translates to smartphone sales for 2019, then it's pretty clear that 2019 could be a record breaker. A new report by PCMag notes that "The 5G era is almost upon us. In the next year, carriers will begin a years-long process of rolling out 5G networks across the country and around the world. Along with those next-gen networks will come a new generation of 5G-enabled smartphones. Search-intelligence and ad-tech platform Captify analyzed searches from February to August of 2018 to identify which 5G smartphones saw the biggest uptick in search keyword volume. Captify reported that from February to August, there was a significant increase in searches for 5G across major smartphone providers." With the search criteria of "5G + iPhone", Apple came in second and "showed the biggest search volume bump for 5G smartphones with a 1,819-percent increase from February to August. Next was Huawei at 829 percent, followed by Samsung at 655 percent, LG at 543 percent, Google Pixel at 293 percent, and Motorola with a 186-percent search-volume increase." The PCMag report concluded that "5G phones are generating plenty of search buzz. But when it comes to physical phones you can buy, Apple and Samsung devices are the still the smartphones to beat when it comes to US popularity. For some very odd reason, HTC, a smartphone brand that is doing terrible in the market, came in first place as noted in the Captify chart above. That stat is certainly out of place and a head-scratcher. In July, T3 posted a report titled the Top five 5G phones to expect in 2019, with the iPhone noted last on that list. More than likely Samsung's Galaxy S10 is going to be the first out of the gate with a 5G phone in late February, near the Mobile World Congress event which begins on February 25th. That will get the 5G buzz started and build from there all year round. Today The Verge posted a report titled "5G is almost here here's how everyone's getting ready." The report notes that "5G is coming, and it's going to have a massive impact on almost every facet of how we use technology, with faster speeds and lower latency theoretically opening up huge new frontiers in everything from smartphones to self-driving cars." The report covers thoughts on 5G smartphones for Samsung, Huawei, Motorola, LG and Xiaomi. When it comes to Apple, The Verge notes: "Notably missing in all of this is Apple. As one of the world's preeminent smartphone companies, whatever side of the 5G line Apple ends up on will almost certainly have massive ramifications for the rest of the industry. But for now, the company has remained characteristically tight-lipped as to its 5G plans. But if past history is anything to go by, its likely the Cupertino company will sit the first rounds out, waiting for things like battery life and network support to improve before it enters the 5G fray, much like it did with the iPhone 5 and LTE support the last time around." Read the full story by The Verge here. Perhaps I've got it wrong, but I think that Apple will deliver a 5G iPhone next year to support the likely launch of their Worldwide Video service. One of the first 5G services that consumers are likely to see is live Mobile TV anywhere, anytime at prices that will make this a game changing service. While Mobile TV is rolling out now, it's 5G that will deliver the quality and security consumers will want. Last month CNBC had the CEO of Verizon on Squawk Box to talk about how 5G TV is going to change everything. About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. Ghana is to receive the second allocation of compact funds from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) in the amount of $190 million after meeting all the required conditions to access the funds. MCC submitted a letter acknowledging Ghanas achievement of this milestone to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Upon Entry-Into-Force of the Ghana Power Compact on September 6, 2016, MCC granted access to the first allocation of the compact funds worth US$308.2 million. MCCs investment in the Ghana Power Compact amounted to US$498.2. This came to light when a delegation led by Professor Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu, the Board Chairperson of MiDA, and Christopher Lamora, Charge dAffairs and Acting. United States Ambassador to Ghana, presented the letter to Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who received it on behalf of the President. Today marks a significant milestone in the implementation of the Power Compact Programme. With these funds, MiDA together with its implementing entities will be able to carry out the planned investment and reformed activities aimed at strengthening our countrys power distribution sector, Prof Ntiamoa-Baidu said. The Acting CEO of the MCC, Brock Bierman, said meeting that important milestone was a testament of the commitment of the Ghanaian government to reform its power sector in an effort to bring critical services to its people. Mr Bierman said with only three years remaining in the MCC Ghana Power Compact, there was the need to continue working together till the concession was completed, while private-sector investment and expertise was injected to transform the viability of the Ghanaian power sector. Vice President Bawumia acknowledged the notification and thanked the US Government and the MCC for their partnership through the Ghana Power Compact; a manifestation of the strong cooperation that Ghana has with the US. Today is a great day and we are entitled to celebrate our achievement. However, we have a significant number of project activities to be carried out in order to meet all milestones. I therefore urge all stakeholders to continue to collaborate and maintain the alacrity they have demonstrated so far, the Vice President said. He reiterated governments commitment to ensure that the Compact delivered its goal in order to reduce poverty through economic growth and positively transform the power distribution sector. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video There is a popular Yoruba parlance when translated, it means, spending money like Da Rocha. In another Yoruba parlance when people are lured to spend too much money, they will tell you that do you think I am like Da Rocha? Or they tell you I am not Da Rocha. NAIJ.com brings you the story of the legendary rich man, Candido Da Rocha. Candido Da Rocha was a very wealthy Lagosian. It is also popularly believed that he was the first known millionaire in Nigeria. Da Rocha as he was fondly referred to was born in 1860 as the son of Joao Esan Da Rocha, a former slave who returned from Brazil to start a business empire. The junior Da Rocha, Candido, was reported to have just the language skills of Portuguese and Ilesha on his return. He attended the popular CMS Grammar School in Lagos where he was the head boy. He was a friend to late Herbert Macaulay who was also his school mate. Da Rocha's Water Business Candido was said to have laid water pipes from Iju to Lagos Island, Yaba Ebute Metta and other areas where there were high demand of pipe borne water. He was said to have lived in his house and operated the Iju water works.that served the whole of Lagos in the 20s. The colonial administrators were said to be paying Da Rocha for the supply of water to Lagos state. His house had the first bore hole and also the first water fountain. He was said to have sold water to the people from his house. He made fortune from his water business such that he bcame very rich that the government had to take it over from him. His other business includes money lending which he did with two other rich men, J H Doherty and Sedu Williams and together that started a bank named the Lagos Native bank. He also went into fishery business and also opened a restaurant. How Candido Da Rocha Became a Billion Through Gold Business: In what was to eventually mark the beginning of his fortunes, an English gold prospector who wanted to travel back to England approached Da Rocha in 1894 with bars of gold that he had mined and wanted to dispose of. But there was a problem of funds as he did not have all the money required to buy the goods. The Englishman wanted 6,000 pounds. So, Candido da Rocha approached the Bank of West-Africa now known as First Bank. The bank lent Candido the required money with which he purchased the gold bars. He was later to file the gold bars into gold dust and sold on retail to the local gold smiths. He was said to have made a whopping 200% profit on the sales. Candido Da Rocha Founded Lagos Native Bank : Candido Da Rocha went into the banking business and was the first African to own a bank called Lagos Native Bank which was established in 1907. He he joined hands with two businessmen, J H Doherty and Sedu Williams, to establish the Lagos Native Bank but ran the bank himself. Family life: Research revealed that Candido da Rocha lived alone most of his adult life and was never formally married to any woman whether traditionally, in court or in the church despite being a strong Catholic. He was said to be a difficult man to live with. Three women were known to have had children for him and lived with him briefly. One of the women was originally from the old Gold Coast now Ghana who had his first child and only son called Alexander Candido da Rocha. The second woman who had a son for him died at an early age. Thereafter, he had four daughters; three of these were born by the same woman and one daughter, Mrs. Enitan Salako, from another woman. The daughters, three in all include Louissa Ebun Turton, the second daughter was called Angelica Folashade who later became Mrs. Thomas. Candido da Rocha's Generosity : Describing Da Rochas generosity, his 90-year-old granddaughter said, People would come to him, crying, requesting financial assistance; from the balcony, asking how much they needed, he would throw down the money to them. Candido Esan Da Rocha died in 1959 and is buried at Ikoyi Cemetery. Though there was no Limousine nor Royce Rolls, Da rocha was said to have moved around in his luxury horse drawn carriage. One of the grand daughters of Candido Da Rocha Angelica Oyediran in an interview with The Punch said of the wealth of her grandfather: Candido Da Rocha was quite close to the British and the western world then. He was highly respected and highly disciplined. He didnt like dishonesty and lying. I stayed with him in this house for about three years when my mother moved in here to look after him. I was very close to him. He loved me and I was very fond of him. I learnt a lot from him. During the Second World War, Da Rocha offered one of his properties, Bonanza Hotel, to the British government to protect some Nigerian students at Kings College, who were initially in a boarding house at Race Course. The school was run there until the war was over. Among his close friends was Herbert Macaulay. Da Rocha refused to be a politician. When he was nominated to contest an election and people approached him requesting money to support his electioneering, he said, If you want Da Rocha you vote for him, and if you want Da Rochas money dont vote for me. Twice, when Macaulay was arrested by the British colonial government for speaking out against them, Da Rocha paid (a fine) on his behalf to prevent Macaulay from going to jail and warned that he would not come to his rescue the third time. Da Rocha was a staunch catholic. He respected God. He was very rich he was a millionaire in those days and very generous. The elite in those days sent their dirty clothes to Britain for laundry. The Da Rochas, Johnsons, Dohertys and the Olowus, were foremost wealthy people. They didnt wash their clothes in Nigeria. They sent them abroad for laundry. Some of them had about five dozens shirts, five dozens vests, five dozens pants, and everything they could afford. Candido Da Rocha did not stumble on money, neither did he steal peoples commonwealth before he became stupendously rich. His wealth could be traced to his father Joao Esan Da Rocha. Joao Esan Da Rocha who was from Ilesha was captured as a slave at the age of 10 and taken away to Brazil in 1840. Joao Esan later got married to Angelica Josephina Da Rocha while in Brazil. The couple gave birth to Candido while still in Brazil. In 1871, Esan alongside other slaves regained their freedom and a lot of slaves were able to trace their roots back the Yoruba tribe. On his return from Brazil, Esan Da Rocha was one of the returnees that approached the then Queen Victorias representative in Lagos to request a place for their resettlement in Lagos and they were apportioned the areas between the Central Bank of Nigeria on Broad Street up to Kam Salem, at Obalende. The Water House was built by Esan Da Rocha on the land apportioned to him. He was given two portions of land because he came back with his wife of Nigerian origin and four children so he also got a portion of land on Tinubu Street. While building his own house, Esan built it as a replica of the house he lived in Brazil. His houses are the famous Water House at Kakawa Street and the other one is on 4, Tinubu Street both on Lagos Island. Esan died at the age of 88 and was buried at Ikoyi Cemetery. Candido da Rocha stepped into his fathers business empire, which he later expanded and consolidated into a multi-million pound financial empire, straddling agriculture, hotel, trading, real estate, banking and financial investment. Source: NAIJ.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 Never-before-seen images of the Duchess of Cambridge reveal how she fled to Dublin with her mother Carole to lick her wounds during her 2007 break-up with Prince William. The Duke and Duchess are the epitome of a solid royal marriage, but more than a decade ago they split up briefly at the end of March 2007. Before news of their break up hit the papers, Kate had already flown to Ireland with her mother and now unseen images, uncovered by The Irish Independent, show how she put on a brave face while mingling at family friend Gemma Billington's art exhibition. Read Full Story .... dailymail.co.uk >>> : 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 Two Ghanaian families are currently mourning the death of their sons who died within the space of three weeks. According to twitter user who shared the story online, one of the deceased had died three weeks ago after he collapsed shortly after returning from the gym. His bosom friend, Kelvin, who was planning his funeral slated for this Saturday, died in a fatal accident along Achimota highway in Ghana on Wednesday night. So sad! Source: lindaikejisblog 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 You May Also Like Cleaning your ductwork is rarely going to worth the price. It makes a minimal improvement in your efficiency and may make the air quality initially worse in your home. Read more If you or someone in your family suffers from asthma or allergies, you may be considering getting your home's heating and cooling ducts cleaned. But even if you have no special health concerns, duct cleaning may appeal to you at an intuitive level. After all, if your ducts are clean, all that air flowing out of your vents should come out clean too, right? Well, actually, no. Companies that perform duct cleaning would love you to believe you need their services. Some might even advertise health benefits, or suggest that duct cleaning will lower your power bills by improving your system's efficiency. Some ads even use such language as, "Studies have shown " But no data back up these claims. Even if your ducts are very dirty, cleaning them likely won't provide any measurable benefits. In fact, the little independent research performed on duct cleaning indicates that the process stirs up so much dust that it creates a bigger problem than it solves. How duct cleaners work Companies connect a powerful vacuum to one or more openings in the ductwork to suck out loose dust and other debris. Because lots of dust can cake on the inside of ducts, firms use a variety of methods a rotary brush or compressed air nozzles, for example to shake it loose. Many duct-cleaning companies also offer services you can get from conventional heating/cooling firms such as cleaning heat exchangers and cooling coils. The case against having your ducts cleaned Here's the thing: Dust that settles in your ventilation ducts typically stays there unless disturbed, and is usually harmless. The official advisory of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) concludes: "Duct cleaning has never been shown to actually prevent health problems. Neither do studies conclusively demonstrate that particle (e.g., dust) levels in homes increase because of dirty air ducts. This is because much of the dirt in air ducts adheres to duct surfaces and does not necessarily enter the living space. Moreover, there is no evidence that a light amount of household dust or other particulate matter in air ducts poses any risk to your health." The American Lung Association has a similar position. Having your ducts cleaned may actually create a dust problem or make an existing problem worse. In the 1990s, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) tested 33 homes in Montreal before and after duct cleaning, finding no significant improvement in air quality and that duct cleaning alone did not improve airflow or energy efficiency. In some cases, measured particle levels actually increased immediately after a cleaning. In other cases, particle levels decreased immediately after cleaning, but returned to previous levels within weeks. If you suspect a mold problem either because of visible growth or a musty smell consistently coming from supply vents cleaning ducts won't do much good if it doesn't eliminate the mold. Mold always begins with a moisture problem, and the ducts themselves are unlikely to be the source of the problem. The most likely culprits are the cooling system's evaporator coils, which your heating and air-conditioning contractor and most duct-cleaning companies can inspect and maintain. Leaky return ducts can also introduce moisture. Want to control dust? Regularly change your filter Frequently changing air filters is the best way to keep dust, allergens, and other particles out of your home. Most should be replaced every two or three months. Duct cleaning wont save energy, either Another sketchy claim made by most duct-cleaning operations and their trade association is that dirty ducts and equipment overburden heating and cooling equipment, which wastes energy. Again, it intuitively makes sense that a cleaner system will run smoother and last longer after all, that's why we and HVAC equipment manufacturers and repair services recommend that you regularly change your filters. But the page "Benefits of HVAC Cleaning" on the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) website stretches this benefit too far by stating: "According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 25 to 40 percent of the energy used for heating and cooling a home is wasted." That's misleading. Although much of the energy used to power heating and cooling equipment is indeed wasted, that waste is due to inefficient equipment, lousy insulation, leaks around doors and windows, and unsealed ductwork. While there's some benefit to cleaning and maintaining HVAC equipment, that benefit is relatively small, and very little energy waste is attributable to dirty ducts or equipment. When to consider using a duct cleaner The EPA suggests having air ducts cleaned only if there is visible evidence of specific problems: Substantial mold growth (again, though, after identifying the source). Infestation of insects or rodents. Substantial deposits of dust or debris (if registers were not sealed during a renovation project, for example). For specific health concerns, such as allergies or asthma, consult your physician first. The doctor may suggest other courses of action than duct cleaning. Bottom line: Your ducts are probably not the problem. If you do hire a duct cleaner Get several companies to come to your home to perform inspections and provide estimates. You may as well look for firms that belong to NADCA. Its members must subscribe to the NADCA code of ethics, must employ at least one NADCA-trained-and-certified technician, and are required to carry at least $500,000 in general liability insurance. Also, check ratings for duct cleaners at Checkbook.org. We've arranged free access for Inquirer readers (see below). _______________________ Delaware Valley Consumers' Checkbook magazine and Checkbook.org is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help consumers get the best service and lowest prices. We are supported by consumers and take no money from the service providers we evaluate. You can access all of Checkbook's ratings for free until Oct. 5 at Checkbook.org/Inquirer/Ducts. KAMPALA It is a bright hot day as the scorching sun is bearing down upon the Mbale municipality suburb of Namatala. Voices of children playing in the quarters echo in the shallow alleyways winding through the dilapidated structures that are a common site when you reach Namatala slum. Namatala, one of the biggest slums in Uganda is composed of huts the kind of huts that people generally think of when they think of Uganda slums. Many of these are round hovels made with mud and grass thatched roofs; there are bigger, rectangular ones but these are subdivided into rooms so that one family occupies the space of the size of a small village kitchen. The first time I walked through it, I detached myself from the situation because I did not want to be emotionally hurt by seeing others needs. I tried not to think about all the problems in the slums because I did not want to think too deeply about the difficulties and trials that are a part of life here. Yet I think I almost need to become emotionally involved in the situation because it inspires a passion and a love for the people so that I am devoted to doing everything about their situation. As we continue to the edge of the slum, where piles of rubbish tumbled down the banks of a stagnant water, into which most of the slums waste eventually found its way, Ms Caroline Atim points at the water, this could be the source of most diseases here. When it rains, the sewage runs into our homes but even then we are not safe because we have nowhere to go. We cant afford land anywhere and yet the Mbale Municipal Council wants us out of town in quest for a city status, Ms Atim who stays in Kiteso cell says. Like other slums in the world over, Namatala is inevitably occupied by very poor people and families, who have nowhere else to live it is a squalid section of Mbale municipality, an area in which most inhabitants are in or near poverty. The residences are cheap and dilapidated, and streets are narrow and blighted. The living conditions in Namatala slums are horrible, harsh with landlords often failing to maintain the properties the poor immigrants live in, the tenements are breaking down and collapsing. Origin of Namatala The first inhabitants of Namatala lived in a place called Mvule. Mvule is a name of a tree. It originates from the place where people used to have their meetings, under the tree. The first inhabitants were Dephus Kigozi who came from Buganda, and Mr John Namalwa who came from a place called Nsambya. These people came here fleeing from war and conflicts in their areas of origin. Today, the area is mainly inhabited by Karimojong settlers that have come due to insurgency in the Karamoja region; and thus the area is sometimes referred to as Kikaramoja. Mr Hakazia Kuloba, 65, a resident of Namatala says people arrived here in about 1930s and the settlement has been in existence since then. The major reason as to why people came to settle here is search for employment and the areas agricultural potential. According to the Mbale City Profiling Report (compiled by ACTogether, Uganda Slum Dwellers Federation and Mbale Municipality) Namatala is the largest slum in Mbale Municipality with an estimate of 30,200 people. According to Kuloba, the place is now a combination of inhabitants including the Bagisu, Bagwere, Basoga, Iteso, Karimojong, Acholi and Langi among others. Many settled here because of civil unrest, drought, and natural disasters like floods and landslides and in search of employment. However, to date they are still grappling with lifes problems. Mr Ahmed Kutosi says because of the nature of houses [Mud and wattle] and pit latrine pit, sanitation standards are wanting, right from the leaders to the locals. On arrival at the home of the LCI chairperson, John Byansi, the unmistakable smell of human dung welcomes you. It is as if the LCI chairman keeps cows right in front of his door and during the rainy season, the whole place is a mess. The latrines are in a poor state and yet they cater for over 30 people, since many landlords construct over five single rooms that house an average of five people in each, excluding passers-by. Mr Kuloba says most people in Namatala dont have latrines, so they help themselves in polythene bags and litter them near the homesteads and on garbage bins put up by the local government council. Our pit latrines are not controlled by anyone in particular and many are full, squalid, overflowing and prone to causing health hazards and the bathrooms are equally in bad shape with many made of polythene sacks and pieces of old iron sheets with bad floors, said Mr Kuloba. Although many people have access to clean water through communal taps, most landlords who have posh houses, charge Shs300 per Jerry can, which some cannot afford. Many people still collect water from the nearby River Namatala. Unfortunately the river has claimed so many lives, especially children who go to wash, fetch water or swim, said Mr Kuloba. Mr James Kutosi, the Mbale Municipality spokesperson says they have registered cases of children drowning in Namatala but their advice to have people vacate the place have always fallen on deaf ears. We do post-mortem of the recovered bodies and usually urge people to leave living around the banks of river Namatala and sending children to the river to fetch water but they dont learn, said Mr Kutosi. Some NGOs like Jenga CBO, Child Restoration Outreach, Child of Hope, Uganda Slum Dwellers Federation, PONT Uganda and ACTogether, are implementing projects in areas of water sanitation, prostitution, child abuse and abandonment by families, but much still needs to be done. Namatala slum conditions: According to the LCIII chairman industrial division Mr John Wafula the people living in Namatala are usually the most stigmatised in Mbale Municipality, carrying high social stigma. Mr Wafula said in the mind of the general public, the disrepute and stigma of the slum area washes onto the people who frequent or inhabit it. When most people think of a slum they think of residents who deviate from the morals, norms, and standards of public decency held up by the wider conventional community. The people involved in serious crime, drug and alcohol abuse, juvenile delinquency, gang violence, said Mr Wafula. Mr Mutwalib Zandya, the mayor Mbale municipality however says that it is tempting to think that slums are an urban anomaly produced only when something goes terribly wrong. He adds that the high prevalence of slums and the ease with which they grow suggests that their causes lie in conventional and institutionalised routines of business as usual. The urban space is stratified as the most powerful people or those with the greatest wealth occupy the most desirable parcels of land, said Mr Zandya. Mr John Byansi, the LCI Chairman of Sisye cell says slums developed in Namatala when rich people built crowded substandard housing on the cheapest land and rented it to poor households with earnings too low to allow them to live better. Our worry is that the poor slum dwellers are being pushed towards the river by the rich businessmen. The slum dwellers are selling off their land because of poverty and in other places land is being taken by the municipal council for development, said Mr Byansi. Ms Jane Nabukwasi, a resident of Nkoma says the poor in the slum belong to a stigmatised racial or ethnic group and that ones address becomes a prestigious status symbol if one lives in an area reserved for the right kinds of people. Slums are for the poor class and in Namatala the people are associated with harmful threats to community health and stability e.g., lowering the quality of schools, raising the crime rate, spreading disease, not keeping up their yards or homes, said Ms Nabukwasi. All attempts to exclude us from all slums are made, which if successful leaves us in areas of highly concentrated poverty and landlessness, that is the fear we have, added Ms Nabukwasi. Location of Namatala Namatala ward/settlement is located in Industrial division in Mbale Municipality and the settlement is made up of five zones namely; Doko, Sisye, Mvule, Nyanza and Wandawa. Ends Related Przepraszamy! Ogoszenie na stanowisku: Treasury Specialist wygaso z dniem 2018-10-23 Ta propozycja bya zozona przez Hays Poland Sp. z o.o. Mozliwe przyczyny wygasniecia ogoszenia to: oferta zozona przez pracodawce zostaa wycofana z naszej bazy zleceniodawca zakonczy proces rekrutacji uzyskujac odpowiednia ilosc CV ogoszeniodawca zmodyfikowa tresc ogoszenia i jest ono dostepne pod innym adresem url dostawca tresci usuna ogoszenie z bazy danych zy adres WWW ogoszenia Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w branzy Inne / Pozostae, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Inne / Pozostae Jezeli poszukujesz pracy na stanowisku Treasury Specialist , zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Treasury Specialist Jezeli poszukujesz pracy w miescie: Warszawa, zajrzyj tutaj: Praca Warszawa Pamietaj, ze mozesz takze rozpoczac poszukiwanie pracy od strony gownej, kliknij tutaj. Inne oferty, ktore mogy byc w kregu Twoich zainteresowan: 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 Porterville, CA (93257) Today Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 48F. Winds light and variable. Under the proposed rules, individuals or companies will have to register with the central licensing authority to run an e-pharmacy; state-wide registration is not required. IMAGE: Brick-and-mortar chemists, too, have to inform about changes in their constitution to the licensing authority. Photograph: Reuters The government is putting in place a legal framework to regulate online sale of medicines. Recently, the government released the draft rules allowing one-point registration for e-pharmacies and fixing procedures for sale. The draft provides for patient data protection. The details of patients cannot be shared with anyone except government authorities. The Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, governs sale of medicines in India. Medicines can be sold from licensed premises only. The Act does not cover e-pharmacies at present and the government had decided to appoint a sub-committee, after receiving complaints of violations. The draft released is based on the sub-committee's recommendations. While the domestic pharmaceutical market size is around Rs 1.25 trillion, e-pharmacies constitute a minuscule portion of it. The collective sales are estimated to be around Rs 2 billion annually. Under the proposed rules, individuals or companies will have to register with the central licensing authority to run an e-pharmacy; state-wide registration is not required. According to the rules, the e-pharmacy registration holder shall inform the central licensing authority regarding changes in constitution of the firm. A fresh registration will be required in the case of such changes and existing registration will be valid only for three months, it added. The e-pharmacy will have to mention on the website its constitution, details of directors and partners, name of logistics service provider, and return policy for dispensed drugs. Sources say brick-and-mortar chemists, too, have to inform about changes in their constitution to the licensing authority, but there is no requirement for them to display directors' names and shareholding details on their premises. The e-pharmacy will have to adhere to provisions of the Information Technology Act. The rules specify procedures for sale through an e-pharmacy. These state that on receipt of prescription, the registered pharmacist shall verify the details of the patient, registered medical practitioner and arrange the supply of drugs. The drugs will be dispensed through any licensed retailer or wholesaler of medicines. The details of the drugs dispensed, including the patient details, shall be maintained on the e-pharmacy portal. The premises from where the e-pharmacy business is conducted shall be inspected every two years by a team of officers authorised by the central licensing authority. There will be restrictions on sale of drugs listed under narcotic and psychotropic category. An e-pharmacy will not be allowed to advertise any drug. "The rules are a great move to support the health care ecosystem. It is good for patients as e-pharmacies are required to maintain customer support and a grievance redressal mechanism. However, the government should specify the period for which drug dispensation and patient details need to be kept by us," said Dhaval Shah, co-founder of PharmEasy.in. In the US, mail order pharmacies control 15 per cent of the market share. With the new regulations, e-pharmacies can see exponential growth in India as they will contribute to access and affordability, said Pradeep Dadha, chief executive officer at Netmeds. The Nepal Army has withdrawn from the first BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) military exercise to be held in India following a political row in the country over the participation in the event, a media report said on Saturday. Prime Minister K P Oli asked the national defence force not to participate in the drill, compelling the Nepal Army's leadership to rollback its earlier decision to take part in the first ever military exercise of the regional grouping initiated by India. The decision was taken just a day before the Army squad was set to travel to Pune, where the drill will commence on Monday, the Kathmandu Post reported. The government's decision came after strong criticism from different quarters, including influential leaders from ruling Nepal Communist Party. The BIMSTEC is a regional grouping comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. The armies from all seven members states had agreed to send a 30-member squad for the six-day exercise. The event was dragged into controversy as no diplomatic or political level agreement was made before deciding to take part in the exercise. "The government directed the NA not to participate in the drill," Kundan Aryal, the press advisor to Oli, was quoted as saying by the newspaper. A senior Army official said even though they had not received a formal directive, the 30-member squad had been stopped from departing. Three Army officials who had already travelled to Pune to help plan the conference will also be returning soon, the Army officer said. Cross-party leaders in Nepal had raised their concerns against the exercise after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address at fourth BIMSTEC summit in Kathmandu last week, welcomed Nepal's presence in the drill. "There is no point in our Army Chief participating in the exercise which our government hasn't approved," Minister for Law and Justice Bhanu Bhakta Dahal told the Post. IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi lights a lamp as BJP president Amit Shah, and party patriarch L K Advani look on during BJP National Executive Meeting, in New Delhi on Saturday. Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo The Narendra Modi government is working for 'making India' whereas the Congress is working for 'breaking India', Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah said on Saturday, asserting that his party will return to power in 2019 with a majority bigger than what it got in 2014. Launching a blistering attack on the Opposition in his inaugural address at the party's two-day national executive meeting, he said the proposed 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) of the BJP's rivals is an illusion and myth, and will make no difference to its fortunes. Shah sought to build a narrative about his party around the theme of development, especially targeting the poor, and nationalism, while painting the Opposition as those sympathising with 'urban Naxals' and working for 'breaking India' in its frustration over electoral losses. Briefing reporters on Shah's speech in the closed-door meeting, Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman said he termed the Opposition as 'disruptionists' and that it no longer seems to be representing the voice of the people. He made these comments in the context of the no-confidence motion brought by opposition parties in Lok Sabha in the Monsoon Session, saying that there was no reason for it and accusing them of being in 'denial mode' after it was defeated with a big margin. With many political watchers suggesting that the BJP may find it hard to repeat its 2014 feat, Shah said it will handily win in 19 states where it is in power and also emerge victorious in states such as West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana due to 'anti-incumbency' factor against regional parties in power there. "We will return to power strongly and with a good majority. We will win with a bigger majority than what we got in 2014," Sitharaman quoted him as saying. The BJP had won 282 seats out of 543 in the 2014 parliamentary election. Top party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers of party-ruled states, were in attendance as Shah asserted that it will return to power on the basis of the government's performance, Modi's charismatic leadership and its organisational strength. Amid unity efforts among opposition parties to challenge the BJP, Shah said his party had defeated all of them in 2014 and their coming together will make no difference to it. He also took a dig at Congress leader and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who had recently said that the Modi government had failed on all fronts, saying that while Singh follows his party, Modi leads his. Hitting back at former finance minister P Chidambaram over his criticism of the government's economic policies, especially demonetisation, Shah said over 3 lakh shell companies were shut down hampering black money operations and the numbers of income tax assesses have doubled. "Our workers should take on P Chidambaram and company and challenge them for debates on facts," he said. Shah also touched on the issues of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and triple talaq bill while making a passing reference to his rivals' attack on the party over Dalit issues but avoided the topics of oil price rise and reported upper castes anger over the BJP's support for pro-Dalit laws. Not a single infiltrator will be allowed into India, he said, noting that the party has been consistent in its support to the NRC with its part national executives making a mention of it as many as nine times. He also made a strong pitch for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that seeks to grant Indian citizenship to minorities being persecuted in neighbouring countries, saying it must be done without any hesitation. Shah also made a reference to the instant triple talaq being banned in several Islamic countries and said the bill, which envisages criminal action against Muslim men accused of practising it, has been stuck in Parliament due to the Congress's 'hypocritical' stand. Speaking for the first time on the raging controversy over the arrest of several activists on the charge that they helped Naxals, he praised Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was present, for the police action. Opposition parties such as the Congress are doing vote bank politics on it, he said. The BJP has often accused the Congress of hobnobbing with Naxals and being sympathetic to terrorists, a charge rejected by the opposition party. The BJP's rivals have been making "baseless" allegations against it over Dalit issues, he said. Referring to pro-poor programmes of the government, Shah said it has lived the party's ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya's principle of 'antyodaya' (uplift of the last man in queue) by benefitting over 50 crore people with its 126 schemes. He asked party workers to go to villages covered under 'Gram Swaraj' (village empowerment) scheme of the government and celebrate Diwali with residents. The party will showcase its organisational prowess in the 2019 polls, he said, asking its functionaries to go to the masses with details of the government's works. The party has also decided to organise various events on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on October 2, observe September 28, the day the Army had carried out surgical strikes, as 'Shaurya Diwas', and hold 'sewa saptah' (service week) between September 17 and 25. He also hailed the passage of a bill granting constitutional status to a commission for Other Backward Classes and claimed that the government's works have touched on all segments of society. Shah to lead BJP in 2019, party defers internal polls Shah, whose three-year term ends in January next year, will lead the party in the Lok Sabha election in 2019 and its organisational polls are likely to be suspended till then as it focuses on the electoral challenge ahead, party sources said. A party leader said organisational polls in an election year have often been deferred in the past as well to allow the incumbent president, his team of office-bearers and workers to focus fully on polls. The party sources said on the sidelines of the national executive meeting that Shah will lead the organisation into the Lok Sabha polls, scheduled for April-May next year. The issue was discussed in the meeting of office-bearers, they said. Shah had replaced Rajnath Singh as the party president soon after it came to power in May 2014 as Singh quit his post following his inclusion in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet. He was then elected as the president in January 2016. The BJP's constitution allows its president to serve two consecutive full terms of three years each. As such, Shah can be elected to the post for one more term. Swaraj Abhiyan leader Yogendra Yadav was detained in Tiruvannamalai on Saturday when he was on his way to express solidarity with farmers protesting against the proposed Salem-Chennai Expressway project, police said. Yadav and some others were detained at Chengam in this district, they said without elaborating. The Swaraj Abhiyan leader tweeted that he was 'manhandled' and pushed into a police van. 'We came on the invitation of Movement Against 8Lane Way. We were prevented from going to meet farmers, phones snatched, manhandled and pushed into police van. Firsthand experience of police state in TN,' he said. Yadav said he had come for conducting a fact finding about acquisition when he was stopped from proceeding. In another tweet, he said he had been lodged with some others in a marriage hall. The Rs 10,000 crore eight-lane expressway connecting Salem and Chennai is being opposed by a section of farmers and landowners who do not want to part with their land. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader M K Stalin has condemned the 'arbitrary detention'. 'The DMK strongly condemns the arbitrary detention of @_SwarajIndia chief @_YogendraYadav who supported farmers affected by #ChennaiSalemExpressway project,' he tweeted. The 'intolerant' AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) government will pay the price for denying people the democratic right to dissent and protest, Stalin added. The project, a central government initiative being implemented by the Tamil Nadu government, aims to bring down the travel time between Salem and Chennai. The state government has been insisting that it will also help address the issue of fatal accidents on this stretch, besides saving on fuel and vehicular wear and tear. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said compensation being offered to landowners was more compared to the past, as the guideline value has increased. Tanaji Sable's story confirmed what the first witness had told the commission: That the Dalits who had gone to Bhima-Koregaon were stoned; that there were motorcyclists bearing saffron flags roaming around inspiring fear; that the police did nothing to protect the Dalits. Jyoti Punwani reports from the Bhima-Koregaon commission hearing. Photograph: Jyoti Punwani for Rediff.com IMAGE: Tanaji Sable who testified before the judicial commission on the Bhima-Koregaon violence. When Tanaji Sable took the stand before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry set up to inquire into the violence that took place at Bhima Koregaon near Pune on January 1, 2018, it seemed nothing much would come of his deposition. Except the government counsel, no one wanted to cross-examine him before the two-member commission chaired by retired Calcutta high court Chief Justice Jai Narayan Patel with Chief Information Commissioner of Maharashtra Sumit Mullick as member. Till senior counsel B A Desai decided to do so. Advocate Desai, who is representing Congressman Sanjay Lakhe Patil before the commission, took Sable through the important points of his affidavit. By the time he finished, every lawyer appearing before the commission wanted to cross-examine the 53-year-old BEST bus conductor. In fact, when the commission rose for the day at 8 pm, Sable's cross-examination was incomplete. He looked worried when asked to come back on the 24th. "I don't know if I will get leave," he said. The commission then gave him a letter stating that he was required to attend its hearings on September 24. Sable's story confirmed what the first witness, Manisha Khotkar, had told the commission: That the Dalits who had gone to Bhima-Koregaon on January 1, 2018 were stoned; that there were motorcyclists bearing saffron flags roaming around inspiring fear; that the police did nothing to protect the Dalits. Sable left for Bhima-Koregaon at midnight on December 31, with his group from Ramabai Nagar, the Dalit colony at Ghatkopar, north east Mumbai, which was the epicentre of protests in July 1997. A statue of Dr Ambedkar was then desecrated there and the police fired on the protestors, killing 10 of them. Unlike Khotkar and her companions, whose bus was stopped by the police before they could reach Bhima-Koregaon, and who could not proceed further because of the violence that had broken out, Sable's group managed to reach the Bhima-Koregaon memorial. However, this time, the journey was nothing at all like Sable's previous journeys to Bhima-Koregaon. There were people with saffron flags shouting Jai Bhavani Jai Shivaji. Some were forcibly smearing haldi on the foreheads of everyone, including the Dalits there. All shops were closed. All this created an atmosphere of fear, Sable told the Commission. There was heavy stone throwing, smoke rising from burning tyres and people running helter skelter. After they returned home, Sable and others in his group recounted what had happened to them to the police at the Pant Nagar police station at Ghatkopar. His statement to the police says that as they left Bhima-Koregaon, after their bus had travelled some distance, 15 to 20 youth aged 20 to 25 years, stopped their bus. They made them remove the banner of the Bharatiya Baudh Mahasabha from their bus as also the blue flags stuck on it. They also warned the Dalits not to ever come there again. In response to a question from advocate Desai, Sable said the police had not contacted him after the statement. The police also came in for criticism for their role at Bhima-Koregaon. Instead of protecting them, said Sable, the police were scolding them and telling them to return to their buses. The bus conductor told the commission that he was a Baudh Acharya in the Bharatiya Baudh Mahasabha (an organisation founded by Dr B R Ambedkar), and could recount the stories behind the three memorials at which his group had paid homage. These were the memorials to Govind Gaekwad and Sambhaji Raje at a village called Vadhu, and the Vijay Stambh at Bhima-Koregaon which marks the victory of the Mahars who fought in the British army over the Peshwas. Sable recounted why the Mahars chose to fight for the British. They first offered their services in war to the Peshwas, on condition that the Peshwas free them of the stigma imposed on them: carrying a matka (pot) around their necks and a broom around their waists whenever they appeared in public. However, the Peshwas refused to do so. The Mahars then went to the British who agreed to do so. The same story was recounted by the first witness Manisha Khotkar. In the battle, said Sable, about 100 Mahars were killed. Their names are inscribed on the Vijay Stambh at Bhima-Koregaon, but are today faint and blurred, he added. It was with pride that Sable recounted the story behind the other two memorials. Mahar brothers Govind Gopal Gaekwad and Ganpat Gaekwad were the only two persons courageous enough to collect the pieces of Sambhaji Raje's body (which had been hacked by Aurangzeb's men). The pieces were stitched together by Charmkars or Chamars who thereby got the surname Shivale (meaning 'stitched'). Sable said he had read these accounts from books, including one called Bhima Koregaon-cha itihaas (The history of Bhima Koregaon). Like Manisha Khotkar before him, Sable stuck to his guns during cross examination by advocate Niteen Pradhan, who is representing former BJP corporator Milind Ekbote, the person named in the very first FIR for being responsible for the violence at Bhima-Koregaon (along with Sambhaji Bhide). Sable explained to Pradhan why, despite going to Bhima-Koregaon every year for the last ten years, this time he felt the need to ask someone the way to Bhima-Koregaon. "Every year we go right up to Bhima-Koregaon by bus," he replied. "This year, because of the huge crowd, the police had made us park our bus at Shikrapur village, some distance away." At one point during Pradhan's cross-examination, advocate B A Desai remarked to the commission that the counsel for the State (advocate Shishir Hiray) and the counsel for Ekbote (advocate Pradhan) seemed to be working together. Desai also criticised the suggestion made on Thursday by Hiray that a "third party" could have been responsible for the violence. Thousands of Yemenis Protest economical War [08/September/2018] SANAA, Sep 8 (Saba) Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in the capital Sanaa under the slogan" The Printing of the currency and high prices are tools used by the Saudi aggression." The rally took place at the heart of Sanaa on Friday afternoon. The participants denounced the economic war led by the Saudi-led coalition, which aims to starve the Yemeni people in conjunction with the military war and the sea, air and land siege imposed on the country for nearly four years. The protesters held banners" America and Saudi Arabia, with their paid-militias responsible for the rise in the price rate of foreign currency against the national currency." In the mass march, a member of the Higher Economic Committee, said "The international community bears full responsibility for the continuation of the Saudi aggression and the fall of the economic situation in Yemen." Meanwhile, he called on the international community and international organizations to prevent the Saud-led coalition and its paid-militias from printing more local currency, which has caused the deterioration of the Yemeni riyal, and the high prices that have affected all Yemenis. He called also the national delegation to include the issue of the transfer of the bank in the Geneva consultations and to pressure the United Nations into meeting its salary payment pledges. Furthermore, he has called on all citizens to not use the recently printed currency. Finally, the statement finished off by calling on Yemeni citizens to organize protests starting on Saturday in front of the United Nations headquarters in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa to denounce the economic scheme. Mona Zaid Saba Mahweet condemns obstruction of national delegation participating in Geneva talks [08/September/2018] MAHWEET, Sep. 8 (Saba) - A mass rally was held Mahweet province on Saturday in protest against the obstruction of the national delegation participating in the Geneva consultations. In the rally, which was attended by local officials in the province, Governor of Mahweet province Ahmed Hidar said that "the aggression forces through these arbitrary measures aimed deliberately to prolong the war to commit more crimes and violations against the Yemeni people." The participants in the rally held the international community responsible for the worsening humanitarian crisis in Yemen. They called on the free peoples to interact with the issue of the Yemeni people by condemning the aggression and demanding the lifting of the siege and supporting efforts to revive the peaceful political settlement. A statement issued by the protesters called on the united nations to bear responsibility and ensure the success of the consultations and to pressure to stop the unjust war against the Yemeni people. Saba PM discusses worsening situations in southern provinces [08/September/2018] SANAA, Sept. 8 (Saba) Prime Minister Abdul Aziz Saleh bin Habtour met on Saturday three southern governors to discuss the worsening situation in provinces occupied by Saudi, UAE coalition. The move came during his meeting with three governors of Aden, Shabwah and Hadramout provinces Taraq Salam, Muhammed al-Tambalah and Luqman Baras. The meeting reviewed the new situation which expressed by the popular non-politicized uprisings of citizens in these provinces against the corruption and economic crisis practiced by Saudi-backed resigned Hadi's authorities. The officials denounced the destructive steps and economic crisis made by the authorities in Yemen, south, to destroy the national economy and carry out the coalition's plans for violating the Yemeni sovereignty. saba By SA Commercial Prop News Resilient's drive to become a dominant retail player in previously underserviced country areas instead of the big cities has delivered above-sector returns for investors over the past five years. The question is whether the fund will continue its outperformance and what the growth opportunities are in non-metropolitan areas. In the past year alone, Resilient has added three new malls to its stable, bringing its portfolio of retail centres to 25. The new malls are I'langa Mall in Nelspruit, Brits Mall and most recently Mall of the North in Polokwane. The fund has a 60% stake in the latter and, at 75000m, Mall of the North is now Resilient's biggest shopping centre. There are no vacancies, which is unusual for a regional mall of this size. And since it opened in mid-April, trading densities of more than R2000/m/month on average have exceeded expectations. "We are earning an income yield north of 10% on our investment, which is better than we expected," says Resilient MD Des de Beer. The fact that 25 retail brands which previously had no presence in the Polokwane area have opened shop in Mall of the North is testament to the expansion potential that non-metropolitan areas offer retailers. De Beers says malls in towns and rural areas are generally achieving stronger sales growth and higher trading densities than those in the big cities. Consumer spending in these areas is driven by large populations dependent on social grants. De Beer says non-metropolitan communities tend to have lower debt levels than city dwellers, leaving them with higher disposable incomes. But De Beer concedes opportunities to build new malls in rural areas are becoming scarcer. It's also becoming more difficult to obtain planning approval for new retail developments. The lead time on the Mall of the North, for instance, was more than five years. There's probably room for only three more metropolitan regional shopping centres in SA, typically sized between 40000m and 80000m, says De Beer. He has plans to build two of those, one in Mpumalanga's Burgersfort, the other in Secunda. He says the focus will shift to extending and sweating Resilient's existing retail assets, with various extensions collectively exceeding 50000m in the pipeline. Analysts welcome Resilient's continued focus on non-metropolitan retail but some have downgraded the stock in recent weeks, saying it is looking expensive. Macquarie First South Securities property analyst Leon Allison says though growth in income distributions of 9.1% for 2010 is still robust, the growth gap between Resilient and the sector is narrowing. "Resilient's growth has been slowing more sharply than the sector, admittedly off a higher base. In the past two years distribution growth has halved, from 18% to 9%, with a further marginal slowing expected near term." Allison says management's forecast growth of 8% for 2011 is lower than his original forecast of 9.2% and only slightly ahead of the sector's forecast of around 7%. "Yet Resilient continues to trade at a premium, with a current forward yield of 7,7% versus 8.6% for the sector, which we believe is too wide." However, Grindrod Asset Management chief investment officer Ian Anderson believes the premium is justified. "Resilient always looks a bit expensive. But it always delivers superior performance." At least six persons were killed after an Altitude Air airline helicopter crashed in a dense forest area on Saturday, leaving only a woman passenger alive, officials said. According to Nima Nuru Sherpa, Managing Director at Altitude Air Pvt Ltd, the chopper crash-landed in a dense forest area at Meghang Rural Municipality in Dhading district. Rescuers recovered six bodies from the crash site, the Himalayan Times reported. The chopper lost contact with air traffic control at around 8 a.m. after it took off from Samagaun in Gorkha district for Kathmandu with a patient and five other passengers on board. "The chopper piloted by senior captain Nischal KC was supposed to land in Kathmandu at 8.18 a.m," said Tribhuvan International Airport General Manager Rajkumar Chhetri. The deceased were identified as senior captain Nischal KC, Hiromi Komatsu from Japan, Dilli Bahadur Gurung of Ramechhap, Hira Sherpa of Dolakha, Sunil Tamang of Sindhupalchowk and Chhowang Nurbu of Gorkha. Lho Ani Dolma Diki of Gorkha who suffered injuries was rescued alive. With the party deciding to fight the next Lok Sabha elections under his leadership, BJP President Amit Shah on Saturday hit out at opposition plans for a grand alliance, saying his party was not in the least bothered about it calling it an "eyewash". In his inaugural speech at the two-day National Executive of the BJP, he accused the Congress of aligning with forces that want to "break" India while his party was focussed on "making" India. He gave the message that the party was keen to win the Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram to which list has been added Telangana, where the Assembly has been dissolved. "The talk of mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) is eyewash based on falsehood. It is not going to make any difference in 2019 because we have fought against each and every opposition party in 2014. We are not bothered about it," Shah was quoted as saying by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who briefed the media on the presidential speech. Shah urged party workers not to be complacent because of the continuous electoral successes since 2014 and to reach out to the people with a clear-cut message that BJP was not at all worried about the opposition ganging up against the party. Shah said the party was in power already in 19 states where it was sure of doing well in the Lok Sabha elections. "West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana and other states where the BJP was in second position in 2014, we need to take advantage of anti-incumbency there. We will also perform better in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu," he said. Shah said the BJP would contest the next Lok Sabha polls on the plank of its performance and organisational strength and form a government with a bigger mandate than in 2014. Attacking former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his critical comments on Friday against the Modi government's performance, Shah said "Manmohan Singh follows his party, while Modi leads. That is the difference." Referring to various issues including the "backlash" from upper castes on the recent amendment to the SC-ST law, Shah dubbed all the allegations by the opposition as "baseless". "While Make in India is not a mere campaign but a movement for building the country, Congress is running a campaign of breaking India. Congress has identified itself with breaking groups," he said. The BJP President also hit out at former Finance Minister P Chidambaram for being critical of the economic achievements of the government. He asked the party cadres to apprise themselves of the facts on economy and challenge "PC and his company" on the issue. He listed the achievements of the government on the economic front and said whatever good work done by the government including the yet-to-be launched Ayushman Bharat scheme, inreased MSP for farmers and constitutional status for the Backward Classes Commission should be taken to the people. Shah picked on the urban naxal issue in the context of the recent arrest of alleged Maoist sympathisers and said the Congress was raking up the issue for its vote bank politics. He hailed Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the police action against urban naxals. Dealing with the controversial issue of National Register of Citizens, he said the BJP would move forward with strong determination to implement it. Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and Jains in neighbouring countries who seek refugee status will be given shelter without hesitation. Referring to the triple talaq issue, he said even many Islamic countries have cleared legislations on the subject and was not an issue there. "But here due to the hypocritical stand of the Congress, the bill is stuck in Rajya Sabha. We want to get this bill passed." Earlier, the meeting deferred organisational elections till after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, which will enable Shah to continue in the top post and lead the party in the general elections. The Miss Susana o Samoa, Sonia Piva, has been crowned the winner of the 2018 Miss Samoa Pageant. The 21-year-old, who has worked as an assistant secretary to the Pacific Games Organising Committee Chief Executive since March this year, was crowned at the Don Bosco Hall at Salelologa after 2.00 pm (local time) today. Samoa Observer reporter Adel Fruean, giving an update from Savaii Island, said the crowd broke into a rapturous cheer when her win was announced by the pageant judges. The crowd went wild and loud, very loud cause the majority of the spectators were from Salelologa, which was also the host village of the pageant. The biggest crowd came from Salelologa, which was Sonias host village for the whole week in Savaii, she said in text message. Sonia won the best interview category with Cecilia Tufuga Fatu getting the best talent category and Levalasi Vivian Sua the best sarong category. In a recent story published in the Samoa Observer which profiled Sonia, she is the youngest in a family of two and is not blinded by the attention that the pageant has brought her. She has come to appreciate the pressure she is shouldering to rise to the occasion and meet the expectations of her huge Samoan family. "Meeting the expectations of relatives and supporters is paramount to me," she says. "While it's exciting, the contestant role also comes with a lot of responsibilities and demands." Her pageant platform revolved the issue of education, which comes as no surprise as teaching is her passion. Sonia is currently pursing bachelor of education degree as well as doing online courses on health care for the disabilities. "Education is the key to prosperity," she said. Medical science has waged war on cancer for many years. The disease affects virtually all of us, directly or indirectly. Its a difficult fight, partly because cancer has multiple varieties with its many types, its more like 200 different diseases. Cancers complexity means that research required to find cures is very expensive. With great insight, La Jolla surfing enthusiasts Sam Armstrong and John Otterson combined their love of surfing with a desire to raise money for cancer research, and founded an event that became a tremendous success. Titled Luau and Legends of Surfing Invitational, their annual August fundraiser, which celebrated its 25th anniversary this month, has raised more than $8 million for the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. (Incidentally, this year also marks UC San Diegos 50th anniversary, and the Cancer Centers 40th.) Armstrong and Otterson chaired the event again this year. It sold out with about 500 guests, including dozens of famed Surf Legends from around the world. Teams of local surfers, each with a randomly-selected Legend, competed in a morning surf contest near Scripps Pier, and then joined guests who had been watching the surging and a Polynesian dance presentation from the shaded luau venue above. Chef Giuseppe Ciuffa catered the feast (for the seventh straight year). Four identical buffet tables offered eight healthy salads and entrees, including sea bass, slow-braised pork shoulder, and chimichurri chicken; four desserts followed. Bars offered wines, craft beers, and specialty cocktails, while a silent auction featured beautiful surfboards and related artworks. Advertisement Founders Armstrong and Otterson, UC San Diego Health CEO (and surfer) Patty Maysent, and Cancer Center director Dr. Scott Lippman spoke of the events history and importance, and Barbara Bry presented a City proclamation in its honor. The Rell Sunn Award, given for unselfishness, compassion, and true aloha spirit in the battle against cancer, went to La Jolla cancer researchers and biotech pioneers Howard Birndorf and Ivor Royston. Surfing enthusiast Matt Fontanesi was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia while on his honeymoon in Idaho, and life-flighted to Moores for lifesaving cancer treatment. He spoke very movingly of his experience and thanked the Center for restoring his health. A live auction of masterpiece surfboards and surf art raised well over $60,000, and while the event didnt quite hit its dream of raising over $1 million for the first time ever, it came very close. Surf contest winners were announced, and Gary Hoey and his band played some really rockin music. At 1,001 feet long, and displacing 64,000 tons, the USS Midway was the worlds largest ship until 1955. It served as the platform for numerous naval aviation developments until its 1992 decommissioning, after which forward-thinking civic leaders worked diligently to bring the historic ship to San Diego. It has since become one of the worlds most successful and popular naval museums and is widely regarded as Americas living symbol of freedom. Its programs annually bring science, technology, engineering and math education to tens of thousands of school children. And it helps teach them that freedom is not free. The Midway Museums annual black-tie galas raise substantial funding for its No Child Left Ashore scholarship fund, which covers the cost of buses, admission and printed materials to bring students in grades K-12 aboard, regardless of their schools economic situation. This years gala, held recently on the Midways flight deck, attracted 560 guests. Connie Conard chaired and Ann and Ben Haddad were honorary chairs. The American Patriot Award gala honors individuals whose lifetime accomplishments epitomize the true meaning of patriotism, personal sacrifice and selfless service to America. This years award recipients were three-term Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, retired naval aviator and NASA space shuttle commander Mark Kelly. Festivities began with a VIP reception, where guests met the event honorees. The party continued with cocktails and hors doeuvres before all guests took seats for dinner and the program. Midway President/CEO Mac McLaughlin welcomed everyone, the Manchester Grand Hyatt served a great dinner featuring a tasty dual entree combining beef filet and herb-stuffed chicken, and a pianist provided dinner music. Advertisement After dessert, the honorees spoke. Mark Kelly told of growing up on the Midway, from which he flew 39 combat missions before flying four space shuttle missions for NASA. Gabrielle Giffords said Im still fighting to make the world a better place, and advised guests to Get involved with your community, be a leader, set an example. The couple received a thunderous standing ovation. Tony Orlando, multi-decade supporter or our military forces, entertained at this event last year. Returning this year, with his own band, he was made an honorary navy aviator by Admiral DeWolfe Miller, the navys Air Boss. After emotionally accepting the rare honor, and the Wings of Gold that symbolize it, Orlando concluded the evening with a spirited, hour-long concert, including many of his greatest hits. September 8, 1907 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. Sunday, September 8, 1907 In 1907 groundbreaking ceremonies were held near the foot of 28th Street in San Diego for the San Diego & Arizona Railway. The line, which San Diego industrialist and entrepreneur John D. Spreckels built to link San Diego with the East through the Imperial Valley, was completed in 1919. Here are the first few paragraphs of the story: THOUSANDS SEE FIRST DIRT TURNED FOR CONSTRUCTION OF S.D.& A.R.R. STIRRING ADDRESSES ARE DELIVERED BY CITIZENS AT GREAT CELEBRATION Speeches at This Memorable Occasion are Greeted b Throng With Cheers San Diego's celebration of the breaking of ground in the construction of the San Diego and Arizona railroad as planned by the chamber of commerce was most fittingly observed yesterday. It was San Diego's triumphal day. The memorable occasion was participated in by many thousands who had been stirred by a spirit of enthusiasm has never before been equaled in the city. Business was generally suspended and nearly every merchant and professional man participated in the ceremonies. The afternoon was given up to commemorating an even which it is thought, is of the greatest importance to San Diego ever known. A line of railroad which ultimately will be the connecting link of a great trunk line binding the two sea coastsAtlantic and Pacifictogether and bringing the gulf and chain of great lakes within easy toch has been started. The work had been actually started, the first shovel full of earth was removed which meant so much to San Diego, and her people realized to the greatest degree, perhaps, what is indicated. It was sufficient to make every bosom swell with pride. It gave the assurance as all knew, that the population of what is thought will be the greatest seaport on the Pacific slope was to be doubled, yes, trebled in a few years. It meant many more factories which carry with them hundred and thousands of artisans as all industries must have skilled labor. It meant a greater number of business blocks and a corresponding large number of merchants. It meant many more professional men and men of professions are the guiding arm of every community. It meant more beautiful residences, better thoroughfares chains of boulevards and it meant an increase of everything that goes toward making a great metropolis of San Diego. 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. A family of four running several senior and child care centers in San Mateo County has been charged with human trafficking and other labor-related charges, California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said Friday. The defendants Joshua Gamos, 42; Noel Gamos, 40; Gerlen Gamos, 38; and Carlina Gamos, 67 are accused of holding employees of the Rainbow Bright day-care centers against their will, failing to pay them minimum wage and overtime pay, and abusing them verbally, physically and psychologically. The alleged abuse took place between 2008 and 2017, according to the complaint. The charges are the result of a yearlong investigation by the attorney generals offices Tax Recovery and Criminal Enforcement Task Force, which involved the collaboration of multiple agencies including the U.S. Department of Labor and law enforcement departments in Daly City, South San Francisco and Pacifica. Advertisement While serving the arrest warrants, officials seized 14 illegal assault weapons, three of which were ghost gun rifles without serial numbers, according to a statement released by Becerras office. The Gamoses are charged with 59 criminal counts, including human trafficking, rape and grand theft. The four family members allegedly targeted Filipinos who were living in the U.S. illegally or otherwise vulnerable by posting ads in a local Filipino newspaper. According to the complaint, employees at multiple Rainbow Bright facilities were promised food and a room to sleep in for their work as live-in caregivers for developmentally delayed adults. They were told they would work eight hours a day for five days a week and receive a monthly salary of between $1,000 and $1,200. But according to the complaint, employees were made to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week with no increase in pay, sometimes with only a few hours of sleep a night. At times, they were not allowed to communicate with one another. If the employees didnt behave properly in the eyes of the owners, according to the complaint, they would be punished, sometimes with a decrease in pay or threats that they would be deported. The owners also withheld employees passports on the pretext that they would help employees with their immigration status, the complaint said. In some cases they kept the passports until the employees were fired or quit. The complaint also alleges that Joshua and Noel Gamos offered female employees gifts in exchange for sex acts. Joshua Gamos is also accused of raping employees on multiple occasions, according to the complaint. No worker in the United States should live in fear or be subjected to violence, abuse or exploitation at the hands of their employer, Becerra said in a statement. We must not turn a blind eye to abusive labor practices. Report it, and we will investigate and prosecute. Todays arrests are thanks to the efforts of our Tax Recovery and Criminal Enforcement (TRaCE) Task Force, which includes the CA Department of Tax and Fee Administration, @CalFTB, and @CA_EDD. The task force has been a critical component of our #lawenforcement efforts. pic.twitter.com/Fac6yvEiHX Xavier Becerra (@AGBecerra) September 7, 2018 alejandra.reyesvelarde@latimes.com Twitter: @r_valejandra For the record: An earlier version of this story, published Sept. 7 at 9:25 p.m., contained multiple errors, which have now been corrected. It said that a jury had found Plains All American Pipeline guilty of criminal charges for knowingly causing the 2015 oil spill off Refugio State Beach. The jury ruled that the company had knowingly caused or should have known that it caused the spill. The article also incorrectly stated that the jury found the firm guilty of knowingly filing a false or misleading report to the state. In addition, the article stated that 140,000 gallons of crude oil entered the ocean. Not all of the oil entered the ocean. The article also reported that the firm said it dismissed the employee named in the indictment. The firm said the charge against the employee was dismissed; he remains at the company. A Houston-based pipeline firm has been found guilty of criminal charges that it knowingly caused or should have known it was causing a catastrophic oil spill off Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County in 2015, killing marine mammals and sea life. After a four-month trial, a jury Friday found Plains All American Pipeline guilty of one felony count of causing the spill by failing to properly maintain its highly pressurized pipeline. The firm also was found guilty of eight misdemeanor counts including failing to report the spill immediately, illegally discharging crude oil and killing marine mammals, protected sea birds and other sea life. Advertisement Engaging in this kind of reckless conduct is not just irresponsible its criminal, state Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra said in a statement. Todays verdict should send a message: If you endanger our environment and wildlife, we will hold you accountable. Volunteers and staff of the International Bird Rescue use a toothbrush and soap to clean a brown pelican that was rescued from an oil spill off Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County. (ROBYN BECK / AFP/Getty Images) In a statement, Plains said it continues to accept full responsibility for the impact of the accident but believed the jury erred in returning the guilty verdict on the felony count. We intend to fully evaluate and consider all of our legal options with respect to the trial and resulting jury decision, Plains said. The firm is scheduled to be sentenced in December. A corroded section of the 10.6-mile pipeline ruptured in May 2015, releasing more than 140,000 gallons of crude oil, according to the county. The slick coated a stretch of the Gaviota coast and forced the closure of Refugio and El Capitan state beaches. Hundreds of sea birds and mammals, many coated in crude, washed up in the area in the weeks following the spill. In a statement, Santa Barbara County Dist. Atty. Joyce E. Dudley said the case was a David vs. Goliath battle against a large firm with teams of lawyers and thanked prosecutors for being relentless in seeking justice for our people, our animals and our environment. The visual crown jewel of our paradise is our beaches and mountains, she said. This spill killed our marine life, harmed not just our beaches and ocean, but also our businesses. teresa.watanabe@latimes.com Twitter: @TeresaWatanabe A man accused of fatally shooting a woman he briefly dated pleaded not guilty Friday to a murder charge. Robert Haywood Reed, 38, is accused in the Aug. 25 slaying of 27-year-old Sylvianita Widman, a mother of two. Judge Maureen Hallahan found that Reed is a danger to the community and granted a prosecutors request for $1 million bail. Reed and Widman had dated for only a month, according to Deputy District Attorney Amy Colby. Advertisement At about 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 25, Reed stopped his car at a stop light at the intersection of South Meadowbrook Drive and Skyline Drive and a car Widman was riding in pulled up behind the defendants car, Colby said. Witnesses said Widman got out of the passenger seat and approached Reeds car, and he allegedly shot her with a .38-caliber handgun. Widman collapsed in a nearby parking lot and died about an hour later at a hospital. Five days after the shooting, detectives obtained a warrant for Reeds arrest and identified him as the suspected killer, calling him potentially armed and dangerous as they sought public help to find him. Reed turned himself in to authorities a week after police named him as the suspect and 12 days after the shooting. The defendant is seen on surveillance video going into a liquor store and on another traffic surveillance video as the shooting takes place, the prosecutor said. Reed faces up to 50 years to life in prison if convicted of murder and the use of a gun causing death. Staff writer Alex Riggins contributed to this report. Twitter: @Alex_Riggins (619) 293-1710 alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com The push to use cabins to house homeless people may be getting more traction. On Friday morning, a crew from the nonprofit Amikas brought wood and building materials worth roughly $2,500 to a large tented shelter that serves about 325 homeless people downtown.. By midday, frames for a 12-foot by 12-foot cabin were being screwed into place. The plan was to have the structure completed by days end and ready for use. The cabin would be the first of its kind in San Diego if put to use, although other cities have experimented with clusters of cabins for homeless people as alternatives to conventional shelters in recent years. Advertisement 1 / 11 Volunteer Jerome Hall is helping build the 12x12' emergency sleeping cabin for homeless that can house three people, costs less then $3,000 to build, and can be constructed in one day, being built by the nonprofit, Amikas, behind the Alpha Project bridge housing tent in East Village. Hall is a former resident of the Alpha Project tent and is now living in a home. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 2 / 11 Volunteer Jerome Hall is helping build the 12x12' emergency sleeping cabin for homeless that can house three people, costs less then $3,000 to build, and can be constructed in one day being built by the nonprofit, Amikas, behind the Alpha Project bridge housing tent in East Village. Hall is a former resident of the tent and is now living in a home. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 3 / 11 Volunteers, Bob Wilson, center, and Zella Burk, right, guide a portion of the emergency sleeping cabin foundation for homeless as its lowered into place by volunteer Jerome Hall, left. The cabin is being constructed behind in East Village behind the Alpha Project bridge housing tent by the nonprofit, Amikas. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 4 / 11 Volunteers from the nonprofit, Amikas, build a 12x12' emergency sleeping cabin for homeless that can house three people, costs less then $3,000 to build, can be constructed in one day, and is being constructed behind the Alpha Project bridge housing tent in East Village. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 5 / 11 Gabriel Stafford, a volunteer with the nonprofit, Amikas, and the carpenter who is guiding the construction of the project helps build the emergency sleeping cabin for homeless in East Village behind the Alpha Project bridge housing tent . The building, 12x12' can house three people and costs less then $3,000 to build, and can be completed in one day. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 6 / 11 Bob McElroy, CEO of the Alpha project, left, looks at plans of the 12x12' emergency sleeping cabin for homeless being built in East Village behind the Alpha Project bridge housing tent with Rob Bird, right, Vice President of Amikas, the nonprofit building the cabin, which can house three people, costs less than $3,000 to build, and can be completed in one day. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 7 / 11 Elizabeth Proctor, a volunteer with the nonprofit, Amikas, helps build the emergency sleeping cabin for homeless being constructed behind in East Village behind the Alpha Project bridge housing tent . The building, 12x12' can house three people and costs less then $3,000 to build, and can be completed in one day. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 8 / 11 The address numbers that will be attached to the emergency sleeping cabin for homeless being constructed by the nonprofit, Amikas, behind the Alpha Project bridge housing tent in East Village. The building, 12x12' can house three people and costs less then $3,000 to build, and can be completed in one day. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 9 / 11 Volunteer Gabriel Stafford, a carpenter who is guiding the construction of the 12x12' emergency sleeping cabin for homeless being built by the nonprofit, Amikas, that can house three people, helps Jerome Hall, also a volunteer and a former resident of the Alpha Project bridge housing tent in East Village where the cabin is being built. It houses three people, costs less then $3,000 to build, and can be constructed in one day. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 10 / 11 Volunteers, Herb Kelly, left, and Jerome Hall, right, help build the 12x12' emergency sleeping cabin for homeless being built by the nonprofit, Amikas, that can house three people, costs less then $3,000 to build and can be completed in one day. Hall is a former resident of the Alpha Project bridge housing tent in East Village where the cabin is being constructed. (Howard Lipin / The San Diego-Union-Tribune) 11 / 11 Photo from the nonprofit, Amikas, illustrating what the completed 12x12' emergency sleeping cabin for homeless being built by the organization looks like. The cabin can house three people, costs less then $3,000 to build, and can be completed in one day. (Amikas Courtesy Photo) The house looks good, said volunteer Jerome Hall as he looked at the still-unfinished cabin he was helping build. I wouldnt mind having one myself. Hall, 58, had been homeless off-and-on for 30 years and spent eight months living at the tented shelter the Alpha Project operates on Newton Street until he moved into a permanent, subsidized rental earlier this year. Most people in the tent havent been as fortunate. The large tent is one of three operated by the city, and together they serve as bridge housing for about 700 people, meaning they are a temporary home until permanent ones can be found. In June, a city report found only about 12 percent of the people in the tents had moved into permanent housing since they opened six months earlier. Meanwhile, an annual count found there still were about 5,000 unsheltered homeless people in the county. With affordable housing scarce and not enough shelter beds to meet the need, Amikas has been pushing for years to get the city to use cabins as a temporary answer. So far the city hasnt been interested. In December 2015, police confiscated a 4-by-7-foot shack that a nonprofit had set up along 16th Street downtown and arrested the man who was sleeping inside. Amikas President Shanna Welsh-Levin said she wants her group to take a different approach by gaining support and permission from cities before building any cabins for the homeless. A church in El Cajon has offered space for some cabins and may approach the city for permission in the near future, she said. Villages of small houses for the homeless have been erected in several cities, including Los Angeles, Syracuse, New York, Seattle, Washington and Nashville. San Diego is not on board yet, but has a new convert for the cause in Alpha Project President and CEO Bob McElroy. This may be an opportunity to provide low-income housing as a transition, and with a decent, safe place with a key where they can lock their door, he said. McElroy said he plans to form a coalition of people to push for a city-supported demonstration project of about a dozen cabins for homeless families somewhere in San Diego. McElroy had not been sold on the idea of small structures for homeless people in the past because he saw many examples that he felt were dehumanizing, resembling cardboard boxes and dog houses more than human dwellings. The examples hes seen from Amikas, which come complete with windows and even porches, changed his mind. While originally having reservations about cabins because they house fewer people than one large tent, McElroy said he reconsidered after realizing they could be perfect for homeless families with children. The large tents cost about $800,000 to buy and construct. The Alpha Project tent has 325 beds, equating to about $2,500 a person. One cabin costs about $2,500, but can house two or more people. Welsh-Levin said the operating cost of a small village of cabins might be less than the tents, depending on where they are set up. If next to a church, for example, people in the cabins might be able to use the churchs restrooms, saving the cost of portable toilets. Robert Bird, vice president of construction and procurement for Amikas, said communities also might be more open to the idea of having small villages of cabins set up on neighborhood vacant lots rather than one large tent. McElroy said he wasnt sure if people now staying in the Alpha Project tent would sleep in the cabin if they do they would have to take turns and stay one night only but he did want each person to check it out and give feedback. Homeless Playlist On Now San Diego hepatitis outbreak continues to grow: 481 cases On Now Homeless entrenched in booming tent city along Santa Ana River On Now San Diego mayor agreed to homeless hub, then delayed, advocates say On Now Homeless outreach in San Diego On Now Video: Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #8 On Now In poverty himself, 'Water Man Dave,' is the fearless saint of San Diego's homeless 5:41 On Now Video: Homeless living in cars find safe havens 2:21 On Now Street Art: Portraits of San Diego's Homeless #7 On Now Pitching a tent plan for San Diego's homeless On Now Homeless efforts get $80M boost for various services gary.warth@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @GaryWarthUT 760-529-4939 Deep into the extraordinary effort to locate deported parents who remain separated from their children, attorneys are learning that about two-thirds want their children to stay in the U.S. rather than reunite as a family in their homelands. Weve had some very difficult conversations with parents this week, where the parent is ultimately saying, as much as theyd like to be with the child and as heartbreaking as it is, its too dangerous for the child to come back, Lee Gelernt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, told a San Diego federal judge Friday. The decisions underscore something government officials have long argued: that migrant families from Mexico and Central America who cross illegally into the U.S. do so largely to get their children across. Having the children flown back to their home countries where many say they are fleeing gang violence would seem counterproductive to the parents, even if it results in long-term separation. Gelernt said parents with older children tend to lean more toward keeping them in the U.S. because of their vulnerability to gang recruitment. Parents of younger children tend to opt for reunification. Advertisement Also, the presence of a suitable relative or guardian in the U.S. to care for the child is an important factor parents consider. U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw in June ordered all children separated from their parents at the border under the Trump administrations immigration policies to be reunited, once the parents were out of criminal custody on their illegal entry prosecutions. The first phase of the effort focused on parents who were in immigration custody. Within a month, some 2,000 children in government shelters were reunited. But about 400 additional parents had been deported before being reunited. Now, attorneys and other volunteers are in the midst of trying to find those parents and provide them legal counsel as to their options. The legal counsel has been especially important at this stage, attorneys for the ACLU say, because many parents have reported being coerced into making decisions they dont understand. People demonstrate in front of the federal courthouse and sing lullabies on Friday in San Diego. The multifaith groups were protesting the 400-plus children who remain separated from their parents. (Eduardo Contreras/U-T) Of the 162 deported parents who have made a decision on reunification, 109 thus far have opted to allow their children to stay in the U.S. Children who stay will be allowed to pursue asylum claims, during which they will live in government shelters or be placed with family members or foster families. If they lose their asylum cases, then they would be reunited back home. Its one of those decisions these parents are facing, Gelernt said. It is extremely difficult. They obviously are not making it lightly but they are too scared to let their children come back. Fifty-three parents so far have chosen to reunite, which means having their children flown home. Reunions have already been happening, slowly. Attorneys are still struggling to make contact with 47 parents. Gelernt, who has led the litigation for the ACLU, got a first-hand look at the difficulties involved. He spent the past week in Guatemala, where volunteers are navigating treacherous roads, distrustful communities and remote villages to find parents in person. In some areas, gangs who control the region put curfews on people going out at night, he said, presenting difficulties for parents who work all day, or for outsiders to come in and start asking probing questions. During the hearing Friday, Sabraw asked if the government was leveraging all available resources to help in the search effort. Were going to reach a time in the not-too-distant future where a number of parents are not located, the judge said. Thats not in anyones interest and particularly so for the government since this is a situation of its own making. What I would like to know is if there anything else that can be done that were not presently doing to locate these parents? Assistant Deputy Attorney General Scott Stewart assured the judge that the government was putting a lot of work into this and that there are limitations to the roles U.S. authorities can take in foreign countries. He said authorities remain open to suggestions. Gelernt said an even greater push for ads on local radio stations and billboards might help. Meanwhile, the ACLU is taking another look at a smaller group of children who have not been reunited because the government deemed their parents unfit for criminal backgrounds or other reasons. Attorneys will begin reviewing the reasons for denials in as many as 50 cases and are expected to argue on behalf of some that reunifications are warranted. The ACLU has already identified two such cases that it is asking the judge to rule on. One involves a 4-year-old child whose mother was denied reunification based on an outstanding warrant from abroad alleging she is a gang member. The judge in her U.S. immigration case found that the warrant was not sufficient evidence that she was a danger to the community, the ACLU said. The second case involves a 2-year-old boy whose father initially showed red-flags for parentage and later was denied reunification due to a 2010 guilty plea to an assault not related to his child. Outside the courthouse Friday, 18 protesters with Define American and the Families Belong Together coalition sang Rock-a-bye baby and other lullabies. The demonstration kicked off a week of multifaith prayer vigils and singing to protest the continued separations. The Week of Witness will send messages of love and support to those in detention that may feel unwelcome or alone, organizers said in a statement. No one involved in the lawsuit saw the protest, as the attorneys appeared at the hearing telephonically. kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @kristinadavis A San Diego lifeguard on Friday afternoon rescued a paraglider who crashed into the ocean and became entangled in his glider lines about 300 feet from shore at Blacks Beach, authorities said. The lifeguard heard the paragliders screams for help around 1:30 p.m., San Diego Fire-Rescue Department spokeswoman Monica Munoz said. The man was located struggling in the water with his harness still attached and entangled in the glider line, according to Munoz. The lifeguard provided flotation with a rescue board, untangled the glider and paddled him to shore, Munoz said. Advertisement Once on the beach, the paraglider was evaluated by medics but declined to go to the hospital, Munoz said. The paraglider rescue unfolded around the same time other lifeguards in the Blacks Beach area were helping an uninjured man who needed assistance on the Citizens Trail south of the Glider Port, Munoz said. The incidents were not related. Twitter: @Alex_Riggins (619) 293-1710 alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com Attorneys from the San Diego County Bar Association will prepare free wills and estate planning documents for police officers, firefighters and other first responders Sept. 15 in downtown San Diego. The Wills for Heroes program a national program started shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the San Diego County Bar Association office, 401 W. A St., suite 1100. The attorney volunteers will protect those who protect us, according to a statement from the Bar Association. They will prepare free wills, durable powers of attorney for property management and advance health care directives to San Diego County first responders and their spouses or partners. Estate documents will also be notarized at the event. Advertisement Participants qualify if they have an estate valued at less than $500,000. Our brave San Diego firefighters, law enforcement officers and other first responders protect us everyday, 2018 Bar Association President Kristin Rizzo said in a statement. We are grateful for all that they do, and we are honored to have the opportunity to offer a bit of protection for our local heroes and their families through the Wills for Heroes program. The national program began in South Carolina shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, by an attorney who went to his local fire department to ask what lawyers could do to help firefighters. By helping first responders plan now, they ensure their familys legal affairs are in order before a tragedy hits, the Wills for Heroes Foundation said on its website. The program has provided more than 10,000 free estate planning documents for first responders in 25 states, according to the San Diego County Bar Association. First responders wishing to participate in the program should sign up for an appointment online at www.sdcba.org/willsforheroes. Slots are expected to fill up quickly, so those wishing to participate were urged to sign up as soon as possible. Questions about the program can be directed to bar@sdcba.org. Twitter: @Alex_Riggins (619) 293-1710 alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com San Diego police on Friday arrested a 17-year-old boy suspected of exposing himself several times near Standley Middle School in University City, authorities said. Several victims reported the indecent exposure incidents in recent days near the Radcliffe Drive campus, prompting an immediate criminal investigation, San Diego police acting Capt. Kevin Mayer said. Based on the investigation, a 17-year-old suspect was identified, Mayer said in a statement. A little after 7 p.m., SDPD officers took that teen into custody in the University City area. His name was not released, as is typical in most cases involving juveniles. Advertisement Police released few details about the alleged indecent exposure incidents, but did say that none of the victims were injured. Anyone with information about the alleged crimes was asked to call the San Diego Police Departments northern division at (858) 552-1700, or San Diego County Crime Stoppers anonymous tip line at (888) 580-8477. Twitter: @Alex_Riggins (619) 293-1710 alex.riggins@sduniontribune.com U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to impose tariffs on another $267 billion worth Chinese imports, which would cover virtually all the goods China imports to the United States. The potential tariffs would come on top of punitive levies on $50 billion in Chinese goods already in place, as well as tariffs on another $200 billion worth of goods that Trump says "could take place very soon." He told reporters traveling with him to Fargo, North Dakota, on Friday that "behind that, there's another $267 billion ready to go on short notice if I want." "That changes the equation," he added. Such a move would subject virtually all U.S. imports from China to new duties. The California Public Utilities Commission has long had a reputation for being far too chummy with the giant investor-owned electrical utilities it regulates as well as being hostile to lawmakers, activists and journalists trying to understand its decision-making process. But thats not how the CPUC sees it. In response to a critical Aug. 10 piece on the CPUC by The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board, a communications aide to commission President Michael Picker sent an email saying the CPUC was different now than it had been under President Michael Peevey, who left office under a cloud in 2014. Refreshingly, an email exchange led Picker to agree to meet with the editorial board on Aug. 29. While we appreciated the visit and the candor that Picker showed in describing the structural reasons why his agency seems so slow-moving and mysterious to outsiders he wasnt able to shake our concern that his agency cant be trusted. Thats not because of a Peevey hangover. Its because of whats happened since Picker took over in 2015. This is exemplified by the agencys response to the San Onofre nuclear plant scandal under Picker. In 2014, the CPUC approved a plan to assign $3.3 billion of the $4.7 billion cost of shuttering the broken plant to the ratepayers of Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric, which jointly own it. A year later, the Union-Tribune revealed that Peevey secretly crafted the deal in an unreported meeting with an Edison executive in Poland in 2013. This led to Edison being fined $16.7 million, the deal being revised, and criminal investigations of Peevey. It also led the CPUC to request and receive $6 million from the Legislature in 2016 so the agency can cooperate with the criminal probes by hiring private attorneys. Documents unsealed by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in 2017 showed the CPUC instead sought to obstruct the probe, fighting the execution of search warrants. A judge blasted the agencys inequitable conduct and said it had not honored a promise to work with investigators from the state Attorney Generals Office. Advertisement That was, simply put, an outrageous display of bad faith by a government agency one that compounded the mistakes of Peevey and Edison. But Picker doesnt agree. When asked repeatedly about this bad faith, he offered several versions of this statement: I have to listen to what my attorneys tell me is proper for the courts and particularly when its an investigation of the agency. I dont get to make those kinds of decisions. Thats a legal matter. This is the leader of the CPUC saying theres nothing he can do about his agencys deceit toward both the Legislature and the attorney general because those responsible were agency lawyers. Picker also questioned the accuracy of news coverage that faulted the CPUCs failure to follow up on wildfire safety rules and the dubiousness of its 2015 sanctions against Pacific Gas & Electric over the 2009 San Bruno disaster, saying, the news industry is in decline and its sad that reporters have to work hard and they dont always have time to truly understand these massive documents that we prepare. The fact Picker met with us shows he is an improvement on Peevey. This quote alone was a revelation: We are an antiquated body that uses a forum of rulemaking and decision making that is not something people are used to, and I think that is a problem. People will probably always have doubts. And he doesnt plan on defending the CPUC forever. When asked if hed seek another six-year term, he colorfully said, No f------ way. His whole interview is worth reading at sdut.us/picker. It offers insights into him and how he still circles the wagons to protect an agency that deserves its bad reputation. Trust the CPUC? Not yet. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion A new poll by Probolsky Research suggests the two most prominent races on Californias fall ballot are closer than most people expected and that many voters are still on the fence. In the governors race, the Democratic candidate Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom only leads his Republican rival John Cox, a Rancho Santa Fe businessman, 44 percent to 39 percent. In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Democrat Dianne Feinstein leads state Sen. Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, 37 percent to 29 percent. This illustrates the urgent need for several debates in both races. Unfortunately, the Sacramento Bee reported Thursday that Newsom is so far only willing to have one debate, on Oct. 1 on CNN, with conditions that Cox rejects. And while Feinstein told The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board that the timing of Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh made debate scheduling difficult, she also said she doesnt think a debate makes that much difference. De Leon wants at least three and has knocked Feinstein for not debating an opponent since 2000. Now that Kavanaughs testimony is over, she has no excuses. If the polls remain relatively tight, the frontrunners may regret their debate stands. Yes, campaigns are often driven by TV ads and mailers. But voters still benefit from seeing candidates square off. Newsom and Feinstein need to reconsider. Twitter: @sdutIdeas Advertisement Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion The evidence that early school start times are horrible for middle and high school students is overwhelming and has been for decades. In 2014, an American Academy of Pediatrics study found that on school nights, 87 percent of high school students and 59 percent of middle school students slept less than the 8.5 to 9.5 hours recommended by doctors. This is not a minor issue. As researchers have documented, not only does a lack of sleep hurt academic performance, it correlates with higher rates of obesity, depression, drug use and automobile accidents. High schools in Connecticut, Kentucky and Virginia have seen improved test scores and attendance since shifting to later start times. This is why the San Diego Unified School Districts decision in May to take steps to have all its schools start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. by fall 2020 was so welcome. Now a majority of the California Legislature has also finally figured out the stupidity of educational rigidity, passing a bill that would require middle and high schools to start no earlier than 8:30 a.m. beginning in the 2021-22 school year. In a smarter world, the rule would be applied beginning with the next school year. But Senate Bill 328, by Sen. Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada Flintridge, still deserves considerable praise. It may inspire a much broader and badly needed national debate about the wisdom of school policies that cut against children. At least it might if Gov. Jerry Brown signs the bill. Brown is in his fifth decade of presenting himself as the voice of reason in California politics. If he wants to affirm this depiction in his final months in office, he should make it a law that schools must not operate in a way that hurts the health of students. Advertisement Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion 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. A top State Department official insisted Friday that North Korea would have to blink first if it wanted to make a deal on denuclearization with the United States. Negotiators from the U.S. and North and South Korea have engaged in on-again, off-again talks on denuclearization since a June summit in Singapore between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump. But despite some high hopes, efforts have been stymied by a lack of specifics from North Korea as well as Pyongyangs demands for security assurances and other concessions in advance of dismantling its nuclear arsenal. "We're not going to give anything until North Korea does what it says," Andrea Thompson, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told reporters in Washington. Officials in Pyongyang must first make good on "their obligations that they committed to in Singapore," she said, referring to their pledge to denuclearize. "What we want to offer is a future of a denuclearized peninsula. What we want to offer is the economic livelihood of a North Korea that can interact with the global neighbors," she added, cautioning, "It depends on if North Korea's forthcoming to do what they say they're going to do." Thompson's comments were just the latest on what has been a diplomatic roller coaster, with hopes rising and falling as talks involving Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul make progress, only to hit additional stumbling blocks. The latest hopes for success came Thursday, when North Korea's Kim told South Korean officials his faith in Trump was "unchanged" and suggested he would be willing to denuclearize by the end of Trump's first term in office. On Friday, en route to a rally in North Dakota, Trump expressed further optimism. "A letter is being delivered to me, a personal letter from Kim Jong-un," the president told reporters on Air Force One. "I think it's going to be a positive letter." Lewes, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/07/2018 -- The Kyrgyzstan - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses report includes all Publisher research data and analysis on this country. Covering trends and developments in telecommunications, mobile, internet, broadband, infrastructure and regulation. Executive summary Mobile Broadband grows strongly in Kyrgyzstan as 4G rollouts gain momentum Fixed broadband penetration continues to grow strongly but from a very small base. Penetration in Kyrgyzstan remains very low mainly due to the dominance of the mobile platform. In addition, the limited and declining number of fixed telephone lines is restricting more widespread development. Over the next five years to 2023 low to moderate growth is expected from this small base. Kyrgyzstan had implemented 'full competition' across all segments of its telecoms sector over a decade ago. The telecommunications sector in Kyrgyzstan has been generally characterised by an open market that welcomes both foreign and domestic investors. However there remains more to be done on the regulatory front to take full advantage of the reforms already in place. Compared to other Asian nations, Kyrgyzstan has very low fixed line and fixed-broadband penetration and low to moderate mobile broadband penetration. International connectivity continues to grow. Kyrgyztelecom began construction of its second cross-border network link with Tajikistan. The international terrestrial link was required due to increased internet demand chiefly from users in Tajikistan. The mobile subscriber growth rate in Kyrgyzstan has slowed considerably over the past four years due to a saturated mobile subscriber market. Further slow growth is also predicted over the next five years to 2023. Although there are four mobile networks in operation, the market is dominated by the two operators; Sky Mobile (Beeline) and MegaCom. Mobile broadband continues to grow strongly in Kyrgyzstan. The mobile broadband subscriber penetration has grown strongly over the past six years driven by a mature mobile subscriber base and rollout of faster 4G mobile networks. 4G networks now cover over 50% of the nation as the major mobile operators gain momentum in their rollouts. Strong growth is predicted over the next five years to 2023. The mobile broadband market will be driven by increasingly faster speeds offered by the mobile operators as they roll out 4G and eventually 5G networks and improving tariffs due to strong competition. Key developments: Fixed broadband penetration continues to grow strongly but from a very small base. Mobile broadband continues to grow strongly. The major mobile operators continue to rollout out 4G LTE mobile networks. The number of fixed telephone lines is declining fairly quickly driven by rollout of mobile networks. International connectivity continues to grow strongly. Spanning over 41 pages "Kyrgyzstan - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses" report covers Executive summary, Key Statistics, Country overview, Telecommunications market, Regulatory environment, Fixed network operators, Telecommunications infrastructure, Fixed-line broadband market, Mobile market, Major mobile operators, Broadcasting. Please visit this link for more details: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/paul-budde-communication-pty-ltd/kyrgyzstan-telecoms-mobile-and-broadband-statistics-and-analyses Find all Telecom Reports at: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/telecom For related reports please visit: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/search/site/Broadband Read our Interactive Market Research Blog About MarketResearchReprots.com MarketResearchReprots.com is world's largest store offering quality market research, SWOT analysis, competitive intelligence and industry reports. We help Fortune 500 to Start-Ups with the latest market research reports on global & regional markets which comprise key industries, leading market players, new products and latest industry analysis & trends. Contact us for your market research requirements: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/contact Lewes, DE -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/07/2018 -- Based on publisher investigation, the production of sodium metabisulfite increased from approximately 70 tonnes in 2011 to approximately 890 tonnes in 2017, with a CAGR of around 4% in 2011-2017. And the market scale accounted for RMB1.9 billion in 2017, rising by 4.5%. In 2016, Shandong Kailong Chemical Technology Development Co., Ltd. is the largest sodium metabisulfite manufacturer in China, with its output accounting for approximately 18% of China's total. As for downstream demand, industrial grade sodium metabisulfite is the largest consumption, medical grade sodium metabisulfite is follow by, and 40% industrial-grade sodium metabisulfite is used in sodium hydrosulfite. Raw materials of sodium metabisulfite are are soda ash and sulphur. There are plenty manufacturers of the two materials, contributing to abundant supply for producing sodium metabisulfite. Sodium metabisulfite industry is close to other industries of national economy, which in turn drives the industry forward. Since the demand at the downstream of the industry is increasing, its market prospect is quite wide. In the next few years, as industries at the downstream develop fast, sales scale of sodium metabisulfite will rise up stably, which is predicted to be close to RMB2.3 billion. Spanning over 36 pages "Market Research on Sodium Metabisulfite in China 2018-2023" report covers Executive Summary, Development Environment of Sodium Metabisulfite Industry in China, Supply and Demand of Sodium Metabisulfite in China, 2011-2017, Import and Export of Sodium Metabisulfite in China, 2013-2017, Analysis of Key Enterprises in China Sodium Metabisulfite Industry, Forecast and Investment Strategy of Sodium Metabisulfite Industry in China, 2018-2023. Please visit this link for more details: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/askci/market-research-sodium-metabisulfite-china-2018-2023 Find all Chemicals Reports at: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/chemicals For related reports please visit: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/search/site/Sodium%2520Metabisulfite Read our Interactive Market Research Blog About MarketResearchReprots.com MarketResearchReprots.com is world's largest store offering quality market research, SWOT analysis, competitive intelligence and industry reports. We help Fortune 500 to Start-Ups with the latest market research reports on global & regional markets which comprise key industries, leading market players, new products and latest industry analysis & trends. Contact us for your market research requirements: https://www.marketresearchreports.com/contact #coronavirus S. Korea secures 60 mln Pfizer vaccine doses for 2022 South Korea on Friday signed a deal with U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. to buy 30 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to be administered next year, bringing the total amou... 'Imagine how much more capacity could go to the Eastern Mediterranean,' Del Rio said, when that market comes backas it's showing signs of doing after terrorist incidents drove ships away three years ago. Greek Islands, Black Sea, Israel If Del Rio had his wish, 'We'd start itinerary planning with Istanbul,' and he reeled off half a dozen cruise options, including into the Black Sea, to Israel and to neighboring Greece. And 'when the Greek Islands are good, they're the best,' he added. In the Eastern Mediterranean, a long season is possible, too. During 2019, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises are 'putting a little toe in the water,' visiting Istanbul and Kusadasi on transit calls only. Cruises with Turkey are selling at higher prices 'What's happened so far is those sailings that have Turkey are selling more and at higher prices than those before or after without Turkey,' Del Rio told reporters Friday, following his bullish keynote address at the Signature Travel Network Owners' Meeting in Amelia Island, Florida. Turnarounds in Istanbul will resume in 2021 'for sure,' Del Rio said, and Oceania or Regent may test some already in 2020. Cuba premium Del Rio has always championed Cuba, and his three cruise brands do very well there. 'The premium in pricing for cruises including Havana is a lot, and even the on-board spending is a lot,' fueled in large part by shore excursions because US travelers have to visit the island on sanctioned people-to-people programs, not just hit the beach as tourists. As a ship magnet, Havana could be another Nassau or Cozumel 'There is enough demand today that there could be five or six ships a day in Havana,' Del Rio said. 'Think of it as another Nassau, another Cozumel,' he added, referring to two of cruising's busiest destinations. But it's going to be years, the NCLH predicted, before the infrastructure could accommodate that. The Cuban government has 'tremendous' plans, and he's hopeful about Global Ports Holdings' deal to help realize those yet will take considerable time. Alaska is 'red hot' 'China I don't think will grow like we once thought, but it will grow,' Del Rio said. There's demandwith the fleet's highest load factors on Norwegian Joybut Norwegian Cruise Line can get better yields elsewhere, like Alaska, which the NCLH chief called 'red hot.' That's why the ship is going to redeploy to the US West Coast year-round, starting in 2019. A&K's top-selling group destination Egypt leads the pack, with the opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum, the chance to visit Nefertari's tombthe finest in the Valley of the Queensand Nile cruising's rebound, according to the experts at Signature Travel Network. 'Without question, now is the moment to visit Egypt,' said Jean Newman Glock, Signature's managing director, communications and public affairs and a top travel influencer. 'Travel is on the upswing, with 3 million visitors in 2016 and 5 million in 2017.' Egypt is Abercrombie & Kent's top-selling group destination in 2019. 'Now is the year to go before riverboats are once again rafted six deep along the Upper Nile,' Newman Glock said. Authenticity and uniqueness 'Every year, we look for destinations that are emerging, for different reasons. We search for authenticity and uniqueness, for the next frontiers in travel,' Signature EVP and luxury travel expert Ignacio Maza said. Besides Egypt, the 2019 picks are: Bolivia, Fiji, Abu Dhabi, Sri Lanka, Tasmania, Ottawa, Ethiopia, Puebla (Mexico), the Azores, Antwerp and Anguilla. Bolivia offers South Americas most innovative cuisine in La Paz, stunning landscapes, endless biodiversity and 'best of all, no crowds,' Maza said. Fiji, which Newman Glock called 'the happiest place on earth,' offers the worlds fourth largest barrier reef, exceptional beaches, diving, new world-class resorts and traditional village life. Abu Dhabi makes the list. 'Everyone's been to Dubai. Abu Dhabi's goal is to become the cultural capital of the Arabian Peninsula,' Newman Glock said, citing the new Louvre Museum, as well as cultural exchanges led by Imams, desert adventures and over-the-top hotels. Sri Lanka lures with the best Asian safaris including the chance to see leopards, archaeological sites, beaches and wonderful people, Maza said. 'Rising star of Australia' Tasmania is 'the rising star of Australia,' according to Maza, with Hobart's vibrant dining scene and modern art galleries, while the interior offers natural beauty and opportunities for hiking and biking plus a new lodge. Ottawa made the list because 'Justin Trudeau lives there,' Newman Glock quipped. Other draws of Canada's capital: wonderful museums, the Rideau Canal and a fabulous winter festival. There's tremendous interest in Africa, the Signature experts said, and Ethiopia is another pick, 'especially for travelers who have been everywhere.' It's the source of the Blue Nile, was home to the Queen of Sheba and is the original source of coffee. Back to Mexico 'We need to lead people back to Mexico,' Newman Glock said. Puebla, 2.5 hours from Mexico City, has some of the country's finest colonial architecture, a new Baroque Museum, Talavera pottery and exceptional cuisine. The Azores, meanwhile, are Portugals best kept secretnine unspoiled islands, each different, Maza noted. Affordable and heaven for outdoor adventures, the Azores are less than a five-hour flight from New York. Antwerp in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium, has much to offer lovers of history, art (including Rubens), design, fine dining and Instagram-worthy architecture. Plus, Maza said, 'the world's greatest chocolate.' Caribbean comeback story Anguilla in the British Virgin Islands rounds out the list as 'one of the comeback stories in the Caribbean' following last year's hurricanes. Some of the Caribbean's best dining and 33 white sand beaches are draws. Resorts have been renovated and enhanced. News of the Belmond Cap Julaca to reopen in November drew applause from the Signature owners. 'That's where I'm going to be,' Newman Glock said, pointing to a photo of a chaise lounge on the beach. Sify.com Movies Reviews Tamil Vanjagar Ulagam Vanjagar Ulagam review: All style, no substance Vanjagar Ulagam moves at a slow pace except for the climax Source: SIFY By: MOVIEBUZZ Critic's Rating: 3/5 Saturday 08 September 2018 Movie Title Vanjagar Ulagam review: All style, no substance Director Manoj Beedha Star Cast Ciby Bhuvanachandran, Chandini, Vishagan, Guru Somasundaram, Azhagam Perumal BY Moviebuzz Many new-generation filmmakers in Tamil cinema have an eye for stylish presentation but when it comes to the screenplay and effective narration, they have to sharpen themselves with some old school techniques. Debutant director Manoj Beedhas 'Vanjagar Ulagam' scores in terms of stylish visuals, performances from its lead actors, astounding background score from music composer Sam CS and excellent sound design but except for the climax twist episode, the film moves at a leisure pace. Halkaa review: A forcefully cliched Mission Toilet | Gali Guleiyan review: A uniquely told catharsis | The Nun review: The devil in the film is missing | Ranam review: An endearing show from Prithviraj | C/o Kancharapalem review: Cute, realistic story about love | Laila Majnu review: An unsuccessful attempt at modernising a classic | Manu Review: A revenge thriller Shanmugam (Ciby Bhuvanachandran) is under the scanner of cops after a young woman named Mythili (Chandini Tamilarasan) was found murdered in the neighborhood. Now cops move in one direction to unearth the secret behind the murder and a journalist named Vishagan (Vishagan) also moves in another direction. The rest of the film turns out to be a whodunit thriller. Generally, whodunit thrillers are known for the twists and turns prevail throughout the film until the climax but in Vanjagar Ulagam, we dont travel along with the characters because their world and problems dont get our sympathy and as an audience, we are not able to feel for them. The major twist was only saved for the climax which adds some excitement but whatever happens before that actually tests the patience. As pointed out earlier, performance wise, all the actors have done exceptionally well. Especially, Guru Somasundaram once again proves his versatility as a deadly gangster. John Vijay who usually irritates us with his same body language and mannerisms moves out of his comfort zone. Newcomer Ciby and Vishagan have justified their characters while the whole story revolves around Chandinis role, the actress has also delivered an adequate performance. Technically, foreign cinematographer Rodrigo Del Rio Herrara and Saravanan Ramasamy provide stylish frames and visuals which are aptly supported by Sam CSs amazing score. Editing by Anthony is also crisp but the film itself moves at a snail pace. Vanjagar Ulagam review- Verdict: All style, no substance The parents were grief-stricken at their house in Tenali town of Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh after the family received the shocking news of his killing. : The death of Pruthviraj Kandepi, who was among the three people killed by a gunman at a bank in the US state of Ohio on Thursday, has left his parents distraught. The 25-year-old was working as a consultant with the Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati. He, along with two others, Luis Felipe Calderon, 48, and Richard Newcomer, 64, were shot dead by the gunman identified as Omar Perez, 29. Perez was later shot dead by the police. Five others were also injured in the incident that took place on Thursday morning at the headquarters of the Fifth Third Bank near Fountain Square, Cincinnati. The only son of Kandepi Gopinath and Kandepi Sudha Rani, Pruthviraj had gone to the US six years ago and after completing his education joined the bank as a consultant. The parents and his sister were shocked after they were informed about his death. The parents were inconsolable. Relatives and friends poured in to meet the couple. Gopinath is Deputy Engineer in Andhra Pradesh Housing Development Corporation and is currently serving in Andhra Pradesh capital Amaravati. According to Pruthviraj's relatives, his parents had plans to get him married and were looking for a suitable alliance. The family is in touch with relatives and friends, officials of the bank and representatives of Telugu associations in the US and is requesting them to make arrangements to send the body home as early as possible. 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: 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: 28: 29: ... 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(0x7f3fd7a0ad28)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd7bfa938)', '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(0x7f3fd7a0ad28)') 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(0x7f3fd7bfa938)') 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(0x7f3fd7904190)') 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(0x7f3fd7bfa938)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd7bfa938)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd7053998)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd7a08640)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd7a08640)') 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: 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: 28:
29: ... 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(0x7f3fd7975180)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd7d629f0)', '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(0x7f3fd7975180)') 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(0x7f3fd7d629f0)') 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(0x7f3fd7835480)') 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(0x7f3fd7d629f0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd7d629f0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd7053938)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd7d8aab8)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd7d8aab8)') 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: 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: 28:
29: ... 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(0x7f3fd7820828)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdb15a110)', '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(0x7f3fd7820828)') 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(0x7f3fdb15a110)') 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(0x7f3fd79be548)') 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(0x7f3fdb15a110)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fdb15a110)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd70538f0)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdb1f76d0)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fdb1f76d0)') 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: 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: 28:
29: ... 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(0x7f3fd7529ed0)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 951 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd787dcb0)', '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(0x7f3fd7529ed0)') 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(0x7f3fd787dcb0)') 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(0x7f3fd757c490)') 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(0x7f3fd787dcb0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd787dcb0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x7f3fd7052de8)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd7443e50)') called at (eval 487) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x7f3fd7443e50)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Global protests as key UN climate talks stumble Bangkok, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2018 Thai fishermen and labourers whose livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels kicked off an international day of protests in Bangkok Saturday, where key UN talks are attempting to breathe life into the Paris Agreement on climate change. As global warming races ahead of efforts to contain it, the discussions are deadlocked over a number of contentious issues, with activists demanding immediate action to prevent irreparable damage to the planet. The "Rise for Climate" protest movement -- which has organised events in dozens of countries on Saturday -- wants governments to end their reliance on fossil fuels and transition fully into renewable energy. Beginning in Australia, a tall ship moved through Sydney Harbour in front of the Opera House as activists on board held up protest signs. Its billowing sails featured banners that read "Rise for Climate; Action with 350" -- referring to environment advocacy group 350 which spearheaded the global protest. Blair Palese, CEO of 350 Australia, said that the country -- heavily reliant on coal mining for its economy -- has long suffered the effects of climate change. "We are fighting bushfires in winter, suffering a crippling drought, and scientists fear back-to-back bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef this summer," he said. In the Thai capital, some 200 protesters assembled in front of the UN regional headquarters, where delegates were discussing how to implement measures agreed by world powers under the 2015 Paris Accord on climate change. The talks aim to create a draft legal framework for limiting global temperature rises that can be presented to ministers and heads of state at a final round of discussions in Poland in December. The delegates have been meeting since Tuesday, but have made little progress, according to multiple sources close to the negotiations. "The negotiators are not taking any action," Ruchi Tripathi, head of climate justice at charity ActionAid, told AFP. Dozens of labourers and fishermen from the Gulf of Thailand, whose livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels and coastal erosion caused by climate change, joined Saturday's protest. Many brought examples of their produce, including crabs and shrimp, and held banners demanding that delegates take action. "I came here today to ask the government to put coastal erosion on the national agenda," 58-year-old fisherwoman Aree Kongklad told AFP. She said that the mangrove forests near her coastal home had been destroyed, jeopardising the supply of crabs which are her livelihood. In Manila, more than 800 people, including one dressed as a T-Rex holding a "Go Fossil Free" sign, marched through the streets protesting the country's heavy reliance on coal. Along with Bangkok, the Philippine capital is projected to be among the world's hardest hit urban areas by climate change impacts. "We are among the most vulnerable and we are among those still stuck in an energy system that is backwards," campaigner Chuck Baclavon told AFP, adding that the government is out of excuses. Around 10,000 school students and their teachers in northern India tied red ribbons to trees in a call to end deforestation. "We came out in support of this global initiative because it draws attention to a very urgent and important issue," said Red Tape Movement founder Prabhat Misra. In a separate initiative, the New Delhi local government launched a drive to plant half a million trees around the Indian capital on Saturday. burs-dhc-pg/gle/rma Global climate protests peak in San Francisco San Francisco, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2018 A climate protest rolling across the world's time zones Saturday peaked in San Francisco, where thousands marched in a bid to shame political leader into stepping up action on global warming. In a festive, sun-soaked atmosphere, demonstrators from across the state and country set out from the city's Embarcadero Plaza beating drums and carrying handmade banners and posters. The dominant message was two-fold: speed up transition to a world powered by renewable energy rather than planet-warming fossil fuels, and protect the people most vulnerable to climate-addled weather, including droughts, heatwaves and superstorms. Several slogans were barbs from the heart of Blue America pointed at Washington. "Alternative Energy, not Alternative Facts," read one, while another -- more blunt -- said: "More Science, Less Bullshit." "Defend democracy: impeach Putin's poodle," read a third, taking aim squarely at US President Donald Trump, who opted out of the landmark 2015 Paris climate treaty and has moved aggressively to dismantle the climate policies of his predecessor, Barack Obama. Many participants were demonstrating for the first time. "We're not really the protesting kind," said Mariko Eastman, 65, speaking also for her husband Dick, 81. "But for this, we had to come out. There is too much at stake." - 'Keep fossil fuels in ground' - "Climate change is not a niche topic anymore," said Payal Parekh, program director for 350.org, an umbrella organiZation for hundreds of activist groups worldwide. "More and more people are seeing how the fossil fuel industry is ultimately responsible for the climate crisis," he told AFP. "Fossil fuels need to be kept in the ground." California -- by some estimates the fifth largest economy in the world -- has committed ambitious goals for slashing carbon dioxide emissions over the next three decades. Governor Jerry Brown leads a coalition of subnational regions and cities also taking aggressive climate action. Many will be represented next week in the port citty at the Global Climate Action Summit. But within his own state, Brown has come under attack for allowing the expansion of natural gas and oil extraction under his watch. "Normally a pragmatic visionary, Governor Brown has failed to reconcile to key climate facts: California is a major oil producer and climate science demands that we phase out oil and gas," said Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, a major conservation group. The protests in San Francisco and elsewhere are unfolding as United Nations climate talks struggle to breathe life into the Paris Agreement, which enjoins nations to cap the rise in global temperatures at "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). "If national governments are not willing to do the work necessary to stop greenhouse gas emissions... then others are willing to fill the gap," said Parekh. Global climate march organizers said some 450 grassroots groups held nearly 1,000 events across more than 90 countries. Trump expecting 'positive' letter from N.Korea's Kim Fargo, United States, Sept 7 (AFP) Sep 07, 2018 US President Donald Trump said Friday he was expecting a "positive" new letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, indicating that negotiations on denuclearizing the peninsula remain alive after weeks of apparent deadlock. "I know that a letter is being delivered to me, a personal letter from Kim Jong Un to me, that was handed at the border," Trump told reporters traveling with him to North Dakota. "I think it's going to be a positive letter." Trump, who said he expects Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to deliver the note, also brought up a statement from Kim on Thursday emphasizing his continuing "trust in Trump," despite difficulties in denuclearization negotiations. "That was a very positive statement, what he said about me," Trump said. "There's never been a more positive statement." He accused the news media of not covering it, however, adding: "Honestly I didn't see it on the front page of your papers." Trump lauded the progress he said had been made with Pyongyang since the June summit with the North Korean leader in Singapore. "We have our hostages back," he said. "I say it a hundred times -- no missiles, no rockets, no nuclear testing. There's been some rhetoric, let's see what happens." Kim on Thursday renewed his commitment to the goal of denuclearization in talks with a special envoy from Seoul, ahead of a summit planned in Pyongyang September 18-20 with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. "The north and the south should further their efforts to realize the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," KCNA quoted Kim as saying. Kim's expression of confidence in Trump, relayed by Seoul's envoy, prompted the US president to tweet out his thanks to the North Korean leader and vow to "get it done together." Trump and Kim pledged to denuclearize the Korean peninsula at the Singapore summit but no details were agreed. And Washington and Pyongyang have sparred since on what that means and how it will be achieved. - 'Still more work to do' - Trump in late August canceled a planned trip to Pyongyang by Pompeo over a lack of progress in North Korea's nuclear disarmament. But relations seem to have improved since then. South Korean national security advisor Chung Eui-yong, who met with Kim, said the North Korean leader also emphasized that his "trust in Trump remains unchanged," the comment which led to the US president's tweet. Chung added that Kim expressed his intention to work closely with the United States to achieve denuclearization "in the first official term of President Trump," which ends in January 2021. In a statement on August 24, Trump said he was scotching Pompeo's trip "because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." He also slammed China as not helping with the effort to convince Pyongyang to halt its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program. In New Delhi on Thursday, Pompeo, the former US intelligence chief who heads the US negotiating effort, struck a sober note, saying there was still much work to do. North Korea "is the only country that has commitments under UN Security Council resolutions," Pompeo told reporters. "It is the case that there is still an enormous amount of work to do. We haven't had any nuclear tests, we haven't had any missile tests, which we consider a great thing," Pompeo added. "But the work of convincing Chairman Kim to make the strategic shift which we talked about, for a brighter future for the people of North Korea, continues." Iraq vows crackdown after protesters torch Iran consulate Basra, Iraq, Sept 7 (AFP) Sep 07, 2018 Iraqi protesters on Friday torched the Iranian consulate in the southern city of Basra in fresh demonstrations over poor public services after parliament called for an emergency session on the unrest. Unidentified attackers also fired shells into Baghdad's fortified Green Zone in a rare attack on an area that houses parliament, government offices and the US embassy. There were no casualties. Basra has seen a surge in protests since Tuesday, with demonstrators torching government buildings as well as political party and militia offices, as anger boils over after the hospitalisation of 30,000 people who had drunk polluted water. At least nine demonstrators have been killed since then in clashes with security forces, Mehdi al-Tamimi, head of Basra's human rights council, has said. In a bid to quell the violence, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said late Friday that he had instructed security forces to "act decisively against the acts of vandalism that accompanied the demonstrations". Iraq's Joint Operations Command, which includes the army and police, said in a statement there would be a "severe" response with "exceptional security measures", including banning protests and group travel. - 'Sick and abandoned' - The wave of protests first broke out in July in oil-rich Basra province before spreading to other parts of the country, with demonstrators also condemning corruption among Iraqi officials and demanding jobs. "We're thirsty, we're hungry, we are sick and abandoned," protester Ali Hussein told AFP on Friday after another night of violence. "Demonstrating is a sacred duty and all honest people ought to join." Thousands of demonstrators rallied outside the Iranian consulate on Friday while hundreds stormed the building and set it on fire, an AFP photographer said. A spokesman for the consulate said that all diplomats and employees were evacuated from the building before the protesters attacked, and that none of them were hurt. Iraq's foreign ministry called the attack against the consulate "an unacceptable act undermining the interests of Iraq and its international relations". Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi denounced the incident as a "savage attack", according to Iranian news agency Fars. Iran is a key power broker in Iraq and many of the militias and political parties whose offices were torched Thursday are known to be close to the Islamic republic. Parliament said that lawmakers and ministers, including Abadi, will meet on Saturday to discuss the water contamination crisis, the latest breakdown in public services to infuriate residents. The meeting was demanded by populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose political bloc won the largest number of seats in May elections although a new government has yet to be formed. Sadr, whose supporters held protests inside the Green Zone in 2016 to condemn corruption among Iraqi officials, called for "demonstrations of peaceful anger" in Basra after the main weekly Muslim prayers on Friday. And the representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, spiritual leader of Iraq's Shiite majority, in his Friday sermon denounced "the bad behaviour of senior officials" and called for the next government to be "different from its predecessors". At least 24 people have been killed in the demonstrations since they erupted in Basra on July 8. - 'Excessive force' - Human rights activists have accused the security forces of opening fire on the demonstrators. But the government has blamed provocateurs in the crowds and said troops have been ordered not to use live rounds. Amnesty International on Friday denounced "the use of excessive force by security forces" and called for an investigation into the deaths. The anger on Basra's streets was "in response to the government's intentional policy of neglect" of the oil-rich region, the head of the region's human rights council Tamimi said. Abadi has scrambled to defuse the anger and authorities have already pledged a multi-billion dollar emergency plan to revive infrastructure and services in southern Iraq. But Iraqis remain deeply sceptical as the country remains in a state of political limbo. Sadr on Thursday called for politicians to present "radical and immediate" solutions at the emergency meeting of parliament or step down if they fail to do so. Abadi, for his part, is trying to hold onto his post in the next government through forming an alliance with Sadr, a former militia chief who has called for Iraq to have greater political independence from both neighbouring Iran and the United States. Iraq parliament holds emergency talks as Basra burns Baghdad, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2018 Iraqi lawmakers met Saturday in emergency session Saturday to discuss the crisis in public services in main southern city Basra after 12 protesters were killed, the Iranian consulate torched and the airport hit by rockets. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi described the unrest as "political sabotage" as he joined the session with several ministers. Basra has been rocked by protests since Tuesday, with demonstrators setting ablaze government buildings, the Iranian consulate and the offices of pro-Tehran militias and political parties. The anger flared after the hospitalisation of 30,000 people who had drunk polluted water, in an oil-rich region where residents have for weeks complained of water and electricity shortages, corruption among officials and unemployment. At least 12 demonstrators have been killed and 50 wounded in clashes with security forces, according to the interior ministry. Hours before parliament met, four rockets fired by unidentified assailants struck inside the perimeter of Basra airport, security sources said. Staff at the airport, which is located near the US consulate in Basra, said flights were not affected. The attack came after a day of rage in the southern city where hundreds of protesters stormed the fortified Iranian consulate, causing no casualties but sparking condemnation. Abadi said he had instructed security forces to "act decisively against the acts of vandalism that accompanied the demonstrations". Iraq's Joint Operations Command, which includes the army and police, vowed a "severe" response with "exceptional security measures", including a ban on protests and group travel. The foreign ministry called the attack on the consulate "an unacceptable act undermining the interests of Iraq and its international relations". Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi denounced the "savage attack", Iran's Fars news agency reported. - 'Neglect, corruption' - A spokesman for the consulate said that all diplomats and staff had been evacuated from the building before the protesters attacked, and that none were hurt. Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, said the consulate was "totally demolished" and charged that "foreign agents close to the US, Zionists and some Arab countries are trying to sabotage Iran-Iraq relations", Iran's ILNA news agency reported. The wave of protests first broke out in Basra in July before spreading to other parts of the country, with demonstrators condemning corruption among Iraqi officials and demanding jobs. Since then at least 27 people have been killed. "We're thirsty, we're hungry, we are sick and abandoned," protester Ali Hussein told AFP on Friday after another night of violence. "Demonstrating is a sacred duty and all honest people ought to join." The anger on Basra's streets was "in response to the government's intentional policy of neglect" of the oil-rich region, the head of the region's human rights council Mehdi al-Tamimi said. Iraq has been struggling to rebuild its infrastructure and economy after decades of bloody conflicts, including an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, the US-led invasion of 2003 and the battle against the Islamic State group. In August, the oil ministry announced that crude exports for August had hit their highest monthly figure this year, with nearly 112 million barrels of oil briging $7.7 billion to state coffers. Iraq, however, suffers from persistent corruption and many Iraqis complain that the country's oil wealth is unfairly distributed. - Political limbo - Parliament said lawmakers will hear speeches by Abadi and key ministers and discuss the water contamination crisis, the latest breakdown in public services to spark public anger. The meeting was demanded by populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose political bloc won the largest number of seats in May elections although a new government has yet to be formed. "If the situation remains unchanged we will be heading towards the formation of an emergency government," warned Intissar Hassan, an MP elected to represent Basra. She was referring to a constitutional provision that would give the prime minister full powers to act. Sadr has called on politicians to present "radical and immediate" solutions at Saturday's session or step down. Abadi pledged in July a multi-billion dollar emergency plan to revive infrastructure and services in southern Iraq, one of the country's most marginalised regions. The prime minister is trying to hold onto his post in the next government and has formed an alliance with Sadr, a former militia chief who has called for Iraq to have greater political independence from both neighbouring Iran and the United States. Two months of protests in Iraq Basra, Iraq, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2018 Protests over corruption, unemployment and poor public services have gripped Iraq for two months, leaving 27 people dead after they began in the southern oil-rich province of Basra. Here is a recap of the unrest since July: - First death - On July 8 dozens of people protest against unemployment in the port city of Basra. Security forces open fire and one person is killed. Basra is the most oil-rich province in Iraq but is one of the worst served in infrastructure. On July 12 Iraqi Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi says protesters there have tried to break into an oil installation and have set fire to a gate and security post. - Protests spread - The next day hundreds of people protest in the centre of Basra, including in front of the local provincial headquarters. Protests spread northwards to other regions with demonstrators taking to the streets in Dhi Qar, Maysan and Najaf provinces. Dozens of people force their way into the waiting room at the airport serving the holy city of Najaf and several civilians and policemen are injured in clashes around the city of Nasiriyah. Iraq's top Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani voices support for the protesters. - Promises fail to quell protests- On July 14 two protesters are killed in a shooting in the province of Muthanna, south of the capital Baghdad. Demonstrators set alight the Basra headquarters of the Iranian-backed Badr organisation, prompting authorities to impose an overnight curfew across the province. Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announces investment worth $3 billion (2.6 billion euros) for Basra province, as well as pledging additional spending on housing, schools and services. But the next day two more protesters are killed in a shooting in front of the governor's headquarters in Samawah, the largest city in Muthanna province. Renewed clashes between security forces and protesters in Basra city leave 50 people injured near the governor's headquarters, the majority protesters. Abadi meets with security and intelligence chiefs in Baghdad and warns them to be on alert but orders security services not to use live fire against unarmed civilians. - Clashes in the capital - On July 20 a man is killed after being shot in the southern city of Diwaniyah a medical source says, as hundreds of people gather outside the local headquarters of Badr. Protests reach Baghdad. Hundreds of demonstrators are dispersed by water canon and tear gas as they head towards the fortified Green Zone, a high-security area where the government is headquartered. On July 27 several hundred people take to the streets in Baghdad and chant "No to corruption!" and "Iran out!", and accuse leaders of being "thieves" and "corrupt". - Electricity minister out - Two days later Abadi sacks his minister of electricity Qassem al-Fahdawi -- whose departure had been demanded by protesters -- "because of the deterioration in the electricity sector". On August 9 he sacks four electricity ministry officials. - Green Zone hit - On September 2 hundreds of protesters block different strategic parts of Basra province. Two days later six demonstrators are killed in Basra city, according to a local official, the bloodiest day since the beginning of the unrest. On September 7 overnight unidentified attackers fire shells into Baghdad's Green Zone. Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani denounces "the bad behaviour of senior officials". Hundreds of protesters torch the Iranian consulate in Basra. On September 8 unidentified assailants fire four rockets at Basra airport. The health ministry says 12 people have been killed over the past five days. 11 dead in attack on Iran Kurd rebel HQ in Iraq Sulaimaniyah, Iraq, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2018 At least 11 members of an Iranian Kurdish rebel group were killed in a rocket attack on their headquarters in Iraqi Kurdistan on Saturday, officials said. The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) has carried out sporadic attacks inside Iran from its rear-bases in Iraq and is blacklisted as a "terrorist" group by Tehran. The leftist organisation was holding a meeting at the time of the attack, one of its officials told AFP on condition of anonymity. He blamed the attack on Tehran. "Eleven KDPI members were killed and 30 wounded by Katyusha rockets fired on their headquarters in Koysinjaq," Kamran Abbas, director of the city's hospital, told AFP. Koysinjaq is about 60 kilometres (35 miles) east of the autonomous Kurdish region's capital Arbil. Abbas said the party's secretary general and his predecessor were among the wounded. The KDPI is Iran's oldest Kurdish movement and has seen several of its leaders assassinated by Tehran in the past. Iranian security forces have also carried out repeated operations against KDPI bases in the mountainous terrain along the border. Mattis holds UAE talks after Yemen support warning Abu Dhabi, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2018 Pentagon chief James Mattis held talks in the United Arab Emirates late Friday after warning last month that US support for its military intervention in Yemen was not unconditional. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed tweeted that his talks with Mattis covered "the enhancing of defence and military ties" and "issues of mutual interest." He did not give further details. Their talks were also reported by the UAE's official WAM news agency, which did not give further details either. Mattis's August 28 warning that Washington could end its support for the intervention in Yemen the UAE and Saudi Arabia have spearheaded since March 2015 came amid an international outcry over the deaths of dozens of children in coalition air raids last month. Twin strikes south of the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hodeida on August 23 killed 26 children, the UN said. An August 9 strike in the rebel heartland of Saada province killed 51 people, 40 of them children, according to the Red Cross. The US provides weapons, aerial refuelling and intelligence and targeting information to the coalition. "It is not unconditional," Mattis said. "Our conduct there is to try and keep the human cost of innocents being killed accidentally to the absolute minimum." The UAE is also a key US ally in the long-running campaign against Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based affiliate, regarded by Washington as its most dangerous. While US action has largely been confined to air strikes and missile strikes from warships, UAE troops have conducted ground operations against the jihadists alongside allied Yemeni militia, ousting them from the southeastern port city of Mukalla. Iraq parliament holds emergency talks as Basra burns Baghdad, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2018 Iraqi lawmakers met Saturday in emergency session Saturday to discuss the crisis in public services in main southern city Basra after 12 protesters were killed this week, the Iranian consulate torched and its airport hit by rockets. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi described the unrest as "political sabotage" as he joined the session along with several ministers, charging that "the question of public services" was being exploited for political ends. His government has announced the allocation of an unspecified amount of extra funds for Basra, although demonstrators say that billions of dollars in emergency funding pledged in July has failed to materialise. In a session attended by 172 deputies in the 329-seat house, Abadi traded barbs with Basra's governor, Asaad al-Eidani, who is also parliament speaker. Basra has been rocked by protests since Tuesday, with demonstrators setting ablaze government buildings, the Iranian consulate and the offices of pro-Tehran militias and political parties. The anger flared after the hospitalisation of 30,000 people who had drunk polluted water, in an oil-rich region where residents have for weeks complained of water and electricity shortages, corruption among officials and unemployment. At least 12 demonstrators have been killed and 50 wounded in clashes with security forces, according to the interior ministry. Hours before parliament met, four rockets fired by unidentified assailants struck inside the perimeter of Basra airport, security sources said. Staff at the airport, which is located near the US consulate in Basra, said flights were not affected. The attack came after a day of rage in the southern city where hundreds of protesters stormed the fortified Iranian consulate, causing no casualties but sparking condemnation. Abadi said he had instructed security forces to "act decisively against the acts of vandalism that accompanied the demonstrations". Iraq's Joint Operations Command, which includes the army and police, vowed a "severe" response with "exceptional security measures", including a ban on protests and group travel. The foreign ministry called the attack on the consulate "an unacceptable act undermining the interests of Iraq and its international relations". Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi denounced the "savage attack", Iran's Fars news agency reported. - 'Neglect, corruption' - A spokesman for the consulate said that all diplomats and staff had been evacuated from the building before the protesters attacked, and that nobody was hurt. Iran's ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, said the consulate was "totally demolished" and charged that "foreign agents close to the US, Zionists and some Arab countries are trying to sabotage Iran-Iraq relations", Iran's ILNA news agency reported. The wave of protests first broke out in Basra in July before spreading to other parts of the country, with demonstrators condemning corruption among Iraqi officials and demanding jobs. Since then at least 27 people have been killed. "We're thirsty, we're hungry, we are sick and abandoned," protester Ali Hussein told AFP on Friday in Basra after another night of violence. "Demonstrating is a sacred duty and all honest people ought to join." The anger on Basra's streets was "in response to the government's intentional policy of neglect", the head of the region's human rights council Mehdi al-Tamimi said. Iraq has been struggling to rebuild its infrastructure and economy after decades of bloody conflicts, including an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, the US-led invasion of 2003 and the battle against the Islamic State group. In August, the oil ministry announced that crude exports for August had hit their highest monthly figure this year, with nearly 112 million barrels of oil bringing $7.7 billion to state coffers. Iraq, however, suffers from persistent corruption and many Iraqis complain that the country's oil wealth is unfairly distributed. - Radical solutions - Parliament said lawmakers would hear speeches by Abadi and key ministers and discuss the water contamination crisis, the latest breakdown in public services to spark public anger. The meeting was demanded by populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose political bloc won the largest number of seats in May elections although a new government has yet to be formed. Sadr has called on politicians to present "radical and immediate" solutions at Saturday's session or step down. Two months ago, Abadi pledged a multi-billion dollar emergency plan to revive infrastructure and services in southern Iraq, one of the country's most marginalised regions. The premier is trying to hold onto his post in the next government and has formed an alliance with Sadr, a former militia chief who has called for Iraq to have greater political independence from both neighbouring Iran and the United States. Iraq PM urged to quit as key ally deserts him over unrest Baghdad, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2018 Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi faced calls to resign Saturday as his alliance with a populist cleric who won May elections crumbled over deadly unrest shaking the country's south. The two leading groups in parliament called on Abadi to step down, after lawmakers held an emergency meeting on the public anger boiling over in the southern city of Basra. "We demand the government apologise to the people and resign immediately," said Hassan al-Aqouli, spokesman for the list of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr that won the most seats in the election. The announcement dealt a severe blow to Abadi's hopes of holding onto his post through a bloc -- described as the biggest in parliament -- unveiled just days earlier with Sadr and more than a dozen other groups. Ahmed al-Assadi, spokesman for the second-largest list in parliament, the Conquest Alliance, condemned "the government's failure to resolve the crisis in Basra", where 12 protesters were killed this week in clashes with security forces. The Conquest Alliance of pro-Iranian former paramilitary fighters was "on the same wavelength" as Sadr's Marching Towards Reform list and they would work together to form a new government, Assadi said. Abadi, whose grouping came third in the May polls, defended his record in parliament, describing the unrest as "political sabotage" and saying the crisis over public services was being exploited for political ends. His government has announced the allocation of an unspecified amount of extra funds for Basra, although demonstrators say that billions of dollars in emergency funding pledged in July has failed to materialise. - Anger over shortages - Basra has been rocked by protests since Tuesday, with demonstrators setting ablaze government buildings, the Iranian consulate and the offices of pro-Tehran militias and political parties. The anger flared after the hospitalisation of 30,000 people who had drunk polluted water, in an oil-rich region where residents have for weeks complained of water and electricity shortages, corruption among officials and unemployment. At least a dozen demonstrators have been killed and 50 wounded in clashes with security forces, according to the interior ministry. Hours before parliament met, four rockets fired by unidentified assailants struck inside the perimeter of Basra airport, security sources said. Staff at the airport, which is located near the US consulate in Basra, said flights were not affected. The attack came after a day of rage in the southern city where hundreds of protesters stormed the fortified Iranian consulate, causing no casualties but sparking condemnation. Abadi said he had instructed security forces to "act decisively against the acts of vandalism that accompanied the demonstrations". Iraq's Joint Operations Command, which includes the army and police, vowed a "severe" response with "exceptional security measures", including a ban on protests and group travel. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi denounced the "savage attack", Iran's Fars news agency reported. - 'Neglect, corruption' - A spokesman for the consulate said that all diplomats and staff had been evacuated from the building before the protesters attacked, and that nobody was hurt. The wave of protests first broke out in Basra in July before spreading to other parts of the country, with demonstrators condemning corruption among Iraqi officials and demanding jobs. Since then a total of at least 27 people have been killed. "We're thirsty, we're hungry, we are sick and abandoned," protester Ali Hussein told AFP on Friday in Basra after another night of violence. The anger on Basra's streets was "in response to the government's intentional policy of neglect", said the head of the region's human rights council, Mehdi al-Tamimi. Iraq has been struggling to rebuild its infrastructure and economy after decades of bloody conflicts, including an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, the US-led invasion of 2003 and the battle against the Islamic State group. In August, the oil ministry announced that crude exports for August had hit their highest monthly figure this year, with nearly 112 million barrels of oil bringing $7.7 billion to state coffers. Iraq, however, suffers from persistent corruption and many Iraqis complain that the oil wealth is unfairly distributed. Two months ago, Abadi pledged a multi-billion dollar emergency plan to revive infrastructure and services in southern Iraq, one of the country's most marginalised regions. Iraq PM urged to quit as key ally deserts him over unrest Baghdad, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2018 Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi faced calls to resign Saturday as his alliance with a populist cleric who won May elections crumbled over deadly unrest shaking the country's oil-rich south. The two leading groups in parliament called on Abadi to step down, after lawmakers held an emergency meeting on the public anger boiling over in the southern city of Basra. "We demand the government apologise to the people and resign immediately," said Hassan al-Aqouli, spokesman for the list of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr that won the most seats in the election. The announcement dealt a severe blow to Abadi's hopes of holding onto his post through a bloc -- described as the biggest in parliament -- unveiled just days earlier with Sadr and more than a dozen other groups. Ahmed al-Assadi, spokesman for the second-largest list in parliament, the Conquest Alliance, condemned "the government's failure to resolve the crisis in Basra", where 12 protesters were killed this week in clashes with security forces. The Conquest Alliance of pro-Iranian former paramilitary fighters was "on the same wavelength" as Sadr's Marching Towards Reform list and they would work together to form a new government, Assadi said. Abadi, whose grouping came third in the May polls, defended his record in parliament, describing the unrest as "political sabotage" and saying the crisis over public services was being exploited for political ends. His government has announced the allocation of an unspecified amount of extra funds for Basra, although demonstrators say that billions of dollars in emergency funding pledged in July has failed to materialise. - Anger over shortages - Calm appeared to have returned to the streets of Basra on Friday evening with a curfew holding for the first time as soldiers and police manned checkpoints and patrolled the city. Basra had been rocked by protests since Tuesday, with demonstrators setting ablaze government buildings, the Iranian consulate and the offices of pro-Tehran militias and political parties. The anger flared after the hospitalisation of 30,000 people who had drunk polluted water, in an oil-rich region where residents have for weeks complained of water and electricity shortages, corruption among officials and unemployment. Hours before parliament met, four rockets fired by unidentified assailants struck inside the perimeter of Basra airport, security sources said. Staff at the airport, which is located near the US consulate in Basra, said flights were not affected. The attack came after a day of rage in the southern city where hundreds of protesters stormed the fortified Iranian consulate, causing no casualties but sparking condemnation. Abadi said he had instructed security forces to "act decisively against the acts of vandalism that accompanied the demonstrations". Iraq's Joint Operations Command, which includes the army and police, vowed a "severe" response with "exceptional security measures", including a ban on protests and group travel. - 'Neglect, corruption' - A spokesman for the consulate said that all diplomats and staff had been evacuated from the building before the protesters attacked, and that nobody was hurt. The wave of protests first broke out in Basra in July before spreading to other parts of the country, with demonstrators condemning corruption among Iraqi officials and demanding jobs. Since then a total of at least 27 people have been killed. "We're thirsty, we're hungry, we are sick and abandoned," protester Ali Hussein told AFP on Friday in Basra after another night of violence. Iraq has been struggling to rebuild its infrastructure and economy after decades of bloody conflicts, including an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, the US-led invasion of 2003 and the battle against the Islamic State group. In August, the oil ministry announced that crude exports for August had hit their highest monthly figure this year, with nearly 112 million barrels of oil bringing $7.7 billion to state coffers. Iraq, however, suffers from persistent corruption and many Iraqis complain that the oil wealth is unfairly distributed. "We do not want Basra to be seen as a huge barrel of oil" to be exploited, said Walid al-Ansari, who heads an association that looks after the families of people killed in the protests. "It's been 15 years since they did anything for the people," Ansari added. Saturday's talks among Iraqi politicians in Baghdad drew scorn in the southern city. "These meetings will never appease Basra residents", said Montazer al-Karkochi, coordinator of the Rally for Basra Youth. "Basra has received no money (and) no projects have been launched" since the government promised in July to spend billions of dollars on improving services, he added. Tiflet (Morocco), September 8, 2018 (SPS) - The local prison administration of Tiflet 2 on Wednesday raided and searched the cells of Sahrawi political prisoners of Gdeim Izik group, Bashir Khada and Mohamed Lamine Heddi, in a provocative and humiliating manner, according to a Sahrawi human rights source. According to the same source, the inspection was carried out by a group of the prison staff led by the deputy head of the prison who deliberately tampering with their belongings. (SPS) 062/SPS/TRA Since 2015 a Chinese firm (Norinco) has been offering for export the AH4 155mm towed howitzer. This weapon was basically a copy of the older British M777, but can be lighter and always cheaper. AH4 was designed to use all the same Western ammo the M777 does. There is a lighter (3.4 ton combat weight) AHS4 mountain gun version for moving around in rough terrain. The AH4, at 4.5 tons when combat ready, is only 3.3 tons for the weapon itself, is too heavy for that. China also offers a GP6 laser guided shell that has a range of 25 kilometers and requires someone near the target (on the ground or in the air) to aim a laser at the target so the shell can home in on the reflected laser light. The U.S. developed this sort of thing in the 1980s (Copperhead) and found there was little demand for it on the battlefield. But other nations have fewer guided weapons available and China sells a lot of GP6 shells. The AH4 has a longer barrel, which helps a bit with range and accuracy. The M777 has a 155mm/32 barrel. That means the barrel length is 32 times 155mm or 5.1 meters (16.7 feet) long. The AH4 has a 155mm/39 barrel that is six meters (19.5 feet) long. Normal AH4 range is 25 kilometers but with rocket-assisted rounds it is 40 kilometers. The M777 has proved more useful, especially when using the GPS guided Excalibur or M1156 (ATK fuze) shells. The M777 is also very much combat proven. For example, a U.S. Marine artillery battalion fired 35,000 shells in five months while in Syria (June-October 2017) supporting Kurdish forces that captured the ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) capital city of Raqqa. The individual marine 155mm howitzers also fired more rounds per gun and fired the largest number of GPS guided rounds per gun in one campaign. Moreover, there were never more than six of the marine 155mm howitzers in action at any one time. The marines rotated artillery batteries in and out of Syria to allow for maintenance on the guns and rest for the crews. Thus each of the marine 155mm guns averaged 39 155mm rounds a day. But the marine 155mm howitzers fired over a hundred rounds on some days and only a few on others, usually on days they were changing position to keep up with the Syrian rebels. The marines fired a lot of M1156 GPS guided shells and often did so at extreme ranges. The M777 has also been used in Afghanistan and that combat record has made it difficult for China to obtain export orders for the AH4. There have been two export customers, both in the Middle East. Kuwait said it evaluated the M777 and the AH4 before choosing the Chinese howitzer. Details of the evaluation were not revealed but it may have come down to price and diplomacy (buying Chinese weapons is considered a friendly gesture towards China.) China is increasingly eager to compete with the most popular Russian and Western weapons. China has already taken much of Russias traditional low-end market and is now moving on to the more complex, expensive and effective Western designs. China often uses stolen tech and the Russians never really had the clout to stop China from stealing tech. But the West is different and better able to strike back, at least in theory. The Chinese are putting that to the test. BAE (a major British arms manufacturer) developed the M777 155mm towed howitzer, which entered service in 2005 and is now mainly manufactured in the United States because the U.S. Army and Marine Corps are major customers. The M777 is a lightweight (3.4 ton for just the gun, 4.2 tons combat ready) howitzer that currently costs from three to six million dollars each. The lightweight means the M777 can be moved slung under a helicopter and thus quickly moved to otherwise inaccessible areas. The M777 is the lightest 155mm towed howitzer ever fielded. M777 fire control is handled by a computerized system that allows faster response time and more accurate shooting. The M777 can use all current 155mm ammunition, including the Swedish/American GPS guided Excalibur shell or the even cheaper M1156, which is a large fuze containing the GPS and guidance system. The guided round cuts ammo use enormously because one guided round will often get the job done quicker and with less collateral damage that dozens of unguided rounds. The Americans began replacing their 1980s vintage M198s with M777s in 2007. Until then the M198 was the standard towed 155mm howitzer for the United States and many NATO counties. M198s weighs eight tons and can fire conventional rounds as far as 22.4 kilometers. For rocket-assisted projectiles (RAP) the range is 30 kilometers. These unguided shells land anywhere within a 200 meter circle. That's at 25 kilometers range. Accuracy gets worse at longer ranges. It takes 12 minutes for the M198 to be ready to fire after the truck towing it stops. It can pack up and move again in about 4 minutes. Using GPS the M198 can be in position to fire in less than ten minutes and shift to another target in about 8 minutes. So far the U.S. has ordered over a thousand M777s. The manufacturer has also received a contract to refurbish 33 M777s that returned from service in Afghanistan. This cost $91,000 per howitzer. The M777 is also used by Canada and Britain. The U.S. Army uses M777s in airborne and Stryker brigades. A five ton truck is used to tow the guns, but a special, 4.5 ton LWPM (Lightweight Prime Mover) is available to do that as well. The 4.2 ton M777 is much lighter than the M198 it replaces mainly because it (like the AH4) makes extensive use of titanium, and new design techniques. It fires shells with a maximum range of 40 kilometers (using RAP, or rocket assisted projectile, ammo). A crew of five operates the gun, which can be ready to fire in under three minutes, and ready to move in under two minutes. The M777 is light enough to be moved (via a sling) by CH-53E and CH-47D helicopters. Its sustained rate of fire is two rounds a minute, with four rounds a minute for short periods. The AH4 uses a crew of seven and has similar ready times and rates of fire. Another Israeli animal research project has run afoul of Arab paranoia. This time it was a seagull that had been found, injured, in Israel earlier in 2018. The bird received medical attention and when it was well enough to fly an Israeli researcher attached a miniature GPS locator to its leg and in April released it. These GPS locators are increasingly attached to animals (especially birds and sea creatures known to travel long distances) to discover what routes they take and how long it takes. The tagged seagull was tracked from northern Israel, across North Africa until it apparently stopped in western Libya (near Tripoli, the capital). Some Libyans had captured the bird and noted the tag and what turned out to be some tiny text in Hebrew. At this point, the bird was turned over to government officials and soon it was in the news as another clever Israeli espionage effort. Arab media cant resist an Israeli espionage story like this even though all of them have been proved false and most make no sense in the first place. The Israelis found out about the seagull incident via the Arab news media, which many Arab speaking Israelis, and Israeli intelligence people, monitor. Israeli media then reported the story and in doing that uncovered the story behind the tagged bird. The GPS device was German, a gift from a German university to Israeli bird migration researchers. Israel lies astride many bird migration routes and conducts the largest number of any bird research (and rescue) operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. Thats why losses to Arab paranoia are relatively frequent because so many migratory species can be tagged in Israel and there a lot of birds moving about the region with Israeli tags. The Libyans eventually gave the seagull to someone who took it to Lebanon where, on August 15th, the GPS transmitter went offline. It is unknown what happened to the seagull and it is believed that Iranians or, more likely Hezbollah, got the bird and once they realized it was another legitimate animal migration incident did what Hezbollah usually does and made it all disappear. No further details were forthcoming from anyone. Hezbollah is reluctant to openly discuss this sort of thing because they have been through this before. For example, in 2013 Hezbollah reported that they had captured an Israeli spy. The enemy agent was an eagle with a miniature tracking device attached. The device was electronic and it was attached in Israel. It was a commonly used device for tracking some types of animals, especially rare bird species, the better to understand how these animals live and how to keep them from going extinct. But in Middle Eastern nations there is a tendency to see such things as something more, especially if the markings on them are in English or Hebrew. Naturally, that means American, British and Israeli spies are involved, not scientific research into animal behavior. This sort of thing has happened frequently since the late 1990s as these tracking devices became smaller, more reliable and cheaper. Its not always birds. In 2010 the Egyptians accused Israel of training tagged sharks to attack Arabs. Tagged vultures have been accused twice, first in 2011 in Saudi Arabia and then in 2012 in Egypt (where a stork was also accused). Its not just the Arabs, in Turkey, a kestrel was captured and x-rayed to ensure it was not carrying Israeli espionage equipment. Such suspicions are not completely unfounded, although inanimate objects are preferred to unpredictable and highly mobile animals. In 2012 Iran reported that security troops outside a new underground nuclear enrichment plant went to investigate a suspicious looking rock and the rock exploded. Later investigation revealed that the rock was indeed not a real rock but an electronic device that was apparently monitoring activity around the nuclear facility (that enriched uranium sufficiently for use in a bomb) and transmitting it, via satellite, back to somewhere. The rock was also rigged to self-destruct if anyone got close. The usual suspects for such a ploy were the Americans (who have been using the fake rock thing for decades) and the Israelis (who have been caught using them quite a lot in Lebanon). As for the exploding rocks, details on stuff like that is rarely released and then usually after the item in question is retired. Some equipment of this sort does receive publicity. Such was the case with WolfPack, which first appeared in 2003. WolfPack is a 2.73 kg (six pound) sensor/jammer that is dropped into enemy territory to get information and, if needed, jam enemy communications. These were painted camouflage colors but it would be no problem to enclose the device in a container that looked like a rock. Israel will sometimes go to great lengths to prevent these devices from being captured intact. In late 2009 some Lebanese found an Israeli electronic sensor on their side of the border. The Israelis soon became aware of this and destroyed the device from the air with a missile, or internal explosives. There are conflicting reports. But Hezbollah fighters showed up shortly thereafter and searched the area. They found another such device and blew it up. It's believed these devices were for tapping into telephone conversations. The Lebanese believe that some, or all, of these devices, were equipped with explosives, to self-destruct (or be detonated remotely from Israel) if discovered or tampered with. Since Lebanon arrested dozens of Israeli agents in 2009, with the help of Iranian intelligence operatives, Israel had apparently increased their use of electronic sensors. These detect movement, sound or electronic transmissions. Many are buried or otherwise disguised to make detection difficult. Hezbollah has become aware of these devices and offers rewards for those who find them. Thus hunting for Israeli sensors has become a popular activity along the border. Hollywood isn't the only place where old hits are recycled. Such miniature gadgets were first developed and used in the 1960s during the Vietnam War. These early devices were just a microphone and transmitter. An aircraft overhead could pick up the transmissions, record them, and get them back to a base where the activity (trucks, troops marching, or whatever), where it occurred and the time, could be recorded. In this way operations along the carefully hidden (under the tall jungle canopy) "Ho Chi Minh" trail could be studied, plotted, and bombed. The trail, run by North Vietnam through Laos (just west of Vietnam), was vital to keeping northern troops in South Vietnam supplied. WolfPack faced the same problem airdropped sensors in Vietnam did; the enemy will go looking for them once they realize the sensors were a danger to them. During the Vietnam War, a partial solution to this problem was to build some of the airdropped sensors so they looked like a bamboo plant. This deception would not stand up to close scrutiny but the enemy troops were not going to closely examine every bamboo plant when they were sweeping an area for sensors. So this worked, except when, after the war, surplus sensors of this type were shipped, unmodified, to Europe for use there in a future war there. Russia was known to have adopted this "intelligent rock" technology after the 1960s, and are still using it. China probably has it as well and someone is using it in Iran. There has been some interest in planting bugs on animals but further research found that the animals' movement were too unpredictable to be useful. Efforts to miniaturize sensors and transmitters for use on mechanical insects is still stalled by technology that is not quite ready to go yet. So Arab paranoia regarding monitoring devices hidden in animals (real or artificial) is not totally unfounded, but somewhat premature. Ukrainian troops drive a BMP, a multi-track amphibious vehicle, across muddy terrain during a military training exercise at the International Peacekeeping and Security Centre in Yavoriv, Ukraine, Sept 6, 2018. The exercise was part of a demonstration for Rapid Trident that also included parachuting, a medical evacuation, a river crossing and artillery contact. (U.S. Army National Guard photos by Army Spc. Amy Carle) X 0 20 Help Keep Us Soaring We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling. We need your help in reversing that trend. We would like to add 20 new subscribers this month. Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways: Corrupted seeds of a vicious cycle View(s): Many people admire the resource endowment of countries as the reason for their prosperity. According to this misconception, countries become rich if they have resources. Land, gold, oil, diamonds, and minerals are some of the most common resources that some countries have discovered within their territories. After the first 1973 oil shock, Sri Lanka also became interested in possible oil deposits in the region of Mannar. During this time Sri Lanka was marching towards a socialist economy; as a result of the policies adopted then, there were domestic supply shortages of almost everything and everywhere. Due to this reason, the 1973 oil shock was a knockout punch to the economy! It was forceful enough to force the government to look for oil in Mannar but not forceful enough to abandon the socialist march. As the first attempt for extracting oil in Mannar failed, the Sri Lankan enthusiasm for oil exploration withered away, but only temporarily. About 30 years later, it seemed we are revisiting and continuing to guide our oil and gas exploration to-date. Blessing or a curse? It is a big mistake if we think that potential oil or gas discovery in Sri Lanka will end our economic problems. One must remember that while resources have become a blessing to some nations, to others its a curse. If resources such as oil were the underlying factor of prosperity, Venezuela would not have collapsed to a level of humanitarian misery today, as I explained last week. In the same way Nigeria would not have fallen to an economic crisis as it experienced in the recent past. If resources can make nations prosperous, the most prosperous people in the world should have been the nations in Africa. You name any type of mineral resource, they all have it in abundance in the African soil. But the worlds poorest nations belong to the African continent. We cant, however, argue that it was always the case. There are many countries which have made use of their resources to achieve prosperity and stability. The US and Australia have made use of their abundant land resources, became less and less dependent on land resources. Some of the West Asian countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar also started off with oil, but became less-dependent on oil for the achievement of their prosperity and stability. We may find ample evidence to suggest that for some nations their resource endowment was the driving force of their prosperity at their initial stages of development. For them it was a blessing, but the bottom line is that they did not remain dependent on resources. The other side The reverse side of the argument is also true. If resource endowment is the underlying reason for prosperity, we are in a serious difficulty in explaining the prosperity of some nations which did not have any resource of their own. Some of these countries are, in fact, the richest nations in Asia such as Japan or Singapore. Even without any oil deposit, Singapore has become the leading oil trading hub in Asia, ranked as the third in the world after New York and London and, positioned amongst the worlds top five oil refining centres. But people around the world and their businesses have gathered in Singapore to engage in oil and gas refining, storing and trading. It shows that there is no need to have even the ownership of resources for a nation to claim over the business ownership of someone elses resources. Therefore, it is indeed a blessing for some nations not to have any resource of their own. If Sri Lanka does not have the capacity to handle any resource that it discovers, it is better for the nation not to discover them at all. Resource endowments have the ability to destroy people and nations who do not have the capacity to handle them. Policies and Politics What makes a nation prosperous? A short answer to this question in two words is policies and politics. Because we have already talked much about policies, I thought of bringing politics also into our discussion. Practice of economics is not as simple as in textbooks, because of politics; after all, the application side of economics is all about the political economy. I chose the word politics in its broader meaning to refer to the behavioural patterns of a nation. In addition to the policies that nations choose to follow, the behaviour of the people, their various lobbying groups and, their leaders will determine the nations road to prosperity. Some nations are rich and some nations are poor, because of the policies they choose and politics they play. These two factors lead some countries to grow fast and some countries to grow slow. It is also the leaders ability and capacity to manage both and drive the nation to prosperity or to poverty or, if not keep the nation stationary. Corrupted seeds I was on alert keeping an eye on the playing of politics in our nation and making an assessment on how much it impacts up on Sri Lankas road to prosperity. I did that as I was convinced over the years by the poor investment track record that Sri Lanka has maintained. Prosperity requires investment basically private investment in all types of businesses, an area where Sri Lanka has been performing poorly. Let me elaborate a few thoughts on my observations: I noticed an unprecedented increase in protests and strikes in the recent past by trade unions and various lobbying groups. These activities are impacting upon the economy through their interruptions and disruptions. Part of the negative impact is on the operation of the economic activities at present. But the major negative impact is on the future of economic progress, which discourage investment growth. Then I observed the response of the authorities; they compromised. On most of the occasions they compromised on their initial political mandate to lead the nation to prosperity. It has an even bigger negative impact over the future investment climate of the country. The uncertainty is an underlying factor of discouraging private investment decisions. Further I observed an important promise made by the future leaders to reverse the policies and regulations, after the elections of the next regime. This claim adds up further to the uncertainty wiping out the possibilities for raising private investment during the next regime. When elections are approaching, handout programmes dominate and oust economic programmes and once the elections are over, the governments struggle to balance the budget undermining the investment climate through distorted economic fundamentals. We have already planted the bad seeds which would produce dismal growth performance of the years or regimes to come; history repeats as a vicious cycle. Democratic rights After all, we say that all these are our democratic rights! Well, I havent seen any justification for the act of sabotaging present and future economic progress as a democratic right. I have never seen the lack of responsibility and accountability as a democratic right. Neither I have seen at least paying salaries for the days of strike as a democratic right. It would be good for the nation, if we keep estimating at least the direct cost of economic damage that is caused by the play of politics. An estimate as such is important to improve the accountability of the nation. Although the potential damage that it carries by avoiding future investment is hard to measure, the slower progress of the economy is an indication of its contribution. Democracy is not an instrument that various groups and individuals can use for their personal mileage. It is for the nations who have the capacity to manage it for their wellbeing. It requires a greater degree of discipline of the nation. (The writer is a Professor of Economics at the Colombo University. He can be reached at sirimal@econ.cmb.ac.lk) MTD in talks to sell stake at shipyard By Duruthu Edirimuni Chandrasekera View(s): View(s): Listed construction firm MTD Walkers PLC (MTD) is negotiating to sell a strategic stake in its shipyard, Walkers Colombo Shipyard Ltd to inject capital into the firm, company officials said. The company secured a US$4 million loan from the Asian Development Bank last December to infuse cash into the shipyard, but it hasnt still been disbursed due to the company not adhering to certain conditions, according to the officials. Also there are better offers (for the shipyard) on the table by other financial institutions which we are evaluating along with other options, a company official told the Business Times. In a response to the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) that queried on August 31 on unusual trading in its shares, the company said that it has not engaged in any undisclosed price sensitive business activities or transactions to escalate the share price, and do not have any knowledge of the reasons for such an increase in the price of the share and the volume of shares traded as intimated by the CSE. MTD is plagued with sharp losses and most recently an image loss owing to a loan exposure to Peoples Bank which is a large loan issued by the bank that saw the companys CFO resigning. Also questions were raised on a conflict of interest as MTDs Executive Deputy Chairman is a Senior Director at PB. Malaysian MTD Capital Bhd has 90.7 per cent in MTD. MTD Capital underwent a management change recently with a new appointment at Group CEO level. This change also saw MTDs parent conducting an internal audit which precipitated in certain officials resigning amongst them the CFO. MTD reported a net loss in the quarter ended June by 14 per cent year on year to Rs 624 million. The company official noted that prevailing shortage of skilled labour resulted in MTD not being able to achieve its usual productivity levels, ensuing in project delays and increased project and finance costs. Sick man of Asia tag if SL continues to follow outdated technology View(s): Sri Lankas insistence in following outdated ideology is fast making it the sick man of Asia, a top Minister has said. Addressing the 5th International Conference on Multi- Disciplinary Approaches -2018 jointly organized by the Ministry of Science & Technology and the University of Jayawardhanapura, and held recently at the southern Tangerine Beach Hotel, Minister of Science, Technology, Research, Skills Development, & Vocational Training and Kandyan Heritage Dr. Sarath Amunugama asked: Is it the business of the state to do business? In comments released to the media by his media team, the Minister pointed out that even the British Labour Party had to amend the famous Clause IV of its Constitution relating to social ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange before it could again become electable to power, in recent times. The Minister said that Sri Lanka has to move with the changed world if it is to progress. Minister Amunugama said that there is a widely-held misconception that policy making in government is not informed by research. The Minister pointed out that for instance as far as economic policy making is concerned there is a continuous dialogue between the Central Bank and the Finance Ministry. The minister cited many eminent Central Bankers starting with the late Dr. Gamini Corea who had held key positions in governments economic policy making. The Minister also said that the government also benefits from the expertise of the many international organisations like the IMF, the World Bank and the ADB of which Sri Lanka is a member. He referred to the ongoing rapid change in technology and stressed the need for Sri Lanka to keep abreast of that continuing development. In regard to this aspect the Minister expressed his hope in the younger generation. A walk to remember View(s): My dear pohottuwa brothers and sisters, I thought I must write to you after seeing your protest march or satyagraha this week which you called Janabalaya Colombata. I am not saying it was an utter flop, but even you must admit that it wasnt the great success it was meant to be. I am sure you must be disappointed about that. Protest marches and satyagrahas are nothing new to our politicians. When SWRD was in power, it was JR who took the lead in organising a march from Colombo to Kandy to protest SWRDs proposed pact with Chelvanayakam. That seems to be where protest marches began in Paradise. When Methini was in charge in the mid-seventies, JR again used to stage a satyagraha almost every week. At that time, Methini tried every trick in the book to prevent crowds gathering around JR, but judging by his landslide victory in 1977, JRs hard work seems to have paid dividends. Then it was Mahinda maama who launched a paada yatra from Colombo to Kataragama, over a two week period. Mahinda maama was twenty-five years younger then and lasted the distance. That march was against Premes government. Its success led to Mahinda maama emerging as a blue leader. The Green Man, never comfortable with mingling with the hoi polloi on the streets, tried to take a leaf out of Mahinda maamas book nine years later. He called it the Jana Bala Meheyuma. People came to Colombo from everywhere, and hey presto, a few months later, the Greens were back in office! Mahinda maama obviously believes in Paada Yatra, because he organised another one two years ago, this time from Kandy to Colombo. That was a moderate success, signalling that he had enough chaps from the Blue camp with him to outnumber those with Maithri. That was a test run for his return. Now he seems to be addicted to these marches because this weeks protest was yet another of those. I must warn you though, pohottuwa brothers and sisters, if Mahinda maama keeps doing this every year, the gloss will soon wear off and instead of giving their support, people will start to complain. I think we saw a bit of that on Wednesday too. It is true that the Greens and Maithri got together and did their best to block you by not releasing venues for a rally and trying to stop buses from bringing in people. Still, not everyone was impressed because what you did caused a lot of inconvenience. In fact, Maithri and the Greens may have helped you, even if they didnt mean to. By not allowing a venue for your protest, you didnt have to fill up a place like Galle Face. All you had to do was to make sure that the Lake House roundabout was occupied and you managed to do that. Still, offices closed early and many scrambled to get home fearing there would be no public transport. Others were worried that all hell would break loose and people would get seriously hurt. Thankfully, that didnt happen but, apart from a show of strength, I dont think you won over that many voters. You may have used the opportunity to mark Gotas political debut because we did see him join the march, but that raises more questions than answers. Where was Basil? Why didnt he take centre stage? Or, was all of this staged to showcase what a talented organiser Namal baby is? The other question I keep asking myself is, if you and indeed the Greens too are so keen to stage paada yatras and protest marches, why dont you do so every day? That will save the country billions of rupees because we then dont need to spend money on luxury duty free vehicles for all of you. Also, why is it that both you and the Greens stage these protest marches only when you are in the opposition? That seems to be the only time you are mindful of the cost of living or the lack of democracy or whatever it is that you are protesting about. You dont march when you are in office! The fact of the matter is, pohottuwa brothers and sisters, you dont have to do much to get people to vote for you. Maithri and his blue chaps are in a mess, and the Greens are not able to get their act together. So, people have to vote for you, not because you are good, but because your rivals are worse than you! Yours truly, Punchi Putha PS The theme of your protest campaign was Janabalaya Colombata. I am sure that was someones idea of a catchy slogan, but the reality is that the people have only a limited amount of control over what happens next. You may say Janabalaya Colombata, but the reality is balaya Medamulanata! CC censures Police Chief, warns of disciplinary action View(s): The Constitutional Council (CC) has cautioned Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera that he would face disciplinary action if he does not heed directives of the independent National Police Commission. The move follows a meeting the Council had on Friday with Mr Jayasundera and members of the Police Commission. It was chaired by Speaker Karu Jayasuriya. After a lengthy discussion, the CC gave the Police Chief two weeks time to resolve disputes he is locked in with the Police Commission. They centre on the Commissions directives over promotions of senior, middle level and junior officers. He had reportedly not executed them. Mr Jayasundera had taken up the position that such matters would have to be referred by him to the Ministry of Law and order an argument that was rejected by the CC. He had been told that the Police Commission is an independent body and was legally empowered to issue directives. An angry Speaker Jayasuriya, Chairman of the CC, a source said, admonished the Police Chief for bringing disrepute to both President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe through his conduct. He said the Police Chiefs conduct in the past had been cause for concern and asserted that personal issues should not cloud his execution of official duties. Mr Jayasundera was in Kandy yesterday and paid a visit to Sri Dalada Maligawa. SL defence delegation in Moscow Defence Secretary Kapila Waidyaratne in Moscow on Monday met Russias deputy Defence Minister Alexander Fomin for bilateral talks on military-technical cooperation and other matters. Part of the Sri Lankan delegation at the talks was a Russian secretary at the embassy, raising questions as to why she was on the Sri Lankan side. Jana Balaya: Fake news exposed How the fake news phenomenon is coming into play in Sri Lanka was highlighted prominently during the Joint Opposition (JO) organised Jana Balaya protest in Colombo this week. Prominent figures in both the Government and Opposition were left exposed after sharing deliberately false information surrounding Wednesdays protest. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his brother, former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa, were the two most prominent individuals who joined the protest at the Bo-Tree Junction in Pettah. The former Presidents official Twitter account was soon tweeting pictures claiming to be from the Jana Balaya protest. It was not long thereafter though that some of those in the Twitter community pointed out that the pictures were from a JO rally held some time ago in Nugegoda. The post has since been taken down. On the Government side, speaking during a news conference later on Wednesday, State Minister Ajith P Perera claimed that 81 drunken protesters who participated at the Janabalaya protest were transported to hospitals by the 1990 Suwa Seriya Ambulance Service. He pointed out that the JO had opposed the introduction of this so-called Indian ambulance service. Mr Pereras claim was disputed by his own United National Party (UNP) colleague, State Minister Harsha de Silva, who was instrumental in helping to set up the ambulance service in Sri Lanka with a grant from the Indian Government. Mr de Silva published Suwa Seriyas patient report from the protest on social media, clarifying that just one person who was under the influence of liquor had been transported to hospital by the ambulance service. TNA battles move from Jaffna to Supreme Court The on-going internal conflict between Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran and Tamil National Alliance (TNA) members loyal to Opposition Leader R. Sampanthan reached the Supreme Court this week. Both parties accused each other of taking revenge for their different political stance through a legal battle. Following a Contempt of Court case filed by former Provincial Minister B. Deniswaran who secured an interim order from the Court of Appeal to reinstate him as a PC Minister, one time Supreme Court Justice Wigneswaran presented himself on Friday before the very court he once sat on, along with current Provincial Ministers who have been named as respondents. The Court postponed the case for September 18 and ordered the Chief Minister and the Provincial Ministers to be present when the case is to be taken up for hearing. Earlier, the Court of Appeal granted interim relief to Mr. Deniswaran the provincial minister for Fisheries, Transport, Trade and Rural Development, after he claimed that the Chief Minister acted arbitrarily when he removed him from the board of ministers. The court also held that Mr. Deniswaran was duly appointed and that he continues in his post as before. K. Kanag-Isvaran PC who represented Chief Minister Wigneswaran told court that the root cause for this case was the political differences that existed within the TNA, of which the chief minister the provincial minister were members. Speaking to the media outside the Superior Court complex, Chief Minister Wigneswaran alleged that TNA Parliamentarian M. A. Sumanthiran was behind this legal battle for political reasons, using the unseated Minister as a proxy while petitioner Deniswaran accused the Chief Minister of planning to break away from the TNA and form a new party with likeminded followers in the council. Going here and there, CIABOC to get eight-storey building The Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) has been given permission to construct an eight-storey building by the Urban Development Authority (UDA) but it is ten storeys less than what the Commission sought permission for. The building will be constructed on a bare land located behind its previous Malalasekera Mawatha (Colombo 7) building. The Commission had been asked to vacate the building as it had fallen into disrepair and there was a threat of it crumbling. The Commissions staff of about 100 had then moved into the building which earlier housed the Registration of Persons Department at Keppetipola Mawatha in Colombo 7. This building belongs to the Cabinet Office, but a request had been made to the Cabinet by Higher Education and Cultural Affairs Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe to use it as a Cultural Division while the Bribery Commission was in occupation of the building. However, the Commission had brought the matter to the notice of President Maithripala Sirisena who had asked it to continue using the building until a new building was constructed. Meanwhile the CIABOC is also on a recruitment drive to strengthen the institution. It had called for applications to fill 265 posts and had received 14,250 applications, which are now being processed. These include Crime Prevention Officers and Legal Assistants. The Commission is facing a staff shortage at present with not enough persons in administrative posts to process even the applications, officials there said. Ranil going to Viet Nam again Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe will make his second visit to Viet Nam in a month next week. This time it is to attend the ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) World Economic Forum which begins on Tuesday September 11. Last month, he visited Viet Nam for a conference on the Indian Ocean. Manisha mix-up may puzzle the queen Poor James Dauris. He must be packing his bags thinking that dear Boris had done the dirty on him before quitting as Foreign Secretary. A Sri Lankan website carried a report the other day that our ambassador in Seoul, Manisha Gunasekera, who is actually packing her own bags ahead of leaving South Korea, has been appointed British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. In fact, she has been appointed Sri Lanka High Commissioner to the Court of St James. Might make an interesting talking point when Ms. Gunasekera presents her credentials to the Queen who is well informed and rarely misses a trick or two. Ms. Gunasekera, a career officer, due in London end of this month would be the fifth career diplomat to serve as our high commissioner in Britain. Maharagamas Master Sir in another controversy The Chairman of the Maharagama Urban Council once demanded that all persons calling at his office should address him as Sir. A notice to this effect was posted outside his office (see photo above). Now comes a complaint that the chairman allegedly summoned three workers of the Councils electricity department, admonished them and ordered them to kneel. The employees allege that they were also assaulted. However, the chairman has denied the accusations, saying he found the employees drinking at a bar and claimed he had photos of it in his mobile phone. The Maharagama Police are now investigating. Is Lankas future hanging from a lampost? View(s): Regardless of whatever possessed inebriated supporters of the so-called Joint Opposition to climb a lamppost in the capital and hang precariously from that perch while screaming rowdy slogans during the Rajapaksa-led peoples power march to Colombo this Wednesday, this exuberance (to put it kindly) did their political puppeteers no favours. An unhappy spectacle of raw greed That was just one action, some may protest. Yet, by itself, it was fairly symptomatic of the unbecoming character of this much hyped march, boasted at bringing Colombo to its knees. What it did was not to bring anything to its knees, far less the capital, though most quarters of the city emptied towards afternoon as workers cannily went home to avoid trouble on the streets but to treat us to the unhappy spectacle of bedraggled and intoxicated ruffians holding Rajapaksa flags askew and grinning horridly at television cameras as they staggered along. Saffron hued monks failed to lend any dignity to the event despite the lofty trumpeting of a satyagraha. What emerged instead was a muddle of political speeches on the same tired themes with no clear purpose or thrust. Indeed, the march highlighted the disreputable nature of the motley crowd positing themselves to grab political power. Looking at what unfolded, it became easy to understand the apprehension with which minority communities in Sri Lanka view political mobs. Only a twist of the imagination is required to picture these self-same ruffians setting houses on fire and torching human beings. This is no idle thought. After all, this is exactly what has happened in this country under all Governments, I might add. The Rajapaksas have no singular distinction in this regard. However, there is a difference here and this is an important one. When the Rajapaksas are in command, the extraordinary overlaps the ordinary. The thuggery is open and unabashed, not limited to particularly volatile times. Under former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, villages became dens of infamy with rape centres run in Dereniyagala by Rajapaksa-linked local councilors and Southern politicians openly raping female tourists and killing males as was the case in the Khurram Sheikh incident. Signs of rowdiness already emerging I deliberately refer to the Southern villages as what prevailed in the North and East under the Rajapaksa Presidency was far worse with victims not receiving any justice whatsoever. And in Colombo, lest we forget, bare bodied men danced in front of the Chief Justices house when she was tossed out of office with less ceremony than a common thief is treated by the police. We can see trends of this riotousness already developing as the Joint Opposition grows emboldened by the failures of the Government. This is evident in local councils supported by its pohottuwa (flower bud) party, to wit it must be added that anything less pure and innocent as a flower bud than this party with its leaders implicated in various crimes is hard to conceive. The Maharagama Urban Council is a prime example. Its Chairman captured headlines some months ago due to an official notice requiring citizens and employees to refer to him as Sir. This week, media reports were to the effect that its workers had gone on strike alleging that this same worthy had got them to kneel before him and had mercilessly assaulted them, landing all four employees in hospital, one reportedly in serious condition. The offence was the charge that the employees had imbibed liquor while on duty. If so, the response to this surely would have been to initiate disciplinary action? Regardless, the humor that arises therein is piquant and exquisitely so. So during the very week that the Rajapaksas boasted that they would bring Colombo to its knees (having failed to do so), the only miserable creatures brought to their knees (literally) were the workers of the Maharagama Urban Council, seemingly on the charge of being drunk as leveled by the head of the Council though he has denied that he assaulted them, which denial is to be expected. Little sincerity in promises held out That being so, it must also be quipped sardonically that being drunk is certainly not a reprimand that the intoxicated rabble rousers hanging from lampposts on Wednesday in their support of the former President will likely appreciate. But quips aside, this is not the only instance of rowdiness that has arisen since the pohottuwa party captured power in local councils earlier this year, though it will take more space than what this column permits to enumerate all of them. This is the precise turbulence that underlined Wednesdays march with little sincerity in the promises held out by speakers to heal the nations ills. Though Joint Opposition spokesmen cited the numbers game as demonstrating the political strength that it could command at any given moment, the flavor of this protest was more indicative of a gambit to dodge the court cases now proceeding with some alacrity against its key leaders rather than a genuine calling of the yahapalanaya Government (very rightly) to account for its failings. Even when assessed as fair mindedly as possible, this was not a march that awakened an inkling of reassurance that the former President, his family members, political allies and supporters have learnt basic lessons as to why the electorate rejected them three years ago. One element of that rejection was rapacity and avarice for power which caused fundamental damage to the countrys already weak political system and governance institutions. But the second element and equally vital was the shining hope reposed by Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim religious heads, disparate communities, artistes and professionals in the unlikely candidature of Maithripala Sirisena, as backed by the United National Party to change Sri Lanka for the better. Lawlessness is not an alternative to flawed yahapalanaya These were two inseparable reasons as why that change took place. If it was pure misrule by Rajapaksas alone, that would not have prompted the ejection of the Rajapaksas from power. Since that hopeful moment in January 2015, failures of coalition leaders, President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in the tasks of nation building have dimmed that light. As Sri Lanka stares to the future, no party and no potential Presidential candidate promises to quite capture that sense of exhilaration which pervaded the air then. However, with all that palpable disappointment or even righteous anger that we may feel, the alternative to yahapalanaya muddling of governance cannot be that lawless exhibition that we saw in Colombo on Wednesday. The underlying message with its implicitly ominous warning was clear as the pohottuwa marchers wound their unsteadily boisterous way through the capital. In truth, this is the mayhem that we may well expect in the event of a Rajapaksa-return. That much is very clear. Opposition members say Namals attempt to come to the forefront failed because he lacks experience and grassroots backing Ranil hits out at opposition and the media, says UNP grooming young leaders to take over by 2030 President plays role of neutral umpire, while seeking death penalty for those found guilty of robbing public money or property Wednesdays Joint Opposition (JO) protest ended the way it began clouded in secrecy, confusion and even some chaos. Other than a handful of organisers who kept their strategies close to their chests, most participants were blissfully unaware, not even of the venues they were to gather at. Merrymakers who guzzled bottles of arrack fell by the wayside. There were no buth packets for lunch nor bottles of water for many, the standard rations on such occasions. Some received bread and Seeni sambol but that was not enough to go around. The hot sun forced a few to faint. One of them was rebel MP Sudarshani Fernandopulle near the Bo tree junction in Pettah. If the declared objective of the protest was to demand early elections and call a halt to political victimisation through special courts among others, the voices were muted. Crowds chanted other slogans. Not surprisingly, when some JO parliamentarians had their own objectives. One-time Minister Pavithra Wannairachchi declared there would be a new government on September 6. So did rebel Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) MP S.B. Dissanayake. He is now busy brokering a deal between President Maithripala Sirisena and his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa, who is the de facto leader of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), the lead party of the JO. On Thursday, Dissanayake, who was a staunch supporter of the protest, told a news conference that the JO event had the blessings of President Sirisena. He said that security agencies were instructed by the President not to cause any inconvenience to those taking part in the protest. Sirisena did tell the Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera on Tuesday night to ensure that Police deployed for the protest did not confront the protestors or harass them in any way. He said they should be allowed to carry out a peaceful protest and leave the city. There was no confrontational Police presence where the protests took place. They were uniformed but covert, hiding in by lanes and behind buildings. The directive came hours after Tuesdays weekly cabinet meeting where Finance and Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera, in an unusual move, urged that the Police use rubber bullets to shoot below the knee of protestors if they violated the law and damaged public property. As reported in these columns, the cabinet had also discussed the possibility of attacks on state establishments. Were reports relating to this fake intelligence? That a key UNP Minister was urging the Government to use force on a legal protest did disturb some of his SLFP colleagues in the Cabinet. Fears of an outbreak of violence forced several western diplomatic missions in Colombo to close early. Several private sector companies urged their employees to leave early. City streets Traffic, normally moving bumper to bumper in the mornings, was scarce. There was confusion among a large number of protesters who were asked to gather outside Lake House the publisher of state-run newspapers. After all, Lake House was only printing the voice of those in the Government but is not a centre of power. Was it because there was no large security presence near Lake House as there was at the Janadipathi Mandiraya, the Presidential Secretariat, or Temple Trees, the official residence of the Prime Minister? If it was a symbolic move, then the television stations run by the state were an exception. In any case, as a protest it was meaningless since it could in no way change their pro-government stance. In the ensuing confusion, some of the protestors later marched to Pettah where crowds had gathered. By then President Rajapaksa who was in an open roof SUV had appeared in Pettah and was being driven to see the crowds outside Lake House. Also appearing in Pettah was former Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He received a marked ovation from the crowds who waved their fists and shouted Jayawewa, Jayawewa. However, there was also a bad mix up. Those handling his twitter account had tweeted Rata venuven Jana Gangak, Jana Balayak or a Peoples River for the sake of the country and a Peoples Force. It contained one large photograph and two smaller ones. This had been re-tweeted by Telecommunication Minister Harin Fernando. Barely an hour later, had Fernando tweeted again that he had removed the tweet after Gotabaya Rajapaksa had done so. Dilith Jayaweera, of the Ada Derana management had made a request to remove it. The reason the larger picture turned out to be of vast crowds taken by a drone at a rally titled Mahinda Samaga Nagimu or rise with Mahinda in the Nugegoda town on January 18, 2015. Rajapaksa did not attend the rally then but a message was read out on his behalf by Dayan Jayatilleke, who took over last week as Sri Lanka Ambassador to Russia. Minister Fernando said Since @ Gotabaya has deleted the misleading picture after realizing the mistake, I will be deleting my previous tweets as a matter of principle. In the lobbies of Parliament on Friday, the JO parliamentarians were still talking about what went wrong at the protest. One senior member said that after Mahinda Rajapaksa paid visits to places where the crowds were converged, some of those who took part had assumed the event was over and left the area. Another noted that not many party stalwarts accompanied Rajapaksa or were seen together with him; nor did he make a speech. A third observed that plans had been afoot to stage a satyagraha until the next day. This was after the crowds had gathered. He said that the move fizzled out because the crowds began to leave. They were also in general agreement that the aims of the protest could not be achieved since the arrangements were poor. The protest turned out to be nothing less than the baptism of Hambantota District MP Namal Rajapaksa. He was conducting his first political operation to muster crowds for a protest. The whizz kid of the opposition is still a novice and depends more on his twitter account, be it atop the Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania or the sweltering heat in Sri Lanka. Thus, his outreach at the grassroots level showed a serious inadequacy. He no doubt lacked his fathers experience and political savvy and also his fathers friendly instincts, complained some SLPP district top notches. He does not pay heed to what we say, complained a senior JO member. Thus, these responses naturally add to the oft repeated criticism over the dominance of the Rajapaksa family in opposition politics. In fact, Namals paternal uncle, former Minister Basil Rajapaksa, the key ideologue in the SLPP, before his departure to the United States last month, had chaired a string of meetings at the SLPP office at Nelum Pokuna Road, Battaramulla. He had opposed the idea of the protest going beyond midnight. He proposed that every member representing an electorate should bring a bus load. It was Basil Rajapaksa who was credited with the large turnout for the opposition during last years May Day rally at the Galle Face Green. Though there were 2,758 buses deployed, there were 60 seats in each. Some were full and others were not. At least two key JO politicians, some complained, had changed the plans. One such person, it is alleged, was away on the day of the protest. He had been at a funeral house near the SLPP office waiting to receive President Sirisena. It was only thereafter he had joined the rally. Another, JO firebrand Wimal Weerawansa did not hide his displeasure. Known to be run by him, a website (lankacnews.com) said quoting a television network that the protest had not been organised properly. This network had interviewed several participants. Another report further reflected the mood. It quoted Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasams Facebook post where a satire on Mahinda Rajapaksa assuming the post of Prime Minister (after September 5) was reported. The tenor of the website reportage underscored that the event was poorly organised. Yet, it was creditable enough that substantial crowds, which one senior Police officer estimated were more than 75,000 turned up. Earlier, the State Intelligence Service (SIS) had estimated the presence of some 65,000 and the Special Branch a much lower number. Both intelligence agencies were basing their estimates on reports from inputs that came from their district bureaus. The JOs poor show on Wednesday also has some adverse repercussions for it. Though it succeeded in mustering a respectably substantial crowd despite the shortcomings, it failed to deliver its intended message to cause an impact. Needless to say that was a setback. The blunders in arrangements have put paid to it though the JO support base remains intact. With the results of February 10 local council elections, the JO has been riding a high wave that gave it overwhelming confidence. It appears the JO has squandered some away and in the process exposed its weak points. The local polls victory which saw some rumblings within could otherwise exacerbate. Of course, these have not come as manna from heaven to the ruling coalition. If President Sirisena appeared consistent that the protest should be allowed with no intervention by the Police, the United National Party (UNP) appeared to be at odds. It disfavoured a large turnout at the protest, a move that would have placed it in bad light. More so with its debilitating performance at the local polls. In fact, Sirisena urged Western Province Chief Minister Isuru Devapriya to withdraw the ban the Western Provincial Council Transport Authority had placed on bus operators undertaking special tours. He also sought the possibility of not holding Parliament sessions on September 4 and 5, as reported in these columns last week. Speaker Karu Jayasuriya denied in a statement on Monday that he had received any such instructions. He is correct in his assertion that no such request was directed to him. However, JO Parliamentary leader Dinesh Gunawardena told the Sunday Times that at a party leaders meeting chaired by the Speaker, Leader of the House Lakshman Kiriella did say that there had been a request to him from President Sirisena not to hold sittings on the two dates. The Sunday Times learns that Speaker Jayasuriya was not in favour of the request since that would be contrary to parliamentary traditions which he was required to uphold. Nor was the UNP in favour of such a postponement. As is now the practice, the platoon of UNPs voice warriors waxed eloquent ahead of the protest with their learned opinions. One who is usually economic with the truth declared unabashedly that it was not a protest that the opposition planned but a civil disobedience campaign. Another asserted that it was to sabotage the development programmes of the Government. On Thursday the day after the protest, there was glee among most of them. They seemed to sigh in relief that the JO had not succeeded in toppling the Government or even coming anywhere close to it. The argument defied logic. If indeed the JO had such power to oust the coalition government overnight, it need not have waited until last Wednesday to launch a project. Those who voice such views, more often, do not realise they are ruining their own credibility. Yet, there is a fine thread of seriousness running through this serial comedy. That is the fact that there is no cohesive leadership at times of crisis or protests perceived as threats to national security. It is no secret that different persons are told to offer different views no matter whether they are contradictory or furthest from the truth. That highlights the lack of a firm leadership. That is to speak in one voice and thus obviate the circulation of fairy tales and lay to rest any speculation. It was only on Tuesday that Premier Wickremesinghe spoke to his parliamentary group. He struck a conciliatory note saying there would be no problem as long as the protestors were peaceful. Evidently, he was falling in line with Sirisenas thinking. He expressed the same sentiments when he later spoke to Colombo District MPs, Provincial Councillors and members of local authorities. With that, the UNP rank and file did not offer any visible resistance to the protestors. On Thursday, Wickremesinghe addressed a meeting to mark the 72nd anniversary of the United National Party (UNP) at its headquarters Sri Kotha in Pita Kotte. In a hard-hitting speech, he asked how a group which could not hold a protest successfully could lead a government. Noting that the JO Janabalaya protest was to topple the Government, he claimed that the JO had lost whatever little support it had in the country. He said the media had also lost their credibility for providing enhanced publicity to the JO. Wickremesinghe also added another assurance to his long catalogue of forecasts that by 2030, or more than twelve years from now, young leaders would take over the UNP. He said he had groomed the next line of leaders but did not name them. That would also naturally mean he will be the UNPs candidate at the next presidential election. It is in this backdrop that President Sirisena dropped a bombshell on Wednesday just when the protests were still under way. He proposed that the death sentence be imposed on those found guilty of abusing public property and money. If that were to become a reality, Sri Lanka will become the first country in this planet to impose such a penalty. Perhaps, he did not mean what he said except to underscore the urgency to tackle bribery and corruption. Sirisena had earlier called for death sentence on drug lords serving prison sentences but were still directing drug-running from their cells. Already, Police Chief Pujith Jayasundera has launched an anti-drugs operation under the charge of DIG Colombo North Deshabandu Tennekoon. Since then, Police raids on drug dens have been on the increase though much needs to be done. Though not in the best English, a news release put out by the President Sirisenas Media Division tells the story. President Maithripala Sirisena says the government of good governance has been committed to build a system to boost clean governance free of fraud and corruption while taking many decisions against fraud, corruption and malpractices, that were not taken during the period of 70 years since the country gained independence. He made these remarks addressing the awards ceremony of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Enterprises held at the premises of the Parliament, yesterday (05). President Sirisena said that during the past period several steps, including strengthening of the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery of Corruption as an independent Commission were taken and made amendments to the Investigate Allegations of Bribery of (sic) Corruption Act and further said that it was a great achievement to establish the Audit Commission. Also, the President said that it is expected to establish the audit service promptly which was limited to lip service for the last 40 to 50 years. Expressing his views regarding the distress among the people about the delays regarding the enforcement of laws against the fraud, corruption and theft, he said that fulfilling the aspirations of the people placed on the government of good governance, steps should be taken to punish those wrongdoers swiftly. The President also stressed the need to expedite the process of speeding up the lawsuits against the offenders as well as accelerate implementation of the recommendations given by the special presidential commission (sic) appointed by him to investigate serious frauds and corruption that took place in the country. President Sirisena said that even the death penalty should include in the laws against persons who misuse public property and public money. The President pointed out the importance of implementing activities free of fraud and corruption to revive the field of business in the state sector. The President also pointed out the importance of strengthening the physical and human resources of the institutions that engage in eliminating corruption and fraud. After evaluating information from 837 institutions, including all the state institutions, all the Ministries of the central government, all the Departments, all provincial councils, district secretariats and local government institutions, awards were presented to 101 institutions under different categories for their higher performances. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, Secretary-General of Parliament, Dhammika Dasanayake, Chairman of COPE, Deputy Minister Lasantha Alagiyawanna, Auditor General H.M. Gamini Wijesinghe and others were present on this occasion. Other than President Sirisenas concerns, the remarks, no doubt, are a double edged weapon. On the one hand, the Trial-at-Bar High Court has already been set up to expeditiously hear allegations of bribery and corruption against former President Rajapaksas family members as well as those who served in his administration. On the other, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) detectives are continuing their probe, though somewhat slow and tardy, on the Central Bank bond scam. Those allegedly involved are linked to the UNP administration. Whoever may be found guilty of acquiring state assets or robbing state funds, it would be near impossible, to hand out death penalty to them without facing both a domestic and international outcry. The question also arises whether the existing laws are adequate to deal with such situations or more legislation would be necessary. Does this mean the coalition is incapable of enacting tougher laws, instead of a death penalty, to deal with those found to be corrupt and robbing public funds? Even Sirisenas declaration to carry out the death sentence on convicts running drug operations has come under criticism. Despite his repeated assertions, it has not been carried out. It has also met with criticism from the international community. Sirisenas latest suggestion of death penalty for robbing state assets and funds nevertheless underscores the levels to which it has proliferated. In essence, the coalition which has remained in office for three years so far, has not got its act together. With elections round the corner, it has placed on fast track cases against those in the previous administration but investigations into most cases still move at snails pace. On top of that, other priorities have surfaced. On Thursday the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)s draft 20th amendment to the Constitution was tabled in Parliament. One of the highlights is abolishing the executive presidency with no recourse to any referendum. Since this is a private members motion, it could take as much as two to five months to get on the order book, said a JVPer. Hard on the heels of that move, the UNP is pressing ahead with a new draft Constitution which it hopes to present in Parliament very soon, according to Leader of the House, Lakshman Kiriella. He told Parliament on Friday that it would come in the form of a report from the expert panel. This draft too seeks to abolish the Executive Presidency. The question still lingers whether the coalition will be in a position to muster two thirds in Parliament for the passage of a new Constitution. We will first study the draft bill before we make our position known, JO Parliamentary leader Dinesh Gunawardena said yesterday. Commenting on Wednesdays protest, he said, we had a good turnout and it is a success However, UNPs spokesperson Minister Harin Fernando declared it was a flop. As is clear, a partner of the coalition government, the UNP, is now locked in political battle with the JO. The other coalition partner, the SLFP leader and President Sirisena, at least formally, is playing the role of a neutral umpire. The political circus continues. 182 New Govt. schools between 2013-17: Report View(s): There has been an increase in the number of schools in the country from 2013 to 2017, while the number of schools teaching Science subjects too increased during this period, stated the Progress Review of Education in Sri Lanka. According to the Progress Review, schools teaching all subjects increased from 10,012 to 10,194, while schools teaching Science subjects had risen from 868 to 1,028, from 2013 to 2017. A Free Education system from Kindergarten to University was introduced in 1945 by the late Dr C.W.W. Kannangara, which paved the way for a system of National Education, which has now increased to more than 10,000 government schools islandwide. DW Ed Sheeran to take to the silver screen in Danny Boyle film View(s): Ed Sheeran will be acting as himself in film to be directed by Danny Boyle. The music themed comedy, will centre on the character played by actor Himesh Patel. Reports from the UK say the shooting the segments around Sheeran has already been completed. Benny Blanco has claimed his first UK chart topping song as a performing artist with Eastside. Benny has been in the background as a songwriter or producer, or as a combination of both, until Eastside came along. The 30 year old US artist from Virginia emerged to the frontline after more than a decade with his debut release. The electronica pop track debuted on the UK chart at 52 and then commenced a smooth climb upwards, before taking the final two slot jump to the No: 1 position on the singles chart. Blanco whose real name is Benny Levin, co- wrote the hit song with Ed Sheeran, Halsey, Khalid Robinson, Nathan Perez and Lakshya Agrawal. Benny co produced the song with Andrew Watt and Cashmere Cat. Although Blanco is credited with the release of Eastside as a solo single, the vocals are performed by Halsey and Khalid Robinson. Eastside had a combined 50,000 sales plus 5.8 million streams as it took the top spot on the chart. Meanwhile some of the songs and artists Blanco has penned or produced are I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry, Freaky Friday by Drake, California Curls by Katy Perry, Dynamite by Taio Cruz, Payphone by Maroon 5 Diamonds by Rihanna, Perfect by Ed Sheeran and Love Yourself by Justin Bieber. The battle for the No: 1 spot was between Benny Blancos Eastside and Calvin Harris/ Sam Smith duet Promises. The latter which debuted on the chart last week at 4 moved up to No: 2. The countdown will be interesting next week. US rapper Juice WRLD has secured a top 10 spot for his song Lucid Dreams as it advance from 11 to No: 10. The emo rap song is the first track to roll of his 3 track EP 999 last year and then added on his debut album Goodbye & Good Riddance in May this year. The song has also peaked at the No:3 spot on the US hot 100 singles chart too. Lucid Dreams samples Stings Shape Of My Heart. Eminem has released a surprise album Kamikaze on August 31. It is the 10th work by the rapper. The 13 track album is already doing well and is expected to debut high on the UK album chart. Meanwhile the album has angered some musicians like Dan Reynolds of Imagine Dragons and the rapper Machine Gun Kelly, who allege Eminem has taken swipes at them in some of the songs. Sir Cliff Richard is to release his first new album in 14 years. Rise Up a 16 track album will be out on 23rd November with the title track preceding on 12th October. The album will also have a duet with Olivia Newton John called Everybodys Someone. The new album comes after a difficult period in the life of Sir Cliff, who cleared his name in a legal battle with the BBC. TW LW 1 3 Eastside Benny Blanco ft: Khalid & Halsey 2 4 Promises Calvin Harris & Sam Smith 3 1 Shotgun George Ezra 4 2 In My Feelings Drake 5 5 Body Loud Luxury ft: Brando 6 6 God Is A Woman Ariana Grande 7 9 Girls Like You Maroon 5 ft: Cardi B 8 7 No Brainer DJ Khaled ft: Justin Bieber/ Quavo/ Chance The Rapper 9 10 Taste Tyga ft: Offset 10 11 Lucid Dreams Juice WRLD If Ive made people think-Ive succeeded By Purnima Pilapitiya Well known face and voice, Dino Corera talks about his Freddy experience as FREDDY 3-A New Hope! is set to hit the stage View(s): View(s): Its been two years since Dino Corera first walked onto the stage at Freddy, with his disarming smile, hands in his pockets and a few very Sri Lankan schemes (which may include entering politics, becoming the son-in-law of a central banker or starting his own religious denomination) to take him from his tuk life and nano cab days to owning a forty million rupee car. In July, Dino along with the cast of Freddy called the Temple Trees auditorium their home- for one night that is, inviting 2600 of their loyal followers to an evening of Sri Lankan stand-up comedy at its freshest. Next month, Dino and the rest of Freddy will be back on stage with a new show- FREDDY 3-A New Hope! written and directed by Feroze Kamardeen and presented by StageLight&Magic.Inc. A seasoned thespian whose name and appealing voice weve grown accustomed to seeing on screen, stage and over the radio, Dino isnt afraid to shake off the image of him many saw at the last edition of Freddy. It was frightening, he says of his 45-minute segment, more a political roast rather than your expected comedy routine. I wanted to hit home, he says but confesses to being initially intimidated by the script, wondering if it would be too heavy for the crowd, not excluding the VIPs and stars of his skit seated in the front rows. But for Director Feroze, Dino and the cast shaking up peoples thought process is the very essence of Freddy. We talk about what people are thinking about but what no one is really saying, he adds. His skit back in July, despite the obvious humour, was a no filter, no holds barred outpouring of the questions and thoughts of the general public, via Dinos conversational, informative style of speaking. The comedians style comes as no surprise. Back in 2016, Dinos very first stand-up was a conversation about growing up middle class in Sri Lanka, drawing from his own experiences and observations. People dont want to watch and be influenced by celebrities anymore. People want to see people who look like them, who they can relate to. Its also why he feels comedy; especially comedy in the local English theatre scene has come so far. We love our farce, he states. Dino himself has a history of both serious drama and comedy with a soft spot for dark humour. But for the thespian, while farce and the more familiar styles of comedy will always prevail, the genre has expanded much in the recent past in the local English theatre scene. With stand-up comedy reaching mainstream platforms with entertainers like John Oliver, Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah, there has never been a better time for political satire. At home too, Dino finds Sri Lankan humour changing and branching out. We dont laugh at ourselves as a people, he observes. Testing the general publics sensitivities on politics, race, religion and social norms, the Freddy franchise has found significant success with new converts with every show and encouraging people not to overly think things, he adds; a needed change with the digital age. But its not just their audiences who have been moved by Freddy. As a performer who has seen Freddy since its debut, he finds that his no filter stage persona even reaches out to the way he interacts off stage. People are a little more accepting about what I say now, he laughs self-deprecatingly, its nice to be able to share it with more people. When Dino takes the mic (and the mickey out of a few) next month, you can expect the eye-opening political satire that audiences have grown accustomed to from him. It doesnt come as a surprise, going back to his roots as a news presenter and radio host, that he holds himself as being accountable and responsible to incite change and a positive impact on those around him. The ability to be their authentic selves on stage and be brutally honest about issues and matters that are important to people sugarcoated with humour is their way of non-violently opposing the injustices in the country Dino explains. Looking up to comedians and media personalities like Trevor Noah, Dave Chappelle and the late Lasantha Wickrematunge- Dinos idea of a good show goes beyond a standing ovation or a sea of laughter. If Ive made people think-Ive succeeded. StageLight&Magic.Inc present Freddy 3- A New Hope! Directed by Feroze Kamardeen from October 18-23.Box plan and tickets will be available at the Lionel Wendt from October 1. Taking their passion for food to the people By Sashini Rodrigo Sri Lankas first Food Atrium to open to the public on September 19 View(s): View(s): Colombo is set to welcome a bold new contender to its already bustling dining scene with Food Atrium, an exciting collection of exclusive food outlets at the Colombo City Centre. Located near the banks of the Beira Lake, it is perfectly situated for both casual and corporate diners. Whether you want to take advantage of the beautiful indoor seating, enjoy the views of the Colombo skyline on the terrace, or want to hold a meeting in one of its private spaces, Food Atrium is designed to accommodate the needs of all their patrons. Set to officially open to the public on September 19, Food Atrium opened its doors for a special preview for the children of The Warehouse Project and The Sri Jinananda Childrens Home, in an afternoon of games, laughter, music, and especially food. Children were invited to sample some of the dishes from Food Atriums 15 outlets, a delicious and eclectic menu put together by the teams from Jagro, Shiok!, Isle of Gelato, Fresh Intentions by Roots, Sumatran Spice by Far East Indonesian, Mango Tree, Punch by Wine World, Tokyo Shukudo, China Street Food and Okra Kitchen. Food is an important part of culture, and sharing that passion with the community is integral to the Food Studio philosophy of Connect and Collaborate, according to Chairman of Food Studio Lim Tai Toom. Familiar local names are joined by a few international neighbours, from franchise favourites like Portuguese flame-grilled chicken from Aporto to total newcomers like the charming confections of The Little Prince by Mitsi. Food Atrium also promises authentic fare from Singapore, Japan, Indonesia, China and Portugal to name a few. This will be Food Studios first Atrium in Sri Lanka, with plans for more at Shangri-La Colombo in 2019 and at Havelock City in 2022. For many of these outlets, Food Atrium will be their debut into the fast dining industry as they are typically small family-owned businesses. The Food Studio team emphasises the importance of nurturing their relationships with the restaurants, and are deeply involved in helping them to grow and maintain their business while preserving their theme of memories from home. This theme is reflected in the design of the atrium, featuring elegant and traditional woodwork, decor and furniture. It is an undeniably exclusive location, showcasing eateries that are the cream of the crop like Sri Lankas first dessert bar House on The Moon, specialising in deconstructed desserts created by Michelin starred chefs. There are significant differences between the food courts we are used to and the Food Atrium, other than its upmarket setting. Lim explains that it is not about the rent of a retail space, as it is anywhere else. It is about the diverse and passionate entrepreneurs that have brought their cultural identity to this country through their food. He compares the company motto of Connect and Collaborate to salt, an important component in food preparation as it serves two key roles; that of preserving as well as a flavour enhancing agent. As salt, we hope to play a role in the preservation of all thats good in humanity i.e. kindness, love, charity and in the Sri Lankan culture, warm hospitality. As salt, we also hope to enhance the life of those whom we interact with. Lim and Director of Food Studio Nadeem Rajabdeen laugh as they describe the process of going out to the homes and kitchens of these small business owners to sample their dishes; evidently a significantly enjoyable perk of the job. Their aim is to convince the public to try different cuisines in a comfortable setting, so they may experience the beauty of collaboration and community building through food, often hailed as the language of love. Tracing your routes By Mahesh De Andrado View(s): View(s): If you travel by bus a lot, you are probably familiar with the routes that these busses take. But what happens if you are unfamiliar with or you havent gone there before? Well, thats where Bus Routes Colombo wants to help out. Developed by Jude Vajira Gunasekara for Android devices, Bus Routes Colombo does exactly what the name of the app says. It provides you with travel instruction for travelling by bus. Intrigued by the concept, I decided to give it a spin. The initial look As soon as you open the app, youre asked to give permission for the app to access your devices location. This is obviously needed to plot a route via bus. Once permission is granted, users are given an interface that is similar to that of taxi-hailing apps, complete with start and end routes. You can choose to enter a start location or you can click the GPS icon on the search bar to narrow down your location. I picked a few popular locations such as Galle Face, Viharamaha Devi Park, and Urban Wetland Park in Nawala because those are areas I frequent often when playing Pokemon GO and Jurassic World Alive. Bus Routes Colombo starts with a single step Once the destination is given, the Bus Routes Colombo app gives you a list of all possible routes. An interesting thing that I noticed was that the app gave results based on a number of ratings. These were Fastest, Lowest Fare and Shortest in terms of distance. The route that fulfils most, if not all criteria get listed as the top result with other results following suit. The selected route also shows you how long you would take to get there, the distance to the destination as well as the amount of bus fare needed. All three elements are actually very helpful if youre planning to commute by bus a lot. In addition, clicking the bottom area of the app that has the route details will also give you a further expanded view of the route. Apart from the step by step instructions, Bus Routes Colombo also shows you the current traffic conditions as well from here, you are actually given a step by step breakdown of your route. For example, in order to get to Viharamaha Devi Park (which was my destination), the Colombo Bus Routes app recommended that I walk to the Police Park Bus Stop, and take a 138 bus to the destination. The distance to the bus halt was also listed down along with how long it would take to walk there. The app also lists own the current traffic condition as well. When they said step-by-step, they mean it. I walk slightly faster than the average human being so the 10-minute walk may be slightly inaccurate. In the event that multiple busses pass along to your destination, they are all listed in the Bus Routes Colombo app. In case the same bus number has varying routes, that too is listed down. Clicking on the individual steps in the route also highlights that particular area of the route as well. Its still a work in progress Speaking of bus routes, as per the developer and the app name itself, bus routes within the app are limited to Colombo. So if youre planning on taking a bus to a slightly further distance, you might need to double check the routes with someone as well. If you are travelling, you can also check out this app that we looked at that helps you book your bus seat as well. Bus Routes Colombo is still a Work in progress in some areas According to the developer, the data added to the app is still being updated and verified. Further, the app does not take into account the live traffic. So if youre planning on timing your journey, you might also want to use Google Maps or something similar as well. You should also be aware that certain walking paths that are listed in the app may not actually be suitable for walking. As such, being aware of your surroundings is important. Overall, we would definitely recommend taking Bus Routes Colombo for a spin. While its currently limited to only showing routes in and around Colombo, hopefully, the developer would add more areas and perhaps even map out a greater part of Sri Lanka. This, in turn, can be beneficial to both locals and tourists alike. Is it really a groundbreaker? Its definitely an app that I found myself using a lot. This was not only because I was traveling a lot, but to also familiarise myself with the various bus routes I can take to locations that I go to. While this is a good stepping stone, we must also look at the sustainability of apps like Bus Routes Colombo. If you recall, a while ago, Google announced that they would be adding public transportation routes for Sri Lanka. I, along with most of my colleagues use Google Maps as the default app to navigate to locations. So if Google does implement features to add routes for public transportation, I wouldnt need a second app like Bus Routes Colombo. Even if the developers add Googles new data into their app, it still wouldnt make me switch. So unless the developers can build up a cult following like Helakuru did with their Sinhala voice typing, I dont see them surviving that Google Maps update. But that being said, Street View took years to come to Sri Lanka. And even then its not updated on a regular basis I believe. So, for now, its definitely a handy app. Whether it remains handy in the future is something Id say is up for speculation. The image here indicates the app showing bus routes to Jaffna, Kandy, and Hambanthota, respectively As of August 30, 2018, Bus Routes Colombo has been updated to show long-distance bus routes as well. It should also be noted that the feature is currently available for Beta testers of the app. Buses taking routes to Jaffna, Kandy, and Hambanthota, for example, are all displayed in the app along with where to get the bus from, along with the other standard details that the app usually shows. If you would like to be a beta tester, you can do so by joining the beta programme on the Apps page in the Google Play Store. 100 MegaWatt wind farm project stuck in the Cabinet By Sandun Jayawardena View(s): View(s): A Danish wind turbine manufacturer has won a tender to build the 100 MegaWatt wind farm in Mannar but the project is held up by delays at Cabinet level. The Ceylon Electricity Board Engineers Union (CEBEU) has now urged Cabinet to speed up approval of the US$ 140 million (Rs 22,68 billion) project which Vestas Asia Pacific A/S, Denmark, secured, following evaluation of international competitive bids. The venture is expected to be completed by May 2020. Approval of the Standing Cabinet Appointed Procurement Committee (SCAPC) and the Asian Development Bank, which is providing funds under a concessionary loan, has already been approved, but Cabinet approval is still pending. Electricity from this project can be generated at less than US 5 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh). This is just below Rs 8 per kWh at prevailing exchange rates, CEBEU Committee Member Athula Wanniarachchi said. Construction of Wind Farm would be greatly influenced by climate conditions in Mannar, Mr Wanniarachchi warned. Therefore, timely awarding of the contract is crucial, to complete the project by the May 2020 deadline, as wind turbines need to be hoisted prior to the onset of the South-West monsoon. If there is a considerable delay in commencing project activities, they may end up having to hoist up the turbines during strong monsoonal winds, which may not be feasible, he observed. In such a scenario, the CEB estimates that, completion of the project may have to be pushed back to the first quarter of 2021. This would mean the plant would lose out on generating 280 million kWh of electricity, from a South-West monsoonal season. The CEBEU has urged the Cabinet to approve the project, so that, the contract can be awarded by next month. Cabinet errs between AK-47 and SAR-40 View(s): A Cabinet paper presented by Wildlife Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka had erred in stating the Government will issue AK-47 rifles a select fire weapon capable of fully automatic fire to solve the human-elephant conflict. What will be imported are 2,568 semi-automatic SAR-40 rifles from China, to be issued to Civil Security Department (CSD) personnel and Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) officers, for self defence against poachers and others who trespass on Wildlife sanctuaries, the Minister said this week. There is no information to be found on SAR-40 in reputed sources online. The firearms are aimed at easing the human-elephant conflict but are not intended for use on the pachyderms, the minister insisted. Some 3,000 CSD personnel would be deployed to reinforce the electrical fencing project. Some, along with DWC officers, would be equipped with the new firearms, he said. The large number of firearms to be released has raised concerns in many quarters. Two-thousand-five-hundred rifles would suffice to equip several battalions, almost a brigade, said a retired senior army officer, speaking to the Sunday Times on condition of anonymity. Firearms-related violence and crime has been a major security concern in the recent past. Nevertheless, the minister vowed that all legal requirements and procedures regarding the use and secure storage of firearms would be followed, when the arms were issued for field use. A Cabinet paper dated August 7, 2018, had named the firearm as an AK-47, the infamous Kalashnikov-designed weapon from Russia. But Minister Fonseka said it would be imported from China and would be a semi-automatic rifle incapable of fully automatic-fire. It uses the same ammunition as the T-56 assault rifle, he added, calling it SAR-40, rather than AK-47, as mentioned in the Cabinet paper. The Cabinet paper lists the unit price of the rifle at Rs 16,000 (for 2018) and 17,000 (for 2019). The total cost is estimated at Rs 42 million. The AK 47 pattern of rifles have many variations and have been widely exported and licensed to be built in many countries including China, Iran, Pakistan, India and most of the former Soviet Republics. A Chinese-built variant of the AK-47, the T-56 assault rifle, was widely used by the Sri Lanka military, law enforcement officers and the LTTE during the war. Minister Fonseka said all officers would undergo training in the proper use of the SAR-40. He acknowledged that new Rules of Engagement needed to be drafted and enforced by the Ministry, as to how and when these firearms could or could not be used by CSD and Wildlife officers. The CSD would be responsible for the firearms issued to it and the DWC for the ones held by its staff. The CSD stands ready to assist the project and noted that CSD personnel are already involved in building and maintaining the existing elephant fence, said CSD Director General Maj.Gen. Nirmal Coswatte. Find your own water sources for future projects, property developers in Colombo City told By Chris Kamalendran View(s): View(s): Property developers, particularly those building condominiums in Colombo city, have been told they must find their own water sources by installing high volume, deep tube wells for future projects due to depletion of treated water provided through the mains supply, said Patali Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Megapolis and Western Development. The National Water Supply & Drainage Board (NWSDB) this week warned consumers to use water sparingly due to the ongoing drought, which has caused consumption to rise sharply. Supply to several locations situated at higher altitudes around Colombo have been disrupted. The ongoing drought in parts of the country could lead to an unsustainable situation for the NWSDB, the Minister warned. Forty percent of every 100 litres of water supplied to consumers in the Western Province currently goes waste due to leakages as the underground pipeline network is 150 years old. So, we need immediate action to lay a new pipeline network, he said. But, it will cost a colossal amount. During the previous regime, the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) had issued 10, 000 permits to build unauthorized constructions mainly in Colombo Fort and Dehiwela-Mt.Lavinia areas, the Minister said. This was done arbitrarily and without considering the environmental impact, including water resources. About 4000 court cases have so far been filed against these buildings by the Urban Development Authority (UDA). The NWSDB provides water to a million consumers in the Western Province. Fifty percent of them are in Colombo City and the suburbs. We receive 200 new applications for new connections every month from Colombo City, including from condominiums, said Sumith Perera, NWSDB Deputy General Manager (Western Province Central). Mauris sit-in protest highlights plight of thousands of families of missing people By Sandaran Rubatheesan View(s): View(s): Every first week of September for the past five year, Mauri Inoka comes from Anuradhapura to sit in protest in front of the Presidential Secretariat in Colombo. She has just one wish: To know what became of her husband, Madushka Haris, a fruit vendor who was abducted in 2013 along with two others by an armed group. Mauri was heavily pregnant. The other men were later released but Madushka remains missing. Sitting with her this week was Abdul Wajith Siththi Jameena whose son, a three-wheeler driver in Colombo, and two of his passengers were taken by an unknown group in 2009. All three are still missing. Today, the children of these men are being raised by single mothers amidst immense hardships with no knowledge of what befell their fathers. Like Mauri and Siththi Jameena, thousands of families of disappeared are waiting for answers to what happened to their missing children who were abducted or made to disappear. Last month, due to ill health, Tamil mothers in the North and East ended their yearlong protest demanding the whereabouts of their children. Im tired of going to police stations, courts and various commissions to find out what happened to my husband, Mauri told the Sunday Times while she was sitting at the Galle Face Green. Despite complaints to the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and other authorities, little or nothing has happened so far. The court case is being dragged on for years. I dont think this Government will give me justice but I wont stop my struggle, she said. Some civil society activists sat with her in solidarity while passers-by stopped to inquire about her tragic story. Mauri said she was sceptical about the effectiveness of recently established Office of Missing Persons (OMP) and is yet to lodge a complaint with the office. OMP Chairman Saliya Pieris told the Sunday Times that those who wanted to lodge a fresh complaint on a past enforced disappearance could do so by writing to the office directly. The OMPs interim report outlining measures that could be taken in near future to provide relief to families of the disappeared was hand over to President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday. President Sirisena told representatives of international donor agencies that he had appointed a cabinet sub-committee to study the report. He vowed that steps would be taken to implement its recommendations, including providing livelihoods and welfare to the families of missing persons. We made some specific recommendations to the Government and the Ministry of Defence for the security forces that have to be implemented through Attorney Generals Department, Mr Pieiris noted. The OMP will take up the other recommendations with relevant agencies for a comprehensive implementation process. Meanwhile, Adayaalam Centre for Policy Research, a Jaffna-based NGO, said in a paper released last week that families of disappeared and civil society activists closely working with them are subject to surveillance, harassment and intimidation in the Northern and Eastern provinces. No mechanism to address disappearances will be able to succeed without the important step to ensuring victim and witness protection and protect the families who still continue to search for their loved ones, in spite of all the risks, the paper said. OMPs interim report shows grave picture The Office of Missing Persons (OMP) has noted with concern the existence of patterns of behaviour by State actors which enables enforced disappearances to be met with persistent impunity, the OMP said in its interim report released this week. Some individuals suspected of having committed enforced disappearances and related offences are being permitted to remain in positions of powerespecially within the armed forces and the policewhere they can influence the progress of an investigation, it observed. There have been instances where members of the armed forces, who were willing to provide information on disappearances, were subject to harassment. The OMP has urged the State to provide relief measures to the families of missing but stressed that, The acceptance of relief measures cannot be regarded as a waiver of the right to adequate, prompt and effective reparation for the damage caused and the right to seek judicial remedies for accountability. It pointed out that previous efforts at compensation have created distrust among victims and in turn have created doubt over the States willingness to provide truth and justice. The OMP has proposed as interim relief measures the payment of Rs 6,000 as a monthly living allowance to the surviving spouse, children or parents of a missing or disappeared person with no permanent income; a write-off of debt such as microfinance loans valued at or below an amount determined by the Ministry of Finance and implementation of a new housing programme for permanent houses or financial assistance to complete partially built houses giving priority to these families. Also recommended are scholarships for children in the form of a monthly allowance of Rs 2,000, vocational and livelihood development programmes and employment quotas. The office urges that priority be given to investigation and prosecution of cases involving enforced disappearances and the investigation of all incidents of arbitrary arrest, torture, deaths in custody. It calls for State officials, including members of the armed forces and police who are named as suspects or accused in criminal actions relating to abductions and enforced disappearances, be suspended pending the final determination of such cases. Camera trapping the elusive leopards of Wasgamuwa By Chandima Fernando and Ravi Corea View(s): View(s): As dusk descended gradually obliterating the land of its features we slowly headed towards the entrance to the Wasgamuwa National Park, cruising on the dusty dirt track that wound alongside the dried grass plains. And then suddenly there by the forest edge was a solitary leopard! It was sitting on its haunches with the head and shoulders showing above and blending beautifully with the rustling grass tinted a golden hue by the sinking sun. From its alert posture we deduced it was on the hunt. Slowly drawing to halt we experienced probably one of the rarest encounters in Wasgamuwameeting a ghost of the forest, the Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya). One of the most striking features of Wasgamuwa is the incredible diversity of its flora and fauna, which is exquisitely unique with a high endemicity and most of the islands large and small mammals inhabiting the region. The occurrence of diverse habitat types in Wasgamuwa is one of the primary contributing factors to the high diversity and uniqueness of the regions wildlife. Wasgamuwa is also an important bird area. Interestingly, the name Wasgamuwa is derived from the past when this entire region was known as Walas Gamuwa, the land of the bear. Besides conducting research on human elephant conflicts and developing sustainable measures for its mitigation, we want to understand the rich biodiversity in the region and identify current threats to help in their protection and conservation. With the issue of human-elephant conflict making the headlines, the conservation status of other wildlife in the island is often overlooked. This is rather unfortunate since Wasgamuwa is one of the few places in Sri Lanka where you can observe all the mega carnivores and herbivores in the country. Furthermore, almost all our mesocarnivores such as civets and mongooses also inhabit forests in Wasgamuwa. Apart from one scientific research project conducted in 2003 on the sloth bear, no other research has been conducted since then and very little is known about the carnivores in Wasgamuwa. The biggest challenge to studying terrestrial mammalian carnivores in Sri Lanka is that they are elusive. Almost all of them are mostly nocturnal and solitary in their habits. In 2005, we made an effort to assess the forest reserves in Wasgamuwa for the presence of leopards by using remote cameras. The fact that even with definite physical signs such as scat, pug marks, and scratch posts quite evident, not one animal was recorded by the cameras. This fruitless effort was called The Pooping Ghost Project. The name aptly reflecting the frustrations we felt since we frequently encountered fresh piles of scat giving evidence to the presence of leopards but we were unable to get one photograph for visual confirmation. Adding to the challenges was the prevalence of poachers which resulted in the theft of nearly 80 percent of the cameras due to which the project had to be abandoned. A renewed effort was made ten years later in 2016 with the main objective being to collect ecological data on the leopards in Wasgamuwa using remote cameras. This research is done in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife and Conservation and we are also supported by Dr. Anthony Giordano of the Society for the Preservation of Endangered Carnivores & their International Ecological Study (S.P.E.C.I.E.S.) based in the USA. Remote camera traps is one of the most effective and non-invasive tools conservationists and scientists use to obtain information about wildlife. Camera traps help scientists to collect a wealth of data on the presence, demography, habitat use, different behaviours and threats to rare and threatened species around the world that are not easily observable in the wild. Unlike the leopards in Yala and Wilpattu, the leopards in Wasgamuwa are very elusive and getting scientific data through direct observations is impossible. The use of remote cameras has helped to overcome this challenge and allowed us to collect a wealth of information about leopards, other carnivore species and animals in Wasgamuwa. In 2017 with the permission and in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Conservation we deployed a range of remote camera traps inside the Wasgamuwa National Park and in the forests outside the park. Over a period of 12 months we set up 85 camera stations mainly in the southern and eastern areas of the National Park covering an area of 85.5 square kilometres. This is approximately one quartre of the total area of the park which is 393 square kilometres in extent. In the area outside the national park we set up 17 camera traps in an area covering 3.5 kilometres of disturbed habitat that is frequently used by people. Our total camera effort in the first year was 2662 camera trap days capturing 234 leopard images in total, which makes it one of the most rigorous camera trapping research efforts in Sri Lanka. While we are still in the process of analyzing this data with the aid of image analysis software the preliminary findings are amazing! In a highly disturbed habitat that is 3.5 square km in area and located outside the Wasgamuwa National Park there are two males and four female leopards. This is an area that sees frequent human traffic both vehicular and pedestrian and yet there are six leopards inhabiting this area. Through our research we are seeing how versatile and adaptable leopards are. Some of our cameras have captured leopards on the very edge and in human dominated landscapes avoiding humans effectively as they occupy such marginal habitats. Inside the park in an 85.5 square km area there are 14 female leopards and seven males. Our initial analysis shows the leopard density in our study area is similar to that in other national parks where leopards live in relative protection. It could be assumed that there is a fairly healthy population living in Wasgamuwa at least in the areas we are monitoring with remote cameras. In addition to our camera trapping effort we aim to scientifically study the foraging ecology of leopards by analyzing their scat. This will help us to systematically understand the ecology of leopards in Wasgamuwa and threats to their survival including parasitic infestations and diseases that afflict them which will help us to develop effective measures for their conservation and management. During the first year of the project in addition to leopards we were able to capture 30 species of mammals. We were able to gather substantial information on the Sloth Bear and on the three small wild cat species: Jungle Cat, Fishing Cat, and the Rusty-spotted Cat. Our camera traps have recorded all three species giving us very useful information and insights into their lives. Another species of concern is the pangolin. According to our findings, the pangolin is one of the species most targeted by poachers. We have frequently encountered campfires deep in the forests where pangolins had been butchered and consumed by poachers, their scales scattered on the forest floor. Again the cameras are providing us valuable information on the habitat selection of pangolins and threats to their survival. Camera trapping is a very exciting research technique yet there are some serious challenges to using them effectively. One of the main issues is losing valuable cameras to poachers who come into the national park and outlying forests to hunt illegally. Poachers destroyed or stole nine cameras last year and are a threat to our own safety as well since they are armed and also set trap guns in the jungle. Elephants are another huge challengethey destroyed eight cameras at the beginning of our research. But we have found an effective solution for that. In our second year our aim is to find out the density of leopards in the Wasgamuwa National Park. In order to do that we will set up paired camera stations on well-used travel paths of leopards which we had identified last year. We will adopt the spatial capture-recapture model (SCR) with individual level identification to get very accurate density information. The current perceptions people have about leopards are mostly centred on humanleopard conflicts due to a few scattered incidents that had received wide media coverage. While it is important to look into these incidencesconflict mitigation is just one aspect of conservation and there are other major components of conservation that need to be addressed. To do so we need empirical information such as base line ecological data especially related to habitat requirements and prey base of leopards. In reality human-leopard conflict is less of an issue at present especially considering that our research is showing how leopards are living in close proximity to people. Illegal killing of leopards is another serious threat about which very little is known. Our cameras are providing us with some of this base line ecological data and this information would help us to take conservation actions accordingly such as protecting habitats and prey species that are critical for the conservation of leopards in Wasgamuwa. The Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society has been implementing practical community-based conservation measures for two decades. Adhering to the conservation philosophy we follow, that we need to work with communities and they must benefit from our research and conservation effortsthe SLWCS is now reaching out to these communitiesespecially those who have leopards practically living at their doorsteps, to establish conservation measures which would generate benefits to them as well to the leopards. For more information, please see Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (slwcs.org) Fairway National Literary Awards: Shortlisted writers View(s): The audience was brimming with anticipation as the judges were ushered in for the fourth Fairway National Literary Awards Shortlist for the year 2018- at the Kingsbury Hotel. The award is given in all three language categories for an original novel, each judged by a group of distinguished judges comprising, in each panel, an academic, creative person and an informed reader. The English shortlist was put together by Professor Dushyanthi Mendis, Professor of English at the University of Colombo, Dr. Ramya Chamalie Jirasinghe, poet and author, and Tassie Seneviratne, retired Senior Superintendent of Police. The novels were read in alphabetical order. Sandali Handagamas Raos Guide to Lime Pickling was praised as a poignant coming of age story, set against the backdrop of a separatist war, narrated from the point of view of a child. Seheni Hisara Kariyawasans The Chameleon was acclaimed as a well crafted whodunit which holds the readers attention to the end, with dramatic descriptions and red herrings. Characters are built almost entirely through dialogue, showing the authors ability to enter the minds of the characters. Charulatha Abeysekara Thewarathanthris Stories was held to be a novel in which the imaginative world of a young child collides with the external adult world of witchcraft and superstition. Sensuous descriptions of landscapes, decadent aristocracy, and mythical beings evoke a way of life possibly disappearing in Sri Lanka. Navin Weeraratnes Zeelam was heralded as a political satire masked as a science fiction- a fast paced narrative with a strong sense of location, with familiar landmarks of a futuristic Colombo. The judges for the Sinhala language category were Dr. Jayalath Manorathna, actor, published poet, short story writer and novelist; Jayalatha Medawatta, senior lecturer in Sinhala at the University of Sri Jayawardenapura specializing in modern Sinhala fiction and Prof. Somaratna Balasuriya, an academic and a writer who displays deep insight into the social realities of contemporary Sri Lanka. The shortlisted novels were Aththani Kanu by Sepali Mayadunne; Warana by Padmini Senevirathne, Tharu Visula Reya by Aruna Premarathne, Deshadhrohiyage Nirmala Hardaya by Tharangani Rasika Fernando and Balawa, Kandulu Ginigani by P. B. Jayasekara. The Tamil language category judges were Dr. Pavithra Kailasapathy, Lareena Abdul Haq and Muralitharan Mauran. The shortlist comprised Kattupol by Premila Pratheepan, Thottruponavargal by Seeman Pathinathan Fernando, Irathakkuliyal by Musdeen, Idipadum Kottaikal by N. Yogenthiranathan and Panichaiadi Munmaariyum Sattakkinarum by A. M. S. Velazhakan. Each shortlisted novelist in each language category will receive a cash prize of Rs.100,000 while the winner in each category will receive Rs. 500,000. The final award ceremony is to be held later this year. Letters to the Editor View(s): An independent salaries commission is a must It is reported that a special Salaries and Cadre Commission has been gazetted to study the existing salary structure of the Public Service. This is welcome. However, there is a much bigger issue. It is time that a permanent independent commission is set up constitutionally, to look into and to determine the salaries of those employed in or by the State and who are paid by the State- whether its a president, parliamentarian, judge, auditor, banker or any other public servant. It is ridiculous, that Parliamentarians can determine and decide on what their own salaries and allowances can be. Such a practice is undesirable and should be changed to a more reasonable and acceptable system where such decisions are made by an independent body, with no political or other influences. I hope the media and other civic groups take up the matter and demand a change. Of course one can be sure that politicians who derive enormous, personal benefits from the current system will vehemently oppose such a change! Its up to you, all Sri Lankans one and all to demand and ensure such a change, keeping in mind that the people are supreme. A concerned citizen Dehiwela Unregulated commercialisation of residential areas As a resident in Colombo for well over 70 years I cannot but echo the rumblings made on the issue of disturbing the peace within the residential areas of Colombo by permitting the establishment of commercial enterprises. Whilst these establishments indulge in businesses of food outlets and cafes, dress boutiques and restaurants, several massage parlours and night clubs have also sprung up. The night clubs are infested with twilight women who also hang around the area, soliciting customers. This threatens the safety and the peace of the residents of the area especially innocent children and women. The police seem to be turning a blind eye because of the money that is thrown around to them by these powerful owners. It is a disturbing trend seen in the once serene and safe residential areas. If this is called development then damn development. The fallout from this trend also gives rise to several concerns in the city the construction of five star hotels and high rise buildings. Can the old infrastructure support this? Are the water and drainage facilities, the Fire Brigade etc. equipped to handle the higher impact that will ensue or are we waiting for a disaster to occur to pay huge money as compensation to victims. Timely action by way of infrastructure assessment and correcting it where necessary is an area that requires the attention of the authorities rather than political propaganda. It is hoped that these factors be addressed on an urgent basis prior to granting any further approvals for setting up commercial establishments in residential areas of the city. Roger Smith Colombo 7 It is time that something is done to ease the traffic block in Dehiwela The traffic block in Dehiwela is so bad that people do not even want to rent or buy properties there anymore! It is time we do something to rectify this. Sometime back some smart Aleck decided to close almost all gaps in the bollards and prevent vehicles turning off into the lanes. The vehicles have to go all the way to the top of the lane both at the Wellawatte end and Mount Lavinia end and do a U turn and come back to turn into any lane. What they do not realize is that this action actually increases the bottleneck rather than reduces it. I wrote to the newspapers some time back suggesting a study be done to see whether this actually reduces or increases the block, and the O.I.C. Traffic at that time wrote back saying Even if we do a study we know it will be less so much for scientific decisions. People take the Marine Drive to avoid the Galle Road rush, but whatever lane they come up from to the Galle Road, they are directed to the Hospital road junction to turn and go towards Mount Lavinia. This slows down the traffic heading from Wellawatte. While invariably there is a long line of vehicles from 2nd Lane onwards there is hardly any traffic on the opposite side. This block results in a waste of man hours and fuel! If only all the gaps are left open and each is policed by an policeman and the vehicles are allowed to turn on to the opposite side when the Hospital junction traffic light turns red, it would help reduce the block in Dehiwela. After experimenting with this plan, traffic lights can be installed to automatically allow vehicles when the opposite side traffic lessens. Dr. Mareena Thaha Reffai Dehiwela A barrel alternative for poor-visibility road signs A motor accident occurred a few days ago- around 7 p.m at an unmarked pedestrian crossing on the Colombo-Kandy Road, at Vissekanuwa, [33rd km] Alutgama-Bogamuwa, Yakkala. Motorists have very poor vision at dusk on our poorly-lit motorways. A girl was knocked down by a hit-and-run van. Having been to the accident-site later on, I felt that the traffic controlling authorities are to be blamed! Although the pedestrian crossing traffic signboards are erected on either side at the edge of the road, drivers on the middle lanes cannot see them when their view is obstructed by tall vehicles, especially buses. There are no yellow or white lines across the road showing that it is a pedestrian crossing! Up-to-date the van involved in the accident had not been traced! The road is being widened in this area and the road markings have been obliterated. Heres an inexpensive solution that can be adopted. Take six empty tar barrels and paint them in luminous yellow and black. At pedestrian crossings, where road markings are not visible, place four at the edge of the road two on each side so that the pedestrians can walk in between them. Place the other two on the middle of the road to demarcate a midway boundary for the two way traffic- and allow pedestrians to walk between these two barrels while crossing the road. Over to you- Road Development Authority (RDA) officials/ the DIG Motor Traffic and the IGP. Senior Citizen Yakkala The law has to change regarding dual citizenship My family and I moved to Sri Lanka in November 2005. We were American citizens at the time but subsequently in 2007 applied for and received dual citizenship for the three of us with the exception of my daughter who was US-born. I have been living in Sri Lanka for nearly 13 years. My daughter is still on a yearly residence visa though attending a leading school in Colombo. I thank Namini Wijedasa for writing about this issue of citizenship as consecutive governments have failed to change the law pertaining to this. It is a long time to wait to get dual citizenship at the age of 18. At 21 these children are required to renounce one citizenship and re-apply. It is an unfair law that has not been looked into by any ruling party. Until the age of 16 these children were issued a visa for free as dependents. I thank the Sunday Times for highlighting this problem. Kamani Unantenne Fernando Via email Veteran author & journalist honoured with the Dayawati Modi Stree Shakti Samman award View(s): veteran novelist and journalist, Anula de Silva has been honoured with the Dayawati Modi Stree Shakti Samman, an award established by women, for women, in the memory of Dayawati Modi, an Indian philanthropist, known for her welfare work for women and children. Ms de Silva is the first Sri Lankan woman to receive this award. The award is instituted by the Stree Shakti- The Parallel Force Foundation, India. Stree Shakti Foundation works for human welfare establishing a network of Womens Centres to support multiple activities, addressing the overall empowerment of women. Anula de Silva has received many awards for her contributions to society. These include awards for womens rights and development through media from Law College in 2007, the Journalism Lifetime Achievement Award from the Editors Guild of Sri Lanka in 2009, the Kalabushana Award for creative writing from the Cultural Affairs Department in 2017, contribution to women through media and literature in 2015 from The Abhimani Development Foundation, India and the State Literary Award for Youth Literature in 2017. Born in 1941 in Ambalangoda, her first novel Unmaththakayo published in 1964 marked her debut in writing whilst pursuing her career in teaching. Later she completed her post graduate diploma in Journalism and Creative Writing at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. She was a writer at the Mihira, the childrens weekly newspaper and Editor of Sirikatha and Vanitha Vithtthi, the womens weekly newspapers. Ms. de Silva has written more than 125 books including novels, translations and childrens books. Her radio programmes were intended to motivate women. She was presented with the Dayawati Modi Stree Shakti Samman award at the opening ceremony of the Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium at the University of Ruhuna. The event was graced by Rekha Mody, Founder of the Stree Shakti Foundation along with the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ruhuna, Prof. Gamini Senanayake. The Rabindranath Tagore Memorial Auditorium with state of the art theatre facilities and a seating capacity of 1,500 was donated by the Government of India to the University of Ruhuna for undergraduate use. Parliament bomb: The second post-mortem examination after a Magisterial order View(s): I write to correct some serious errors in the above article headlined Re-visiting 1987 Parliament Bomb Blast byy Professor Ravindra Fernando. (The Sunday Times of 19.08.2018). Mr. Keerthi Abeywickrema, Member of Parliament and Mr. Norbert Senadeera , clerk were both admitted to the Colombo General Hospital with bomb blast injuries on 18.08.1987. Mr. Abeywickrema died the same day and the post mortem was held at 9.00 p.m. as Dr. Ravindra Fernando, Head of Department, had requested Senior Lecturer, Dr. Telisinghe to attend to it immediately. Mr. Senadeera had died in the General Hospital at 7.50 a.m. on 23.08.1987. In his article, Dr. Ravindra Fernando states: Ms. Ganlath ordered the post mortem which I started at 7.30 p.m. and completed at 11.30 p.m. Forensic Medicine Professor H.V.J. Fernando, Dr. Colvin Samarasinghe and Dr. P.U. Telisinghe were present at the post-mortem conducted at the Medico-Legal Morgue Colombo. The reference is to 23rd August. There are some factual inaccuracies here. On receipt of the Magistrates order, Dr. Ravindra Fernando had started his post-mortem examination at the General Hospital Colombo Mortuary and not at the Medico-Legal Morgue. The retired Forensic Medicine Professor H.V.J. Fernando came to the hospital at the request of Dr. Ravindra Fernando and departed after a short time. The above was conveyed to me later that day by Dr. Ravindra Fernando himself. The Medico-Legal Morgue and the office of the JMO Colombo is one complex situated at 111, Francis Rd. Colombo 10, a short distance away from the General Hospital. I was in my office, when the body, including the skull of Mr. Senadeera which had been opened up, was transported to the Medico-Legal Morgue in the evening at about 5.00 p.m. by my staff at the request of Dr. Ravindra Fernando. Dr. P.U. Telisinghe was with Dr. Ravindra Fernando at the Medico-Legal Morgue and no other doctor was present there. The post mortem examination was continued By Dr. Ravindra Fernando at the Medico-Legal Morgue. I informed Dr. Ravindra Fernando that I had been served with a Magisterial order to do a second post-mortem examination on the body of Mr. Norbert Senadeera. He informed me that he had concluded his examination but had to examine some of the abdominal organs which were on another post-mortem table in the same room. I told him that I would be taking x-rays of the brain and commencing my examination thereafter and requested him to be with me. It was I who commenced my examination at 8.00 p.m. on 23.08.1987 after the conclusion of the examination by Dr. Ravindra Fernando. Therefore, Dr. Ravindra Fernando could not have commenced his examination at 7.30 p.m. Dr. Ravindra Fernando, however, was present almost all the time when I did the second post-mortem examination. Dr.Telisinghe was also present at intervals. After my examination, I gave the cause of death as Necessarily fatal injuries to the brain associated with multiple fractures to the skull resulting from the penetration of the skull and brain by shrapnel from an explosive device. I subsequently sent my Sworn Report to the Magistrates Court No. 4 My No. SR/1454/08/87 with copy to the Officer in Charge of the Police Station. Dr. M.S. L. Salgado JMO Colombo at the relevant date. The Maha Sangha bows down to no political authority View(s): There was an article by Neville de Silva, a renowned journalist, published in the Sunday Times of August 26, 2018 under the heading Philosophy of hate and violence crticising a statement issued by the Venerable Iththapane Dhammalankara Thera on behalf of the Kotte Sangha Sabha. The impugned statement, in turn, had, among other matters, referred to the incarceration of the Venerable Galagagoda Aththe Gnanasara Thera for contempt of the Homagama Magistratess Court. What follows is not intended to have any bearing on the decision, judgment or sentence by the Court of Appeal nor any reflection on the views held by the journalist as appearing in the article: Quote- an excerpt from the article: When and how Sri Lanka and its people gave Gnanasara Thera the right to represent them and do so in such a reprehensible manner, the Ven. Dhammalankara fails to state and for obvious reasons. They would never condone such abhorrence performed in their name bringing disgrace to the country and its people. There is a vast difference between representing a nation and its people and trying to help the soldiers who fought for this country. The present regime would do well to remember that had it not been for these people who fought and died there would have been no regime at all. It is for those soldiers that Venerable Gnanasara spoke. Quote: Elected governments tolerated his uncivilised and un-Buddhistic behaviour giving rise to the commonly-held perception that he was being encouraged by those in power and that subsequent leaders did not have the political will and the moral courage to act against Gnanasara Thera. The contents of the above quotation may be quite correct; but, if one were to look at the other side of the coin, is the present regime with a political will and moral courage, so to say, trying to shut his mouth, for some reason or the other? That part of the article which states that subsequent leaders did not have the political will and the moral courage to act against Gnanasara Thera. makes one wonder whether the exercise of political will and moral courage against Ven. Gnanasara, for breaking the law, on the one side, and exercise of that political will and moral courage against him in order to shut his venerable mouth amounted to one and the same thing? This comment refers to the constant badgering of Venerable Gnanasara by the law enforcement authorities and not to the case of contempt against him which was the result of judicial will, and is no reflection on the decision of the Court of Appeal, which, in its view, acted in accordance with the law. As a matter of comment, it must also be kept in mind that contempt of court and the speakers belief in the opinioned truth of what he said in court are two different matters altogether. Contempt may come by the manner in which the opinion is stated as well as in its content; but if the content is true, then the fact that he was charged and convicted for contempt does not diminish its truth, does it? Quote: He relied on the Sri Lankan tradition of deference to and the sanctity of the saffron robe to protect him while he virtually laid waste to government institutions, challenged political figures, invaded press conferences disrupting proceedings and threatening persons of other religions and even participating Buddhist monks. the Sri Lankan tradition of deference to and the sanctity of the saffron robe as set out above is correct. The rest of it is not. These days, starting from the beggar in the streets right up to Parliament, all lay waste to government institutions etc . So, one certainly does not need the protection of a saffron robe. But, counterproductive to the content of the above extract, the saffron robe did not protect Ven. Gnanasara Thera when he said the same things that are screamed out by these other wasters in much more flowery language so flowery that the television news broadcasts go tweet every time such a verbal flower blooms in Parliament or elsewhere very soon the news will be limited to a long drawn out tweeeeeeeeeeeeeet... Quote: Ven. Dhammalankara Theras letter contains an implied criticism of the term of imprisonment handed down to Gnanasara Thera. The judiciary acted as it should. Everybody is equal before the law or so we have been told and the law must be respected. The decision to imprison him is now being contested in appeal. Leaving alone the part which speaks of implied criticism it appears that in spite of the noble sentiments that the writer expressed with regard to the judiciary which he named as the last bulwark in the protection of the democratic system, he himself seems to be at a quandary with regard to equality before the law in reality. I wonder why he stated that Everybody is equal before the law or so we have been told Is it that he himself entertains some doubt as to the integrity of the judiciary? (Italics are mine) Quote: Dhammalankara Thera might be addressed as the Most Venerable. But the content of his letter is hardly the most honourable. The Maha Sangha bows down to no political authority, Executive or otherwise. It may well be that the clock has started ticking again in Sri Lanka. Abrasive ill-conceived and irresponsible allegations and innuendos against the Maha Sangha will only fan the flames of discontent that are smouldering within the nation into an inferno. To dream the impossible dream, To right the unrightable wrong To fight the unbeatable foe, To love pure and chaste from afar To bear with unbearable sorrow, To try when your arms are too weary To run where the brave dare not go, To reach the unreachable star And the world will be better for this That one man, scorned and covered with scars Still strove with his last ounce of courage To reach the unreachable star The Impossible Dream - from MAN OF LA MANCHA (1972) I speak not on behalf of the Maha Sangha, nor on behalf of the people, nor have I been granted leave of representation. I only speak of what I see and what the future holds for us. - Tirantha Walaliyadde, Presidents Counsel 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 ... Strong quake shakes southern Philippines Manila, Sept 8 (AFP) Sep 08, 2018 A strong 6.4-magnitude earthquake shook the southern Philippines on Saturday, sending frightened residents fleeing from buildings, officials and eyewitnesses said. The quake struck off the coast of the southern town of Manay at about 3:16 pm (0716 GMT) at a depth of 14 kilometres (8.6 miles), the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said in a statement. The institute said it expects the earthquake to have caused some damage but it and the local civil defence office said there were no immediate reports of serious destruction. "A lot of people ran from their homes because a lot of items were falling inside," Phivolcs science researcher John Deximo told AFP. The Philippines lies on the so-called Ring of Fire, a vast Pacific Ocean region where many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur. At least two people were killed and scores injured when a 6.5-magnitude quake struck the central Philippines in July, 2017. The most recent major quake to hit the Philippines was in 2013 when a 7.1-magnitude quake left more than 220 people dead and destroyed historic churches in the central islands. Princess Ragnhild (center) wears the tiara at the wedding of her brother, Crown Prince Harald, 29 August 1968 (STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images) The royal tiara collection of Norway has been enriched over the years largely by contributions from two important women: the present kings grandmothers, Queen Maud of Norway and Princess Ingeborg of Sweden. Today, were looking at the delicate circle tiara from Ingeborgs collection. Princes Ingeborg had links to numerous European countries and royal families. Daughter of King Frederik VIII of Denmark, Ingeborg married Prince Carl of Sweden. Their children then married into the royal families of Norway, Denmark, and Belgium. Today, the sovereigns of Belgium, Norway, and Luxembourg are all Ingeborgs direct descendants. But although she had such significant royal links, this tiara wasnt an heirloom. Instead, it was purchased for her by Prince Carl from Boucheron, following the firms showing of the tiara at the Exposition Universelle, held in 1900 in Paris. The delicate piece features interlocking diamond circles set in platinum; the large pearl button-style elements at the front of the tiara were reportedly later additions. Ingeborg wore the tiara until the very end of her life. In the photo above, she wears it for the 21st birthday celebrations for her grandson, Crown Prince Harald of Norway, in February 1958. She died only a few weeks later. Crown Princess Martha and Crown Prince Olav attend a banquet at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York, 2 May 1939 Ingeborg was a generous sharer of jewels during her lifetime, including the circle tiara. In 1939, she lent several jewels to her daughter, Crown Princess Martha of Norway, ahead of her visit to America. Martha wore the circle tiara for a banquet held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City in May 1939. On that occasion, papers reported that she paired her mothers tiara with a silver lame gown with a shallow, gathered bodice and simple molded waist and hipline, which was decorated on one shoulder with white orchids. The tiara was also worn by Ingeborgs eldest daughter, Princess Margaretha of Denmark. She chose the circle tiara for a family portrait with her husband, Prince Axel, as well as their two sons and their spouses, taken in the 1950s. Princess Ragnhild wears the tiara at her brothers wedding, August 1968 (STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images) The tiara was eventually passed down to Ingeborgs granddaughter, Princess Ragnhild of Norway. She wore the tiara frequently at gala events, seeming to prefer the light, delicate sparkler to the grander tiara that she inherited from Queen Maud. In 1968, Ragnhild wore the circle tiara for a very important family occasion: the wedding of her brother, the future King Harald V, to Sonja Haraldsen. (We just covered the jewels of their wedding here!) Princess Ragnhild (center, wearing green) wears the tiara at the wedding of her nephew, Crown Prince Haakon, 25 August 2001 (AFP/Getty Images) Ragnhild repeated the tiara for the wedding of the next crown prince, her nephew, Crown Prince Haakon, in 2001, attending in bejeweled splendor even though she would later criticize his choice of bride in a television appearance. Ragnhild made her home in Rio de Janiero, so her tiara appearances were rather infrequent near the end of her life. When she died in 2012, the circle tiara was inherited by her children. We havent heard any news about their plans for the family heirloom at least not yet! . . - . 18.30 - , , . , , . ... Music throbs from a bar set up on a patch of scrubland and artists toil in what was once a tire factory. This is the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, but not as the locals know it. Better known for concrete high-rises home to poor immigrants and France's highest crime rate, Seine-Saint-Denis is now welcoming flocks of Parisians to hipster oases that are bringing a welcome injection of cash and energy. When they set up in the northern suburb more than a decade ago, Soukmachines, a collective of young event planners, initially "had to clear what resembled a rubbish dump", recalls Anne-Sophie Levet. These days she is deputy head of La Halle Papin, a vast pop-up arts space in the solidly working-class neighborhood of Quatre Chemins. In 2016, the local town hall had offered Soukmachines a year's use of the unoccupied tire and tool factory for a dirt-cheap rent, on condition that they breathed new life into it. One year was extended to three, and now it is a thriving hub of artists' studios and shops with a busy program of concerts and cultural events, a paddling pool and self-service barbecues. "There are jewelers, fashion designers, welders," says Franck Cardinal, an artist and architect who works on site. "It's a chance to meet other people who do different work, and enrich what we all produce here." Read also: Five not-so-touristy artsy spots to discover in Paris - Changing stereotypes - Some 20,000 people visited last year, many of them Parisians -- for whom the ring-road around the capital has traditionally marked a psychological barrier. "These are now places for strolling and for tourists to visit in greater Paris, for Parisians looking for a bit of space, and places to party," says the region's Socialist head Stephane Troussel. Paris is far from the first city to turn unwanted land into an edgy arts hub: similar projects have found success all over Europe, from the shipyards of Amsterdam's NDSM to RAW in Berlin, an unused train repair depot. Around 80 plots of wasteland have been given makeovers in Paris and the surrounding region. But local officials are proud that more than a third are in Seine-Saint-Denis -- unloved areas turned into cultural spaces, community centers or even urban farms. Read also: After 118 years, Paris to bid 'au revoir' to its Metro tickets - Regeneration - The region north of Paris boomed after World War II, drawing thousands of laborers from France's North African colonies to its chemical factories, metalworks and other industrial sites. But deindustrialization hit Seine-Saint-Denis hard from the 1960s onwards, emptying factories as the region's reputation shifted to one of crime and poverty. Today, a third of residents live below the poverty line, although authorities hope a massive infrastructure project dubbed "Grand Paris" will aid regeneration by enticing commuters to the suburb by 2025. In the meantime, while some may complain of a hipster influx, officials see projects like La Halle Papin as a showcase for the potential of "the 93", as Seine-Saint-Denis is known after its postcode. Similar projects include the Cite Fertile, a former freight train depot now offering organic food and beach volleyball, as well as Station E, a forthcoming "village" of shipping containers which will be powered by green energy. "We have an area full of enterprising young people and abandoned spaces," said Mireille Alphonse, deputy mayor of the Seine-Saint-Denis town of Montreuil. She is also deputy chief of Est Ensemble ("East Together"), a group of gentrifying Seine-Saint-Denis communities which for the past three years has systematically put out tenders for people to run plots of unused land. "We decided to help them so that our towns don't just become dormitories for Paris," she said, adding that the group was following a model used successfully in Britain and Germany. Renaud Chateaugiron, operations manager at a new temporary open-air cafe by the canal in Pantin, just north of the Paris border, said the project might struggle to find a new site once its permit runs out in two summers' time. "Make no bones about it, before long there won't be any unoccupied land left in Seine-Saint-Denis," he predicted. Tanoker, a community known for promoting traditional childrens games, is set to bring back the Egrang (bamboo stilts) Festival to Ledokombo district in Jember regency, East Java. The festival will take place on Saturday, Sept. 22, featuring an egrang street performance with the theme "Food for Peace". Returning for the ninth time this year, this egrang festival functions as a folk party that highlights bamboo stilts as an icon of change to encourage children of Ledokombo to achieve a brighter future. Raised on stilts, the children will dance and parade, accompanied by percussion music. Their moves symbolize their steps into the future. In conjunction with the festival, Jambore Anak Hebat Cinta Damai (Great Peace-Loving Childrens Jamboree) is also set to take place on Sept. 20 and 21. Activities in this jamboree include Peace Workshop, Tourist Village Childrens Meeting, Healthy Food Campaign for Children by Children and Healthy Food Cooking Class. Aside from children, adults are also welcome to take part in the festivities. A photo hunting competition will be held during the bamboo stilts parade, as well as video, mural, handicraft making and cooking competitions. Inaugurated in 2010, many children in Ledokombo are now skillful egrang performers. They represent their hometown in local, national and international competitions and have garnered recognition. Read also: Bogor Traditional Games Festival seeks to keep youngsters off gadgets Ledokombos Egrang Festival has positioned itself as one of the most anticipated events in East Java every year, especially as prominent figures such as ministers, regents and professors from Indonesia and abroad often attend. (mut) Brazilian footwear brand Havaianas is set to create a special collection for a charity auction in collaboration with Indonesian artists. As reported by tempo.co, the brand known for its rubber sandals also has an espadrilles shoes line called Havaianas Souls, which would be decorated with doodles by four Indonesian artists. Nurfadli Mursyid, popularly known as Tahilalats, along with Ykha Amelz, GTS artists representatives Voldi Pradityo and Taraz Bistara and lastly, Ryan Aditya Hidayat from Doodle Art Indonesia are slated to design a special collection to be auctioned off. The funds would be donated to the disaster victims in Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, a region that was struck by a series of earthquakes in July and August. Read also: Quake survivors use salvaged materials to build better shelters, rebuild lives PT Kanmo Retailindo managing director Jitin Kapoor, who oversees the footwear company, said the Havaianas Soul collection, also known as the Havaianas Origine, still maintains its signature comfortable light rubber soles. The product is made in Brazil from environmentally friendly materials, which are presented in the unique slip-on shoe style. "In addition, the inner rubber soles with a grain-like texture provide the same comfort as Havaianas sandals in a shoe model," Kapoor said in a statement. Havaianas Soul is available in two choices, namely Havaianas Origine for men and Havaianas Origine Slim for women. Through the collaboration, the chosen artists would add their own streak of doodles and paintings on the Havaianas Soul footwear. "What makes me even happier is the Havaianas Origine shoe collection with its plain canvas fabric can be modified with my creativity through doodles or heated patch prints," said Nurfadli Mursyid, the artist behind Tahilalats. (liz/kes) Kate Spade put the sparkle into New York Fashion Week on Friday, paying tribute in a riot of color to the handbag brand's founder, three months after her tragic death. It was the label's first runway show at the bi-annual style fest, having previously opted for Instagram-able presentations, held this time in the lofty surrounds of the iconic New York Public Library. The new creative director, Northern Ireland-born Nicola Glass, was already working on her debut collection when 55-year-old Spade, who founded the company with her husband, committed suicide in June. A guest wears a Kate Spade bag during the Kate Spade New York Fashion Show during New York Fashion Week at New York Public Library on September 7 (AFP/Angela Weiss) Silver glitter ran down the center of the pale pink-carpeted runway, a nod to the woman whose brand has been synonymous with a joyful outlook on life since its founding in 1993. "She left a little sparkle everywhere she went," said a pink note left on the seat of every guest. "In loving memory 1962-2018." "Even though she hasn't been here for over 10 years, her spirit's definitely still here at the company," Glass, a former Gucci handbag and jewelry designer who previously worked at Michael Kors, told AFP. The collection was rooted in the brand's DNA: color, fun, joyfulness for spirited women, sophisticated and feminine, yet wearable from day to evening. Kate Spade's spring/summer 2019 is one of pale lilac, hot pink, dark green, chartreuse, florals and print, with block-heeled sandals and knee-high boots, and liberal use of the spade symbol. "It feels more modern, less retro, there's more polished ease to it and prints, they've been evolved in a way where they're a little bit more graphic with unexpected details," Glass told AFP. Pale white balloon-style lights were suspended from the ceiling and an unusually diverse stream of models, although each very slim, strode the runway before taking their places on silver diases. Besides the silk dresses, cropped pants, checked suiting and buttoned mini-skirts, they sported purses, sunglasses and silk headscarves knotted at the nape of the neck. "She's a woman who, I think, is in love with life and has a sense of purpose," said Glass. Spade sold her last shares in her namesake brand in the mid-2000s. The company is now owned by Tapestry, but Glass hailed Spade as a role model woman, entrepreneur and designer. Spade committed suicide in her Park Avenue apartment on June 5, having battled with depression and anxiety for years despite a dazzling career that made her the darling of American career women. - Dressing America - Guests of honor were Oprah Winfrey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Blake Lively, Pierce Brosnan, Kanye West and Priyanka Chopra, as well as Donna Karan, Michael Kors and Carolina Herrera were in attendance. Models sashayed through the oriental rug-lined Bethesda Terrace fountain in Central Park, before a frail looking Lauren, dressed in jeans, dress shirt and black tux, came out to a standing ovation, doing a lap of honor and tenderly embraced by his guests of honor. Dozens of models, of every conceivable color, ranging from almost babes in arms to grey-haired men, encapsulated 50 years in which the 78-year-old has literally dressed America -- his Ralph Lauren and Polo labels a one-stop shop for evening, day, business and sportswear. "In celebration of 50 years, I celebrate a woman's freedom of expression, her strength and individuality," he said simply. Read also: Tom Ford kicks off New York Fashion Week - Tory Burch cruises - The American founder of the global lifestyle brand Tory Burch was upbeat and happy, unveiling a collection, imbued with the memory of her wealthy parents and their Mediterranean cruises. The clothes were inspired by their steamer-hopping trips from Italy to Greece, and from Spain to Morocco, full of contrast from Cyprus lace to North African djellabas, and from flamenco flounces to safari suits. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, September 8, 2018 08:22 1154 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308771fae4b 4 Business PTDI-aircraft-industry,CN295-plane,delivery,National-Police Free State-owned aircraft manufacturer PT Dirgantara Indonesia (PTDI) handed over on Friday one CN295 plane to the National Police in a ceremony at the Air Police headquarters in Pondok Cabe, South Tangerang, Banten. PTDI president director Elfien Goentoro, who represented the company, symbolically delivered the 50-seat plane to the head of the National Polices Security Maintenance Agency Comr. Gen. Moechgiyarto. The delivery of this CN295 is four months ahead of the schedule stated in the contract, which is in January, 2019, said Elfien during the ceremony as quoted by tribunnews.com. The design of the CN295 is 3 meters longer than the CN235. The plane uses Pratt & Whitney PW127G turboprop engines. Currently, the Air Police operate 11 CN295s. Moechgiyaro expressed the hope that the arrival of the new plane would assist the police in the performance of their duties. With more planes in operation, the Air Police will be able to improve its role of safeguarding security and order in society, he added. The CN295 plane is jointly developed by PTDI in cooperation with Airbus Defense & Space (ADS) at the PTDI manufacturing facility in Bandung, West Java. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Mario Rustan (The Jakarta Post) Bandung Sat, September 8 2018 Sweden has Almedalen Week, a summertime political forum held in a carnival atmosphere. Similar gatherings have been held in neighboring Denmark, Finland, Norway and Estonia. Without an elaborate design, however, Indonesia experienced an Almedalen-style forum in August. The 2018 Asian Games, opened one day after Independence Day, had attracted several heated debates and complex conservations, mainly online. On the other hand, Team Indonesias surprisingly excellent performance united Indonesians from different backgrounds and developed a sense of national unity in the digital age, and we had it all without the usual jingoism. At first, hosting the Asian Games seemed risky Jakarta and Palembang were replacement host cities as the Vietnamese government did not think it could afford to host the Games in Hanoi, and hosting international games can be disastrous, such as the 2004 Olympics contributing to Greeces economic crisis. Jakarta also had bad memories of the Asian Games, as Indonesias refusal to admit the Republic of China and Israel in 1962 resulted in its subsequent suspension from the International Olympic Committee. Now, while Israel is part of Europes sports scene, Taiwanese athletes experienced our hospitality under the name of Chinese Taipei. The Asian Games opening ceremony made a breathtaking impression. President Joko Jokowi Widodos motorcycle entrance (or at least someone dressed as him), and the color commentary of his son Kaesang Pangarep on social media, worked well to recover the Presidents popularity, following the youths disappointment with the selection of his elderly running mate for the 2019 presidential election. The colorful, modern and epic opening ceremony led many netizens to remark that it was only possible through the vision and creativity of currently much-ostracized gay artists and project leaders. Our Almedalen moment had started the day before, when Papua independence activist Veronica Koman accused a TV reporter of cultural appropriation for wearing a traditional Papuan dress on air. Some debated whether the accusation was fair and discussed the difference between wearing other traditional costumes in the United States and in Indonesia. Overall, the Independence Day ceremony was praised for breaking out with the Java-oriented dominant tradition, as President Jokowi and First Lady Iriana wore Sumatran outfits. Indonesias first three gold medals came from three women in taekwondo from Defia Rosmaniar donning a hijab, in wushu from Chinese-Indonesian Lindswell Kwok and in cycling from Tiara Andini Prastika. They defied a sponsors slogan of Sport is man, demonstrating the diversity of our women. Most Indonesians were equally proud of Defia, Lindswell and Tiara. To become aware of and appreciate such diversity, access to the Games was of course vital. At first, Indonesians were skeptical that we could watch multiple sports, as Indonesian TV channels tended to prioritize mens soccer and filled other airtime slots with prolonged TV dramas and variety shows. Luckily, the video website Vidio provided a dozen channels of live broadcasts, and the high-definition transmission worked well on tablets and smart TVs. Broadcast licensee Emtek also shared its rights with other channels so Indonesians could see as many events as possible, including the ones not involving Indonesia. Online ticket purchases and entry access to the venues proved to be the biggest problems the Games faced, but they were quickly addressed. Sexism was the most controversial topic among Indonesian netizens. Several women criticized TV commentator Valentino Simanjuntak for calling several female athletes the beauty, which didnt ease persisting concerns that female athletes are judged by their physical beauty instead of their performance. A counterpoint, however, was made when badminton player Jonatan Christie celebrated by removing his shirt, and many women said the sight aroused them. Isnt that sexism too? asked several men. Indonesian feminists were split some said it wasnt since theres an imbalance in political power between men and women, while others said yes, it was sexism and hopefully both men and women will stop sexually objectifying others. While many men disinterested in feminism just looked for their gotcha moment and didnt think how sexism hurts, the debate helped diverse feminists listen to each others perspectives and arguments, and it helped popularize the complexity of power and sexism. The comedian Ernest Prakasa, for example, vowed to stop using sexist jokes in his future movies. The Games closing ceremony was a showcase of Asian cultural diversity, such as classical Chinese womens orchestra, the popular Indian song Jai Ho and the performance of K-pop bands IKon and Super Junior. Korean netizens expressed appreciation for Indonesian singers like Bunga Citra Lestari and Siti Badriah. The festival will continue with the Asian Para Games in Jakarta in October, and there are calls for Indonesians to keep up their enthusiasm and to support our Paralympic athletes. Hopefully, the Para Games will help increase public awareness of the needs and abilities of disabled people, such as decent and unhindered walking access and the importance of straws for quadriplegic people. The success of the Asian Games and of Team Indonesia have inspired Indonesians worldwide, showing that as Indonesians, we can fulfill our potential and overcome our shortcomings. It also shows we can become an egalitarian society and do away with hierarchy, obsession with a noble past and religious identity. Now its back to real life to our polluted, crime-ridden and gridlocked cities. To intolerance, vanity and greed. To living with poverty, inequality and hatred. It may be easier to get a gold medal than overcoming these issues. But weve seen how we could have civil conversations online and how thousands of Indonesians could organize a major event smoothly. By working together, by willing to make a change and live with it, we can make Indonesia a better place as well. ______________________ The author is a freelance writer. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Dian Mawene (The Jakarta Post) Madison, USA Sat, September 8 2018 In April 2017, Shinta Utami, a wheelchaired woman, traveled from Yogyakarta to Jakarta in a manual wheelchair, maneuvering it with her hands. It was an arduous journey, yet she was unwavering in her determination. As CNN Indonesia reported, the purpose of her journey was to inspire people, especially people with disabilities, and to show that they can accomplish anything they want to, despite their myriad liminations. She admitted that, in addition to exhaustion from wheeling her chair in the heat, it was also challenging for her to keep explaining that her disability did not automatically mean she needed help. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, September 8, 2018 13:56 1154 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877202569 4 City umrah,umrah-business,abuse,theft Free Travel agency PT Rifa Jannah Wisata (My Jannah), which specializes in umrah (minor pilgramage) religious trips, has reported a number of clients to the Jakarta Police for abuse and theft. Farah Diba Panigoro, the owner of the agency, said around 30 people had come to her house on the evening of June 4 demanding refunds for their postponed trips and treated her badly, she said. They barged into my bedroom, even though I was sick and having a rest at that time, Farah said on Friday as quoted by kompas.com. Farah said the mob had physically hurt her and looted her personal belongings. Farah claimed she had lost important certificates, underwear, a vacuum cleaner, office clothing, jewelry, sandals and shoes, altogether worth Rp 5 billion (US$335,867). According to Farah, the incident caused material and immaterial losses. She also reported a client for alleged violation of Law No.1 1/2008 on electronic information and transactions (ITE) for cyberbullying through texts and WhatsApp messages. I even deactivated the comment section of My Jannah's Instagram account, she said. Previously, Farah and co-owner Gery Rama Mahfian were reported to the Jakarta Police by their clients for alleged fraud. A number of clients who had paid in advance for a trip to Mecca claimed My Jannah kept postponing their trip and making many excuses. When the clients demanded refunds, the company also kept postponing payment of the refunds. (gis) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ivany Atina Arbi (The Jakarta Post) Jambi Sat, September 8 2018 Makmur, a coffee farmer in remote village Lubuk Bangkar in Batang Asai district, located in Sarolangun regency of Jambi province, said he was forever grateful for the development of a micro-hydro power plant (PLTMH) in the area, which has helped him develop his business. Before electricity reached the mountainous area located some 200 kilometers from the capital Jambi, Makmur could only process coffee beans from his 2-hectare farm during daylight. It was very dark back then at night as we only used kerosene lamps. Such conditions limited our movements, the 32-year-old said, adding that now he could process the beans whenever he pleased. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Paul handley (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Sat, September 8, 2018 09:09 1154 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b308771fbd7d 2 World #DonaldTrump,#Russia,DonaldTrump,manager,Russia-meddling Free A former advisor to US President Donald Trump whose contacts with Russians set off the investigation into possible collusion with Moscow was jailed Friday for lying to the FBI. US District Judge Randolph Moss sentenced foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos to 14 days in prison, acknowledging his guilty plea and his remorse, but noting that he "lied in an investigation that was important to national security." Papadopoulos was the second person ordered to prison in the sprawling, 16-month Russia collusion investigation of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and came just over two weeks after two former top aides to Trump were convicted of felony crimes in cases that grew out of the probe. Trump sought to ridicule the sentence, suggesting that it was trivial accomplishment for an investigation that has cost millions since it began in May 2017 -- while ignoring the 35 indictments, five guilty pleas and one trial conviction Mueller has racked up so far. "14 days for $28 MILLION - $2 MILLION a day, No Collusion. A great day for America!" Trump tweeted. But Senator Mark Warner, the senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which has its own Russia collusion investigation, applauded Mueller's work. "Despite constant attacks by the President and his allies, Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his team have once again demonstrated that they are conducting a serious, professional investigation into the Trump campaign's contacts with Russians during the 2016 election," Warner said in a statement. - Tried to arrange Trump-Putin meeting - Papadopoulos, 31, was an inexperienced oil analyst based in London when he joined the Trump campaign in March 2016 as one of a handful of members of the Republican candidate's national security advisory board. Told the campaign's priority was to improve relations with Russia, within weeks he made contact with a mysterious professor, Joseph Mifsud, who touted links to the Kremlin. Mifsud introduced him to others who ostensibly had connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin -- including a woman who claimed to be Putin's niece. At a campaign meeting at the end of March 2016 Papadopoulos told Trump, then-senator and now Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and other campaign officials that he had connections in London that could set up a Trump-Putin meeting ahead of the November election. "While some in the room rebuffed George's offer, Mr Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr Sessions, who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it," Papadopoulos's lawyers said in a pre-sentencing statement last week. Sessions has claimed he opposed the idea, but Papadopoulos continued to discuss the idea with top campaign officials over the following months. In late April, he also told them that Mifsud said the Russians had information that could harm Clinton, in the form of thousands of emails. Weeks later, stolen Clinton emails were leaked over the internet by what US intelligence chiefs now say were Russian intelligence actors. Papadopoulos says he had nothing to do with the leak. - 'Young and ambitious' - After being tipped off by an Australian diplomat that Papadopoulos had spoken about Russians having dirt on Clinton, the Federal Bureau of Investigation quietly opened a probe into whether people in Trump's campaign were colluding with Russia. Papadopoulos admitted that he lied to FBI investigators when they interviewed him on January 27, 2017. "In January 2017, I made a terrible mistake for which I paid dearly, I am ashamed," Papadopoulos had told the court in Washington. "I was young and ambitious." His lawyer Tom Breen said that at the time, Papadopoulos was naive and acted on what he told the court was a "misguided loyalty" to Trump, who had been inaugurated as president just one week before. Already at that time, Breen noted, Trump was calling the allegations of Russian interference in the election "fake news" and a "political witch hunt" -- terms he continues to use for the Mueller probe. "The president of the United States hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever did," Breen said. Moss, the federal judge, said he took into consideration Papadopoulos's "genuine remorse" in issuing the light sentence, which included a $9,500 fine, a year on parole and community service. Papadopoulos has cooperated for more than a year with Mueller's probe, but it remains unknown whether he has provided the probe with any information supporting allegations of collusion with Russia. Mueller's office did not immediately comment on the sentence. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, September 8, 2018 12:56 1154 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b3087720219c 4 National Golkar,KPK,Eni-Maulani-Saragih,Idrus-Marham,PLTU-Riau-1,graft Free A Golkar Party politician has returned Rp 700 million (US$47,138) in alleged bribe money related to the Riau-1 coal-fired steam power plant (PLTU) to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Yes, a Golkar politician handed over the money related to the Riau-1 PLTU graft case, said KPK spokesperson Febri Diansyah on Friday, without specifying names. We appreciate this cooperative action, he said, as quoted by tempo.com. Eni Saragih, one of the suspects in the Riau-1 PLTU graft case and a former House of Representative speaker from Golkar, said the money was related to the party's extraordinary national congress (munaslub) in December 2017. It is from the munaslub committee. They will return it gradually, she said after examination at the KPK building on Friday, as quoted by kompas.com. This is the evidence that shows there was Rp 2 billion used for the partys congress, she added. So far, the KPK has named three suspects in the Riau-1 PLTU graft case consisting of two Golkar politicians Eni and former social affairs minister Idrus Marham and businessman Johannes Budisutrisno Kotjo. Eni allegedly accepted Rp 4.8 billion in bribe money from Johannes to expedite the signing of the project's contract. Eni, who served as the treasurer of munaslub at the time, has repeatedly spoken of channeling the bribe money to finance the party's congress. She said the money was related to a Golkar chairman. However, she declined to name the chairman. Golkar chairman Airlangga Hartarto previously dismissed allegations about bribe money for the party's congress. (sau) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, September 8 2018 A budget proposal for the official portrait of the next Jakarta deputy governor has been rejected by the City Councils budget committee in a meeting on the revised 2018 state budget. Jakarta administration assistant Artal Reswan proposed a budget of Rp 150 million (US$10,078) for a portrait of the yet-to-be-named deputy governor who will replace Sandiaga Uno. Sandiaga left his post to run for vice president alongside presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, the leader of the Gerindra Party, in next years election. We [proposed] an increased [budget] for the portrait of the new deputy governor. The photo will need to be duplicated, perhaps [with a budget of] Rp 150 million, Reswan said on Thursday, kompas.com reported. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, September 8 2018 Several former civil servants who were dismissed by Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan have yet to receive their pension money more than two months after their dismissal. State Civilian Bureaucracy Commission (KASN) head Sofian Effendi said the former civil servants told the commission that state-owned pension insurance company PT Taspen had not disbursed the money because they were not yet 60 years old, the age of retirement for echelon II officials. They were dismissed before they turned 60; therefore, Taspen refused to give them their pensions. They dont receive salaries or allowances anymore and they cant get their pensions, Sofian said on Thursday as quoted by kompas.com. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Riza Roidila Mufti (The Jakarta Post) Sat, September 8 2018 While the government has appealed to its citizens to think twice before traveling overseas to safeguard the foreign exchange, Indonesian travelers are unfazed by the weakening rupiah, booking tickets to various destinations, from Tokyo to California. These days, traveling means spending more, as the rupiah has weakened against currencies such as the American dollar, the Japanese yen and even the Singaporean dollar. Despite such circumstances, many are still interested in traveling overseas, as travel fairs continue to be swarmed by people seeking cheap tickets for a short escape from their daily routines. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, September 8 2018 The government is spending a huge amount of money on the salaries of civil servants who have been convicted of graft, the National Civil Service Agency (BKN) has said. The money spent is estimated to be Rp 23.57 billion (US$1.6 million) per month. A rough estimate is about an average of Rp 10 million multiplied by 2,357 civil servants, which equals to Rp 23.57 billion a month, BKN spokesman M.Ridwan told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nedi Putra AW (The Jakarta Post) Malang, East Java Sat, September 8, 2018 15:01 1153 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877203640 1 National Malang,graft,KPK,East-Java Free In an emergency move, Malang will inaugurate new councillors to replace almost all the former ones who have gone to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) detention center in Jakarta. East Java Governor Soekarwo has sent a decree on the proposed 40 councillors to the Malang administrative secretary on Saturday. "There are 41 people [proposed as councillors], but one has been inaugurated earlier so that the remaining 40 will be inaugurated on Monday, he said, as quoted by Antara. On Wednesday, the East Java governor, the acting Malang mayor, the Malang chapter of the General Elections Commission (KPU) and other stakeholders established an "acceleration task force" to select replacements for 41 out of 45 councillors. Benny Sampirwanto, the head of the East Java Administration Bureau and Regional Authority and a task force member, said they had immediately requested political parties to send their members for selection. The KPK has named 41 out of 45 Malang Council members suspects in an alleged bribery case related to the citys budget deliberation for the 2015 budget year,. The councillors are suspected to have accepted unlawful gifts from former Malang mayor Mochamad Anton regarding the deliberation. The head of the KPU Malang, Zainuddin, had said despite the urgency, the replacement selection process still followed the rules. The replacement candidates must have the second-most votes after the person being replaced; otherwise, we will reject them, he said. (sau) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, September 8, 2018 16:52 1153 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877204a83 4 City crime,jakarta,jakarta-crimes,Jakarta-police Free The Pesanggrahan Police in South Jakarta have arrested four men who are accused of robbery by first flattening the tires of their victims cars. The four suspects are accused of deliberately scattering nails on busy roads and causing flat tires, tricking their victims into stopping their cars, said Pesanggrahan Police chief Comr. Maulana Jali Karespesina. The suspects first spread nails on the street. Afterwards, one of them would follow the car and tell the car driver that his tire was flat. When the driver gets out of the car to check [the tire], the rest of the gang would appear and rob [the driver], Maulana said on Saturday as reported by kompas.com. In order to avoid suspicion, the suspects wore the familiar jackets of app-based motorcycle taxi drivers. They were arrested on Thursday at their hideout in Bogor, West Java, and taken to the Pesanggrahan Police for further investigation. The investigation and subsequent arrest were made following a report filed by a victim named Asmari, 45, who was robbed in front of Suyoto Hospital on Jl. R. C Veteran, South Jakarta, on July 25. Polices preliminary investigation suggested that the four suspects were part of gang from Lubuk Linggau in South Sumatra. (gis) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, September 8 2018 Find another way: A man walks past a banner warning against the use of a footbridge in Daan Mogot, Jakarta, on Friday. No repair work has been carried out for the past year on the bridge, the poor condition of which has been exacerbated by a recent collision. (JP/David Caessarre) Jakarta is not known as a pedestrian-friendly city, with pedestrians mostly being given the option of ascending tall footbridges to cross the citys chaotic roads. But some of the citys footbridges are in such disrepair that pedestrians often end up jaywalking and doing other risky things to get across roads. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Sat, September 8, 2018 17:48 1153 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877205b4e 4 City footbridges,jakarta,traffic Free A trailer truck got stuck on a footbridge in Jembatan Gantung, West Jakarta, on Saturday, causing further damage to the bridge after it was hit by a different truck last week. The footbridge, which connects Jl. Daan Mogot to the Jembatan Gantung Transjakarta Station, is now closed to pedestrians and Transjakarta commuters. It cant be used anymore because it is too dangerous, said Wibowo, head of city-owned bus operator PT Transjakarta, as quoted by kompas.com. The incident also caused a traffic jam along the road on Saturday morning. To help pedestrians cross the street or reach the bus shelter, bus lane separators will be reopened, he added. Transjakarta personnel will be posted on the street to help passengers and pedestrians cross the street safely. Wibowo said that he was in talks with road agency Bina Marga to quickly restore the footbridge. Separately, West Jakarta Mayor Rustam Effendi said any repairs made on the footbridge would first require approval from the Jakarta governor. (gis) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Chicago, US Sat, September 8, 2018 18:06 1153 882ab4bc56dbda08a069b30877205c9d 2 World united-states,police,killing,shooting,black-lives-matter Free Protesters in Texas are demanding immediate jail for a Dallas police officer who entered the wrong apartment mistaking it for her own and shot dead the black man who lived there. The officer, who police have yet to identify and has been placed on leave pending official charges, will face criminal charges for the fatal shooting, officials said Friday. A racially-mixed crowd gathered near the crime scene for a candlelight vigil late Friday to honor the victim, identified as Botham Shem Jean, 26, an immigrant from the Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia. "We are here to express our outrage, and we are here to demand accountability," said Imam Omar Suleiman, an activist at the event organized by the Dallas-based Mothers Against Police Brutality group. "If this was not an officer that pulled the trigger, this person would be in a jail cell tonight!" Suleiman said Mourners carried signs with slogans that read "Have a trial when police kill" and "Where is justice when police kill us?" Authorities are seeking to charge the officer with manslaughter. Dallas Police chief U. Renee Hall told a news conference that the shooting was "a very unique situation." "We have ceased handling (the incident) under our normal officer-involved shooting protocol," the chief said, adding that the officer's blood was being tested for drugs and alcohol. - 'Was in no wrong place' - The shooting took place late Thursday at the end of the officer's work shift. While still in uniform, she told authorities she mistakenly walked into Jean's apartment in an upscale complex near downtown Dallas. Police did not yet know what interaction occurred between Jean and the officer. After the officer shot Jean, she called emergency services and told responding officers that she had thought she had entered her own apartment. "Right now there are more questions than answers," Chief Hall said. Jean had graduated from a private Christian college in Arkansas in 2016 and had since been working at the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dallas. "It just still feels like a nightmare," Jean's mother, Allison Jean, told NBC News. "I wish I would wake up and find that it wasn't true." Allison Jean -- who according to the St. Lucia Times has served for years in the island's government -- said the details of her son's shooting make no sense. Her son "was in no wrong place at any wrong time. He was in his sanctuary, in the place where he called home. He didn't deserve this," she told NBC. Jean's sister, Allisa Charles-Findley, said she needs "answers for my baby brother." "Just last week I was thinking of what to get you for your birthday," she wrote on Facebook, "now I have to go pick out your casket." Neighbor Alyssa Kinsey told The Dallas Morning News that Jean helped her move new furniture into her apartment soon after she moved into the building with her family in April. "I'll remember his smile," she said. "It just lit up a room." Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: Home Page Southern Pines, NC (28387) Today A mix of clouds and sun early followed by cloudy skies this afternoon. Scattered frost possible. High around 55F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Overcast. Low around 40F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Snow showers around this morning. Bright sunshine later. High 7C. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 40%.. Tonight A few passing clouds. Low 1C. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. 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. As much as 3.8 billion was wiped off the value of Tesla after two executives quit and boss Elon Musk was shown smoking what appeared to be marijuana on a live podcast. The billionaires fitness to run his company was questioned when he was filmed apparently taking a drag from a joint during a two-hour long interview with comedian and commentator Joe Rogan. Recreational marijuana is legal in California, but Musk had previously dismissed questions about whether he used the drug. Down in the mouth: Elon Musk's fitness to run his company was questioned when he was filmed apparently taking a drag from a joint Just hours later Tesla was rocked again as human resources boss Gabrielle Toledano and accounting chief Dave Morton left. It prompted the worst day for the stock in more than two years, with shares plunging by as much as 9.6 per cent. The turmoil followed a chaotic month which saw Musk propose and then abruptly call off a plan to take the company private. CNBC reported Morton, 46, who had only been at Tesla a month, left because he felt his concerns about Musks plans to take Tesla private were being ignored. Within an hour of Mortons exit being confirmed, Toledano said she would not return from a leave of absence. Shares shot up after Musks buyout tweets. However, they have since fallen by 26 per cent. Godlike: Due to his relentless charitable work John Studzinski is a Papal Knight He's the fabulously wealthy dealmaker with the gilded existence who very much does do God. He's on close terms with the Prince of Wales, has prime ministers on his WhatsApp and, for all we know, a direct line to the Pope Francis's modest appartamento. Due to his relentless charitable work he is a Papal Knight, holds a CBE and graces more boards than Tom Daley. As a redoubtable hostess might remark when introducing her prized guest: 'Do you know John Studzinski?' 'Studz' as he is known among his eclectic milieu is investment banking's megastar. During a 38-year career he has had spells at Morgan Stanley, HSBC and Blackstone. This week, he announced he was joining American investment giant Pimco, meaning his frenetic NY-LON existence will now also encompass Newport Beach, California. His interests, however, extend way beyond his Bloomberg terminal. Devout Studz's is one of life's do-gooders. He still finds time to volunteer in homeless shelters and reckons he gives away half his annual earnings to good causes. His aptitude for social networking is unparalleled. Conversations often start: 'As I was saying to David Cameron' or 'when I worked with Mother Teresa'. Charming and popular at the last count he had no fewer than 39 godchildren he is also something of Gatbsyesque figure. For all his largesse, Studz remains intensely private and rarely grants interviews. He has never married. Born in the working class neighbourhood of Peabody, Massachusetts, Studz's parents were Polish immigrants. His old man was financial manager at General Electric Co's aircraft-engine division and instilled in his son a Stakhanovite work ethic. During his spare time, young Studz was expected either to study or do something constructive. His social conscience was stirred at an early age. At six he was helping out in soup kitchens. When he was 14 he set up a telephone helpline for people with venereal diseases. After gaining an MBA from Chicago University in 1980, he joined Morgan Stanley in New York. Four years later he was dispatched to London to develop its mergers-and-acquisitions division. After rising to become head of the bank's European banking arm, he was chauffeured around in a limo big enough to accommodate his three dogs. Studz became an ardent Anglophile. It's our history and our decency, he says. He has donated as much as 10m to the Tate Modern and even greater sums nurturing and supporting developing artists through his charity the Genesis Foundation. Over the years, his Bostonian accent has steadily given way to cut-glass vowels. In 2003, Sir John Bond lured him to HSBC to create its investment banking division. This was the heady, boom-time era before the crash. At one point, he was earning as much as 13m a year. He moved to Blackstone three years later and when the credit crunch hit, Studz was placed in charge of restructuring tottering US insurer AIG. Home in London is a lavish 22m mansion in Chelsea which has its own chapel. There are some candlesticks in there which belonged to St Ignatius Loyola. An extensive art collection includes Man Ray and Picasso. His left pinky is adorned with a sixth-century filigree gold ring previously worn by two Popes. He developed his religious fervour not long after he came to London. While being driven to a dinner in Germany, his car became involved in a pile-up, killing his driver as well as six others. Studz lost a lung. He's not afraid to indulge himself from time to time. When he turned 60 he threw a three-day extravaganza at Venice's Gritti Palace. Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato serenaded the host with a rendition of Somewhere Over The Rainbow. Yes, life has been good to old Studz, but unlike many of his contemporaries in the banking world, he seems determined to give something back. 'To whom much has been given, much is expected,' he likes to say. Amen to that. A Canadian technology group is circling scandal-hit Telit Communications with a view to creating a 1 billion internet company. City sources told The Mail on Sunday that Sierra Wireless is interested in merging with Telit, which is listed on London's Aim market. Both are 'internet of things' companies, designing and making technology that allows machines to communicate with each other. A Canadian technology group is circling scandal-hit Telit Communications with a view to creating a 1 billion internet company Telit last year stunned the City when it revealed its chief executive Oozi Cats was at the centre of allegations he is actually a fugitive called Uzi Katz on the run from US police. Cats, allegedly wanted for his involvement in a 1990s property scam, was fired and replaced by Yosi Fait, the company's finance director. He has overseen the disposal of Telit's automotive division to Chinese firm TUS International for 81 million. However, Telit revealed on Friday that some of its largest shareholders, including hedge fund manager Davide Serra, have called a general meeting with a view to ousting Fait and Simon Duffy, the senior independent director and former vice chairman of Virgin Media Group. Serra runs Algebris, one of Britain's best-known hedge funds. The move to oust Fait comes after Telit shareholders refused to endorse the appointment of Richard Kilsby, former 888 chief executive, as chairman. In another move a Chinese investment vehicle, Run Liang, has built a 15 per cent stake in the company over the past year. It is thought to be keen on acquiring a division of Telit or all of it. Telit declined to comment. Sierra Wireless did not return calls for comment. The Duchess of Cambridge seen wearing a black lace Temperley evening gown in 2013 Patricia Sancho, chief executive at the Duchess of Cambridge's favourite dressmaker Alice Temperley, has resigned her position at the fashion label for 'difficult family reasons'. Sancho, who was drafted in last year, has returned to Spain over summer and has been replaced, founder Temperley said last night. Her departure is the latest twist in the saga of Temperley's designer label. In February The Mail on Sunday revealed that Temperley Holdings had run up further losses of nearly 2 million for the last set of accounts and had losses of more than 19 million since it was set up in 2009. Auditors RSM posted a warning of 'a material uncertainty which may cast significant doubt about the group's ability to continue as a growing concern.' When The MoS contacted Temperley yesterday, the well-connected designer said, 'Sadly Patricia had to move back to Spain for difficult family reasons earlier in the summer. We have a great new CEO, Sally Hughes, in place who has come with a fantastic background, including Innocent, Google and Net-a-Porter.' Temperley said in February she has the backing of shareholders and the accounts stated the brand 'now has the right operational structure, personnel and trading plans in place' to drive growth. Temperley's impeccable Society credentials and connections have only served to burnish the reputation of her bohemian flowing frocks, which have won a legion of famous clients and cost more than 2,000 each. MATSETSA Gcinaphi Simelane, 52, always relied on her husbands income to feed herself and family. When she became a widow, life was plunged into uncertainty. She has been a widow for almost 13 years after the passing of her husband in 2005. Simelane, who has disability due to the polio virus, is now the breadwinner of the family of eight. Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a crippling and potentially deadly infectious disease. It is caused by the poliovirus. The virus spreads from person to person and can invade an infected persons brain and spinal cord, causing one not being able to move parts of their body. In Simelanes case, she is unable to move her entire left leg. Comprise The family comprises her four children and grandchildren. One of the children has a disability. They live in a small one-room house, which might collapse on them at anytime as it has visible cracks on the wall. According to the 2006-07 Demographic and Health Survey, half of the households in Eswatini are headed by a woman. When reporters from this publication visited the homestead which is situated at Matsetsa, an area in the Lubombo Region, Simelane was found with two of her younger daughters and a grandson. Supported Relating the familys plight, Simelane explained that she supported the children with her disability grant. Her grant stands at E520 every three months. Mathematically, this means that Simelane receives E180 per month. Supplemented Besides the endowment from government, Simelane pointed out that she supplemented it with doing piece jobs for teachers at the local school. Assistance I do laundry for one of the teachers and I get paid E200 per month. I also get assistance from my daughter who also has a disability. She does house chores for a neighbour, who in turn pays her E200, she said. Tears slowly filled her eyes, as she stated that her daughter had hearing challenges and could not talk properly. When realising that her mother was about to break down, the daughter, Khanyisile, comforted her. After regaining composure, Simelane said during school days, she sold fat cakes to pupils at the local school to supplement her income. Besides, she added that her other two daughters, who have four children of their own, were textile workers. Affirmative However, they need to look after their own children. The eldest, who is 30 years old, has one child while the one who is 27 years old, has three children. The fathers of my grandchildren are not employed. Asked if she educated her daughters about family planning, Simelane responded to the affirmative. After educating her daughters about contraceptives, Simelane said they had become aware about the burden of taking care of a family which did not have a steady income. With the little that we get from the different sources of income, we usually purchase maize and rice that would last us a month. The rest of the money goes to utility bills. Income After spending the income on groceries and bills, Simelane said they were left with nothing. During school holidays, Simelane pointed out that they usually struggle because the income would be lower. However, neighbours have been very supportive. They share their food with us during the hard times. Depleted Once their source of income becomes depleted, Simelane wondered what would happen in the event one of the family members fell sick to the extent of being hospitalised. This, she said, emanated from the fact that they share a one- room. What will happen should one of us have a contagious disease? It will spread quickly. With that, she led this reporter to inspect the house that they have lived in for almost 20 years. Stashed Inside, there are two beds, a pile of clothes and blankets stashed in a corner, a refrigerator, a television set and a makeshift cupboard. Simelane explained that most of these things were donated to them by Good Samaritans. She made a special mention of a former teacher, whom she identified as Make Mvila, who gave her the refrigerator and television set. Bills In a bid to cut costs of electricity bills, we do not use appliances. Worth noting is that there were visible cracks on the walls, which she pointed out to the reporter. Pointing at the crevices, Simelane said she was concerned about the safety of her family. MBABANE - Psychiatric patients will discharge themselves as nurses are going to open all the gates at the National Psychiatric Centre. The national Psychiatric Centre is located at Two Sticks, Manzini. Members of the Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), during a presentation of their petition to the Principal Secretary in the Ministry Public Service Evart Madlopha, threatened to release the patients. The over 500 nurses flooded the Mbabane streets to petition government over its failure to address them on the issue of cost of living adjustment (CoLA). As the President of the organisation Bheki Mamba was handing over the petition to Madlopha, some of the nurses said: Well release patients at the psychiatric centre if government does not engage us on our grievances. Fear The nurses said this was to be the next step for them following that they were now living in fear of the patients at the psychiatric centre. They said some of their patients had become violent as there was no medication to calm them down. On this, the nurses president said opening the gates and letting the patients loose was the only solution left for his cadre as the lack of medication had made the patients violent and a danger to themselves, other patients and the nurses. Without the medication, newly admitted patients become extremely violent. They become violent towards the nurses and the other patients. Mamba further said this was not merely abusing the patients and coercing government to address their demands; but it was the only way to deal with them. He said the release of the patients, who are supposedly violent, would be automatic. Mamba said this would not be the first time such happened in the country. The gates were once opened and the patients from the psychiatric centre literally filled up the towns. They were only brought back by the police to the hospital when medication had been bought by government. Further, Mamba said as nurses, they were in pain and feeling for the nation as there were around 800 patients that were relying on medication prescribed by psychiatrists at the national hospital. He said the patients that were colleting their medication while at home were more dangerous to the people they resided with. You may be staying with your relative and assuming all is well; but, because the patient is not getting his medication anymore, they may become violent and attack family members. To this, the Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Simon Zwane, said the ministry was yet to get a formal report on the challenges faced at the National Psychiatric Centre. I think they will report it formally and well deal with it then, Dr Zwane said. Also, the release of the psychiatric centre patients will pose a danger to the public in terms of safety, if they are as violent as described by the SWADNU president. Assigned to deal with the security of the nation are members of the Royal Eswatini Police Services (REPS). To the proposed action by the nurses, Chief Police Information and Communication Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati said nurses were guided by a code of conduct and ethics. Police Vilakati said given that, she was skeptical that the situation would reach such levels where patients at the National Psychiatric Centre shall be released by the nurses. However, should it happen, the nation should fear not as the police were there to instill order and protect the citizenry. According to mental health offered by WebMD, when a person is faced with a hostile or aggressive patient, be they psychotic or otherwise, the appropriate course of action is to get out of the situation calmly and quickly. Ancient sites as a background setting but most importantly as a source of inspiration for Nelly's photographic oeuvre during the interwar period The Hellenic Museum in Melbourne opened on Thursday an exhibition paying tribute to photographer Nelly, one of Greeces most eminent and controversial artists. Against the ruins, Photographs by Nellys, is a collection from the Athens Benaki Museum Photographic Archives. Divided into three exhibition spaces and corresponding themes (Dancing on the Acropolis, The Delphic Festivals and La Mode Grecque), the selected images explore the use of the ancient archaeological sites as a background setting but most importantly as a source of inspiration for her photographic oeuvre during the interwar period. Elli Sougioultzoglou, known as Nellys, arrived in the Greek capital of Athens in late 1924, after completing her photography studies in Germany (1921-1923). Born a member of the Greek community in the city of Aydin in late Ottoman Asia Minor, she had never before traveled to Greece. Her first images of ancient Greece were formed in her imagination through the stories of her father who passed on to her his enthusiasm and admiration for its civilization. On arriving in Greece, I went straight to the Acropolis she noted in her autobiographical account. At the young age of 25, she wasted no time and visited the archaeological sites, photographing the monuments and exhibiting her works. The dedication with which she applied herself to document the antiquities seems to have fulfilled her need to become more profoundly acquainted with her ancestral roots, to return to the past, while also presenting her with the challenge to come face-to-face with the greatest monuments of all times. It is this admiration and her romantic approach of the ancient times that led her to create a body of works presented in the exhibition. Read more at greekreporter.com 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: GordonMakryllos License: CC-BY-SA New national tourism strategy for the period of 2017 2030 Cyprus deputy tourism ministry is set to start operations by 2nd January 2019, Tourism Minister Yiorgos Lakkotrypis told the General Meeting of the Association of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA), on Wednesday. Addressing the event, Lakkotrypis referred to the key steps taken to upgrade and boost Cyprus tourism which include the new tourism governmental body, a national tourism strategy for the period of 2017 2030 and the legal framework concerning the operation of tourism accommodation, travel agents and leisure centres. Referring to the new deputy ministry and the national tourism strategy 2030 he noted that they are both very important reforms achieved by the government. Read more at CNA 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: TomasNY (talk) License: CC-BY-SA The International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) has signed $3-billion framework agreements with the Egyptian government ,represented by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC), to fund the supply of commodities such as petroleum, gas, wheat and other foodstuff. The agreement is indicative of strong ongoing links between the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the parent group of ITFC, and Egypt, said a statement from the Corporation. Till date, ITFC has signed five framework agreements with the Egyptian government represented by the Ministry of Investment & International Co-operation totaling $9.2 billion. The first Master Murabaha agreement was signed by Engineer Hani Salem Sonbol, the chief executive of ITFC and Ahmed Yousef, the deputy chairman of the Commodity Supply Authority to support the provision of goods supplies worth $1 billion, benefiting 67 million citizens. The signing ceremony was attended by Dr Aly Meselhy Minister of Supply and Internal Trade and Dr Sahar Nasr, Minister of Investment and International Cooperation. The second agreement, for a total financing of $2 billion, was signed by Engineer Abed Ezz El Regal, the chief executive of EGPC in the presence of Engineer Tarek El Molla, Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources at the EGPC Head Office. Commenting on the deal, Sonbol said: "Here at ITFC, we recognize the immense strategic importance this agreement holds for our relationship with the government and people of Egypt." "The benefits for economic development, social welfare development and intra-trade development cannot be understated. We look forward to years of continued partnership," he added.-TradeArabia News Service The total trade between Abu Dhabi and Oman reached some Dh1.7 billion ($462.80 million) during the first five months of 2018, with a 54.5 percent increase, compared to the same period in 2017. The registered trade between Oman and Abu Dhabi from January to May 2018 accounts for 56.6 percent of the total trade between the two sides in 2017, a Wam news agency report said quoting official figures. Oman is among the most active GCC countries, in terms of trade with Abu Dhabi, after Saudi Arabia, which occupies the first position, reports the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (SCAD). According to the details of the trade exchange between the two sides, imports to Abu Dhabi from Oman reached around Dh1 billion in the first five months of the current year, compared to Dh456 million in the same period in 2017. The value of re-exports reached Dh113 million, while exports totalled Dh620 million. Non-oil trade between the two countries reached some Dh3 billion in 2017, according to SCAD. The domain turkeytelegraph.com may be for sale. Please click here to inquire Winners of the 15th International Contest among CIS countries The Art of the Book" were awarded prizes as part of the thirty-first Moscow International Book Fair. The contest has been held regularly since 2004 under the auspices of the Interstate Council for Cooperation in the Sphere of Periodical Press, Book Publishing, Book Distribution and Printing and the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation. The contest aims to promote the best publishing projects, increase interaction in the sphere of literature and publishing, popularize the best achievements in the field of book art and develop mutual exchange of spiritual and cultural values. This year, more than one hundred publications competed in ten categories for the prizes of the contest "The Art of the Book." Turkmenistan was represented by four books released in 2017 that were brought to the contest by the State Publishing Service of the country. All four were awarded top prizes. In the nomination DIALOGUE OF CULTURES, the book titled Turkmenistan is the Heart of the Great Silk Road by President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov won the 1st degree Diploma and the title of the winner of the international contest. In the nomination MY COUNTRY, the book titled Arkadag's Teaching - the Basis of Health and Enthusiasm was awarded one of the top prizes of the art contest. In the nomination BOOK FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTH, the colorful edition Turkmen Folk Tales was awarded the 2nd degree Diploma. In the nomination ACADEMIC LITERATURE AND EDUCATION, the 3rd degree Diploma was awarded to the book "Gurgenj - Medieval Scientific and Cultural Center of the Orient by Almaz Yazberdiev. It should be noted that the State Publishing Service of Turkmenistan, being a regular participant of the international art contest among the CIS countries, has invariably been awarded high prizes, while the colorful publications about Turkmenistan have long become the countrys presentation card. TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021 Washington, Sep 8 (UNI) The former Trump adviser whose remarks in a London pub sparked the US inquiry into possible collusion with Russia has been sentenced to 14 days in jail, said a BBC News report. George Papadopoulos, 31, told the court in Washington DC he was a "patriotic American" who made a mistake by lying. He pleaded guilty last October to lying to the FBI about the timing of meetings with alleged go-betweens for Moscow. He was the first former Trump aide arrested in the probe into an alleged Kremlin plot to sway the 2016 US vote. US President Donald Trump reacted by taking an apparent swipe at the cost of the investigation into the former aide. In Friday's sentencing, Papadopoulos was also handed 12 months of supervised release, 200 hours of community service, and a fine of $9,500 (7,350). He said in court that his "entire life has been turned upside down" and he hoped "for a second chance to redeem myself". The Chicago native was a London-based petroleum analyst before he joined the Trump campaign in March 2016 as a volunteer foreign policy adviser. Papadopoulos soon made contact with a mysterious Maltese academic, Joseph Mifsud. The professor told Papadopoulos the Russians had "dirt" on Mr Trump's Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails". In the following months, thousands of emails linked to the Clinton campaign were published by Wikileaks. The young political operative told Mr Trump, then a Republican presidential candidate, and other members of the campaign's national security team that he could set up a meeting with President Vladimir Putin ahead of the 2016 election. A pre-sentencing statement last week read: "While some in the room rebuffed George's offer, Mr Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr Sessions, who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it." Papadopoulos told CNN in an interview aired on Friday that Mr Trump "gave me a sort of a nod" and "wasn't committed either way" about the idea of a meeting with the Russian leader. But he said then-senator and now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions "was actually enthusiastic". Last November, Mr Sessions testified to Congress that he had "pushed back" against Papadopoulos' offer. American authorities were alerted in mid-2016 after Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat during a drinking session in a London pub about his meetings with Professor Mifsud. The envoy told US investigators, shortly after the emails hacked from the Democratic Party were leaked. When the FBI interviewed Papadopoulos in January 2017, he falsely claimed he had met two individuals with Russian ties before he joined the president's team in March 2016. He had actually met them after joining Mr Trump's campaign. One individual was a Russian woman who Papadopoulos believed had connections to the Russian government. In July 2018, the US Department of Justice charged 12 Russian intelligence officers with hacking Democratic officials. Prosecutors said Papadopoulos's lack of cooperation with investigators meant they were unable to effectively question or detain Mr Mifsud. The professor has since left the United States. No connection between Mr Misfud and the hacked emails has been proven. The Democratic National Committee, which is suing Russia, the Trump campaign and WikiLeaks over the alleged election interference in the 2016, filed a court document on Friday, saying Mr Mifsud "was missing and may be deceased", without any further explanation, according to Bloomberg News. It referred to him as a key figure to have evaded the Mueller inquiry. "I made a dreadful mistake, but I am a good man who is eager for redemption," Papadopoulos said. He said he lied not to impede investigation but "to preserve a perhaps misguided loyalty to his master". Judge Randolph Moss said he took the "genuine remorse" into consideration for the sentencing. The only other person to be sentenced in the investigation - lawyer Alex Van Der Zwaan - received 30 days in prison. His judge referred to his regret as "muted". Outside court on Friday, Papadopoulos' lawyer, Thomas Breen, said his client was a "fool" and had acted "stupidly" in lying to the FBI. But the attorney said "the president of the United States hindered this investigation more than Papadopoulos ever could". He said Mr Trump had hampered the inquiry by calling it a "witch hunt" and "fake news". UNI XC-SNU 1655 New Delhi, Sept 7 (UNI) In a bid to curb infiltration, human trafficking and drug smuggling along Indo- Bangla Border, both the countries have agreed to further extend mutual cooperation. The decision was taken during the 47th Border Co-ordination Conference between the Border Security Force, India and Border Guard Bangladesh here. In a joint press conference held here on Friday, the Director Generals of Border Security Force and Border Guard Bangladesh appreciated the efforts made to improve mutual relations through various agreed upon Confidence Building Measures (CBMs). DG BGB Md Shafeenul Islam appreciated the steps taken by BSF in bringing down casualties on borders and urged to bring it down to zero. BSF DG KK Sharma said that violence on the border could be brought down to zero level only when the criminals or offenders are stopped from crossing the International Border illegally and persecuted as per law of the land. Reiterating the need for joint efforts, both sides agreed to take preventive measures. Appreciating the cooperation extended by BGB and other security agencies of Bangladesh against Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs), Mr Sharma sought further cooperation from BGB to eliminate remnant IIGs. His counterpart informed that there is no IIGs hideout inside Bangladesh and clarified that Bangladesh does not allow its soil to be used by any entities or elements hostile to any country'. BSF DG appraised his concern about increase in smuggling of Fake Indian Currency Note. He appreciated the efforts of BGB and other security forces of Bangladesh against smuggling of fake currency note and sought further cooperation in detecting such units in Bangladesh and legal prosecution of defaulters. BGB DG informed that Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) of Bangladesh are taking actions against Fake Currency Note(FCN) racketeers and side by side government has already placed FCN detecting machines in all Integrated Check Posts(ICPs) and many other places across the country and smuggling of phensedyl and other psychotropic substances to Bangladesh . It also pledged to continue the efforts in this regard. Both sides agreed to take strong measures for prevention of illegal border crossing, human trafficking and said that willful violation of the sanctity of the IB would be dealt with as per respective Law of the Land and inadvertent crossers would be handed over to the concerned border guarding force immediately. Both the delegations agreed to aid victims of human trafficking and facilitate their early rescue and rehabilitation as per Law of the Land. . Both border guard force chiefs lauded the results of crime free zone which had been introduced in South Bengal Frontier and South West Region and agreed for its further expansion in other Frontiers and Regions. It was decided that next DG-level conference would be held in Dhaka in the month of March or April 2019. The delegation of Border Guard Bangladesh, led by DG Md. Shafeenul Islam arrived here on September 3 to attend the 47th Border Co-ordination Conference between the Border Security Force, India and Border Guard Bangladesh. UNI AKS AR 2034 Musk appeared to be smoking a marijuana-and-tobacco concoction during a podcast interview, the latest in a string of actions raising concerns over his management AFP/Robyn Beck Tesla shares sank 6.3 to close at $263.24 after the latest events that heightened concerns over Musk's erratic management style at the electric carmaker. "Elon's actions are making it harder and harder to support Tesla as a company," said analyst Gene Munster of Loup Ventures. "His actions directly affect Tesla's share price because Elon is Tesla." Munster said that while there may be more "upside" to Tesla, Musk's actions are hurting. "The use of recreational drugs, legal or not, goes against the unspoken rules of being a public CEO," the analyst said in a blog post. Shares came under pressure at the opening following the Musk online interview and news that chief accounting officer Dave Morton was leaving only a month on the job, citing the company's frenetic pace. Separately, human resources chief Gabrielle Toledano told Bloomberg she planned to exit the company, rather than return from a leave of absence. Morton's departure further roiled the company, which has been under heightened scrutiny since Musk's chaotic Twitter announcement on August 7 that he was considering taking Tesla private, before reversing the plan two weeks later. The ill-fated effort has prompted a US securities investigation and a class-action lawsuit alleging Musk was trying to punish investors who bet against the company. Morton's brief tenure with the company coincided with the aborted go-private push. "Since I joined Tesla on August 6th, the level of public attention placed on the company, as well as the pace within the company, have exceeded my expectations," Morton said in a securities filing. "As a result, this caused me to reconsider my future. I want to be clear that I believe strongly in Tesla, its mission and its future prospects, and I have no disagreements with Tesla's leadership or its financial reporting." TURNING HEADS IN PODCAST Musk turned heads with a more than two-hour podcast interview with comedian Joe Rogan in which he drank whiskey and appeared to smoke a marijuana-and-tobacco cigarette proffered by the comedian as he mused about artificial intelligence and colonizing space. At one point, Musk described the constant barrage of ideas in his mind as a "never-ending explosion," and said he wondered as a young boy whether he might be insane because it didn't seem to happen to other people. The appearance was the latest unorthodox move by Musk, who has often surprised investors with brash and unpredictable behaviour as Tesla has sought to live up to lofty manufacturing targets for its Model 3 electric car. Long a polarizing figure because of his swashbuckling style, Musk is seen by his champions as an entrepreneurial genius with the potential to remake the transportation system, while his detractors see him as an egotistical blowhard whose outsized promises have driven unjustified gains in the company's values. Especially bizarre moments involving the Tesla chief of late include disparaging remarks about Vernon Unsworth, a Briton who helped save boys trapped in a Thai cave and the abrupt shutdown of Wall Street analyst's questions during a contentious earnings conference call. "At times, Musk appears to be working against himself," analyst Munster wrote. "At the core, we believe he wants to prove his doubters wrong, but many of his actions strengthen the case against him. "If he wanted to prove them wrong with actions, he would delete Twitter, drop the Unsworth conversation and not use recreational drugs in a public setting." In August, Musk told The New York Times he was exhausted from too much work and difficulty sleeping in an interview that sharpened questions about his mental stability. Some observers have said Tesla could be helped with a strong number-two executive, but Friday's departures create additional gaps in Tesla's ranks. According to Bob Woodward's account, when Donald Trump urged him to assassinate Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad 2017, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hung up the phone and and said: "We're not going to do any of that". (Photo: AFP/Mandel Ngan) The alleged gap between the president's orders and what his mistrustful lieutenants actually do has been most apparent in bombshell revelations about the White House approach to foreign policy. Anecdote after anecdote in an anonymously published New York Times article and an incendiary book by veteran investigative reporter Bob Woodward have painted the same picture of a "two track presidency." Woodward's "Fear: Trump in the White House," due for release next week, offers perhaps the most disquieting examples of aides plotting to head off potential foreign policy disasters. The reporter who made his name bringing down Richard Nixon describes West Wing aides and other senior officials taking more measured steps time and again to mitigate Trump's decisions. Backed by hundreds of hours of taped conversations, Woodward recounts that Trump wanted to have Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad assassinated in 2017. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hung up the phone, according to Woodward, and said: "We're not going to do any of that. We're going to be much more measured." Woodward describes how Gary Cohn, Trump's former top economic advisor, swiped a letter from the president's desk to avoid him canceling a trade agreement with strategic ally South Korea. Consulted later by a colleague worried Trump was poised to sign a decree pulling the United States out of the NAFTA trade pact with Mexico and Canada, Cohen reportedly replied: "I can stop this." "I'll just take the paper off his desk." DETERMINATION The New York Times op-ed, published anonymously by a senior administration official, alleged that the president "complained for weeks" after being "boxed into" expelling a large number of Moscow's spies as punishment for the poisoning of a Russian double-agent in Britain. "In public and in private, President Trump shows a preference for autocrats and dictators, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia and North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un," the piece said. It accused Trump of displaying little genuine appreciation for "the ties that bind us to allied, like-minded nations." "Trump wants to be Putin's friend, but in the meanwhile, the administration continues its work, methodically, makes the determination that the Russians are responsible for the poisoning and, according to the law, take sanctions," said a US official convinced that other governments pay more attention to such punishment than to Trump's rants. The "two track" presidency has been at its most apparent, according to Trump critics, in US relations with Russia. This was especially the case after Trump's summit with Putin in July, when he sided with the Russian leader's denials, rather than US intelligence agencies' insistence, that Moscow interfered in the 2016 US presidential election. Under pressure from lawmakers who are hostile to Putin, Trump later backtracked, albeit half-heartedly, and said he supported his intelligence people. On North Korea, too, a sort of two track diplomacy seems to have been in place since the summit during which Trump met with the hermetic Asian nation's leader Kim Jong Un. Daniel Sneider, of Stanford University, said most US officials working on North Korea policy were focused on keeping Trump from meeting again with Kim, to whom they say he made concessions without getting anything in return. ON THE SIDELINES "The (Pyongyang) regime expressed a clear preference for dealing only with President Trump," said Bruce Klingner of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. While Kim praised his American counterpart personally, North Korean officials have sought to keep Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the sidelines. This dynamic played out again Thursday as Kim said he trusted Trump in the process to denuclearize the Korean peninsula. Trump immediately fired back on Twitter: "Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!" On Syria, Trump said in June he wanted nothing more to do with the war-torn country, forcing his civilian and military advisors to explain why the US had to remain committed to resolving the conflict. On other issues, from the Paris climate change accord to the US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, internal conflicts within the administration were won by Trump. While serving as secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, whom some lawmakers described as a buffer against White House chaos along with Mattis, managed for a while to dissuade Trump from leaving the Iranian nuclear accord. Tillerson's right hand man, Brian Hook, even reached a deal with European allies to toughen the text, diplomats say. But it was all in vain as Tillerson was fired in March and two months later Trump abandoned the nuclear accord. It is common for companies to organize various informal events where workers can come with their partners. One of those... Bradley Cooper with his drag mom. Photo: Alessandra Benedetti - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images When Bradley Coopers Jackson Maine first encounters Lady Gagas Ally in A Star is Born, theyre at a drag bar called Bleu Bleu outside of Los Angeles staffed by RuPauls Drag Race alumni Shangela and Willam. Ally is the token cis girl, and they let her sing, because, well, have you heard Lady Gaga sing? The choice to set the couples Meet Cute in a drag bar was the result long conversations between the director Cooper and Gaga, a noted supporter of the drag queen arts (and arguably, a drag queen herself), while Cooper was writing the script with Eric Roth and Will Fetters. I would just ask [Gaga] tons of questions and listen back to it and try to take things and think How can we mold this? And we really loved the drag bar idea and I really wanted her to sing La Vie en Rose, Cooper told Vulture during a roundtable interview at the Toronto Film Festival. Once I met [Willam and Shangela] on set, the possibilities became endless of what we could do in this space. It was so exciting. In the film Gaga makes her first appearance in full Edith Piaf makeup, complete with pencil-thin eyebrows a detail that entrances both Jackson, and the man who played him. It was so wonderful, Bradleys curiosity about drag makeup, Gaga said. I remember having a whole conversation with him about soaping the brow, how you get the eyebrow to stay down. You pat it with powder and then you cant see it. All of these little details. Without getting into spoilers, Coopers character is so taken with the brows that he experiments with the look himself later in the film. Its a scene that took Cooper back to one Halloween night with his Wet Hot American Summer co-star. I do have to say I just thought of it one Halloween [with] Amy Poehler, I went in drag. I remember walking around New York City, and I was like Oh, I feel like a woman. But it was hard to find shoes that fit [size] 13. I needed more prep time. My friend had this incredible wig, so I just took her wig. Gaga chimed in: Snatched it! Ol Dirty Bastard. Photo: Scott Gries/Getty Images God made Dirt, but Sony hopes it can at least give you a reasonable facsimile. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Sonys Columbia Pictures is currently in early development on a biopic about Ol Dirty Bastard a.k.a. Russell Tyrone Jones a.k.a Dirt McGirt a.k.a. Big Baby Jesus. There is currently no actor attached to provide ODBs charming voice, but fellow Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA, who talked about the project back in 2016, is reportedly attached to produce. In 2012, Michael K. Williams was cast to play the Brooklyn-born rapper, who died in 2004, in Dirty White Boy, but the film never saw the light of day. The film also seemed to feature ODBs character as second fiddle to his 22-year-old Vh1 intern-turned-manager, so maybe this all worked out the way the Lord intended. Mac Miller. Photo: Christaan Felber for Vulture Its not wrong to say that Mac Miller was misunderstood, but its not quite correct, either. The rapper who was born in Pittsburgh, but spent much of his career in the San Fernando Valley was often defined by these facts: he was a white guy who achieved quite a bit of success straight out of the gate, and he made rap music that went pop so fast, it felt like a default setting. People seemed unsure of how to take him. Who was this kid? Albums like Blue Slide Park were clean, bright, fun, and maybe a little too ridiculous, but his talent, and considerable style, was evident. Mac Miller could write dense verses that twisted on themselves. At his best, listening to him could make you dizzy. In 2012, he released the mixtape Macadelic. It was our first real glimpse of the artist that Miller would become. The woozy Aliens Fighting Robots bounces from topic to topic, but what hes saying isnt really the point Miller had settled on the style that would carry him forward. Hed pile internal rhymes on top of each other and then come up for air long enough to throw a memorable line out there: So my girl and I be up like we some college students cramming for a test that we aint study for/wonder will she love me more with money, because if not, Im not sure what all this money for. It didnt really matter that just a few seconds before, he was rapping about how capicola sandwiches were really good. By celebrating the mere act of rapping, Miller had settled on an at-the-time increasingly rare concept: Rap could be high stakes and fun. It could tackle serious topics in funny ways. It wasnt a new idea, but it didnt feel like a whole lot of people were really practicing it at the time, either. That Miller eventually found a home in a hazy, almost psychedelic world felt appropriate. Every song on 2013s Watching Movies With the Sound Off sounds as if it was written late night in the studio, where time can lose all meaning and likeminded rappers like Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler, The Creator could wander in to rap over fuzzed-out loops at will. Around the same time, he produced an entire mixtape for Vince Staples under the alter-ego Larry Fisherman. After that, hed go on to rap and produce at a steady clip. To be sure, he existed within the music industry. His albums had singles. Paparazzi followed him places. He was on a record label. He had a publicist. All the usual stuff. But it felt different. It felt like he would have been making this music whether or not anyone was listening. It was an outlet, which meant he veered into dark territory: Hed rap about substance abuse and existential loneliness. But hed also make jokes, and loved to rhyme just to rhyme. It seems obvious, but its worth saying explicitly: Mac Miller rapped because he wanted to rap the fact that a lot of people really wanted to hear him rap was a side effect. I think a lot about an image from a Mac Miller profile in The Fader in 2013: In it, Miller and Earl Sweatshirt are each sitting in chairs in Millers studio, hunched over their phones, presumably going over some lyrics. There are no lights in the room, just a lurid, neon red glow and some recording equipment. In the very next photo, Miller is laying flat on his stomach in head-to-toe camo, dunking his entire head in his pool. Reading the story, its explained that Macs studio is right next to that pool, but youd never know. The photo in the studio is candid, comfortable, and the one in the pool, while beautiful, looks as if it were posed. Its clear where he felt more comfortable. You will not be surprised to learn that Mac spent most of his time in that studio, producing, rapping, collaborating, improving. Earlier this week, Vulture published a profile of Mac Miller, written by our music critic Craig Jenkins. It was loosely pegged to his recently released album Swimming, which is lush, mature, and very carefully considered. He worked with the legendary producer Jon Brion to create songs that drifted in a kind of California funk haze. Without his voice which had evolved into a nasal, gravelly thing the music would have felt almost weightless. Listening to it felt like the beginning of a new phase. Miller had found a way to marry his love of wordplay to music that was at once insular and radio-friendly. The profile oscillated between the interior and exterior world of Mac Miller. Hes anxiously preparing for a set on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, then hes ducking paps whore lurking in the bushes outside of his hotel. Hes candid and open and genuine, not because his publicist told him he needed to be relatable, but because thats who he was. Toward the end of the piece, he makes a nuanced observation about what it means to be a person: I really wouldnt want just happiness. And I dont want just sadness either. I dont want to be depressed. I want to be able to have good days and bad days I cant imagine not waking up sometimes and being like, I dont feel like doing shit. And then having days where you wake up and you feel on top of the world. Photo: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Turner In a stunning display of a 180 pivot, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Best Popular Film category was canceled earlier this week after its 29-day existence, owing to significant criticism from critics, viewers, and Hollywood folk alike. (And much to the chagrin pf Mark Wahlberg. Sorry, buddy!) While the academy said the cancellation is only temporary as it merits further study and further discussion with our members, a New York Times report claims that tensions were high among academy members while debating the point of the category, with two prominent people, in particular, letting their frustrations be known. Some board members, including John Bailey, the organizations president, voiced support for the category at the meeting, while others, including the actress Laura Dern, were adamantly opposed, according to two board members, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private deliberations, the Times reports. Prominent member Steven Spielberg was also vocally opposed to the category, and he was described as being uncomfortable with its inclusion. You can say he knows a thing or two about cinema. This is the week that we learned that there are a group of senior staffers within the White House and administration who are actively working to circumvent President Donald Trump's wishes under the belief that to do what he wants at all times would endanger national security. Stop. Go back. Read that first sentence again. Donald Trump Political Figures - US Companies Continents and regions Eastern Europe Europe Government and public administration Government bodies and offices Investigations Jeff Sessions New York Times Co Politics Robert Mueller Russia Russia meddling investigation US federal government White House That's a remarkable thing. Even in an administration defined by its seeming unending capability to amaze and disrupt standard procedures of governance, the idea that there is an active effort among top aides to marginalize Trump stands out. But it's where we are after a week in which the first look at Bob Woodward's "Fear: Trump in the White House" painted a picture of a President deeply out of his depth and out of the loop. And a week on which an anonymous Trump administration official penned a New York Times op-ed that detailed an effort "to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump's more misguided impulses until he is out of office." Those accounts confirm reports from sources like Omarosa Manigault Newman, a former Trump White House aide, and Michael Wolff in his best-selling "Fire and Fury." While the anecdotes might differ, the thrust of all of this reporting on Trump is the same: He is an isolated figure who frequently lashes out at a staff that views him with some combination of fear, loathing and ridicule. Trump, as he so often does, compounded an already-difficult situation with his reaction to it. He suggested that the writer of the anonymous op-ed may have committed "TREASON?" He called Woodward an "idiot" and his book a "work of fiction" less than a month after he is heard on a recording made by Woodward praising the reporter as "very fair." He asked much-maligned Attorney General Jeff Sessions to open an investigation into the identity of the op-ed writer, although the legal grounds to do so are, well, nonexistent. What everyone -- Trump's allies and his adversaries -- agree on is that his isolation, his paranoia and the direness of his current situation all ramped up this week. Trump appears to be absolutely fixated on finding the identity of the op-ed writer, but uninterested in addressing the very real concerns the piece raises. He is leaning in to an all-out assault against Woodward while offering little actual evidence that anything the famed political reporter has in his book is factually inaccurate. And he continues to lash out at the special counsel probe being led by Robert Mueller even as his lawyers continue to negotiate the possibility of a sit-down between the President and the former FBI director. On top of all of that is the fact that the midterm elections are only 60 days away -- and all signs point to major Democratic gains in the House. And if Democrats take over the House, Trump's life is going to get A LOT more complicated in the second half of his term. Trump spent the last part of the week doing what he enjoys most about the job of President: Delivering campaign speeches to adoring crowds in Republican-friendly areas. (He was in Montana, South Dakota and North Dakota on Thursday and Friday.) But staying within that adoration bubble won't change what faces him when he returns to Washington at the end of this week. And that is nothing good. The Point: It's hard to pinpoint a worst week in what has been a presidency full of them. But the events of this week have to put it in the bottom five. -- Chris And now, the week that was in 28 headlines: Monday Trump blasts Sessions over indictments of two of his earliest congressional supporters NYT: DOJ's Bruce Ohr, dossier author Christopher Steele involved in efforts to flip Russian oligarch Tuesday Bob Woodward book: Trump called Sessions 'mentally retarded' Trump amps up attacks on Woodward after explosive book excerpts Mueller responds to Trump team; discussions focus more on written questions Bob Woodward: Trump's lawyer warned him of an 'orange jump suit' if he testifies Bob Woodward's bizarre phone call with Trump Jury selection begins for second Paul Manafort trial Bob Woodward: Trump's aides stole his papers 'to protect the country' Trump irritated he wasn't interviewed by Woodward for upcoming book Wednesday Nielsen calls out Putin for election interference Kavanaugh says 'No one is above the law' but won't say if Trump can pardon himself Woodward book prompts West Wing witch hunt, sources say Anonymous senior administration official admits to working against Trump in New York Times op-ed Trump warns Assad against assault, denies wanting to assassinate him Judge denies Manafort's request to move next trial from DC to Virginia Trump slams damning New York Times op-ed as 'gutless' Giuliani says Trump's lawyers have already sent back a response to special counsel Thursday Latest Zinke calendars stripped of most details about his meetings Trump's top officials deny authoring NYT op-ed Kamala Harris grills Kavanaugh on Mueller investigation Kavanaugh, Kasowitz law firm deny conversations on Mueller probe Trump slams 'deep state operatives,' vulnerable Democratic Sen. Jon Tester in Montana Trump tells supporters it'll be 'your fault' if he gets impeached Friday Trump frets over 'perjury trap' if he sits down with Mueller Trump wants Sessions to investigate New York Times op-ed Obama slams Republicans: Trump is 'capitalizing on resentment' NY bike path suspect cites Trump tweets in asking to drop death penalty possibility Read Friday's full edition of The Point newsletter, and sign up to get future editions delivered to your inbox. Three DeKalb County Schools were named among the top 50 schools in the state after having the most improvement in third grade reading test scores last year. The state will give each school a $20,000 check to recognize their growth in reading proficiency. Fyffe Elementary School was just one of three schools in DeKalb County to receive the state award that they never even knew existed. "I knew our scores had increased but we had no idea that they were giving out an award like this," Kathy Butts, a third grade teacher, said. The Alabama State Department of Education only is giving the award surrounding the third grade, Butts has an idea of why. "When they enter third grade, our big top thing is comprehension, and that's probably why I think the focus is more on third grade," Butts said. Last year, third graders across the state took a reading assessment at the beginning of the school year and one at the end as a way to gauge the growth throughout the year. Fyffe Assistant Principal Tim McCollum wants to put that money back into the third grade classrooms. "On technology and equipment, most likely some more Chromebooks for our third graders to be able to use," McCollum said. With the start of the new school year just getting underway, the third grade teachers have their eyes on repeating. "It's kind of a challenge now, we want to look at what the kids are doing right now and continue where left off last year," Kristi Underwood said. Alongside Fyffe, both Henagar and Sylvania also received the award. An award ceremony will be held on September 13, where Governor Kay Ivey will congratulate all of the schools. The Radford City Police Department is investigating after a fight broke out in the 1100 block of Fairfax Street Friday around 1:10 a.m. Armani Smith, 19, of Fredricksburg, and Jaylin Nowlin, 19, of Dublin, face multiple charges. Police are also searching for a third suspect. Smith was arrested and charged with malicious wounding, public drunkenness and underage possession of alcohol.. Nowlin was also arrested and charged with malicious wounding, public drunkenness, underage possession of alcohol and urinating in public. Police are asking the third suspect to come forward or for someone to identify him. Smith and Nowlin suffered facial injuries and were treated at Carilion New River Valley Medical Center. They are being held without bond in the New River Valley Regional Jail. If you have any information about this incident, contact Officer Fuhrman of the Radford City Police Department at (540) 267-3134 or the Radford City Police Crime Line at (540) 731-5040. St. John's Picnic Sep. 07, 2018 By Sep. 07, 2018 The St. John's Picnic is Sept. 7-8, and the event kicks off Friday night with a traditional event, with a couple of new events added for Saturday. The Knights of Columbus Hall on US Highway 45 will host their annual fish fry on Friday night. On Saturday, the "Old School" 5k run and 1-mile fun run will start at 8:30 am (registration starts at 7 am). The 1-mile fun run will start when the 5k is completed (approx. 9:30 am). Race-day registration is $30 for the 5k and $10 for the 1-mile run. Awards will be presented after the race. The picnic is from 11 am until 9 pm on the grounds of the church. Enjoy tons of delicious barbecue pork, chicken, and mutton with all the fixins, and theres even an all-you-can-eat dinner! Plus, enjoy games, live music, the country store, political speaking and for the first time ever, fireworks at 8:45 pm. The church is located at 6705 Old US Highway 45 South in Paducah. Come join them for the "biggest little picnic in Western Kentucky. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 07, 2018 | METROPOLIS By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 07, 2018 | 06:34 PM | METROPOLIS The Fourth Annual BarkAID event is Sunday in Metropolis. If your hair is in need of a trim, you can let Master Hair Stylist Patrick Lomantini cut your hair as he raises money for Project Hope Humane Society. He has visited over 50 cities each year, giving dry cuts for a minimum suggested donation of $20, and each cut helps a local pet shelter. Headlines Salon, at 718 East Fifth Street, will be open from 10 am to 3 pm Sunday for the fundraiser. To schedule an appointment, call 618-524-4245. While appointments are encouraged, walk-ins on the day of the event are also welcome. Headlines Salon Owner Linda Ohmes said the last two BarkAID events have been a lot of fun. I really want to do all I can to help Project Hope and all the fur babies. Its just a small thing we can all do to keep them up and running, said Ohmes. She says with Patricks mission of cutting hair to help homeless animals, she was glad to host BarkAID Metropolis again this year. Project Hope volunteers will have animals available for adoption on site at Headlines Salon to remind people where their donation to BarkAID is going. Project Hope will also have T-Shirts and other items available to purchase. Holleys Barbecue food trailer will be at the event. Project Hope will also have a dessert booth with a variety of sweet treats and there will be silent auction items available to bid on as well. Project Hope Humane Society does not receive any state or local funding and relies on donations from individuals and organizations to help them. Supplies are always needed. Last years event brought in a little over $1000 from the haircuts and donations. The first year BarkAID was held in Metropolis, Project Hope received $1300 from the event. To find out more information about Lomantini and to see the full BarkAID tour schedule, visit www.barkaid.org or visit the BarkAID Facebook page. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Advertisement By The Associated Press Sep. 08, 2018 | LOUISVILLE By The Associated Press Sep. 08, 2018 | 04:44 PM | LOUISVILLE The Republican Party of Kentucky has disavowed a GOP candidate for the state legislature who is being criticized for racially charged comments he's made in the past. Everett Corley narrowly won the Republican nomination for the 43rd District House seat in Louisville. Two years ago, he sued to stop the removal of a Confederate soldier statue near the University of Louisville. The Kentucky Democratic Party this week accused Corley of being a white nationalist and pointed out that he called a U of L professor a "dirty black bastard" during the fight over the Confederate statue. The city removed the statue, and Corley apologized for the comment. In a release Friday, the GOP called Corley a "perennial candidate with a history of offensive statements and behavior." The state GOP said it would not support his candidacy now or in the future. U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell also criticized the candidate on Friday, telling the Courier Journal that Corley has "backwards views" and his "rhetoric must be given no corner in the Republican Party or anywhere in America." Former President Barack Obama, a day after delivering a stinging critique of President Donald Trump's time in office, had a stark warning for fired-up Democrats in California: This is not rock bottom. Obama urged the Democrats at his first rally of 2018 to get out and vote in November, telling them that the dismay they feel about Washington right now means nothing is they don't follow through by voicing their displeasure at the ballot box. Barack Obama Donald Trump Elections and campaigns Government and public administration Political Figures - US Political organizations Politics US Democratic Party US political parties US Republican Party 2018 Midterm elections California Continents and regions Elections (by type) Midterm elections North America Political events Political rallies Southwestern United States The Americas United States Hillary Clinton Government bodies and offices Government organizations - US US Congress US federal government White House "This is a consequential moment in our history. The fact is if we don't step up things can get worse," he said to audible groans from the 750 Democrats in the room on Saturday. "When there is a vacuum in our democracy ... other voices fill the void. But the good news is in two months, we have a chance to restore some sanity in our politics. We have a chance to flip the House of Representatives." The speech was a departure from the lengthy and direct rebuke of Trump he delivered on Friday, where he mentioned the current President two times and lambasted him for leaning on law enforcement to protect Republicans from prosecution, slammed him for "cozying up" to Russian President Vladimir Putin and faulted him for equivocating about who was at fault during the white supremacist protests last year in Charlottesville, Virginia. On Saturday, Obama didn't mention Trump once and, instead, told Democrats that the problems in Washington are bigger than one person. "The biggest threat to our democracy ... is not one individual, it is not one big super PAC billionaires," he said. "It is apathy, it is indifference, it is us not doing what we are supposed to do." It was clear in the audience, however, that most attendees believed Trump was the biggest threat. When Obama began to describe what he thought was the biggest issue, a man in the audience yelled, "Trump." The event, organized by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, was an attempt to boost seven Democrats running in districts Hillary Clinton won in 2016 but which are represented by the Republicans in the House. The event officially ended Obama's absence from the campaign trail, a months-long void that has angered some Democrats who believe he is not engaging in a political fight where he could be helpful. Obama touted the sevent candidates - Josh Harder (CA-10), TJ Cox (CA-21), Katie Hill (CA-25), Gil Cisneros (CA-39), Katie Porter (CA-45), Harley Rouda (CA-48), and Mike Levin (CA-49) - by name, casting them as people who understand how critical it is for Democrats to step up in 2018. "It is always tempting for politicians, for their own gain, and for people in power, to try to see if they can divide people, scapegoat folks, turn them on each other because when that happens, you get gridlock and government doesn't work and people get cynical and they decide not to participate," he said. "That unfortunately has been a spiral that we have been on for the last couple of years." His prescription, he said, was "when each of us as citizens say we are going to take it upon ourselves to do it differently." And while the speech was not as direct as his remarks in Illinois, Obama did cast the current administration as one that is seizing on division. That Illinois speech was a break from tradition -- one where former commanders-in-chief don't criticize their successors -- but Obama argued that Trump's presidency represented a time when everyone needed to stand up. "You happen to be coming of age" amid backlash to progress, Obama told the students at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "It did not start with Donald Trump, he is a symptom, not the cause. He is just capitalizing on resentment that politicians have been fanning for years. A fear, an anger that is rooted in our past but is also borne in our enormous upheavals that have taken place in your brief lifetimes." His overarching message in both speeches, however, was the complaining does nothing when people don't vote. "Don't tell me your vote doesn't matter," he said in Illinois. "And if you thought elections don't matter, I hope these last two years have corrected the impression." A polarizing draw to the polls Those Democrats Obama rallied with on Saturday welcomed his return to the campaign trail. "It's truly exciting to welcome President Obama to Southern California, and I welcome the opportunity to campaign alongside him and energize voters ahead of the final two months of the campaign," Cisneros said in a statement. Chelsea Brossard, Harder's campaign manager, called Saturday an "all hands on deck moment" for the campaign and said they were "proud to have this level of support as we begin the final stretch." But Republicans have been just as eager to welcome Obama back to the campaign trail, too, believing he will rally their base as much, if not more, than he rallies Democrats. "For three cycles (2010, 2012, 2014) President Obama fired up Republicans like nobody," Rep. Steve Stivers, the head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, told reporters on Friday. "And I'm happy he wants to do it again." While Clinton won all seven districts in 2016, Obama had won only three in 2012, leaving Democrats in the state hopeful that his Obama's return could end up helping them. Cox, Democrats' nominee in CA-21, said that optimism was misplaced, and action necessary. "This President and this Congress are hitting people right in the pocket book and people see that," Cox said, arguing Obama will offer them an image of Democratic leadership. "The best thing the president (Obama) could say is this: Vote, vote, vote. And that is it. We can march, we can rally, we can put signs up. All that matters ... is getting out there and voting." Following his California visit, Obama will travel to Ohio next Thursday for an event for Richard Cordray, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate in Ohio, and he is also slated to headline a campaign event in Pennsylvania later this month, and a New York fundraiser for the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, an organization led by former Attorney General Eric Holder, Obama's longtime friend. HERKIMER A Utica man is facing charges after he was allegedly found to be selling untaxed cigarettes at his convenience store in Herkimer, according to New York State Police. Ramadan Ali Fateh, 45, is charged with misdemeanor possession/transportation/sale of unstamped/untaxed cigarettes. Photo provided by New York State Police Photo provided by New York State Police State police say that with the help of Herkimer police and the state Department of Taxation and Finance, they executed a search warrant at Friends Convenience Store, located at 152 North Main St. in the village of Herkimer. Police say they found and seized approximately $1,000 worth of untaxed/unstamped Native brand cigarettes. Fateh was issued an appearance ticket for the Village of Herkimer Court on Sept. 25. Police say the investigation is ongoing and more charges in Herkimer County are anticipated. NEW YORK, Sept. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Ampio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Ampio or the Company) (NYSE: AMPE) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in United States District Court, District of Colorado, and index under 18-cv-02252, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons other than Defendants who purchased or otherwise acquired the publicly traded securities of Ampio between December 14, 2017 and August 7, 2018, both dates inclusive (the Class Period). Plaintiff seeks to recover compensable damages caused by Defendants violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. If you are a shareholder who purchased Ampio securities between December 14, 2017, and August 7, 2018, both dates inclusive, you have until October 24, 2018, to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at rswilloughby@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 9980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased. [Click here to join this class action] Ampio is a biopharmaceutical company which focuses on the development of therapies for the treatment of prevalent inflammatory conditions in the United States. Ampion, a biologic intra-articular injection being studied for the treatment of pain due to osteoarthritis of the knee, is one of the Companys lead product candidates. The Company conducted a Phase III trial for Ampion, titled: AP-003. The Complaint alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Companys business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose that: (1) the FDA would find Ampios AP-003-C Phase 3 clinical trial inadequate and not well-controlled; (2) as a result, Ampio had not successfully completed two pivotal clinal trials for Ampion; (3) consequently, Defendants public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. On August 7, 2018, after the market closed, Ampio announced updated business disclosures relating to its AP-003-A and AP-003-C trials, disclosing that the FDA found that a single trial the AP-003-A study alone does not appear to provide sufficient evidence of effectiveness to support a BLA and that the FDA does not consider the AP-003-C trial to be an adequate and well-controlled clinical trial. On this news, shares of Ampio fell $2.25 per share or over 78% to close at $0.61 per share on August 8, 2018. Shares continued to fall another 21.3% the next day. The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris, is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com CONTACT: Robert S. Willoughby Pomerantz LLP rswilloughby@pomlaw.com 888-476-6529 ext. 9980 LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) A link between domestic violence, child, and animal abuse is being found here and around the country. "Smells good in this joint, don't it?" asked Animal Control Officer Josh Klumpe. He's joking about the smell because an animal shelter isn't exactly a candle store. Being an animal control officer isn't glamorous but recent studies show this job has the potential to put violent criminals away before they move on to human victims. A new-found link between domestic violence, child and animal abuse is raising awareness of a big problem. "I think it's always been there, but animal law and animal abuse as a whole is one of the least prosecuted things nationwide," said Klumpe. He hopes that changes because he believes most abuse begins with an animal. "They're just an easier victim," said Klumpe. But they're much more difficult to read. If you think human victims of abuse are slow to report, try an animal who can't use words. Their physical symptoms aren't as obvious either. "They don't bruise quite like you and me. It doesn't show, like if somebody punches us in the eye, we're going to get a black eye," said Klumpe. It's all in the details. "Do they cower when a male is around?" asked Klumpe. "Do they cower when you raise your hand?" But his job doesn't stop at animals. When he's on a call, he pays close attention to the demeanor of kids, spouses and potential abusers in each home. Sometimes, the abuser uses the pet as a weapon to control the abused. "Why'd you make me do this to the dog? Why'd you make me do this to the cat? Kind of thing," said Klumpe. "I'm going to kill the dog if you leave me." YWCA Domestic Violence Victim Advocate, Norah Ashcraft has been collecting data on this topic for the past 16 months. Her numbers show 27 domestic violence abusers also abused animals in Greater Lafayette. There's another disturbing trend too. "I found out that 11 out of 27 of these people's children had been hurt anywhere from being strangled, hit with a belt, hit, punched, kicked," said Ashcraft. Kids have child protective services. Abused spouses have domestic violence shelters. But there's no government required program for pets. That's why this community is fortunate to have volunteers at Almost Home Humane Society and the Pet Safe Program at Purdue. "We average about 15-20 animals a year," said Pet Safe Director Dr. Janice Kritchevsky. "It's not you know, a huge number but to the people that use us it's a real life saving service." It goes beyond a temporary place to sleep and eat. "In addition to being housed, they get needed vaccinations and are examined by a veterinarian here on the faculty," said Dr. Kritchevsky. "We try to do it for 30 days or less just to keep our space in the building working," added Almost Home Humane Society Executive Director Stacy Rogers. "And it always depends on how many animals we have in at the moment." So what can you do to help? You can donate money, volunteer to foster, or at the very least, keep your eyes open for signs of abuse. "If you don't call, we don't know," said Klumpe. Officer Klumpe loves his not-so-glamorous job and he hopes more people catch onto its importance. Tougher animal abuse laws and more money for staff would be a nice start. Last year, they responded to nearly 4,000 animal-related calls. "There's only four of us," said Klumpe. If you would like to help with this cause, click here. 1-4" of rainfall has occurred in the southern 2/3 of the area with much less in the north with many areas seeing less than 1" so far. Totals of 2-6" are likely north to south with isolated amounts up to 8" in the far southern areas, while an average of near 3-4" is likely around Lafayette. This means another 2-4" of rainfall is likely in the southern 2/3 & 1-1.5" in the north. Flood warnings have just been issued for the Wabash River & Wildcat Creek in Carroll & Tippecanoe counties. More Flood warnings will follow. 939 PM EDT FRI SEP 7 2018 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A * FLOOD WARNING FOR THE WILDCAT CREEK NEAR LAFAYETTE. * FROM SUNDAY EVENING TO LATE TUESDAY NIGHT. * AT FRI 08:45 PM THE STAGE WAS 3.9 FEET. * FLOOD STAGE IS 10.0 FEET. * MINOR FLOODING IS FORECAST. * FORECAST...RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE BY SUNDAY EVENING AND CONTINUE TO RISE TO NEAR 12.6 FEET BY MONDAY EVENING. THE RIVER WILL FALL BELOW FLOOD STAGE BY TUESDAY EVENING. 939 PM EDT FRI SEP 7 2018 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A * FLOOD WARNING FOR THE WABASH RIVER AT LAFAYETTE. * FROM LATE MONDAY NIGHT TO TUESDAY AFTERNOON. * AT FRI 08:30 PM THE STAGE WAS 3.3 FEET. * FLOOD STAGE IS 11.0 FEET. * MINOR FLOODING IS FORECAST. * FORECAST...THE RIVER IS EXPECTED TO RISE TO NEAR FLOOD STAGE LATE MONDAY NIGHT THEN FALL BACK BELOW FLOOD STAGE. * AT 11.0 FEET...FLOODING OF LOW AGRICULTURAL LAND BEGINS IN WESTERN PART OF TIPPECANOE COUNTY. Rainfall will re-increase tonight & be solid & steady all of Saturday at a moderate rate. The center of Tropical Depression Gordon should be just southeast of St. Louis by noon Saturday. Note the approach of the 35-45 mph gusts Saturday noon. They will be over south-central Illinois at that point while our gusts will be running 20-30 mph by that time & be sustained at 15-20 mph (from the east-northeast) Heaviest rainfall will pass Saturday night. Note the core of purple/red with gusts 35-45 mph with sustained winds at 15-25 mph. A few isolated gusts of 46-47 mph are possible. With this occurring for several hours, limbs weakened by the weight of the rain water on the foliage & the persistence of the gusts could result in some being downed. A isolated weak, shallow-rooted tree may uproot & fall given the increasingly wet soil & continued gusts. A few localized power outages are possible. Lawn furniture & trash cans may be blown about or tipped over, too. Hanging plants on porches may be blown down. Thursday-Sunday totals will run 2" north to 6" south with some amounts of up to 8" in the south. Steady, heavier rains will depart by Sunday morning, but wind-driven showers & drizzle will last through the day with cloudy skies & still brisk winds. Gusts of 35-45 mph in the morning will decrease to 20-30 mph in the afternoon, however. A band of very heavy rainfall (south of us) near or just south of I-70 may result in a corridor of dangerous flash flooding. Be mindful if your travels take you near &/or south of Terre Haute to Indianapolis Saturday night. Even here, watch for flash flooding & ponding, especially Saturday night. Flash Flood Watch will be in effect to later Sunday. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page NEW ORLEANS, Sept. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until October 22, 2018 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Nevro Corp. (NYSE: NVRO), if they purchased the Companys shares between January 8, 2018 and July 12, 2018, inclusive (the Class Period). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Get Help Nevro investors should visit us at https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/view-nevro-corporation-securities-litigation or call to speak to our claim center toll-free at (844) 367-9658. About the Lawsuit Nevro and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. On July 10, 2018, analysts reported that a tentative court ruling in patent litigation involving Nevro nullified at least five patents related to the Companys proprietary HF10 pain therapy and Senza delivery systems, which resulted in some analysts downgrading the Company. Then, on July 13, 2018, the Company disclosed pre-market that it had terminated the employment of James Alecxih, Vice President, Worldwide Sales. News of both events caused the price of Nevros shares to plummet, wiping out over $650 million in market capitalization. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. ClaimsFiler's team of experts monitor the securities class action landscape and cull information from a variety of sources to ensure comprehensive coverage across a broad range of financial instruments. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. Five Fords site identified as major pollution incident location after previous legal redaction This article is old - Published: Saturday, Sep 8th, 2018 Welsh Water have confirmed they are investigating an incident at their Five Fords side, that impacted on the River Clywedog. The impact as explained by Natural Resources Wales was the death of thousands of fish after a major pollution incident. Welsh Water said: Were investigating an incident earlier this week at our Five Fords site in Wrexham which has impacted on the River Clywedog. Incident is closed but working with Natural Resources Wales to establish what has caused this. Previously Natural Resources Wales (NRW) tweeted (now deleted) naming Five Fords as the location, however later pulled that statement and reissued it noting the exact location cannot currently be confirmed for legal reasons however did still confirm it was in the River Clywedog near Marchwiel. NRW say a stretch of about nine kilometres of the river was affected, leading to a massive loss of fish mainly brown trout but also bullhead, lamprey, stoneloach, salmon parr, chub, eel, bullhead, stickleback, perch and minnow. People used twitter to try and get further details on what river was affected and why: Hi Nicky. We are currently unable to name the source as this could jeopardise any future enforcement action or prosecution we take. Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru | Natural Resources Wales (@NatResWales) September 7, 2018 However that position later changed, with a Welsh Water tweet linking their site to the incident, as NRW had said themselves in the first place. Hello. Dwr Cymru Welsh Water have released a statement on their own twitter feed @DwrCymru that provides some information. thanks Meinir Cyfoeth Naturiol Cymru | Natural Resources Wales (@NatResWales) September 7, 2018 Although the two incidents have been linked on the replies of the NRW twitter feed, the last update for those using the NRW website still does not confirm the location. The Welsh Water website has a latest news section that embeds their Facebook and Twitter feeds, we cant spot reference to the incident on their Facebook page (or press release section) so this single tweet is the only mention of the major pollution incident. MP steps up campaign to save hundreds of jobs in Wrexham This article is old - Published: Saturday, Sep 8th, 2018 Wrexhams MP says a decision to move hundreds of tax office jobs away from the town is one of the worst he has seen in his 17 years in office. 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. The cost-saving measure was announced by Her Majestys Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in 2015. It has been fiercely opposed by Labour MP Mr Lucas, who met local representatives from the PCS union on last week for an update on the campaign to keep the Wrexham office open. Joining them was Labours Shadow Treasury Minister Anneliese Dodds, who has been touring the UK this week to meet staff in locations where offices have been earmarked for closure. Mr Lucas, who has served as MP for Wrexham since 2001, said: This is simply one of the worst decisions Ive ever known a Government to make as far as regional policy is concerned. Weve got a developing economy in North East Wales and Wrexham is the biggest town in North Wales. We need to keep long-standing, skilled public sector jobs and investment in Wrexham not take them away. I am pressing the UK Government as hard as I possibly can to reverse the decision, halt the process and make sure that these jobs are kept in Wrexham. Ms Dodds, who is conducting a review of the impact of HMRC cuts and office closures for the shadow treasury team, added: We really need these jobs to stay in towns like Wrexham. Theyre so important. Theyre important for keeping expertise within HMRC, very important for the quality of tax collection services and more needed than ever if we end up with a new customs regime from the Government. Labour is saying we need to renegotiate the contract thats leading to the closure of so many local offices just like the one in Wrexham. We need to see an end to this closure programme. Alan Runswick, who is on the PCS unions group executive committee, welcomed the chance to meet Mr Lucas and Ms Dodds this week. He said: The PCS was delighted to have had Anneliese Dodds and Ian Lucas here to oppose the closure of Wrexhams tax office. Its completely bonkers to be closing offices in towns like Wrexham and moving jobs to bigger cities like Liverpool and Cardiff. The HMRC will be unable to deliver its services across North Wales from city centre offices so far away so we think that its really good the Labour Party is backing up our campaign to keep this office open. HMRC plan to close the Wrexham office by 2021. Mr Lucas pointed out that the decision was made before the Brexit vote. He says customs issues will mean there is even more work for offices like the one in Wrexham to process once the UK leaves the European Union next year. To close the office in Wrexham in the current climate is completely crazy, he added. Geopolitics Why Russia and Chinas joint military exercises should worry the West They hold a mirror to Donald Trumps undermining of Americas allies RUSSIA has long feared a Chinese invasion of its sprawling far east. Large Russian armies regularly drill in southern Siberia. This year the exercises are the largest since the cold war. But what is striking is not just the scale of Vostok-2018, but the fact that thousands of Chinese soldiers will take part in them as honoured guests. To some this looks like the reversal of Richard Nixons visit to China in 1972. Back then, America split the big communist powers. Now China and Russia are binding closer to challenge the American order. The parallel with the cold war is imperfect. But the West should worry nonetheless, not least because the exercises hold a mirror to Americas weakened alliances. Exercises matter both militarily and politically. They help keep armed forces on their toes, and hone new weapons and tactics under realistic conditions. This is especially important for China. It is spending heavily on its armed forces, which have become more assertive, but is alone among the big powers in having had no combat experience in almost four decades. Chinas forces have imported Russias most advanced missiles and aircraft. They can now absorb the battlefield lessons from Russias wars in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria. Politically, there are limits to the rapprochement. China is the rising superpower; Russia is struggling to arrest its own decline. Chinas vast infrastructure investments in Central Asia, part of the Belt and Road Initiative, are displacing Russia in its own backyard. Moreover, Russias brash flouting of international norms, including its annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine, sits uneasily with China. Russia has all but dropped any pretence of civility with America and Europe; China sticks to the notion of win-win relations. Russia arms the Taliban to frustrate America; China seeks to promote a peace deal in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, Russia and China increasingly share a view of how the world ought to be reordered. They want to reassert the role of states over individuals and civil society, break American alliances and establish harmonious (ie, servile) arrangements with countries in their orbits. Both have blocked international action against genocidal and despotic regimes, such as those of Syria and Sudan. Although Russia and China may never be firm allies, their partnership is bad news for liberal democracies everywhere. How to respond? The temptation is to try to play one off against the other. Chinese analysts, who love a conspiracy, devoured reports, later denied, that Henry Kissinger told President Donald Trump to use Russia to contain China. Others think partnership with China is more important. This is the wrong way to see the problem. America has many friends, mostly democracies, which can help it stand up to both Russia and China. Alas, Mr Trump is treating Americas friends badly. Compare President Vladimir Putins deft military diplomacy in Vostok-2018 with Mr Trumps capricious cancellation of joint exercises with South Koreato the dismay of his generals. Japan frets that its military ties with America will become a bargaining chip in trade disputes (see article). And although Europeans are relieved that last summers NATO summit passed without a crisis, Mr Trumps disparagement of allies, whether big countries like Germany or small ones like Montenegro, has frayed transatlantic bonds. The worlds democracies, led by America, should be mounting a collective defence of liberal values. Instead Mr Trump is busy wrecking them. He should learn one lesson from Mr Putin: friends are an asset, not a burden. No further details have been made public about the incident last month of a woman setting herself on fire at a council office run by Barnet council in north London. On August 19, a witness reported to the Labour Party-supporting blog Skwawkbox that a woman in her 50s had set fire to herself in a council housing office in Barnet House. Skwawkbox reported that the woman apparently driven to desperation by her situation set herself alight in the housing office of Tory-run Barnet council. She was said to be in a critical but stable condition. The council referred all questions to the police, who said only that they were continuing their enquiries. According to the website, neither Barnet, Capitathe outsourced safety provider for the councilnor the police disputed this was a self-immolation. The reason that nothing else is known about the incident and its outcome is not just the silence of the authorities, but also because it is being entirely ignored by the mainstream media. Not a single local or national newspaper or broadcaster has reported the tragedy. This is despite social media postings by members of the public, including one by a person who uploaded video footage to Twitter showing staff evacuating the building and emergency vehicles gathering at the council offices. Information was shared on Facebook with some saying that the woman had her children with her when she set herself alight. Skwawkbox confirmed through a source that in order to evacuate the building staff had to pass the woman in flames, due to a failure in the outsourced health and safety arrangements. As a result, the fire alarm on the floor where the incident happened failed to work. In addition, security checks that had been in place because of previous suicide attempts, failed to detect that the woman was carrying flammable liquid on her person. Barnet council refused to comment, but eventually confirmed only that an incident took place at Barnet House on Wednesday, 15 August. The Metropolitan Police Service is currently investigating this matter and it would be therefore inappropriate to comment any further. Skwawkbox quoted a parent of a local resident who said, My daughter took her mother to an appointment at Barnet Council (Tory) housing office yesterday afternoon. They were being interviewed in a side room when they heard a commotion. Someone came and told them to leave the building. When they left the room they saw flames on front of them in the waiting room. A young woman had set fire to herself. Everybody was just turfed out after witnessing this terrible ordeal. She said that those outside were in severe shock but left to their own devices. There hasnt been a word about this in the news or local news. This is Tory Britain. How often is this happening and going unreported. Can someone please post this on FB [Facebook] or ask questions on Twitter. Get it out in the Public domain. I cant do it for family reasons. I just heard this from my daughter now. She was still very upset and had to spend the night with her mum. Please dont just copy my link but relate the story. So, so tragic. Will we ever know her story? Another Twitter user commented on the media blackout by replying to a BBC News online video story on August 19 about men with elaborate beards, This is definitely more newsworthy than a desperate woman setting fire to herself in a Barnet Council office. If the event was a suicide attempt by a person driven to it because of a desperate need of assistance, it is an almost inevitable product of the austerity measures that have been imposed with such ferocity in Barnet. Conservative-run Barnet has long been a flagship council for cost-cutting services by privatisation. The councils One Barnet Framework even claims that the programme is not fundamentally about budget cuts, suggesting its main goal is the privatization of all services. Two years after embarking on its One Barnet project in 2012, services outsourced to the private sector include: management of council housing, care for people with disabilities, environmental health, procurement, parking, the highways department, legal services, cemeteries and crematoriums, IT finance, HR, planning and regeneration, trading standards and licensing. The Unison trade union estimated that after the move to Barnets Alternative Delivery Model in 2014widely promoted by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat governmentjust 332 of Barnets 3,200 staff in September 2012, would remain, with the rest employed by the private sector. Alongside this have been huge cuts to vital services, with 144 million in spending cuts imposed between 2010 and 2017. Even with planned austerity measures over the next two years, the council still faces a deficit of 9.5 million. This could lead to it heading the same way as Northampton council, into bankruptcy. Through the restructuring of Your Choice Barnet (YCB) in 2014, care workers have seen staffing levels cut by 30 percent and cuts in pay on shift allowances. This has led to an increased reliance on agency workers, which has had an impact on the continuity of care. The mentally ill have been hard hit. The council outsourced its services to private company Capita, and in 2016 allowed it to cancel Freedom Passesallowing free transportfor adults with mental health issues and other disabilities like autism, without giving any notice. It meant many of the most vulnerable only found out the next time they tried to take public transport. Others had their passes cancelled as a result of a reassessment, despite there being no change in their condition. Every service in Barnet council is constantly under review, as the council demands savings. The handling of childrens services led to a damning 2017 Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills report that concluded, The vast majority of care planning is ineffective . As austerity deepens, instances of suicide and attempted suicide, including self-immolation, are becoming more frequent. In 2015, a 67-year-old man, Peter Sherwood, set himself on fire in Lowestoft in broad daylight. At this time, the UK government forced those on Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to reapply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP). This had been put in a letter to Sherwood, with his daughter telling his inquest that she believed it contributed to him killing himself. In 2013, a 53-year-old grandmother, Stephanie Bottrill, from the West Midlands took her life in despair over the Conservative/Liberal Democrat governments hated Bedroom Tax. In 2011, a married couple, Mark and Helen Mullins carried out a suicide pact. When the couple died, they were living in a wretched and appalling state. They had been living on 57.50 a week for the last 18 monthsthe unemployment benefit that was claimed by Mark. For months, the couple had been unable to afford food or heating and did not have the means to buy basic household items. These events echo the situation in other countries in Europe whose populations too have faced savage austerity. In Spain in 2013, a 57-year-old father of two who said he did not even have enough money to eat set fire to himself a few metres from a hospital. He was unemployed and died after suffering 80 per cent burns. Suicides in Greece, which has been a test bed for the imposition of austerity throughout the continent, included a 77-year-old man, who shot himself in Athens main Syntagma Square to protest cuts. In May 2013 , a mother and her son died after leaping hand in hand from the roof of their apartment building in the capital. Last November, a report revealed that austerity has led to 120,000 extra deaths in England. University College London (UCL) found that cuts to health and social care spending since 2010 have had an effect on the over 60s and care home residents. A mortality gap has emerged between those who can afford care and others who are relying on the stretched National Health Service (NHS). A report released by the UK Office for National Statistics last month, Changing trends in mortality: an international comparison: 2000 to 2016, analysed life expectancies and age-standardised mortality rates in selected countries globally from 2000 to 2016. It revealed that in all categories the UK was placed in the bottom two, along with the United States, out of 20 developed countries. It found that Until 2011, life expectancy in the UK had been increasing for a number of decades. But in the second decade of the 21st century, the UK along with several other countries has seen a notable slowdown in these improvements in both male and female mortality. This covered the period after the beginning of mass austerity in the UK, when at least 110 billion in spending cuts was imposed by central government and implemented by Labour and Tory local authorities nationally. Eleven year later, justice still eludes the victims of the notorious Nisour Square Massacre in Baghdad that occurred on September 16, 2007, during the height of the illegal US occupation of Iraq. Nicholas M. Slatten, 34, US Army trained sniper and Blackwater mercenary, was previously convicted of first-degree murder in 2014. That conviction was overturned on August 4, 2017, in light of conflicting testimony as to which Blackwater mercenary shot first, thus instigating the slaughter of 14 Iraqis and injuring 17 more, all unarmed, including women and children. On Wednesday a mistrial was declared and Slattens 2014 murder conviction overturned. US District Court Senior Judge Rocye C. Lamberth, a Reagan appointee, commended the jurors for their efforts, lamenting that a unanimous decision could not be reached after 16 days of jury deliberations. Judge Lamberth had previously sentenced Slatten to life in prison, while Dustin Heard, Paul Slough and Evan Liberty each received 30-year sentences for manslaughter in the same 2014 trial. Heard, Slough and Libertys resentencing decision has been postponed until a decision has been reached as to whether prosecutors will seek a retrial of Slatten. Prosecutors have stated they will inform Lamberth and Slattens defense attorneys by September 14 whether the government intends to retry Slatten. Until that time Slatten will remain imprisoned in relation to the massacre he and other members of the infamous mercenary group perpetrated. Blackwater was founded by Erik Prince, the brother of current Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. The statute of limitations has been exceeded in regard to charging Slatten with manslaughter, which is why he had been charged with first-degree murder. If prosecutors do not recommend a retrial to Assistant District Attorney Fernando Campoamor-Sanchez it is likely the sentences for Heard, Slough and Liberty will be reduced or vacated. Previous testimony provided by the driver of the vehicle, Navy Seal Jimmy Smith, was called into question during the trial. Smith was seated next to Slatten during the massacre and had previously stated during the 2014 trial, seven different times, that he had heard Nicholas Slatten fire the first shots, killing Ahmed Haithem Ahmed Al Rubiay and his mother, Mahassin Mohssen Kadhum Al-Khazali, a doctor. Since the 2014 trial, Smith suffered a brain injury during an alleged diving accident while conducting operations for US imperialism as a Navy Seal, according to the Washington Post. During the latest trial his answers were inconsistent and he could not say conclusively that Slatten had fired first. It is clear that no Iraqis ever fired on the contractors. Every Iraqi civilian murdered that day was unarmed. There were no improvised explosive devices found in any of the vehicles riddled with hundreds of bullets by the mercenaries, nor were any found along the path traveled by the convoy, designated Raven 23. However, since the charge of first-degree murder hinges on pre-meditation, doubt as to whether Slatten or Slough had fired first was enough cause for at least one juror not to convict Slatten, preventing a unanimous decision. Blackwater, since renamed ACADEMI, was acquired by the Constellis network in 2010. Former US Attorney General John Ashcroft, who provided the legal pretext for torture during the George W. Bush administration, is one of the current board members of ACADEMI. In 2016 Constellis was acquired by Apollo Global Management, LLC, an American equity firm. The CEO and founder of Apollo Global, Leon Black, sits on the influential Council on Foreign Relations. His father, Eli Black, was the owner of United Fruit Brands, commonly known as Chiquita Brands International. Eli Black committed suicide in 1975 when he leapt from the 44th floor of the Pan Am building in New York City. It was later revealed that Eli Black was under investigation by federal regulators for bribing Honduran government officials. Meanwhile, co-founder and fellow billionaire, Joshua Harris, made repeated visits to the White House earlier this year, according to the New York Times. During these visits it was reported that Harris was looking for a job within the administration, and that he met several times with special adviser to President Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner. During these meetings it was reported Harris was advising Kushner on infrastructure policy. Currently Harris does not serve in any official capacity in the White House, however Apollo provided Jared Kushner a $184 million gift in the form of a loan from the firm to Kushner Companies to refinance a skyscraper in downtown Chicago. The mistrial of Slatten is a warning to the working class. New crimes are being prepared as old atrocities are rehabilitated or forgotten. Reminiscent of trials following the 1968 My Lai massacre and the 2005 Haditha slaughter of over 20 Iraqis by US Marines, the soldiers who commit wanton acts of violence against civilian populations are spared punishment by the US government after a few years of legal maneuvering and appeals. This flows naturally from the criminal conduct of US imperialism and the ruling class that wages its wars. The American bourgeoisie has consistently been spared war crimes convictions, in connection with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the targeted drone assassinations of the Obama administration. While US imperialism has enriched itself on the destruction of Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Syria and other countries, the special armed forces serving its interests are routinely spared. A construction worker died at a site in the Melbourne suburb of Box Hill after a horrific incident on Thursday afternoon. The worker was struck by a tub that fell from a crane and was then submerged in the wet concrete that it contained. Two other workers were injured at the site where a multi-storey apartment block is being built. One is in a critical condition at Royal Melbourne hospital having sustained life-threatening injuries. The death is the latest in a spate of industrial fatalities, especially in the building industry. They have underscored the subordination of workers health and safety to the drive by companies, aided by the unions, to extract maximum profits from the construction and property boom. The incident occurred at around 12:20 p.m. on Thursday. The chain of a crane on the site reportedly broke, sending the kibble, or container of wet concrete, that it had been holding to the ground below. The three workers were on the lowest part of the site, in a pit that was reportedly to be used as a basement or an underground carpark. At least two of them, the man who died and the worker who was critically injured, were struck by the kibble. They were then effectively buried alive in the wet concrete. Gary Robertson, a senior paramedic who attended the site, described horrifying scenes in comments to the press. He said the worker who died was submerged in the concrete. Robertson said the critically injured worker was also partially submerged. He stated: It was wet concrete and obviously as you can appreciate theres a timeline with that as well, because concrete sets. The worker had to be extricated by firefighters, paramedics and other workers. Assistant chief fire officer Brendan Angwin told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that it had been a very difficult incident as its a building site. Around 40 firefighters were involved along with state rescue teams. The worker who perished was pronounced dead at the scene. His colleague suffered extensive injuries including two broken arms, fractures, internal bleeding and wounds to his chest, head and abdomen. Victoria Police, along with WorkSafe, a state authority, have launched investigations. Such investigations, however, are invariably whitewashes which fail to hold those responsible for industrial deaths to account. The site was operated by CRC Group and the crane by Clark Cranes. It is not clear what caused the chain to break. Already, serious questions have emerged about safety practices at the site. Chance Ang, who lives nearby, told the Age that at the end of the workday on Wednesday, he had seen the crane parked facing the road, with a weight above cars. Ang said: I thought thats a really strange spot to leave the crane because it was outside of the construction site, and if it fell it could land on a car. It struck me at the time as being quite weird In July, a crane operated by Clark Cranes almost collapsed on a building site in the inner-Melbourne suburb of Richmond amid strong winds. The crane damaged nearby homes, forced nearby small businesses to cease trading for several days and led to the evacuation of up to 300 local residents. It is still unclear why the crane almost toppled. The Construction, Forestry, Mining, Maritime and Energy Union (CFMMEU) responded to Thursdays tragedy by posturing as a defender of workers health and safety. Media articles stated that CFMMEU officials were fuming over the accident. The union has issued safety notices for 80 Clark Cranes across Melbourne. This will likely prevent their use until they are inspected for any mechanical faults. Union officials have said nothing about what they did in the wake of the July accident in Richmond. The fact that they have now issued a safety notice suggests that they did not do so after the July incident. Thursdays tragedy is the eighth workplace death in Victoria this year. According to federal government figures, 35 workers were killed in the construction industry in 2016. Similar rates of workplace fatalities appear to have persisted in the industry in the two years since. The incident in Box Hill occurred two days after Criscon, a Brisbane building company, was fined $405,000 after pleading guilty to failing to comply with health and safety standards. In 2014, two construction workers at a Criscon-operated site in Queensland were crushed to death after concrete slabs toppled over and fell on them. Other cases have directly highlighted union complicity in workplace deaths. In March 2017, Tim Macpherson, a 32-year-old rigger, was crushed to death on a wharf construction project at Barangaroo, a tourist hot spot on the Sydney harbour. He was working on a barge at the site, when an unsecured concrete and metal beam was knocked by another beam being moved by a crane, and fell on McPhersons head and torso killing him instantly. The Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), which is now part of the CFMMEU, had been told in late 2016 that the barge did not comply with maritime standards. The union claimed that it demanded to access the site, but was rebuffed by operators. The MUA did nothing further to address the dangers, and only made them publicly known after McPhersons death. In 2013, Matthew Lopez-Linares, a 22-year-old Canadian backpacker, was killed when he was hit on the head by a falling steel beam while working on a demolition site in the inner-west of Sydney. Officials from the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union, which also forms part of the new CFMMEU, stated that they were not surprised by Lopez-Linares death. They had been to the site just two weeks before, where workers raised concerns about the stability of slabs on the site and about the demolition processes being used. After a brief stoppage, the union allowed work to continue on the site, creating the conditions for the tragedy. Similar instances have occurred involving cranes. In 2012, a fire erupted in a 65-metre hydraulic tower crane in Sydneys CBD, causing a 20-metre boom to crash onto a building site. The CFMEU and Lendlease, which operated the project, had been aware of fuel leaks and other crane maintenance problems before the incident. CFMEU officials subsequently said that it had been an accident waiting to happen. They had not acted to prevent the continued operation of the crane leading up to the incident. The role of the unions in enforcing unsafe conditions underscores that they are not workers organisations. Instead, they function as labour hire entities, no less indifferent to the dangerous conditions facing construction employees than the major corporations. The Royal Commission into union corruption revealed that the CFMEU had extensive links to property developers. In 2016, for instance, it emerged that the union had received $700,000 from companies linked to George Alex, who has owned contract labour and property development businesses accused of underpaying workers. The union also operated charities and training organisations which were vehicles for receiving payments from the corporations. The CFMMEUs health and safety officers, like all union bureaucrats, seek to prevent any political or industrial struggle by construction workers against the dire conditions they confront. At the same time, they work to ensure the unions position at the bargaining table, where it negotiates away the jobs, wages and conditions of the workers it falsely claims to represent. Thursdays inaugural 2+2 strategic dialogue between the US and India ended with New Delhi signing on to yet another foundational military cooperation agreement aimed at transforming India into a front-line state in the US military-strategic offensive against China. Patterned after one of the key mechanisms Washington uses to manage its military-strategic ties with Japan and Australia, its chief Asia-Pacific allies, the 2+2 dialogue is to be an annual event bringing together the US and Indian foreign and defence ministers. The joint statement that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary James Mattis, Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman issued at the conclusion of their series of meetings in New Delhi Thursday outlined numerous initiatives to expand Indo-US military and strategic cooperation. The most consequential of these is Indias adoption, after ten years of negotiations, of a Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) modeled on agreements Washington has with its most important NATO and treaty allies. It will enable the Indian military to obtain advanced US communications equipment for its weapons systems, and enhance encrypted communication and inter-operability between the militaries of the US, its allies, and India. The agreement is expected to pave the way for a further major boost in Indian purchases of US weaponry, likely beginning with the procuring of armed naval drones for anti-submarine warfare. Indias military long balked at signing such an agreement for fear that it would facilitate US spying on its activities. But the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has dramatically expanded Indias integration into Washingtons anti-China offensive, including sanctioning the exchange of intelligence about ship and submarine movements in the Indian Ocean and parroting the US line on the South China dispute. COMCASA is the second of three bilateral agreements that Washington insists are foundational for any true military-strategic partnership, and for India gaining the full benefitthrough access to the most advanced weapons systems that the Pentagon is willing to share with alliesof its recent designation as a Major Defence Partner of the US. Under the Logistics Exchange Memorandum Agreement, which was signed in 2016 and operationalized last year, India has opened its air bases and naval ports to routine use by US warplanes and battleships for refueling and resupply. With New Delhi inking the COMCASA pact, negotiations on the third and final foundational agreement, the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geo-spatial Cooperation (BECA), are expected to go into high-gear. New Delhi and Washington also announced that they will stage their first-ever joint exercise involving all three branches of Indias military next year, and that they are setting up hotlines between their respective foreign and defence ministries to help maintain regular high-level communication on emerging developments. The 2+2 joint statement also commits New Delhi and Washington to increased bilateral, trilateral and quadrilateral military-security cooperation. While they are not named in the statement, a longstanding US objective has been to draw India into closer cooperation with Japan and Australia, with the ultimate aim of creating a NATO-style US-led alliance against China. Under Modi, New Delhi has increased trilateral cooperation with both Japan and Australia, including making the former a permanent partner, alongside India and the US, of the annual Malabar naval exercise. Last November, senior officials from the US, Japan, Australia and India held a Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, reviving a forum that had been abandoned a decade before after vociferous protests from China. The statement reiterated commitments from recent Indo-US communiques to uphold a rules-based order and freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific regionthat is, US hegemony, including the unfettered right of the US Navy to maintain an armada off Chinas shores. No less significantly, it pledged the two countries will work together to counter North Koreas weapons of mass destruction, under conditions where Trump has repeatedly threatened to annihilate that small, impoverished country. On his way to New Delhi, Pompeo made a brief stop-over in Islamabad where he hectored Pakistans new government, insisting that they do more to assist Washington in subduing the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. Pompeos threats were directed in the first instance at Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and the countrys military-security establishment. But they were also clearly aimed at New Delhi, which under Modi has adopted an even more belligerent posture against Pakistan than its predecessor, including cross-border military strikes and repeated threats of war. The 2+2 statement welcomed Indias enhanced role in Afghanistans development and stabilization, while calling on Pakistan to ensure that the territory under its control is not used to launch terrorist countries in other countries. At the conclusion of the 2+2 meetings, Defence Secretary Mattis said Washington would continue to work with India to elevate our relationship to a level commensurate with our closest allies and partners. His Indian counterpart, Nirmala Sitharaman, was even more effusive. The momentum in our defense partnership, she said, has imbued a tremendous positive energy that has elevated India-US relations to unprecedented heights. Her colleague, Foreign Minister Swaraj, said India welcome[s] President Trumps policy on Afghanistanthat is Washingtons plans to intensify the bloodletting in Afghanistan and turn the screws on Indias arch-rival Pakistan. During the past two decades, a central objective of US foreign policy, under Republican and Democratic administrations alike, has been to draw India into Americas strategic orbit and develop it as a military-strategic counterweight to China. Toward this end, Washington has plied New Delhi with strategic favours, including the 2008 nuclear deal, which allowed India to purchase civilian nuclear technology and fuel, enabling it to focus its indigenous nuclear program on developing its nuclear arsenal. The pivotal role India and the Indian Ocean play in Washingtons plans to strategically encircle and subjugate China is reflected in the recent decision to rename the US Navys Pacific Command the Indo-Pacific Command. Indias reset of its relations with China, and its limits Over the course of the past half-year there has been much talk of a reset in Sino-Indian relations. It is certainly true that New Delhi has taken a number of steps to reduce tensions with Beijing, which in the summer of 2017, during the armed stand-off over control of a remote Himalayan ridge (the Doklam), threatened to spiral out of control. Concerns over Trumps aggressive America First and oft-times erratic foreign policy, particularly his trade war measures, no doubt were also a factor in Modis sudden prioritizing last spring of improved relations with Beijing. Thursdays Indo-US strategic dialogue makes clear, however, that despite the China reset, the Indo-US alliance remains the cornerstone of India foreign policy. Under conditions of capitalist breakdown, the venal Indian bourgeoisie sees no other path to pursuing its great power ambitions than aligning itself with Washington, no matter how reckless and manifest becomes the crisis of US imperialism. That said, there are significant tensions between New Delhi and Washington, as the US, anxious to stave off decline, demands more from rivals and allies alike. India is certainly rankled by Trumps protectionist measures, including the aluminum and steel tariffs, his demands India reduce its trade surplus with America and his restriction on the H1B Visa program, under which Indian-based IT companies have been able to bring skilled workers into the US. The tensions over strategic questions are if anything greater. Washington is demanding India fall into line with its drive to crash the Iranian economy through the reintroduction of sanctions, an economic embargo that is tantamount to war, although Tehran has fulfilled all its obligations under the 2015 Iran nuclear accord. Not only is India a major importer of Iranian oil, India has been developing the Iranian port of Chabahar to open a transit corridor to Central Asia, so it can vie for strategic influence and a share of that regions massive energy reserves. Prior to Thursdays meeting, the Trump administration had been adamant that, unlike Obama, it will not provide any waivers exempting those dependent on imports of Iranian oil from the full force of the sanctions when they come into force on Nov. 4. As he left New Delhi, Pompeo was slightly more accommodating, indicating India could be offered a waiver but only for a brief interim. We will consider waivers where appropriate, said the US Secretary of State, but it is our expectation that the purchases of Iranian crude oil will go to zero from every country or sanctions will be imposed. Everything indicates that when push comes to shove, New Delhi will bend to Washingtons diktats, just as it did to the Bush and Obama administrations campaign again Iran, so as not to jeopardize its partnership with the US. Things are even more fractious when it comes to Russia. For many decades Moscow was New Delhis most important strategic partner and it continues to furnish India with crucial war materiel and plays a vital role in its nuclear program. Washington is angered that India is in the process of purchasing Russias S-400 air defence system, with US officials warning that this could lead to sanctions under the Countering Americas Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). The Trump administration is divided over the issue, with Mattis publicly arguing it would be a mistake to jeopardize the Indo-US partnership over it. But even if Washington does decide to give a waiver to India over the S-400, the long-term implication for India is clear: the US is intent on disrupting and ultimately breaking Indias partnership with Russia. Iraqs southern city of Basra, the countrys oil capital and center of its Shia majority, has seen mass protests that have left many of the buildings housing offices of the government, the main political parties, Shia militias and even the Iranian consulate in flames. Iraqi security officials announced a curfew Friday across this city of 2 million, warning that anyone found in the streets would be arrested. An earlier attempt to impose such a curfew was rescinded after crowds defied the government and set up blockades across the Basra-Baghdad highway and the main port of Umm Qasr on the Persian Gulf, through which flow both Iraqi oil exports and food supplies as well as other goods imported into the country. At least a dozen protesters have been killed in the course of the demonstrations, many of them victims of live fire by security forces. One demonstrator died Thursday night after being shot in the head with a teargas cannister. Hundreds have been arrested, with reports that detainees have been routinely tortured. Two lawyers who came forward to represent the arrested demonstrators were assassinated. Among the buildings torched by demonstrators were the offices of the state-run Iraqiya TV, the headquarters of the ruling Dawa Party, the Supreme Islamic Council and the Badr Organization, all of whose leaders are in Baghdad conducting corrupt, but so-far unsuccessful, attempts to cobble together a new ruling coalition government. Protesters set fire to the offices of the Shia armed militia, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, as well as those of the Hikma Movement. They also stormed the house of the acting head of the provincial council. The attack on the Iranian consulate stemmed at least in part from the fact that Iran cut off electricity supplies to the region after the Iraqi government failed to pay for them. The Iranian government has also been identified with the leading Shia parties that have dominated the regime in Baghdad, and the Iranian media had denounced earlier protests as the work of infiltrators, much as it had reacted to similar protests in Iran itself. Angry and bloody protests have gripped the region since July. Thousands have poured into the streets to protest conditions of mass unemployment, desperate poverty and the breakdown of essential infrastructure. The water system has failed to provide potable water to the population, sending as many as 30,000 people to the hospital with bacterial infections. The electrical system has been subject to 10-hour blackouts under conditions of an unprecedented heat wave, with temperatures climbing to 50 degrees centigrade. Health officials have warned that the city faces an imminent threat of a cholera epidemic. Anger has only intensified amid reports of resurgent oil production, which is centered in the province of Basra. August recorded the extraction of 4 million barrels a day, yielding hefty profits for the foreign companies that operate the fieldsincluding US-based Exxon and the Russian energy firm Lukoilas well as $7.7 billion that month alone for the governments coffers. While enriching a thin layer of Iraqi businessmen and politicians, none of this money has been invested in improving the conditions of life for the working class in Basra or any other part of the country. The areas of the mass protests were largely unaffected by the brutal military campaign waged against ISIS, with US airstrikes reducing much of Mosul, Iraqs second-largest city, to rubble and leaving tens of thousands dead and wounded. Many of the militia members who went to fight ISIS, however, came from Basra, with many losing their lives. This has not stopped crowds from burning down Shia militia headquarters, in a clear indication that the class issues are overriding the sectarian divisions nurtured by the former US occupation to advance its aim of divide and conquer, continued by the Iraqi ruling establishment to cement its domination. The deep concerns within Iraqs ruling layers over the events in Basra found expression Friday in a statement by the countrys senior Shia cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who delivered an even-handed sermon calling for a change in the methods of the government and an end to violence by protesters. The failings of Iraqi political leaders in recent years have caused the anger of people in Basra, Sistani said. This reality cannot change if the next government is formed according to the same criteria adopted when forming previous governments. Pressure must be exerted for the new government to be different from its predecessors. There is no indication that any such change will take place within the confines of exiting Iraqi politics. The Iraqi parliament suspended its session September 4 amid an apparent stalemate over determining which of two rival coalitions the majority needed to form a new government. In the face of the eruptions in Basra, the parliament was called back into session Saturday. Had the events in Basra taken place in Iran, one can be assured that they would have been afforded front-page coverage in every major newspaper in the United States and would have led the evening news. Instead, however, the US media is maintaining close to a universal silence over the upheavals, as Washington is intervening directly in Iraqi politics in an attempt to secure a second term for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. The US special envoy to the so-called anti-ISIS coalition, Brett McGurk, has been flown into both the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil and Baghdad in what is universally recognized as an attempt by Washington to cobble together a majority needed to keep Abadi in power. Abadiwhose Victory electoral coalition came in third in the May electiondepends for his dominance over the parliament on an alliance with the populist Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose list of candidates placed first. Al-Sadrs Mahdi Army once fought against US occupation troops, but he has long since made his peace with the American Embassy. Washington views the Abadi-Sadr alliance as the lesser of two evils compared to the electoral group that placed second in the May election, led by Hadi al-Amiri, the former leader of the Badr Brigades, one of the prominent Shia militias with close ties to Iran. Al-Amiri is allied with former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his State of Law coalition. In 2006, al-Maliki was installed under the US occupation as prime minister, having been vetted by the CIA as the preferred candidate. McGurks mission to Iraq was apparently aimed at swinging the support of minority Kurdish and Sunni factions behind the Abadi-Sadr coalition. Whichever bloc prevails, the Iraqi ruling establishment will find itself in the maelstrom of Washingtons drive toward war with Iran. Baghdad shares close political relations with Iran, and Iraqs economy is heavily reliant upon trade links that are in direct conflict with the Trump administrations sweeping sanctions. Neither of these two contenders for power will do anything to alter the corrupt political system of sectarian politics and massive bribery and kickbacks that has been in place since the US invaded Iraq and decimated its society. The whole system is rotten and has to be toppled, Haitham, an Iraqi soldier from Basra who has joined the demonstrations, told the British daily Guardian. We are peaceful, but each of us sits on a warehouse of weapons. In 15 years [since the US invasion] 1 million Iraqis have been martyred. Had we held demonstrations early on and lost a thousand people we would be in a better place now. The emergence of a mass working class upheaval among the Shia population of Basra against the bourgeois Shia parties and militias that have dominated the political life of the country since the end of the US occupation threatens to unleash a revolutionary explosion that can spread beyond Iraqs borders. Autoworkers at Fiat Chryslers operations in Kokomo, Indiana face a wall of silence on the part of the United Auto Workers and management following the injury of a worker at the Kokomo Casting Plant Wednesday. According to the Kokomo Fire Department, a rescue team went to the plant after receiving reports that a worker was trapped. When they arrived they saw There was a piece of the machine that had come down and caught the lower part of his body. Workers used machinery to lift the equipment off the man, who was still conscious, until he could be extricated. The worker, whose name has not been released, was taken to a local hospital. No details were provided on his condition or prognosis for recovery. The UAW did not release a statement on the incident. A call by the World Socialist Web Site Autoworker Newsletter to UAW Local 1166 at the casting plant was not returned. In July, workers at four FCA Kokomo transmission plants, members of UAW Local 685, voted overwhelmingly for strike authorization over hundreds of unresolved grievances. Workers are angry over the deterioration of safety conditions and the treatment of temporary part time workers (TPTs), who are being forced to work overtime. A Kokomo transmission worker who wished to remain anonymous told the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter that the injured worker was airlifted to a hospital in Indianapolis due to the serious nature of his injuries. Indications are that the worker was in skilled trades and had been called in to maintain machinery when the incident happened. Everyone should be outraged, the worker said. This is supposed to be a World Class Manufacturing facility, state of the art. The biggest pillar of WCM is safety. I want to know what is going on with him, he added. Is he maimed for life, will he recover, why did it happen? They should own up to what happened and fix the problems. Talk is cheap. Workers should place no confidence in the official investigation by the UAW-Fiat Chrysler joint safety committee, which serves as little more than a tool for management. Rather than expose unsafe conditions, the UAW seeks to withhold information in order to protect management from potential liability. Likewise, toothless state and federal oversight bodies, such as the Indiana Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will issue perfunctory findings and levy at most a token fine. The collaboration of the UAW with management to cover up health and safety conditions underscores the need for the creation of rank-and-file factory and workplace committees. These committees should launch their own independent investigation into unsafe conditions and enforce workers rights to a safe work environment. These committees must insist that talks with management be held in the open and that it has representatives at all negotiations. In addition, workers must be given at least two weeks to view and discuss any agreement that is reached. Workers must demand the voiding of the corrupt contracts signed by the UAW and launch a fight for the restoration of all concessions, including the elimination of tiers and the conversion of all TPT workers to regular employee status. The injury at Kokomo Casting underscores the seriousness of the complaints by Fiat Chrysler workers over unsafe conditions that motivated the strike vote. They put paid to the recent claims by Brian Harlow, head of manufacturing for Fiat Chryslers North American operations, that Were one of the safest plants to work at in the world. For its part, the UAW has imposed a blackout on news over the progress of negotiations. Despite the strike vote, Local 685 has not made an official request for strike authorization to UAW regional officials. A Fiat Chrysler worker in Kokomo contacted by the WSWS Autoworker Newsletter said that an informational meeting held by the UAW last month to provide an update on the negotiations was just pretty much smoke and mirrors. ... just a way to make it look like the union is fighting for us, but in truth its just a way to get votes and try to push the next contract through. When you have so many grievances there should be no question about what to do. But when you have corporations stuffing the unions pockets, they will do or say whatever it takes to push for minimal offers at the negotiating table. He continued, I believe once again our top negotiator will sell us out like everyone before her. On the part of local UAW officials, the recent strike vote is posturing aimed at deflecting workers anger in the wake of continuing revelations of rampant UAW corruption and the bribery of top union officials by FCA management. It follows the provocative vote by delegates at the UAW Constitutional Convention in Detroit to award massive pay hikes to top UAW officers. The bogus character of the negotiations is further underscored by the fact that they are being conducted under a news blackout and no specific demands have been presented by the UAW. Any agreement that is reached under such conditions will be a betrayal of Fiat Chrysler workers that will do nothing to address safety or the conditions facing TPT workers. Cindy Estrada, the UAW vice president for Fiat Chrysler, has reportedly been involved in meetings with management over Kokomo. Estradas private charity is being investigated as part of the federal inquiry into UAW corruption. As head of the GM department, Estrada negotiated a sweetheart deal with management to allow the hiring of low paid contract workers to replace senior GM employees who faced layoff. The 2015 national contract sanctioned a vast increase in the use of super-exploited TPT workers who have lower pay and no contract rights. Management is determined to drive out older legacy workers and replace them with TPTs and second tier workers to slash costs. This is particularly true at its Kokomo operations where many workers are nearing retirement. Workers in Kokomo are in a powerful position. Fiat Chrysler Kokomo operations produce virtually all the transmissions used in the companys North American operations. A strike would quickly bring assembly plants to a halt because of the just-in-time inventory system. Precisely because of this, both management and the UAW are determined to prevent such a disruption. Commenting on the possibility of a strike, Harlow told the Kokomo Tribune, We cant afford an interruption. Would the company take a financial hit? Yeah, we would if there was an action to interrupt production here. Reliability of supply is a big thing, especially around the world. The critical question is the building of a new leadership and forging a strategy based on the independent mobilization of the working class, linking up of the struggle by autoworkers with the growing rebellion by the working class, including United Parcel Service workers, Amazon workers, steelworkers, hotel workers in Chicago and the strike movement by teachers in Washington state. In a speech Friday at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, former President Barack Obama publicly joined the escalating offensive against President Trump being mounted by sections of the ruling class and the state. The speech, directed at channeling both popular and ruling class opposition to the Trump administration behind the Democrats in the fall midterm elections, marked Obamas first direct attack on his successor. Obamas speech came as the culmination of a series of extraordinary events over the past two weeks that have brought the acute political crisis in the US to a new and explosive level of intensity. First came the week-long spectacle of bipartisan hypocrisy and political reaction occasioned by the death of Republican Senator John McCain, one of the most ferocious war-mongers in the US political establishment. Democrats sought to outdo the Republicans in eulogizing McCain as an American hero and model statesman. Within two days of McCains burial, the media was ablaze with revelations from the forthcoming book on the Trump White House by Washington Post editor Bob Woodward. Woodward, citing anonymous interviews with high-ranking Trump officials, paints a picture of turmoil and dysfunction in which figures such as Defense Secretary James Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly call Trump an idiot. Woodward recounts incidents of Trump administration officials countermanding orders from the president, a situation Woodward characterizes as an administrative coup detat. This was followed by the New York Times publication of an op-ed piece by an anonymous senior official in the Trump administration describing the activities of an internal resistance to Trump within the White House. The piece cited discussions among Trump aides about seeking his removal on the grounds of mental incompetence, as stipulated in the 25th Amendment to the US Constitution. It made clear that the resistance, promoted by the Times and the Democrats, supports Trumps tax cuts for the rich, removal of corporate regulations and increase in military spending. It attacks Trump for his softness toward Russia and North Korea and his overall impulsiveness, unpredictability and recklessness. Obamas speech was along similar lines. He presented an absurdly potted history of American progress on the basis of the free market, with, he acknowledged, some imperfectionssuch as the wars in Vietnam and Iraq (which killed millions of people). His administration was supposedly part of this march of progress. He cited as evidence of his own progressive record the extra-judicial murder of Osama bin-Laden and his engineering of the recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. He reiterated his theme of 2016 that things were great in America by the time he left office. And by the time I left office, household income was near its all-time high, and the uninsured rate hit an all-time low, poverty rates were falling. I mention this just so when you hear how great the economy is doing right now, lets just remember when this recovery started. Obama made no attempt explain why, despite his tireless efforts on behalf of ordinary Americans, the Democratic Party lost control of both houses of Congress during his administration and disgust with the Democratic Party was so intense that the billionaire conman and semi-fascist Trump was able to pose as a friend of working people and win the 2016 election. The reality, of course, is that Obama presided over the funneling of trillions of dollars to Wall Street to rescue the financial oligarchy, carrying out the greatest redistribution of wealth from the bottom to the top in history. This was paid for by wage cuts and the destruction of decent-paying jobs, replaced by poverty-wage, part-time and temporary employment, the gutting of health benefits for millions of workers under Obamacare, pension cuts, the closure of thousands of public schools and layoff of tens of thousands of teachers, and a general lowering of the living standards of the working class. Trumps attacks on democratic rights were prepared by Obamas brutal policy of deportations, his continuation of indefinite detention and the Guantanamo torture camp, his support for mass domestic spying and his program of drone assassinations, including of US citizens. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were continued and new wars were launched in Libya and Syria. According to Obama, however, Trump was a radical departure from this wave of progress, a symptom of the politics of fear and resentment. It was the powerful and privileged pushing back. Obama criticized Trump for cutting taxes on the wealthy, unwinding regulations and shrinking the safety net, focusing however on the swelling of the deficit. He did not try to reconcile this account with his own reaction to the 2016 elections, which he called an intramural scrimmage between two sides of the same team. Obama saved his most biting criticism for Trumps supposed softness toward Russia, appealing in the process to the tradition of cold war anti-communism. Theyre undermining our alliances, he declared, cozying up to Russia. What happened to the Republican Party? Its central organizing principle in foreign policy was the fight against communism, and now theyre cozying up to the former head of the KBG. Alluding to the concocted narrative of Russian meddling in US elections, Obama denounced Trump and congressional Republicans for actively blocking legislation that would defend our elections from Russian attack. The central focus of Obamas speech was an appeal to disaffected Republicans and conservatives to vote for the Democratic Party in the fall. He went out of his way to denounce Trump for attacking the Justice Department, which is spearheading the witch hunt against immigrants, and the FBI. He declared: But I am here to tell you that even if you dont agree with me or Democrats on policy, even if you believe in more libertarian economic theories, even if you are an evangelical and our position of certain social issues is a bridge too far, even if you think my assessment of immigration is mistaken and the Democrats arent serious enough about immigration enforcement, Im here to tell you that you should still be concerned with our current course and should still want to see a restoration of honesty and decency and lawfulness in our government. It should not be Democratic or Republican. In making this right-wing appeal, Obama took a swipe at the Sanders wing of the Democratic Party. Ill be honest, he said, sometimes I get into arguments with progressive friends about what the current political moment requires. There are well-meaning folks passionate about social justice who think things have gotten so bad, the lines have been so starkly drawn, that we have to fight fire with fire I dont agree with that. These events have underscored two basic facts: there is absolutely nothing progressive or democratic in either of the warring camps, and the methods being employed by Trumps ruling class opponents, spearheaded by the Democratic Party, are themselves deeply undemocratic. They are the methods of a palace coup. In so far as the resolution of the political crisis gripping the US capitalist class is left in the hands of the warring factions within the ruling elite and its state apparatus, the outcome will be a further turn to the right, intensified attacks on democratic rightsthe Democrats are already spearheading the drive for internet censorshipmore brutal austerity and an escalation of war internationally. There is another opposition to Trump that is entirely separate from and opposed to that of the Democrats and their military-intelligence and Wall Street allies. That is the growing opposition of the working class, expressed in the ongoing wave of teachers strikes, mass opposition among UPS workers to the unions sellout contract, and mounting anger among Amazon and other low-paid, super-exploited workers. This is, moreover, part of a resurgence of class struggle internationally. This opposition must be mobilized independently of both big business parties and on the basis of a revolutionary socialist program. According to the Wealth-X World Ultra Wealth Report 2018, 255,810 ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals with a minimum $30 million in wealth now collectively own $31.5 trillion, an increase of 16.3 percent between 2016 and 2017. In other words, a group of oligarchs equal in number to the population of Plano, Texas or Nottingham, England own more than the poorest 80 percent of the worldsome 5.6 billion people. The figures of wealth concentration are hard to fathom: * In North America, the total number of UHNW individuals rose 9.5 percent to 90,440 and their wealth rose 13.1 percent to $11 trillion. * In Europe, the UHNW population rose 12.8 percent to 72,570, with a total wealth of $8.8 trillion, up 13.5 percent. * In Asia, there were 68,970 UHNW individuals in 2017, an 18.5 percent increase from 2016. Their wealth shot up 26.7 percent during this period to $8.4 trillion. * By 2022, the UHNW population is expected to increase to 360,390 people, whose combined wealth is projected to rise to $44.3 trillion, implying an additional $12.8 trillion of newly created wealth over the next five years. * Those 22.3 million people with a net worth over $1 million own a combined $91.7 trillion, almost triple the combined wealth of the poorest 90 percent of the worlds population. The Wealth X report makes clear that the rise in wealth concentration is the product of deliberate policies enacted by governments all over the world. It credits loose monetary policymarket liberalization in China, tax reform and corporate deregulation in India, and massive tax cuts for the wealthy in the USthat the report notes were aimed squarely at providing generous exemptions to corporations and the ultra wealthy. In Volume 1 of Capital, Karl Marx, the founder of scientific socialism, wrote: Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time accumulation of misery, agony of toil slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole. Under capitalism, the wealth of the super-rich comes from the exploitation of the international working class. * Half the world lacks access to healthcare and 100 million people are forced into extreme poverty each year due to healthcare expenses (World Health Organization, 2017). * 1.2 billion people lack access to electricity (Rockefeller Foundation, 2017). * 2 billion people use a drinking water source that is contaminated with feces (World Health Organization, 2018). * 8.6 million people die each year from lack of healthcare or poor quality healthcare ( The Lancet, 2018). * 750 million adults do not know how to read or write (UNESCO, 2017). * By 2020, 1.6 billion people will lack access to secure, adequate housing (World Resources Institute, 2017). * 50.5 million children under the age of 5 are wasting due to malnutrition (World Bank, 2018). * 850 million people suffer from chronic undernourishment (UN Food and Agriculture Organization, 2016). * 4 billion people do not have internet access (UNESCO, 2017). Even in the most advanced countries of Europe and North America, the working class faces increasingly precarious conditions dominated by declining life expectancy, greater incidences of suicide and drug/alcohol abuse, growing student debt, declining wages and cuts to social programs. In the United States, home to roughly one third of the worlds ultra-wealthy individuals, some 69 percent of people have less than $1,000 in total savings. The international working class has no representation in any government or any capitalist political party, and the political establishment is dominated by the super-rich. The billionaire and multimillionaire ultra-high net worth individuals deliberate and reach decisions regarding state policy and the distribution of resources entirely behind the backs of the population. All the official and semi-official institutions of government, including academia, the corporate media, and the trade unions, are subordinated to the interests of the modern aristocracy and serve to constrain and block the development of a unified movement of the working class for social equality. As inequality grows, the ruling elite are preparing for the threat of social revolution by rescinding basic democratic rights, censoring the internet, establishing permanent states of emergency, and elevating extreme-right-wing and neo-fascistic parties to poison the airwaves with racism, xenophobia and nationalism. However, the working class is not only an oppressed class, it is also a powerful revolutionary social force. Advances in technology, communications and transportation have led to a significant expansion of the numeric size of the international working class. Over the last 50 years, countries like India, China, Nigeria, South Africa, Brazil, Turkey, Iran and many more have been transformed from countries with relatively small working-class populations to massive centers of industrial output involving tens of millions or billions of workers. At the same time, globalization has linked workers in all corners of the world together in the process of production. The internet has made it possible for workers to communicate and strategize with one another across workplaces and national borders. The democratic and revolutionary potential of the internet has made it a target of censorship by the ruling class around the world, led by the efforts by US-based corporations Google, Facebook and Twitter to downgrade and hide left-wing websites like the World Socialist Web Site . The Wealth X report points to the immense revolutionary potential in the present situation. As Friedrich Engels wrote in Anti-Duhring : The growing perception that existing social institutions are unreasonable and unjust, that reason has become unreason, and right wrong, is only proof that in the modes of production and exchange changes have silently taken place with which the social order, adapted to earlier economic conditions, is no longer in keeping. From this it also follows that the means of getting rid of the incongruities that have been brought to light must also be present, in a more or less developed condition, within the changed modes of production themselves. The Wealth X report confirms that the resources for the transformation of the planet on an egalitarian basis already exist. The Socialist Equality Party calls for the trillions hoarded by the super-rich to be confiscated by the masses of people and allocated to meet the basic needs of the world population. The massive corporations whose exploitative operations touch every country must be seized and transformed into public utilities run democratically by the workers themselves. No aristocracy has ever given up power simply because their existence is a brake on the development of the productive forces. To free up the tens of trillions of dollars needed to meet the needs of the world population requires a socialist revolution. Amid growing working-class anger over poverty-level wages and increased productivity demands, Sri Lankas plantation unions and the Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC) are holding backroom discussions over a new collective agreement. As in the past, plantation workers have been kept completely in the dark about these negotiations. On August 18, Veerakesari, a Tamil-language daily, reported that EFC negotiators, representing 19 Regional Plantation Companies (RPCs), had categorically rejected any wage rise for plantation workers during the discussions. EFC officials called on the unions to help protect the plantation industry from its crisis. Those involved in discussions include the leadership of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union (LJEWU) and the Joint Plantation Trade Union Centre (JPTUC). The CWC and JPTUC were allies of the government of former President Mahinda Rajapakse. The LJEWU is controlled by the ruling United National Party (UNP), led by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. Planters Association spokesman Roshan Rajadurai said the industry was incurring heavy losses and unable to give any pay increase. In 2016, the unions imposed the old agreement, set to expire in October, which included a paltry wage rise and a new regressive share-cropper system . WSWS reporters contacted several union leaders last week to ask about their talks with the plantation bosses. LJEWU secretary Vadivel Suresh claimed that the unions were demanding a reasonable wage increase, in line with the cost of living. He then admitted, however, that the unions have not decided the amount of the wage demand. We are waiting for the Employers Federation decision on a wage increase, and after that we will decide. JPTUC general secretary S. Ramanathan said his union was discussing with the others to fix a wage demand. There are several proposals, he said. I think a 750-rupee daily wage [less than $US5] is possible but 1,000 rupees is impossible. We can demand 1,000 rupees, including allowances. Those statements make clear that unions are only concerned about protecting the plantation companies profits. They have given employers a free hand to decide on any wage increase, if at all, and are prepared to impose whatever is necessary to drive up productivity. P. Digambaram, a National Union of Workers (NUW) leader and a minister in the current government, recently boasted that if the companies refused to give a reasonable wage rise, his union would mobilise plantation workers. Digambarams proclamations are a lie. All the plantation unionsthe CWC, LJEWU, JPTUC, NUW, UPF (Upcountry Peoples Front) and the DWC (Democratic Workers Congress)are systematically suppressing workers opposition and subordinating them to the companies. During negotiations for the 2016 collective agreement, workers called for an increase in the basic daily wage from 450 rupees to 1,000 rupees. Thousands of workers in Nuwara-Eliya and Badulla districts held protests and walked out on strike for the 1,000-rupee demand. The unions shut down these protests and then endorsed a miserable 50-rupee pay rise and agreed to help plantation companies impose a so-called revenue sharing system. Under this retrogressive share-cropper system, workers are allocated about 1,000 tea bushes, which they and their families must tend. The plantation only provides tools, manure and chemicals. Revenue-sharing workers must supply the harvest to the company factory and are then given their share after the company has deducted the cost of its supplies and profits. Deep-seated working-class resistance to this system, however, has meant the company and the unions have been able to implement it only in a handful of plantations. These include Kelani Valley Plantations Battalgalla and Tillyrie estates. On August 14, some 2,000 workers from Waverley and Glasgow estates in Agrapatana struck work to demand a 1,000-rupee daily wage. In early August, hundreds of Tillyrie estate workers in Hatton demonstrated against the revenue-sharing system. These struggles were spontaneousan indication of workers seething anger over their worsening living conditions and their increasing opposition to the unions. While plantation workers are among the poorest and most exploited sections of the working class, the unions do everything they can to protect and defend the plantation companies. Workers social conditions have drastically deteriorated since the unions signed the 2016 agreement. The prices of essentials, including rice, coconuts and kerosene oil, have increased many times over. The national price index has risen from 114.4 in October 2016 to 126.6 this July. Workers spending power has fallen drastically. According to Census Department figures, the real wage index of agricultural workers has dropped from 128 in 2015 to 111.8 in 2017. Under these conditions, a 750-rupee daily wage, as proposed by unions, constitutes a real wage cut. Via privatisation and cost-cutting, the plantation workforce of the major companies has been slashedfrom 475,000 in 1992 to 123,000 today. While many workers lost jobs as companies abandoned infertile areas and diversified crops, others left the industry because they could not survive the low wages and hard working conditions. Behind the attacks on wages and working conditions is the deepening crisis of the tea industry under the impact of global competition. Apart from a slight increase in 2017, Sri Lankas tea export income has dropped continuously since 2014. A July media release by Asia Siyaka, a commodity broker, warned that the 2017 increase was temporary because 2018 tea prices are once again lower than its previous years. According to a former assistant governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, the countrys share in the global supply has dropped from 21 percent to 6 percent in past 50 years. In the 1990s, it was the worlds largest tea exporter. Today, it is in third place, behind Kenya and China. Tea brokers and economists have warned that US sanctions on Turkey and Iran, and depreciation of the Turkish lira, will make matters worse. Plantation bosses are determined to drive up productivity, lower wage costs and eliminate hard-won but meagre social subsidies provided to plantation workers. The companies are also moving toward the cultivation of other commercial crops, such as palm oil, which require less labour. The trade unions do not represent plantation workers but are the direct agents of the RPCs and the government. Their closed-door negotiations and sellout deals are a clear attempt to impose the burden of the tea industry crisis on the working class. Cheers greeted the passing of a no-confidence motion, by 94 votes to 92, on Thursday night at a meeting of Enfield North Labour Party against Blairite Labour MP, Joan Ryan. Ryan, who chairs the Zionist Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), has been at the forefront of the campaign to oust Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. The same evening, Labour MP Gavin Shuker also lost a no-confidence vote after 33 members of his Luton South local party voted against him, with five abstaining and only three supporting him. Ever since the failed 2016 leadership putsch against Corbyn, Ryan has been at the centre of the destabilisation campaign involving MI5, Mossad and the Central Intelligence Agency against the Labour leader. Her speciality is fabricating accusations of anti-Semitism against Corbyn and his supporters. The goal is to discredit socialism in the hope of preventing any challenge by the working class to austerity and the escalating pursuit of militarism and war in the Middle East and globally. The no-confidence motion against Ryan took place despite an email dispatched earlier this week by the chair of the Enfield North Constituency Labour Party branch, Siddo Dwyer, claiming that the motion had been excluded from the agenda. The motion declared, Our MP has on numerous occasions contributed to and written articles that have been seized upon by a press unjustly hostile to Jeremy Corbyn. It called on local party members to express no confidence in our MP Joan Ryan and the removal of the party whip and an open selection process for our next parliamentary candidate. Ryan confirmed the anti-communist narrative that underpins the bogus anti-Semitism campaign against Corbyns supporters. Demonstrating her contempt for the membership, which in Enfield North has grown from 300 to 1,000 since Corbyn was elected leader, she tweeted that the narrow margin was hardly [a] decisive victory and it never occurred to me that Trots, Stalinists, Communists and assorted hard left would gave [sic] confidence in me. I have none in them. According to the pro-Corbyn Skwawkbox blog, Ryan supporters intimidated members in charge of ballot-counting on the nightincluding threats of physical violence and at least one death threat. Skwawkbox reported eyewitness accounts of a Ryan supporter lunging at a young Labour Party member, saying: I will fucking kill you. In a second incident against the same young person, a Ryan supporter threatened to assault him and then lunged at him again On both occasions, say shaken witnesses, the Ryan supporter had to be physically restrained by others to prevent an assault. The incidents were serious enough to be reported to the police. This incident confirms that the real source of anti-democratic violence and thuggery emanates from the right. Not a single mainstream media outletincluding the BBC and Guardianhas reported the attacks by Ryan supporters, as this would undercut their lying narrative portraying Blairite MPs as political martyrs. In all the mainstream media coverage of Ryan, she is presented as the victim of the same hard-left. Little or nothing is said of her filthy political record. Ryan first gained notoriety during the parliamentary expenses scandal that dominated the headlines a decade ago, after she claimed more than any other MP173,691 in 2007. In 2012, The Independent was still reporting that [a]t least 10 attempts have been made from computers in Parliament to remove information about [Ryans] expense claims and a further 20 efforts to delete the information, some from her constituency of Enfield North, have also been recorded in Wikipedias logs. In 2008, as Labours vice-chair and prime minister Gordon Browns envoy to Cyprus, Ryan called for a leadership election as part of a group of 12 MPs affiliated to the Progress think-tank, seeking to replace him as prime minister for being insufficiently Blairite. Most significant has been Ryans work as chair of Labour Friends of Israel, a lobby group that acts as a front for the Israeli embassy and is funded by it. Israel has been a key protagonist in the campaign against Corbyn and his support for the Palestinian cause. In the film The Lobby, broadcast last year by Al Jazeera, LFI parliamentary officer Michael Rubin declares, We work really closely together, but publicly we just try to keep the LFI as a separate identity to the embassy. Rubin revealed that Ryan was in almost daily contact with Shai Masot, an Israeli embassy staffer in London, caught on camera plotting to take down MPs perceived as hostile to Israel. Masot is also filmed discussing with leading figures in Conservative Friends of Israel, including Maria Strizzolo, a senior aide to Education Minister Robert Halfon and a former political director of CFI, about whether Strizzoli could help take down Foreign Office deputy, Sir Alan Duncan. The affair now looks like a practice run for the operation mounted against Corbyn. Last month, Luton South MP Gavin Shuker was identified in the press as one of a dozen Labour MPs threatening to quit in the hope of triggering a no-confidence vote in Corbyns leadership. Others in the group include Liz Kendall, Chris Leslie, Luciana Berger, Iain Austin and Ruth Smeeth. Friday morning saw their ideological leader, Tony Blair, confirm the anti-socialist agenda of the planned split. Echoing Ryans tweet, he told the BBC he was not sure whether it was possible for Labour moderates to take the party back from Corbyns supporters, who came from a tradition on the fringe of the party, including Communists and Trotskyist groups before suggesting the emergence of a new progressive, moderate party in time for the next general election. Blair told the BBCs Nick Robinson that voters would not tolerate a situation where the choice for the next leader of the UK was Corbyn or a Conservative Party led by Boris Johnson: I dont know what will happen and I dont know how it will happen, but I just dont think people will find that in the country as a whole an acceptable choice. Something will fill that vacuum. At the Enfield North meeting, Socialist Equality Party (SEP) members distributed copies of the WSWS perspective comment Reject the anti-Semitism slurs against Jeremy Corbyn! Drive out the Labour Party right wing! Many stopped to talk, explaining they wanted an end to domination by the right wing and a fight against austerity. One Labour Party member said he wanted young people to rise up against the high cost of rents and housing. Another thanked SEP campaigners for the leaflet saying it had an impact, and that young people had to drive out the right wing. The no-confidence motions show the sentiment among thousands who have joined the Labour Party, but they have no official force and leave the right wing in place. The Blairites have no compunction over defying Labour members and will only go if they are forced out. Frank Field, who quit the parliamentary party by resigning the Labour whip, faced a no-confidence motion in his Birkenhead constituency party. But he is refusing to stand down as a Labour MP. Ryan declared following the vote, Just to be clear, I am not resigning. I am Labour through and through and I will continue to stand up and fight for Labour values. Shuker tweeted a message to his constituents that the no-confidence vote was not part of any formal procedure, so it changes nothing about my role as Labour MP for Luton South. Yet all Corbyn and the leaders of Momentum are calling for is greater democratic accountability in the selection process for MPs, in which Momentum will work with NEC [National Executive Committee] members, the trade union movement, and [Constituency Labour Party] delegates to ensure the best possible rule change is passed at this years party conference to achieve this end. Instead of denouncing Blair as a war criminal plotting to split his party, Corbyn urged Tony to recognise that the party membership is now much bigger than its ever been and to understand that this reflects aspirations for social change and that people are not prepared any longer to live in a society thats so unequal. Blair is fully aware of this sentiment and, like his acolytes, is determined to prevent such aspirations cutting across the interests of the financial oligarchy. If Corbyn were serious about honouring the mandate he has been given, he would be urging Labour members to expel all right-wing MPs immediately. In a display of the growing militancy of the working class in the United States, rank-and-file workers at US Steel plants across the country cast a series of unanimous strike votes this week. The powerful strike votes take place as other workers, including teachers in the state of Washington, engage in a series of walkouts. The United Steelworkers (USW) union conducted the strike authorization votes after announcing last Saturday that it would to extend current labor agreements beyond their expiration dates while continuing contract talks with US Steel and ArcelorMittal. The contracts, which were due to expire September 1, cover 16,000 US Steel workers and 15,000 ArcelorMittal workers at mills and other facilities in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, Minnesota and other states. From Tuesday to Thursday, one local union chapter after the other announced that rank-and-file members had voted unanimously to strike at US Steel plants, in spite of the companys attempt to coax workers with signing bonuses of thousands of dollars. Over 600 workers at US Steels iron ore operation in Minntac, Minnesota were the first to cast a unanimous vote after three voting sessions Tuesday. On the same day, workers at US Steel in Fairfield, Alabama followed, with over 400 voting unanimously to authorize a strike. On Wednesday, US Steel workers in Gary, Indiana packed union halls throughout the day to deliver a unanimous strike vote. Out of three USW locals at the plant, Local 1066 delivered a vote of 1,055-0, with a few hundred members abstaining. Around 700 workers at US Steel Clairton Coke Works near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania also passed a unanimous vote the same day. Workers at US Steel in Granite City, Illinois; Portage and East Chicago, Indiana; and the Irvin Works and Edgar Thomson Works near Pittsburgh all passed unanimous votes Thursday, according to the USW. The vote expressed the determination of steelworkers to fight the historic concessions demands by US Steel, which made $1.38 billion in gross profits last year. The companys stock price remains over twice as high as it was before the 2015 contract negotiations, in part due to the jump in the price of hot-rolled steel to over $900 per ton after Trumps tariffs took effect in June. I am so proud of all these men and women for finally saying enough is enough, a worker with over 23 years of experience at Gary Works told the World Socialist Web Site. We, as the working class, must stand together in unity to ensure retirees, current workers and future generations of the working class can live free of the corruption-laden system we are currently working under. The militancy of workers stands in sharp contrast to the United Steelworkers, which has repeatedly stated that it will do anything to avoid a strike. The local union bureaucracy was completely puzzled by the vote, the Gary steelworker said. They never thought in a million years this would happen. I believe they really dont know what to do. I imagine the job loss threats will be coming shortly. In 2015, the USW used the threat of mass layoffs to push through deep concessions, which froze wages for three years, increased healthcare costs and introduced lower-paid tiers. The deal also established so-called alternative work schedules which keep workers toiling around the clock in dangerous conditions, with little or no time to spend with their families. The USW said the sacrifices were needed to keep the companies profitable against foreign competitors and save jobs. After blackmailing workers into voting for the deal, the USW proceeded to oversee thousands of job cuts. The USW called the strike vote at US Steel to allow workers to blow off steam and to try to regain a level of credibility among workers. In the course of the current contract talks, the USW has kept workers in the dark and refused to share any counterproposals with the rank and file. This only underscores the fact that the USW is laying the groundwork for even greater betrayals. US Steel is demanding an unprecedented seven-year contract, with a 3.25 percent raise in the first year, 2 percent in the second, 1 percent in the third and no wage increases for the remaining four years. During years four through seven, hourly wage increases would be replaced with lump-sum annual bonuses of up to 5 percent of wages if company revenue hits targets set by management. US Steel also wants to establish a new tier of new hires who will be paid less and receive fewer benefits, along with cuts to retiree health benefits implemented last month, cuts to hours and elimination of overtime pay. In a September 1 memo to workers announcing the strike vote, the USW wrote, The local leadership will then return to Pittsburgh [after the vote] to try to finalize a deal before we take any strike action. Today, a memo was released on the unions website that announced that it would seek strike authorization votes from steelworkers at ArcelorMittal, but only if other strategic alternatives to bring the company to its senses are unsuccessful. The USW has spent decades colluding with the steel bosses and has no intention of obeying the strike mandate by the union membership. In 2015, the USW forced workers at US Steel and ArcelorMittal to stay on the job past the contract expiration while it deliberately isolated locked-out workers at Allegheny Technologies. Rather than opposing the relentless attack on workers jobs, living standards and working conditions, the USW has long promoted the lie that the enemy of steelworkers in the US and Canada is their class brothers and sisters in China and other countries. The aim of this is to prevent any unified struggle by metal workers around the world and instead to line up North American workers behind trade war and ultimately world war. The union bureaucrats who have carried out betrayal after betrayal are compensated handsomely for their services to the ruling elite. Leo Gerard, president of the USW and one of the most vocal supporters of Trumps trade war agenda, pocketed $213,000 in 2015. This does not include the additional income drawn from positions on various corporate and government boards, as well as investments on Wall Street. This is why rank-and-file steelworkers must take the conduct of this fight into their own hands. Workers at every mill and facility should elect rank-and-file factory committees that will stand up to both the company and the union. These committees should establish lines of communication between all USS and AM workers and formulate their own demands. These should include: Election of representatives to attend all negotiations and livestream talks to all workers. Reassert the principle of No contract, no work and prepare immediate strike action at US Steel, ArcelorMittal and the whole steel industry; A 40 percent across-the-board wage increase, the abolition of all tiers, and the shortening of the workweek with no loss of pay; Full funding of health care and retirement benefits; Workers control over production to stop speedup and unsafe conditions. These committees must fan out to other sections of workers in the US and internationally, including workers at United Parcel Service, US Postal Service, Amazon, teachers, autoworkers and others, to prepare a general strike to defend the social rights of the working class. This industrial counteroffensive must be combined with a political offensive to fight for a workers government and a socialist program, including the transformation of the global steel industry into a public enterprise democratically controlled and collectively owned by the working class. There is enormous opposition among United Parcel Service workers to the contract agreed to by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), covering 230,000 workers at the giant package delivery corporation. As voting on the deal begins, Teamsters officials are engaged in a conspiracy with management to impose the contract over this opposition. Under these conditions, many workers are attracted to the call for a No vote put forward by the Teamsters for a Democratic Union, or TDU. But the TDU has no perspective to organize a struggle and is not even calling for a strike. Instead, the TDU claims a No vote will force UPS and the Teamsters back to the negotiating table which, it claims, will result in a good contract if workers maintain pressure on Teamsters negotiators. This position is indistinguishable from Teamsters United (TU), with which TDU collaborates closely. The two organizations share articles on their respective web sites, though they present themselves as independent of each other. [1] Teamsters United was set up as coalition slate for the 2016 union elections for general president. The slate was headed by longtime TDU supporter Tim Sylvester, the president of Local 804 in Queens, New York, and Fred Zuckerman, the president of Local 89 in Louisville, Kentucky, who was the director of the unions car haul division under IBT President James P. Hoffa but broke with him to run for vice president with other former Hoffa supporters in the 2011 election. The TU narrowly lost its bid for the presidency but won six international vice president seats. Jimmy Hoffa, Jr. The TDU urged Zuckerman to run for president in the 2021 elections under the Teamsters United slate. Zuckerman, however, rebuffed them and decided to run as vice president on a TU slate headed by Sean OBrien, president of Local 25 in Boston, who ran on Hoffas slate in 2016 and has long been a bitter and vocal opponent of the TDU. This is the wholly predictable outcome of the unprincipled politics and opportunism that characterizes the TDU. The shared TDU-TU position that a better contract can be won through a No voteand, going forward, by backing reform candidates against Hoffa is a fraud from beginning to end. The rejection of this sellout deal is entirely justified. However, the Teamsters have a long record of ignoring No votes, including when Hoffa unilaterally imposed the master UPS contract and local supplements in 2014. To fight for a significant wage increase, the abolishing of all tiers, the transformation of part-timers to full-time workers and an end to sweatshop conditions, rank-and-file workers must take the conduct of the struggle into their own hands. This means electing factory and workplace committees, democratically controlled and answerable to the rank and file, to mobilize UPS workers to fight for these demands in opposition to the dictates of the Teamsters and the company. Preparations must be made now to launch a national strike and to campaign for the broadest support for this struggle throughout the working class. This includes reaching out and mobilizing Amazon workers fighting sweatshop conditions, US Postal Service workers facing Trumps threat of privatization, teachers who have conducted a wave of wildcat strikes in defiance of the unions, and other sections of workers and youth. The TDU is preparing a trap to prevent such a struggle from emerging. It is therefore critical that workers understand the real role and history of the TDU, which is not a genuine rank-and-file movement, but rather a faction of the union bureaucracy closely linked to the federal government and the Democratic Party. The origins of the TDU By the time of the emergence of the TDU in the mid-1970s, the AFL-CIO union officialdom had been nationalist, pro-capitalist, and anticommunist for several decades. This meant that the union leaders explicitly supported the corporations right to a profit. Under the strong economic growth that prevailed from the 1940s through the early 1970s, this perspective, treacherous to workers as it was, did not exclude improving living standards among truckers, shipping workers, and other sections of the working class. However, simultaneous with the birth of the TDU and similar reform groups, the stage was being set for the degeneration of the unions and, ultimately, their transformation into instruments of the corporations and the government. In the 1970s the processes that became known as globalization were heightening the interdependence of workers all over the world in the very production and distribution of goods and services, undermining the viability of all nationally based workers organizations. The lack of mass working-class organizations with an international, anti-capitalist perspectivethat is, the historical weakness of socialism at the timepaved the way for a ruling class counteroffensive that, in the United States, first took the form of the deregulation of key sectors of the economy, including trucking and shipping. Advances in computer and telecommunication technology had opened up new possibilities in transportation logistics, which could in turn be used for the disaggregation of factory production into far-ranging supply chainsfor example, in the auto industry. [2] But Americas capitalists saw in these new efficiencies not an opportunity for improving living standards, but for great new streams of profit. In the 1970s successive presidential administrations, beginning with Nixon and culminating under Carter with the implementation of the Motor Carrier Act (MCA) of 1980, targeted regulations and controls over trucking overseen by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), and the National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA) governing wages and conditions of Teamsters drivers. The central aim was to drive down wages. This was a highly conscious assault overseen by both the Republican and Democratic parties, and spearheaded by the liberal Democratic Senator Edward Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. [3] Architects of deregulation: Ted Kennedy, left, with Carter Americas truckers and parcel workers were under political attack. But the TDU, which by 1979 had drawn together several other Teamster reform groupsincluding a health and safety-focused organization called PROD, or the Professional Drivers Council, which had been founded with the backing of consumer rights activist Ralph Nader in 1971 [4]insisted on separating politics from workplace struggles. Its actual aim was to politically disarm workers. It, along with similar groups operating in other unions, bitterly opposed the Workers Leagueforerunner of the Socialist Equality Partywhich fought for socialist consciousness among workers, a perspective that hinged on driving the pro-capitalist bureaucrats out of the unions and wresting workers away from the Democratic Party through the formation of a Labor Party based from the unions. The Workers League won militant workers to its banner in a number of industries. The labor reform groups fought to block this, limiting militant workers to supposedly trade union issues. The conception that politics was not for workers had its own history. The initial members of the TDU, which was founded in 1976, were middle-class radical youth sent into the Teamsters union by an organization called the International Socialists (IS), which had emerged in 1962 out of the rightwing Socialist Party of America, led by Max Shachtman, a former American Trotskyist who moved sharply to right after breaking with the Fourth International in 1940. The IS was centered on college campuses, especially the University of California, Berkeley, where Ken Paff, one of the founders of the TDU and now its national organizer, was a student. Ken Paff The TDU was only one of several efforts in the 1970s aimed at reforming American trade unions, which coalesced around a publication called Labor Notes, founded by IS members Kim Moody, Jane Slaughter and Jim West in 1979. The reform groups included Miners for Democracy in the United Mine Workers of America, Steelworkers Fightback in the United Steelworkers, and later the New Directions movement in the United Auto Workers. [5] It must be plainly stated that the balance sheet for TDU and other union reform efforts is catastrophicif success be measured by results for workers. In major industries with these so-called reformers played significant or leading rolestrucking, coal, steel, auto, telecommunications and public transitmillions of jobs have been lost since the 1970s, and wages, benefits, and worker safety have been rolled back decades. Truckers and delivery drivers today haul more and are paid less than in the 1970s. Their crucial importance to the economy, which would grind to a halt without them, is rewarded with constantly increasing exploitation. As for the unions, they are today far more unaccountable to the rank-and-file than they were in the 1970s, jettisoning in the meantime their most basic historical functions. Everywhere they seek to block strike action. In contract negotiations, the unions no longer seek concessions from management for workers, but from workers for management as proven yet again by the union-backed contract for UPS workers. Even the bare concept of the workplace grievance has all but vanished from the industrial landscape. These unions nonetheless still exist, diverting dues to the campaign coffers of the Democratic Party and to fat bureaucratic salaries and slush funds that have not diminished in spite of declining membership. Yet what is evident in hindsightthe abject failure of various union reform effortswas not always clear. In the mid-1970s, when the TDU emerged, the unions still held the active allegiance of workers, who were seeking to turn them into fighting organizations. The TDU won a following among the rank and file, claiming perhaps 8,000 worker-members at its peak. At times, TDU members showed physical courage. In one notorious case, Pete Camarata (1946-2014), a Detroit warehouse worker, was beaten nearly to death after criticizing union president Frank Fitzsimmons at the Teamsters national convention in Las Vegas in 1976. [6] A group created specifically to intimidate union dissidents, the Brotherhood of Loyal Americans and Strong Teamsters (BLAST), in 1983 attacked a TDU meeting in Cleveland, taking over the podium, ripping down banners and running TDU members out of the building. According to government records, the BLAST attackers in Cleveland included the presidents of two Teamsters locals, a local vice president, two secretary-treasurers, three union trustees, one organizer and at least 10 business agents for the international union. [7] The problem was not lack of courage among individuals like Camarata, a worker brought up through Jimmy Hoffas old Detroit Local 299. The problem was the perspective of the IS, which dominated the various Teamster reform movements. The orientation of the TDU is now, and has always been, to the bureaucracy, never the working classall of the rhetoric about rank-and-file power notwithstanding. The IS and the TDU, from the beginning, have sought to discover a progressive or democratic faction of the bureaucracyand where none are found they can be invented, as is the case with the Teamsters United of Zuckerman now and the Ron Carey bureaucratic clique in the 1990s. Even in the 1970s, in the midst of the last great strike wave in US history, the IS equated the anticommunism of the union bureaucratswhich was rooted in the defense of their privileged positions within the capitalist systemwith that of the workers, who, whatever their political confusion, were objectively being driven into a struggle against the profit system and the two corporate-controlled parties that defended it. This superficial impressionism was combined with a nationalist outlook, which insisted that American workers were hopelessly backward, racist and largely incapable of being won to a socialist perspective. According to Moody, [8] The fact that the vast majority of working people lack even a consistently class-conscious way of looking at the world makes it difficult for socialism to get a hearing. The gaping lack in the US at this time is the lack of a sea of class-conscious workers for socialist ideas and organizations to swim in. How do we help create that sea? Socialists can build transitional organizations and struggles that help to raise the class consciousness of activist workers. This rank and file strategy, he adds, starts with the experience, struggles and consciousness of workers as they are today, but offers a bridge to deeper class consciousness and socialist politics. Kim Moody, photo credit University of Westminster In fact, the bridge and transitional politics Moody referred to was nothing more than trade union politics. Accordingly, the middle-class youth sent into the unions were not to fight for socialism, but allegedly bread and butter mattersthe only ones they thought workers could understand or would accept. Top of the list was the democratic reform of the unions, which might in some distant and uncertain futurea future that 45 years on has yet to arrive!provide space for radical ideas. In reality, the banishment of politics meant the exclusion of socialist politics. Capitalist politics, especially that espoused by the Democratic Party, was left unchallenged. Behind this was not a fear of alienating workerswho were consistently being radicalized by eventsbut of alienating sections of the anticommunist trade union bureaucracy, with whom the TDU hoped to collaborate. The TDU and Labor Notes always refused analysis of the root causes for the conservative leadership that dominated the AFL-CIO unions in the 1970s. They instead held to what might be called the bad bureaucrat theory of trade union decline, which imagines that the unions can be made into fighting organizations if only the wrong leaders can be replaced by the right ones, supposedly susceptible to pressure from the rank-and-file. In the 1980s Labor Notes produced several how to manuals for workers and held numerous conferences and workshops in which these supposedly practical and trade union issues were elaborated. Socialism was excluded from discussion. All of the manuals and conferences did nothing to change the trajectory of the IBT. This is because the character of the Teamsters and the other unions was, and is, determined not by the personal characteristics of individual bureaucrats, but by the historically conditioned nature of the organizations. The TDU embraces reform from the top down The right-wing, pro-capitalist evolution of the IBT only accelerated after the disappearance (and presumed murder) of Jimmy Hoffa in 1975 [9]the year before the founding of the TDU. Under Hoffas successors, Fitzsimmons, Roy Williams, Jackie Presser and Billy McCarthy, organized crimes influence over the Teamsters, which attracted great media attention, also deepened. Unprincipled politics makes for strange bedfellows. With the failure of their reform perspective, the TDU turned to the Reagan-Bush administration, which, fearing the total collapse of the IBT, targeted it in 1988 under the antidemocratic Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), in a case filed by then-US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Rudolph Giuliani. In an intervention unprecedented in the history of American labor, hundreds of Teamsters officials were dismissed from their posts by government-appointed trustees. Giuliani A legal counsel to the TDU, Michael Goldberg, later acknowledged that the TDU had cooperated intimately with the federal investigation headed by Giuliani before a settlement was reached. [10] Before the filing of the suit, Moody said, Ken Paff wrote a long letter to the assistant attorney general in April 1987 saying, There is only one reorganization under RICO that the government can effectively undertake: namely to direct the IBT to hold rank and file elections under government supervision for all International Officers. [11] Leaders of the TDUsome of whom secured vacated posts welcomed state intervention in the Teamsters because, they claimed, the constitutional reforms imposed by the federal administrators mirrored their longtime demands. In the unintentionally ironic words of one Chicago TDU activist, the story of [Teamster] democratic transformation began with the trusteeship. [12] How the democratization of union institutions and practicesin the words of another former TDU activist-turned-professor [13]could be imposed by the federal government has never been explained. Nor has the TDU explained the preposterous notion that the Reagan-Bush administration would act in the name of union democracy and on behalf of Teamster workersthe same administration that had smashed the PATCO air traffic controllers, jailed scores of militant workers and spearheaded the biggest union-busting drive in half a century. [14] Even more absurd was the claim that federal prosecutors suddenly discovered that the leading Teamsters bureaucrats were in cahoots with organized crime. The power of the racketeers in the union was rooted in the IBTs historic rejection of socialist politics, and was in fact tacitly acceptedand at times encouragedby the federal government. This can be traced as far back as 1941. In that year the young Jimmy Hoffa was dispatched from Detroit with a gang of toughs by longtime union president Daniel Tobin to break up the Trotskyist leadership of Minneapolis Local 544, which under socialists Farrell Dobbs and the Dunne brothers had waged a successful general strike in 1934 that, in turn, had led to the rapid growth of the IBT among long haul truckers throughout the Midwest. Tobin cooperated intimately with the Roosevelt administration, which was about to launch the Smith Act trials against Dobbs along with the rest of the Trotskyist leadership in preparation for US entry into World War II. [15] Jimmy Hoffa In fact, Hoffa had learned how to organize under Dobbs and the Dunnes, and always remembered them as friends. In turning on them, he was charting his future course in the IBT as a ruthless opportunist ready to lean on underworld elements to strengthen his power. Hoffas turn to criminal elementssometimes used to even the odds with capitalists; more often to terrify union dissidentswas part and parcel of his rejection of socialist politics. Farrell Dobbs was a crackerjack organizer [and] a brilliant strategist, Hoffa later recalled in his 1970 autobiography. Dobbs also saw the unions as a great potential political force. I could not agree with him then, nor do I now. [16] But Hoffa could not understand that Dobbs strategy arose precisely from his revolutionary political perspective of international socialism. It was this that allowed Dobbs to perceive the strategic value of organizing the long haul drivers, on whom Tobin and the rest of the old AFL looked down as the riff raff. [17] In fact, what Minneapolis, 1934, demonstrateda fact lost on the TDUwas that an avowedly socialist leadership could lead workers in struggle and win. Farrell Dobbs It was not lost on the federal government, however. Beginning with the Smith Act persecution of the Trotskyists inside the Teamsters and continuing for a half-century, Washington tacitly accepted organized crime in the Teamsters, even if it occasionally mounted publicity-stunt hearings and investigationsmost notably Robert Kennedys decade-long campaign to put Hoffa behind bars. Nonetheless, the racketeers place in the IBT was preserved, right through the 1980s, when Teamsters officials ensured that their members crossed the picket lines in strike after strike. [18] In that decade, Teamsters presidents that were known to have connections to organized crime won the active support of both major parties as well as presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. [19] In 1981, as the Reagan administration prepared to crush the PATCO strikea watershed defeat in the history of American laborhe sent videotaped condolences to the Teamsters annual convention, praising the recently deceased union president Fitzsimmons, a known racketeer. As I have said previously, Frank won the respect of both business and political leaders as an affable but hard bargainer, Reagan said. He also won friendships, including my own. [20] Reagan and Bush maintained that friendship with Jackie Presser, who worked simultaneously with Cleveland organized crime and as an informant for the FBI, which protected him while he plundered the Teamsters to the tune of millions. [21] The transformation of the TDU Clearly, the move against the IBT was not motivated by concerns over union democracy. It was driven by the fear that what was then the nations largest union could collapse and cease its useful role in containing working-class struggle in a key sector of the economy. Whatever else went into the decision, the end result was the consolidation of state and corporate influence over the IBT. There were grave political consequences for the TDU in this outcome. Its newfound success in the late 1980s and early 1990s was not based on a movement of the rank and file, as it had called for in the 1970s, but on the largesse of the capitalist state. With the government trusteeship as the mechanism, the TDU began to reconstitute itself as a faction of the IBT bureaucracy. Its big opportunity came in the first government-supervised union IBT election, in 1991, when the TDU joined with powerful interests backing Ron Carey for union president. His victory, which also resulted in the promotion of several TDU members to the unions Executive Board, and many others to lesser bureaucratic posts, was greeted with rapture by the capitalist media, including the New York Times, which saw in Carey A new legend for the rank and file, a triumph of union democracy over organized crime, an honest, straightforward leader, a firebrand, a real outsider, a Frank Capra Mr. Smith Goes to Washington figure, a gift to his members. [22] Ron Carey To this day, the TDU and its historian backers present Careys win as the culmination of a democratic groundswell. It was no such thing. Carey won 48 percent of the votes, but only 28 percent of Teamsters bothered to cast a ballot. As a share of overall membership, he took only 15 percent. Internal polls before the vote showed that most Teamsters had no idea who Carey or the other major candidates were. [23] Nor was Carey any friend of the rank and file. For 23 years he had headed the UPS Teamsters Local 804 in New York City, one of the largest in the union, where he was something of a pioneer within the labor bureaucracy in the imposition of concessions and the establishment of corporatist relations with management. His most notable achievement was his betrayal of an 85-day strike against UPS in 1974, in which he accepted the contract that opened the floodgates for the destruction of full-time jobs and the spread of lower-paid part-time labor at the trucking companys operations across the country. [24] In office, Carey signed several concessionary contracts with major firms, including UPS. He isolated and betrayed strikes of Teamsters at major Detroit and Pittsburgh newspapers, promoting the use of middle-class consumer protest tactics. [25] While he won praise in the capitalist media for cutting bureaucratic salaries to the modest sum of $150,000, he opened the Teamster spigots to the Democratic Party, providing $4 million to the Clinton election campaign in 1996. Indeed, his major achievementaided and abetted by the TDUwas the reorientation of the IBT from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party. Richard Trumka It should come as no surprise then that he had little rank-and-file support in the 1996 Teamsters election against James P. Hoffa, son of late president, who had been put forward as the representative of the Teamsters Old Guard. Carey won a narrow election victory, but the next year the results were invalidated when it came to light that his closest advisorssupposedly without his knowledgehad been involved in a complex money laundering scheme that implicated leading figures in the AFL-CIO, including then-Secretary Treasurer Richard Trumka, and the president of the Service Employees International Union, Andrew Stern. Also involved were several liberal activist groups as well as the Clinton-controlled Democratic National Committee. In a classic kickback scheme, these groups were sent $885,000 in donations from the Teamsters treasury and in turn made or arranged for reciprocal contributions to the Carey campaign. In 1998 Carey was expelled from the Teamsters, and his TDU-backed lieutenant, Tom Leedham, lost the election to Hoffa the same year. The revelations of Careys corruption discredited the TDUs promotion of an allegedly reform wing of the IBT. But instead of acknowledging this, the TDU belatedly denounced government intervention in the Teamsters, decrying the very structures that had paved the way for Careys victoryand its members own promotion into the ranks of the union bureaucracy. As it integrated itself with the Carey faction of the bureaucracy, the TDU adopted increasingly dishonest apologetics. Take, for example, its claims that the 1994 long haul truckers strike and the 1997 UPS strike were smashing victories. The 1994 strike, which lasted for 23 days and involved 70,000 drivers, was in fact waged as a conscious effort to demoralize truckers in order to force a bitter contract on them. Careys apologists claim that he won by negotiating a reduction in part-time workers. Instead the contract allowed for the hiving off of truck traffic to freight trains and the use of a new category of casual workers hired on a per-day basis and paid significantly less than full-time workers. The contract included no amnesty for some 200 Teamsters and supporters arrested on picket lines. But perhaps its most damning feature was a no-strike clause for the life of the four-year contract in favor of settlement by independent arbitersthereby relinquishing the only method workers had to counter the power of the trucking firms. [26] The TDU has often repeated the claim that the 1997 UPS strike, which involved 185,000 workers, was a total victory [27] for workers. In fact, Carey pulled the plug on the two-week strike with largely symbolic concessions in his pocket, including the supposed creation of 10,000 full-time jobs over the life of the contract. But these new jobs would be paid 24 percent less than others of the same categorythe first ever contract to expand the two-tier system to full-time workers. And the additional jobs were more than offset by the union accepting the right of UPS to lay off as many as 15,000 strikersto account for business lost to FedExincluding several dozen workers fired for actions during the strike itself. [28] Both strikes followed a similar pattern. Called to vent worker opposition to the erosion of wages and conditions, strikers were left isolated while business was moved to competitors. Workers were presented with concessionary contracts declared by the IBT and the TDU to be victories. What is the IBT? What is the TDU? The hand of the state is present in the IBT to this day. The Consent Decree [29] the IBT signed with the federal government in 1989 to prevent criminal prosecution established a permanent Independent Review Board (IRB) and an entire investigative office controlled by corporate attorneys and funded by millions of dollars in union dues. The IRB has the authority to promulgate rules for the IBT, supposedly designed to root out corruption. It may kick out any member for conduct unbecoming to the union, including for defying IRB edicts. This office stands ready to tip the balance in favor of whichever faction of the bureaucracy it chooses. Having long since gotten past its anger over the removal of Carey, the TDU leadership still supports this permanent state office in the IBT. In a recent article on its website, it complained that Hoffa, Jr. has sought for years to hamstring or eliminate the IRB and its corruption investigations [which] has functioned for 24 years to root out corrupt Teamster officials. [30] Such articles are thinly veiled appeals to the government that its faction be brought back into power. According to liberal theorists, independent trade unions are a hallmark of a functioning democratic society. Perhaps for this reason, legal scholars have worried over the precedent established by the Consent Decree signed by the Teamsters. Was the IBT any longer a genuinely independent union? How was it different from unions openly controlled by the government under authoritarian regimes? [31] In fact, the state intervention in the IBT is only one transparent example of a tendency in the historical development of the trade unions noted by Leon Trotsky in one of his final writings their drawing closely to and growing together with the state power. Monopoly capitalism does not rest on competition and free private initiative but on centralized command, Trotsky explained in 1940. The capitalist cliques at the head of mighty trusts, syndicates, banking consortiums, etcetera, view economic life from the very same heights as does state power; and they require at every step the collaboration of the latter... By transforming the trade unions into organs of the state, fascism invents nothing new; it merely draws to their ultimate conclusion the tendencies inherent in imperialism. [32] Trotsky Trotsky concluded this article, which was found on his desk after his murder by a Stalinist assassin, by insisting that genuinely democratic and independent trade unions could be assured only by a completely revolutionary leadership. In an analysis that requires no updating, Trotsky predicted that in the epoch of imperialist decay the unions would either serve as the instruments of class exploitation, or as the organs of working-class revolution. There could be no middle ground. The evolution of the Teamsters proves Trotskys point in the negative. It long ago ceased to represent workers. It is an organization that seeks to represent the major corporations and the state, and that survives at their mercy. The TDU has evolved as well. The bankruptcy of its effort to reform the Teamsters was exposed with its open embrace of state intervention in 1988 and its subsequent integration with the Carey wing of the bureaucracy. Today, in promoting illusions in the possibility of reforming the Teamsters, the TDU speaks not for the UPS rank and file, but for the privileged upper-middle class terrified that a genuine struggle could be the tipping point for the movement of the entire working class. These layers of the population instinctively gravitate to the trade union apparatus as a defensive bulwark. This is borne out in the personal evolution of the IS members who entered the Teamsters in the 1970s. Some have themselves become union officials. Others have become academics and writers, where they specialize in creating a heroic story around the government takeover of the Teamsters and the Ron Carey presidency. Today, former TDU members such as Joe Allen, who contributes to The Jacobin and Socialist Worker, are attempting to do the same with Hoffas rival Fred Zuckerman, who leads Teamsters United. [33] Though he may be lionized by the TDU, Zuckerman has absolutely no intention of leading a strike or any kind of serious struggle. A former Hoffa lieutenant, he is the labor overseer of arguably the most strategically important UPS hub in the country, Teamsters Local 89 in Kentucky, which includes the UPS Worldport at Louisville International Airport that handles international deliveries to and from every country in the worldand thereby links up workers in the US with their class brothers and sisters all over the planet. Like the trade union movement as a whole, the TDUs transformation into a faction of the bureaucracy was rooted in its conscious rejection of socialist politicsa position to which it continues to adhere. While posturing as opponents of further concessions, the TDU does not question the prerogative of the big corporations to their profits. Its perspective is a dead end for workers. Massive opposition to the UPS contract nonetheless remains. The question is, how can it be mobilized so that UPS drivers can overcome both the corporation and the union? The UPS Workers Newsletter, published by the Socialist Equality Party and the World Socialist Web Site, calls for a no vote. But that is not all. We insist that workers must take the conduct of negotiations out of the hands of the union, which in reality serves as another layer of management. Workers must form rank-and-file committees independent of the Teamsters. These will link up UPS workers with workers in North America and all over the world at Amazon, US Postal Service, and FedEx, in preparation for a general strike that defies the corporations insistence that they have a right to endlessly profit at the expense of the lives of workers and their families. The development of a such a struggle would rapidly transform into a direct political struggle against the government, which is not a neutral body, let alone an instrument the working class can rely on to defend its democratic rights. The courts, the police and other state institution, along with both the Democrats and Republicans, are tools of the corporate and financial oligarchy that rules America. That is why the development of a powerful industrial counteroffensive of the working class must be combined with a political struggle for workers to take power in their own hands, break the dictatorial grip of the banks and big business over economic and political life, and carry out the socialist transformation of society, including the transformation of the giant logistics companies into public enterprises, collectively owned and democratically controlled by the working class. Notes: [1] See http://www.tdu.org/ and https://www.upsteamstersunited.org/news. Both sites accessed August 22, 2018. [2] David Hummels, 2007. Transportation Costs and International Trade in the Second Era of Globalization. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 21 (3): 131-154. [3] Thomas Gale Moore, Trucking Deregulation. The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Available on line at http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc1/TruckingDeregulation.html [4] Michael J. Goldberg, Teamster Reformers: Their Union, Their Jobs, Their Movement. Journal of Transportation Law Logistics and Policy, Vol. 72, 2005: 13. [5] For a largely uncritical view of such movements, see Rebel Rank and File: Labor Militancy and Revolt from BelowDuring the Long 1970s; Aaron Brenner, Robert Brenner, and Cal Winslow, eds. Verso, 2010. [6] Dan La Botz, Rank and File Rebellion: Teamsters for a Democratic Union. Haymarket Series, Verso; 1991. [7] Ronald J. Ostrow and Robert L. Jackson. Presser Abetted Violence by Teamsters, Panel Says Los Angeles Times, November 27, 1985. [8] Kim Moody, The Rank and File Strategy, 2000 reposted by Jacobin magazine https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/08/unions-socialists-rank-and-file-strategy-kim-moody [9] Hoffa was president of the Teamsters from 1958 to 1971, but remained a powerful figure in the union until his disappearance in suburban Detroit in 1975. [10] Goldberg, Teamster Reformers,: 18 [11] Moody, US Labor in Trouble and Transition The Failure of Reform from Above, 2007 Verso p. 123 [12] Robert Bruno, Reforming the Chicago Teamsters: The Story of Local 705. 2003, Northern Illinois University Press,: 15 [13] Michael H. Belzer, ILR Review Vol. 58, No. 1 (Oct., 2004), pp. 160-162 [14] Barry Grey, The middle class left, and the fall of Ron Carey, International Workers Bulletin, December 1997. [15] Ralph C. James and Estelle James, The Purge of the Trotskyites from the Teamsters. The Western Political Quarterly Vol. 19, No. 1 (Mar., 1966), pp. 5-15; The Smith Act trial and government infiltration of the Trotskyist movement. World Socialist Web Site, https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/12/09/secu-d09.html [16] James R. Hoffa, The trials of Jimmy Hoffa. Chicago, H. Regnery Co. 1970. [17] Jean Brust, ed. Defending Principles: The Political Legacy of Bill Brust. Oak Park, Mehring Books, 1993: 158. [18] There is a great deal of literature on the role of organized crime on the IBT. For a good example, see David Scott Witwer. Corruption and reform in the Teamsters Union. Champaign, University of Illinois Press, 2003. Also, Steven Brill, The Teamsters [1978].) Arthur L. Fox II and John C. Sikorski, Teamster Democracy and Financial Responsibility [1976]. [19] Collision: How the Rank and File Took Back the Teamsters, Book by Kenneth C. Crowe [20] Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Digital Library Collections. Collection: President, Office of the: Presidential Briefing Papers: Records, 1981-1989. Folder Title: 05/29/1981 (Case File: 043429) Box 4: https://www.reaganlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/digitallibrary/smof/president/presidentialbriefingpapers/box-004/40-439-5730647-004-001-2016.pdf [21] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Presser [22] Robert D. McFadden, New Teamster Chief's Motto: Honest Work for Honest Pay. December 15, 1991, New York Times. [23] George Kannar, Making the Teamsters Safe for Democracy, The Yale Law Journal Vol. 102, No. 7 (May, 1993), p 1649-1650. [24] Grey, The middle class left, and the fall of Ron Carey, International Workers Bulletin, December 1997. [25] Laurent Belsie, Newspaper Strike In Pittsburgh Seen Coming to an End, Christian Science Monitor, November 23, 1992. https://www.csmonitor.com/1992/1123/23081.html [26] Catherine S. Manegold, Teamsters Reach Accord to End Strike, New York Times, April 29, 1994: 14. [27] See for example Dan Levins article on Labor Notes, The 1997 UPS Strike: Beating Big Business & Business Unionism. http://www.labornotes.org/2017/08/1997-ups-strike-beating-big-business-business-unionism [28] TEAMSTERS AND U.P.S. AGREE ON A 5-YEAR CONTRACT PLAN .. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/.../teamsters-and-ups-agree-on-a-5-year-contract-plan-to ... Aug 19, 1997; No Victory for Workers: The Bitter Truth about the UPS Strike International Workers Bulletin, August 25, 1997. [29] https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/teamstersforademocraticunion/pages/8453/attachments/original/1434375421/finalsettlement.pdf?1434375421 [30] Changes to the Independent Review Board. Posted February 15, 2016 http://www.tdu.org/changes_to_the_independent_review_board [31] Andrew B. Dean, An Offer the Teamsters Couldn't Refuse: The 1989 Consent Decree Establishing Federal Oversight and Ending Mechanisms, Columbia Law Review, Vol. 100, No. 8 (Dec., 2000), pp. 2157-2194; George Kannar, Making the Teamsters Safe for Democracy, The Yale Law Journal Vol. 102, No. 7 (May, 1993), [32] Leon Trotsky, Trade Unions in the Epoch of Imperialist Decay, 1940. https://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1940/xx/tu.htm [33] https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/08/teamsters-democratic-union-hoffa-zuckerman "We all have a right to express our opinions, and if they are different than the government, that doesn't mean we should be murdered or that we are terrorists," Josefa Esterlina Meza, 55, told me. She was clutching a photo of her son Jonathan Sebastian Morazan Meza, 21, who was allegedly murdered by government forces while attending a protest in Nicaragua on May 30. The government denies it had any part in his death, but Meza asks who else would have done it. On September 2, Meza took to the streets yet again to protest peacefully with some of the other "Mothers of April," all of whom allege their children were murdered or imprisoned by forces loyal to President Daniel Ortega. She reflected: "We aren't animals. We are thinking people, and we have the right to have an opinion." Central America Continents and regions Donald Trump Latin America Nicaragua Political Figures - US The Americas Banking, finance and investments Business and industry sectors Business, economy and trade Compensation and benefits Crime, law enforcement and corrections Crimes against persons Criminal offenses Daniel Ortega Employment and income status Families and children Freedom of press Freedom of speech Government and public administration Government bodies and offices Homicide Human rights International relations and national security Journalism and news media Labor and employment Media industry Murder North America Parents and parenting Pension and retirement plans Pensions Personal finance Political Figures - Intl Protests and demonstrations Retirement and retirees Savings (financial) Social and economic status Society United States US federal government White House Workers and professionals Sadly, the notion of freedom to protest felt like it was under siege further north, too. This week, as mothers gathered in the streets of Nicaragua to protest, women in the United States, some dressed as figures from "The Handmaid's Tale," stood outside Brett Kavanaugh's Supreme Court confirmation hearing in Washington in silent protest. The situation in Nicaragua that led to nationwide protests began in April, when the Ortega government, after years of suppressing freedom of the press and freedom of expression, proposed reforms to the pension system. Students, knowing that the reforms would endanger the welfare of their parents and grandparents, took to the streets to protest and support pensioners. On April 19, pro-government forces associated with the Ortega government murdered three protesters and in the following days and months killed hundreds more. Protesters aren't being slaughtered in the United States, but the country's Handmaids still have much to protest as the Trump administration has sought to discredit free speech and peaceful protest. The administration has withheld tens of thousands of documents related to Kavanaugh's judicial record, one that women worry means he will limit their sexual and reproductive rights should he be confirmed. In response to the mothers gathered in the streets of Managua, Nicaragua, unidentified gunmen who protesters identified as pro-government operatives, opened fire. Although no one was hurt, the shots had all of us running for cover, videos of previous protesters who had been murdered fresh in our minds. Meanwhile, in response to the women gathered in the US, President Donald Trump said, "I don't know why they don't take care of a situation like that. I think it's embarrassing for the country to allow protesters. You don't even know what side the protesters are on." Ortega, like Trump, has suggested that you don't know what side protesters might be on, saying: "What is happening in our country has no name. The kids do not even know the party that is manipulating them." He has even gone so far as to call protest a form of "terrorism." Ortega has executed a plan to prevent protests at all costs. In August, Ortega, who has been in power with his wife, who is vice president, since 2006, passed an anti-terrorism law to criminalize protesters as terrorists. According to Gonzalo Carrion, the legal advisor for the Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights, government forces and pro-government groups have killed 311 protesters since April, most of them students, including 18 minors. Carrion explained that in Nicaragua "under a dictatorship, all forms of freedom of expression are repressed." Ortega, like Trump, has an Orwellian sensibility when it comes to the truth. For example, in July during a speech at the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention, Trump said of the media: "What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening." Ortega, in a similar rejection of reality, has accused human rights organizations of "inventing deaths." I arrived in Nicaragua on September 1, and on that same day he expelled a UN team from the country after they published a report critical of his government's violent repression of protesters. When photographer Jacky Muniello and I covered the September 2 protest we found out firsthand what it feels like to have the government attempt to prevent protests: armed police tried to silence the peaceful protesters with threats, insults, beatings, gunshots and then we saw them set a truck on fire. I watched as mothers with young daughters stood up to the police, as a group of young women stenciled the faces of political prisoners onto the street, and all I could think of was the bravery of the protesters, risking their lives to peacefully request that the government respect the rule of law. When President Trump suggests that he doesn't think protests should be allowed, it is important that we ask him to define what he means. The history of our country is built on the selfless work of peaceful protesters who have taken to the streets to demand equality -- from suffragettes to those demanding Civil Rights. In Nicaragua, citizens have paid the ultimate price for peacefully expressing their opinions. Meza, who says she is threatened daily by the government after the murder of her son, has fled her home and sent her younger son to Costa Rica. As Trump continues his crusade against freedom of expression and freedom of the press in the US, we would do well to remember what the erosion of these rights look like in other countries. WASHINGTON, D.C. (WTVA) - Multiple fire departments across the state have been awarded money to help with the purchase of equipment and recruit new employees. On Friday, U.S. Senators Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith announced the award of $3,175,628 in Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants to fire departments across the state. This includes departments in Grenada, Walnut and Booneville. The grants are being awarded as part of the Fiscal Year 2017 Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. The Grenada Fire Department will receive $258,004 to hire additional firefighters The Threeforks Volunteer Fire Department in Walnut will receive $48,286 to purchase eight Self-Contained Breathing Apparatuses and two face masks. The Wheeler-Frankstown Volunteer Fire Department in Booneville will receive $45,715 to support operations and safety upgrades. LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WTVA) - A man is accused of extortion in Lowndes County. On September 4, the Lowndes County Sheriffs Department arrested Thomas Yarnell Macon for felony extortion. Lowndes County Sheriff Mike Arledge says Macon was attempting to extort money from a person whom he had previously extorted money from before. The sheriff says Macon was telling the victim that if he did not get cash, he was going to post items on the internet that would be of concern and harm to the victim. The victim contacted law enforcement and Macon was arrested. A hold has been placed on him by the Mississippi Department of Corrections. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A Tallahassee man was arrested after breaking into his neighbor's home and pawning off the stolen items while the neighbor was detained in the Leon County Detention Facility. Jamin Romans, 21, was arrested by the Tallahassee Police Department on Thursday. On July 30, the victim was arrested and taken to the Leon County Detention Facility. He was released from LCDF on Aug. 2 and when he returned home, he found his house had been broken into. The point of entry was unknown, but the victim reported he found the rear sliding glass door open about three inches, and at the time of his arrest, it was closed. The victim said numerous items were stolen during the robbery which included a Samsung television, Samsung DVD player, and several DVDs including The Lord of the Rings trilogy and a set of Harrison Ford DVDs. He also reported numerous silver coins were stolen. The victim told officers he felt Romans, who was his neighbor, was responsible for the burglary. He explained Romans was also the witness and reporting party to the incident which resulted in his arrest. The victim said Romans would have known he was not at home. After searching Romans name through the North Florida Pawn Network database, officers found several entries that indicated Romans sold what was described as eight United States Coin American Eagle for $120 at Folmar's Gun and Pawn. In addition, he also sold a Samsung Blu-Ray DVD player, Samsung LED TV, DVD box sets, and 12 single DVDs to Value Pawn for $43.50. On Aug. 23, officers went to Value Pawn and viewed surveillance video, which showed Romans was the person selling the items. In addition, he provided his Florida ID during the transaction, signed the Florida Pawn Transaction form, and provided his right thumb print, claiming to be the owner of the items. A couple days later, officers went to Folmar's Gun and Pawn and recovered the stolen coins. Officers talked with the employee who conducted the transaction, and he remembers Romans coming into the store with numerous silver items including other collectable coins. Romans told the employee the items belonged to his boss and he was selling them on his behalf. The employee also said Romans had a television and other items with him. Based on the evidence provided, Romans is being charged with two counts of dealing in stolen property, two counts of defrauding a pawn broker, grand theft, and burglary of dwelling unarmed. He was taken to the Leon County Detention Facility and his bond was set at $5,000 but has since bonded out. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The Tallahassee Police Department have arrested the man in connection to the Crescent Hills Drive shooting on Sept. 2, that left him and another man shot. Durand Jackson, 30, was arrested by the Tallahassee Police Department on Friday. On Sept. 2, officers responded to the 1400 block of Crescent Hills Drive for a 911 call regarding a shooting. The victim called 911 and reported her ex-husband, Jackson, came to her home with a gun. When officers arrived on scene, they found Jackson in a car, backed into the driveway. Officers said Jackson was shot once in the pelvis area and had a .40 caliber handgun in his lap. He was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital emergency room and was taken into surgery with his injury being described as life-threatening. Officers found the boyfriend inside the home with a gunshot wound in the thigh. He was also taken to TMHER by ambulance. While talking with officers, the victim said Jackson was calling and texting her the day before. She said he then came to her home and she tried to get him to leave. The victim stated her boyfriend spoke to Jackson and convinced him to leave. According to the victim, Jackson texted he would return to the home, but later texted an apology for his actions, claiming he was drunk. After midnight, the victim was woken up by banging on the front door and the door bell ringing. Her boyfriend answered the door and spoke to Jackson on the front porch. She overheard Jackson telling her boyfriend to leave the home. The victim then heard her boyfriend ask Jackson to "put the gun away and fight like a man." When the victim opened the door to speak with Jackson, her boyfriend asked her to go back inside and close the door. She told officers she saw Jackson with a handgun, which she knew belonged to him, and saw him raise it during the argument with her boyfriend. The victim explained the door was shut when she heard gunshots. She retreated into the bathroom, locked the door, and called 911. She told officers that she never saw her boyfriend with a gun. When officers talked with the victim's boyfriend, who was released from the hospital, he said he did pull out a .45 caliber handgun to defend him and the victim. He stated Jackson then fired three or four gunshots. He told officers he was shot once in the left thigh, before shooting back at Jackson one time while backing into the home, trying to shut the door. The police report states, Jackson continued to shoot as the door was closing shut. Officers state Jackson is still currently under the care of TMH. A check of criminal history for Jackson showed he is a convicted felon, who was convicted of aggravated assault in Pennsylvania in 2005. Based on the statements and evidence provided, Jackson is being charged with attempted second degree homicide and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - The Tallahassee Police Department is investigating an early Sunday morning shooting where two people were shot. TPD responded to a shooting at about 1:59 a.m. Sunday that occurred near the 1400 block of Crescent Hills Drive. When officers arrived, they found two victims suffering from gunshot wounds. TPD says both victims were taken to a local hospital and are in stable condition. If you have any information about the shooting, please call TPD at 850-891-4200 or Crime Stoppers at 850-574-TIPS. WAKULLA COUNTY, Fla. (WTXL) - A sex offender is behind bars in Wakulla County after being accused of "choking out" a 5-year-old child in his custody. The Wakulla County Sheriff's Office says they arrested Jacob Rawl, 36, for felony child abuse with infliction of physical and mental injury. On Thursday, a complainant contacted WCSO and shared an allegation made by a 5-year-old child that Rawl, the person who had custody over the child, had choked the child out." The caller also alleged the child had visible marks from the assault. A deputy photographed the child's injuries and the Florida Department of Children and Families was called to conduct a protective investigation. The next day, the 5-year-old was interviewed and medically examined. During the interview, investigators were told the Rawl choked the child after the child was unable to locate an item belonging to a sibling. The day after the assault, deputies say Rawl kept the child home from school due to the marks. A medical examination revealed there was apparent, petechial hemorrhage and tissue bruising. Petechiae rashes or spots may occur due to different causes including trauma, pressure, allergy, and hemorrhage. Deputies say excessive pressure could cause the body tissue to experience stress that causes the spots to appear. WCSO noted that the 5-year-old child is approximately 3-foot-6 feet tall and weighs approximately 50 pounds, while Rawl is approximately 5-foot-10' feet tall and weighs approximately 280 pounds. On Friday, deputies say they interrogated Rawl who denied choking the child but admitted to keeping the child home from school due to the marks. Detectives say a search of Rawl's records revealed he has faced child abuse allegations before. In 2012, Jacob Rawl was arrested on child cruelty charges for abusing a 5-year-old child. He is also a registered sexual offender. Based on the evidence, deputies arrested Rawl on Friday for felony child abuse. He was booked into the Wakulla County Jail. WTXL has reached out to the Wakulla County Sheriff's Office to figure out how Rawl, a registered sex offender, had custody of the child. Governor Andrew Cuomo's younger brother doesn't think their late father would be happy to have a bridge named after him, after alla fact he apparently did not think to mention until after we had the signs made and pushed the remnants of the last bridge into the Atlantic Ocean. On Friday morning, mere minutes before the governor rode the ceremonial tank across the second span of the new Mario Cuomo Bridge, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo took to Instagram to share his "mixed emotion" on the unveiling. "In case you dont know, the old bridge it replaces was named after Gov Wilson. It had two names actually. The second was the common reference, 'Tappan Zee'. Tappan after an Indian tribe from the area, and zee, the Dutch word for sea (even though it spans a river)," he wrote. "Anyway, Pop would not have liked this. He was a big believer in updating infrastructure. But he was very humble and thought having something named after him sent the wrong message abt public service." Gee, thanks for letting us know, Chris!!! The younger Cuomo is far from the only one upset about the bridge formerly known as the Tappan Zee. According to a poll released last year by Reclaim New York, less than 15 percent of Rockland and Westchester residents support changing the name of the bridge that connects their counties. Part of that frustration likely comes from the lack of public input into the decision, and the controversial manner in which the naming was rammed through. According to Governor Cuomo, the idea for the new moniker came to him just one day before the legislative session ended last year, thus giving him no choice but to use a special State provision typically reserved for serious emergencies in order to get his bill passed. I think thats something that could obviously wait, Ron Deutsch, Executive Director with the watchdog group Fiscal Policy Institute, told WSKG-TV at the time. "I dont see any sense of urgency in renaming a bridge." Governor Cuomo, too, acknowledged on Thursday that his father, "Would love the bridge, but he would reject the vanity of the name." And yet, here we are, calling our brand new bridge by a new name that no one particularly likesincluding, apparently, the guy it was named after. But hey, have you seen the new Penn Station entrance? In this file photo taken on February 20, 2017 models present creations from the Burberry collection during a catwalk show on the fourth day of the Autumn/Winter 2017 London Fashion Week. (Photo by Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP) LONDON, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- London Fashion Week will be the first main fashion show to ditch the use of animal fur, the British Fashion Council (BFC) announced Friday. A statement by BFC said that the decision comes following a survey conducted with all London Fashion Week designers on the official catwalk and presentation schedule, which showed no animal fur will be used at London Fashion Week September 2018 scheduled to open next week. It said the survey results reflect a cultural change based on ideals and choices made by designer businesses, international brands as well as consumer sentiment but also encouraged by the stance of multi-brand stores who are moving away from selling fur. "As representatives of the British fashion industry, the BFC supports the creativity of designers and keeps an open dialogue with the industry, from designers to media, retailers, business leaders, government and global brands while encouraging designers to make ethical choices when it comes to their selection of materials and supply chain," said the statement. According to statistics provided by The Guardian, numbers of anti-fur protesters demonstrating at London fashion week has risen from 25 in 2016 to more than 250 last September. Over the past few years, more and more fashion brands, such as Gucci, Michael Kors and Versace, decided to use alternative materials to real fur. British brand Burberry also announced it had implemented a fur-free policy with all remaining fur items being phased out. Earlier this week, the British animal rights group Peta published an open letter to the BFC, asking its chair Stephanie Phair to take a stand on behalf of the organization and introduce a fur-free policy. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 02:17:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Experts and policymakers on Friday urged for strong political will from the continent's leaders to address Africa's water and energy challenges. They made the joint call as representatives of various United Nations (UN) agencies gathered in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa to discuss mainstreaming and implementing the water-energy nexus for sustainable development in Africa. The three-day meeting that ended on Friday has brought together representatives of the UN Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), UN Environment, and the UN Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA). Experts and policymakers, as part of their concluding outcome of the meeting, underlined the need to develop innovative financing mechanisms to address water and energy problems in Africa. "Governments need to incorporate supportive policies for private businesses and self-initiated local communities for water loans and innovative financing to alleviate problems on the ground," the final outcome statement read. Misalignment of national policies with the sustainable development goals, lack of regional data collection, sharing and analysis are also stressed as the major reasons the continent was failing to holistically address its water and energy deficits. They further emphasized that regional and national policy and legislation should be harmonized and coordinated in the implementation of water and energy nexus. "It is recommended that countries and regional blocks start taking action in harmonizing policy and legislations for smooth process of water and energy implementation in the continent," they stressed. Linus Mofor, Senior Environmental Affairs Officer at the ECA, said African countries are already experiencing catastrophic climate change and variability impacts in inter-related ways across many sectors - including water, energy and agriculture. Mofor further stressed the need to set up integrated approaches in responding to the increasing energy and water demand to enhance livelihoods and sustain economic growth and address the additional pressures on natural resources due to urbanization and population growth in a continent affected by the changing climate. The importance of developing enforcement mechanism at regional and national level was also emphasized as a positive imputes for Africa's water and energy sector development. "Continuous and targeted capacity building is needed to mainstream and implement the nexus approach for effective water and energy development in the continent," the final communique said. Samba Thiam, Head of the UN Environment Liaison Office to the African Union (AU) Commission, also said that with the increasing demands for water and energy on the continent, it is important for experts to understand their interlinkages as well as potential water-energy nexus options that can effectively contribute to meeting Africa's water and energy demands. "An integrated approach to the water-energy nexus can increase energy efficiency, decrease water pollution, reduce costs of energy and water delivery, increase access to services, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions," said Thiam. Participants also said the water and energy nexus needs to be viewed as an entry point to trigger the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) achievement. The importance of mainstreaming the SDGs and targets into national plans and develop monitoring mechanism was also stressed as an important factor. According to the UNECA, some African countries have started mainstreaming processes while some have begun to implement the nexus approach. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 02:17:26|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close Ayman Hamzah (L), spokesperson of Egypt's Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy, speaks during an interview in Cairo, Egypt, on Sept. 6, 2018. China's investments in Egyptian electricity sector are increasing continuously, Ayman Hamzah said. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) by Marwa Yahya CAIRO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's investments in Egyptian electricity sector are increasing continuously, Ayman Hamzah, spokesperson of Egypt's Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy said. Egypt and China are cooperating on a series of projects in production, distribution, transportation and services of electricity, Hamzah told Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Thursday. China and Egypt signed two deals during a just-concluded visit to China by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who participated in the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) on Sept. 3-4. The deals include construction of a power plant in Hamrawein region at the Red Sea coast, 500 miles away from Cairo. The plant will be built by China's Shanghai Electric and Dongfang Electric Cooperation and Egypt's Hassan Allam Construction with investments worth of 4.4 billion U.S. dollars. The plant, the largest of its kind in the Middle East region with a production capacity of 6,000 megawatt, will be constructed in six years, according to Hamzah. Hamrawein's plant will meet environmental standards by using clean coal technology, which will reduce emissions from coal burning, such as carbon dioxide, among others, Hamzah said. The other deal is to build a 600-meter-high pumping and storage station, which will rank the fourth worldwide, in the Suez Canal Mountain of Ataka. The station will be built by Chinese Sinohydro Company in six years. It will have a production capacity of 2,400 megawatt with eight units and cost 2.6 billion U.S. dollars, Hamzah added. Egypt aims to meet 20 percent of its energy needed from renewable sources by 2022 and up to 40 percent by 2035. Renewable energy currently meets only about three percent of Egypt's needs. Acute power shortages after Egypt's 2011 uprising led to frequent summer blackouts and cuts of industrial outputs. Egypt suffered a shortage of electricity in 2014 of 6,000 megawatt, amounting to one quarter of its production, Hamzah added. In 2015, Egypt signed deals worth of 10 billion dollars with Germany's giant Siemens corporation to build gas and wind power plants. President al-Sisi reiterated on many occasions that energy was a matter of "national security" to meet the need of investments and development projects. Egypt expects foreign direct investment (FDI) to grow by 20 to 25 percent in the fiscal year 2018-19, according to a recent Finance Ministry statement. Multinational companies are considering Egypt as a hub for exports into other Middle Eastern and African markets, said the statement. Improvement of overall environment including electricity will play an important role in attracting FDI. "Egypt now has a self-sufficiency of electricity, with 25 percent reserve," Hamzah said, noting that 515 billion Egyptian pounds (nearly 29 billion U.S. dollars) were spent on the electricity sector since 2014. "Egypt seeks to benefit from the Chinese experience by sending technicians to China for training and promoting cooperation between local companies from the two countries," Hamzah added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 03:22:39|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BERLIN, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Deutsche Bahn, Germanys national railway company, has not been able to improve the punctuality of its long-distance trains, the German news agency dpa reported on Friday. According to Deutsche Bahn sources, with about 30 percent of all long-distance trained being delayed, this is the worst August for punctuality since 2015. Deutsche Bahn management and CEO Richard Lutz have reacted to the bad numbers in an internal letter, asking for a better coordination between the company's business units. In the letter, the Deutsche Bahn management board announces to decisively address the issue of poor punctuality. "We owe this not only to our customers, but also to our employees." Deutsche Bahn defines a train as on time, if it is reaching its destination no later than six minutes after the planned time. "The prolonged hot spell in August led to more disruptions to carriages and infrastructure," the German railway company explained the frequent delays. The 2017 European Railway Performance Index (RPI) by Boston Consulting Group, ranks German trains at forth rank after Switzerland, Denmark and Finland but the RPI report considers additional factors such as passenger safety and quality of service. According to the report, many of Europe's large railway networks, including Germany's, are struggling to maintain their RPI ratings. Short and medium-distance train travel in Germany has a punctuality rate of 94.3 percent and has even slightly improved by 0.2 percentage points in August, partly due to the improving punctuality of city trams. Deutsche Bahn had abandoned their original target of 82 percent punctuality for long-distance trains back in July and is now expecting to improve the rate from about 70 percent to 80. "We expect a trend reversal for the better in the second half of the year," CEO Lutz said when presenting the half-year results. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 03:37:43|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close MOSCOW, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Friday reiterated that it is important and urgent to eradicate terrorism in Syria and that Russia is doing its best to minimize human losses. "Efforts to eliminate the terrorist presence in Syria's Idlib province with the least damage to the civilian population were discussed in detail by Russian and Turkish military," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a briefing. Earlier this month, Russia and Turkey confirmed their intention to continue joint work on the situation in Syria and regional security. In order to get ready for repelling the offensive of the Syrian government troops, militants continued to systematically destroy the infrastructure in Idlib, while terrorists prevented the civilians from leaving and held them as hostages for the use of living shields, Zakharova said. "We call upon those of our international partners who publicly show the highest degree of concern about the emergence of a 'humanitarian crisis' in Idlib ... to take into account the above facts and draw a conclusion about who is actually preparing this crisis," she said. The spokeswoman reaffirmed Moscow's principled position on the need for the "complete and final liquidation of terrorists" in the whole of Syria. "Russia is doing everything in its power to minimize human losses and damage to the civilian population of Idlib," Zakharova added. She urged the international community to contribute to facilitating the disengagement of armed opposition forces from terrorists. On Friday, the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey held a summit on the Syrian conflict in Tehran and agreed on cooperation to annihilate militants of multiple terrorist organizations. I am offering the solution to a problem most Republicans don't know they have -- that they can be outmaneuvered and thrown on the defensive endlessly, on nearly any issue, because they accept as true Democrat lies about the Republican Party. To correct that misperception and to help the Republican Party get 'back to basics' is why I'm a man on a mission. A few years ago, after one of my speeches, a man told me "Do you know what your problem is? You're too far ahead of your time!" My efforts to show Republicans how they would benefit from celebrating the heritage of our Grand Old Party have been arduous, but if this were easy someone else would have already done it. Among my speech topics are Reconciling the Tea Party and the GOP; Barack Obama, the Worst President Ever; Socialism, the new Slavery; Appreciating the Heritage of our Grand Old Party; Returning to the Founding Principles of the United States; The Womens Rights Achievements of our Grand Old Party; Abraham Lincoln, Republican; Frederick Douglass, Republican; Martin Luther King and the Republican Civil Rights Legacy. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 04:22:53|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CAIRO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian army launched on Friday the first home-made Gowind-class corvette as part of a 2014 contract with France to upgrade the country's marine fleet. The warship, named the Port Said Frigate, was manufactured by the army' Alexandria Shipyard Company in cooperation with France's state-owned shipbuilder Naval Group, according to an army statement. "The frigate is the most advanced piece of Egypt's marine forces," state-run Ahram Online website quoted Ahmed Khaled, commander of the Egyptian Naval Forces, as saying during the launching ceremony. The warship is aimed to enhance Egypt's naval capabilities in the Red Sea and Mediterranean, ensure safe maritime navigation and bolster the security of the Suez Canal, Khaled said. The corvette frigate is part of a deal worth 1 billion euros (1.16 billion U.S. dollars) signed with France in 2014 to provide four naval frigates to the Egyptian naval forces. Egypt received the first corvette frigate manufactured by the French company in September 2017. Under the deal, the other three corvettes will be built in Egypt under a transfer of technology agreement. Designed for surveillance and surface and subsurface combat, the multi-mission corvette can also perform monitoring and policing missions. In recent years, Egypt has signed deals worth multi-billion dollars with a number of European countries to boost its military capabilities amid regional turmoil and conflicts. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 04:53:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is expecting a "positive" letter from the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Un. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said that "I know that a letter is being delivered to me, a personal letter from Kim Jong Un to me." "It was handed at the border yesterday," Trump said. "It's actually an elegant way... and I think it's going to be a positive letter." "The letter is being delivered to me ... I think it's being brought in by Mike Pompeo," he added. At the conclusion of the historic Trump-Kim summit in June, the two sides issued a joint statement, in which they agreed to improve bilateral relations and work together to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula. However, the current DPRK-U.S. talks have been stuck in an impasse due to their differences in the scale of denuclearization, U.S. sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration. Kim told South Korea's envoy on Wednesday that he firmly supports and will be devoted to completely removing the danger of armed conflicts and the horrors of war from the Korean Peninsula and turning it into a cradle of peace without nuclear weapons and free from any nuclear threat. Trump tweeted later on Thursday in response, thanking Kim for making such a statement and noting that "we will get it done together," referring to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Also on Thursday, the U.S. State Department said that special representative for the DPRK issue, Stephen Biegun, will travel to the capital cities of South Korea, China and Japan on Sept. 10-15 to discuss the denuclearization of the DPRK. Biegun "will meet with his counterparts and continue diplomatic efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim in Singapore," the State Department said in a statement. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 05:23:10|Editor: zh Video Player Close Relatives of the victim mourn during his funeral in the southern Gaza Strip City of Rafah, on Sept. 8, 2018. One Palestinian was killed and 210 others injured on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the eastern Gaza Strip, the Gaza health ministry said. (Xinhua/Khaled Omar) GAZA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- One Palestinian was killed and 210 others injured on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the eastern Gaza Strip, the Gaza health ministry said. Mustafa Khafaja, 17, was shot dead by Israeli gunfire east of Rafah town close to the border with Israel, said ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra. Among the 210 injured, 70 were admitted to hospitals, including 15 children, he added. Israeli forces have killed at least 173 Palestinians, and injured 19,000 others since March 30, the first day of the ongoing Palestinian "Great March of Return" rally against Israel's crippling blockade since 2007 and the U.S. embassy move to the disputed holy city of Jerusalem, al-Qedra said. During the 24th rally on Friday, the protesters reportedly waved Palestinian flags, burned tires and chanted anti-Israel and anti-U.S. slogans close to the border fence. Volunteering paramedics said dozens of Israeli soldiers stationed behind small hills of sands on the borderline fired tear gas canisters and bullets at the Palestinian protesters. Meanwhile, the Israeli media reported that dozens of arson balloons were released from eastern Gaza into southern Israel, causing large fires in several agricultural fields in the area. Earlier in the day, an Israeli army aircraft fired a missile at a group of Palestinians who were releasing arson balloons from northern Gaza into Israel, moderately injuring two, the ministry said. This week, Yehya Sinwar, a top Islamic Hamas leader, stressed that his movement is not seeking a war with Israel, but will carry on with the popular march "which is a current choice for the movement to lift the Israeli siege." Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong Un (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump during the signing ceremony of a joint statement in Singapore on June 12, 2018. (Xinhua/Ministry of Communication and Information of Singapore) WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he is expecting a "positive" letter from the top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Kim Jong Un. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said that "I know that a letter is being delivered to me, a personal letter from Kim Jong Un to me." "It was handed at the border yesterday," Trump said. "It's actually an elegant way... and I think it's going to be a positive letter." "The letter is being delivered to me ... I think it's being brought in by Mike Pompeo," he added. At the conclusion of the historic Trump-Kim summit in June, the two sides issued a joint statement, in which they agreed to improve bilateral relations and work together to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula. However, the current DPRK-U.S. talks have been stuck in an impasse due to their differences in the scale of denuclearization, U.S. sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration. Kim told South Korea's envoy on Wednesday that he firmly supports and will be devoted to completely removing the danger of armed conflicts and the horrors of war from the Korean Peninsula and turning it into a cradle of peace without nuclear weapons and free from any nuclear threat. Trump tweeted later on Thursday in response, thanking Kim for making such a statement and noting that "we will get it done together," referring to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Also on Thursday, the U.S. State Department said that special representative for the DPRK issue, Stephen Biegun, will travel to the capital cities of South Korea, China and Japan on Sept. 10-15 to discuss the denuclearization of the DPRK. Biegun "will meet with his counterparts and continue diplomatic efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim in Singapore," the State Department said in a statement. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 05:53:16|Editor: zh Video Player Close People work in a tunnel under construction in Ismailia, Egypt, on Sept. 4, 2018. Egypt will inaugurate soon two twin-tube road tunnels linking the restive Sinai Peninsula to the Egyptian heartland, a project Egypt hopes would help improve the impoverished territory. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) by Ahmed Shafiq ISMAILIA, Egypt, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Egypt will inaugurate soon two twin-tube road tunnels linking the restive Sinai Peninsula to the Egyptian heartland, a project Egypt hopes would help improve the impoverished territory. The tunnels are part of the Suez Canal Corridor Area Project, which was launched in August 2014 and aims to increase the role of the Suez Canal region in international trading. The project will also facilitate the development of three canal cities, namely Suez, Ismailia and Port Said, as well as Sinai Peninsula. Last week, Egypt announced that South Port Said and North Ismailia tunnels, which run under the Suez Canal, were near completion. It is expected that Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi will open the two tunnels, located northeast of Cairo, in October. The new tunnel system is meant to meet the requirements of development in the Peninsula and completely eliminate the traffic congestion, which has gone far beyond the capacity of the ferries of the Suez Canal Authority, Al-Salam Bridge and the Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel. The tunnels, which costed 1 billion U.S. dollars, will shorten the time for crossing the Suez Canal to 10 minutes, instead of waiting for the ferries for several days. The Armed Forces Engineering Authority, which oversees the tunnel projects, contracted with Petrojet and Concord Egyptian construction companies to build the North Ismailia tunnels, which run under the existing and new Suez Canal north of the city of Ismailia. The tunnels are the largest in Egypt with a diameter of approximately 13 meters at a maximum depth of almost 70 meters below ground level. The total length of the North Ismailia parallel tunnels is about 5.82 km, while those of Port Said measure 3.92 km long. Nader al-Ziny, a civil engineer with Concord Company, which is in charge of quality control at Ismailia tunnels, said his company ended the excavation of the two tunnels in July, adding that they are now finalizing the construction process inside the tunnels. "These tunnels are of great economic and development value ... they also have human value as they link Africa and Asia continents," al-Ziny said. Egyptian experts believe this project is important as it will help develop North Sinai, which has been suffering terror for more than four years. Terror attacks in North Sinai started to rise following the military ouster of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group. The attacks killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers, before starting to extend nationwide to target the Coptic minority in their churches. Along with the Egyptian army's crackdown on terrorists in Sinai, Egypt has started a plan, which will be completed by 2022, to develop the peninsula at a cost of 15.6 billion dollars "The government's plan to develop Sinai is a heavy blow to terrorism in Sinai," Mohammed Shehata, head of Egyptian Transport Association, told Xinhua. Development in the Sinai region is a strong tool to combat terrorists based in the northern part of the peninsula, Shehata said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 05:58:17|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LAGOS, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The police in Nigeria on Friday said hospitals operating in the country should not deny medical care to accident or gunshot victims without police clearance. No such clearance is needed before accident and gunshot victims are attended to, Edet Okon, a police spokesperson based in restive northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri said in a statement. Okon said the force would want to correct this erroneous impression of no medical attention for gunshot or accident victims without police clearance. According to him, the police, with its respect for the sanctity of human lives, urged all medical facilities that receive such victims to expedite treatment to save their lives. He, however said cases of gunshots and accidents received by any hospital should, while treatment is ongoing, be immediately reported to the police for follow-up investigation and other necessary actions. Four months ago, police chief in Lagos, Imohimi Edgal took the bull by the horns and made startling pronouncements over the vexatious issue of refusal of hospitals to treat gunshot victims before requesting for police report. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 07:13:28|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump continued his attacks Friday on an explosive book that portrays his administration as a dysfunctional, chaotic "Crazytown" and an anonymous op-ed blasting his presidency. The book, titled "Fear: Trump in the White House," was authored by U.S. veteran investigative journalist Bob Woodward and is to be released next week, which has been under attack by Trump since its excerpts were made public earlier this week. Speaking to reporters aboard the Air Force One, Trump called Woodward's book "a total fraud," a day after he said it "means nothing" and described it as "a work of fiction." "I don't talk that way," said the president, adding that his aides who were quoted by Woodward, including White House chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary, "totally disavow everything that they said in the book." The book came as an anonymous op-ed in The New York Times by a senior Trump administration official who, as part of a so-called "resistance," has vowed to thwart parts of the president's agenda and "his worst inclinations," sparked another crisis for the White House. The piece has also put Washington into a wild guessing game as to the identity of the author as top Trump administration officials lined up offering their denials. Trump said Friday that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions "should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe it's national security." Besides the book and op-ed, the president also weighed in on the ongoing Russia probe, saying he would have an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller "but under certain circumstances." Mueller is looking into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and any potential collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow, among other matters that may arise from the investigation. George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy advisor to the Trump campaign, was sentenced Friday to 14 days in prison for making false statements to the federal investigators about the timing and the possible significance of his Russia-related contacts in 2016. Hours before the sentencing, Trump sought to distance himself from Papadopoulos, saying he doesn't know the former member of the foreign policy advisory panel to his campaign. "I see Papadopoulos today, I don't know Papadopoulos, I don't know," Trump said. "I saw him sitting in one picture at a table with me. That's the only thing I know about him." Papadopoulos was pictured in March 2016 sitting at a table with Trump, then-campaign adviser Jeff Sessions who later become U.S. attorney general, and other foreign policy campaign advisers. At that meeting, Papadopoulos reportedly proposed brokering a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, a claim that Sessions disputed when testifying to Congress. Papadopoulos is also the second defendant to be sentenced as part of the Russia probe, after Dutch lawyer Alex van der Zwaan got 30 days behind bars for lying to federal investigators. Mueller has so far publicly initiated criminal proceedings against more than 30 individuals, including several former Trump campaign aides. Former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort was recently found guilty of financial crimes committed prior to his time with the Trump team. As the Russia probe continues with no immediate end in sight, Trump and his political allies have in recent months ratcheted up pressure on Mueller and his team. Trump has repeatedly attacked the probe by calling it a "hoax" or "witch hunt," raising long-running speculation that he would force it to be shut down, a move that analysts say could trigger a political firestorm. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 09:23:45|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A one-month-long campaign will be launched to encourage Chinese society to respect and love senior citizens, the Office of the National Working Commission on Aging has said. The campaign, which will run from Oct. 1 to 31, aims to stress the importance of respecting and loving the elderly and raising people's awareness of aging, the commission said in a circular. Authorities and communities are encouraged to carry out educational activities, visit the elderly, and help them protect their legal rights while individuals should respect the elderly when performing their daily duties. A series of lectures and community-level activities will be held to help the elderly learn more about national conditions and safeguard their legal rights, it said. As this year marks the 40th anniversary of the reform and opening-up drive, the circular said such activities are also meant to improve the elderly's sense of happiness and ensure they are able to share the benefits of reforms. Inspections of the enforcement of laws and regulations related to the elderly will be conducted as they are more likely to be victims of fraud, it said. Authorities will also crack down on telecom fraud and financial crime targeting the elderly, according to the statement. Li Yonghui, vice director of China's Shandong Library, introduces a colored drawing at an exhibition in the State Library of South Australia in Adelaide,Australia, Sept. 7, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Xiaotong) by Bai Xu, Wei Shengyao CANBERRA, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Buddhist sutras from hundreds of years ago and a copy of the oldest city map in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong province, are on display in South Australia. An exhibition named "One mountain, one river, one sage: Treasures from the Shandong Library" opened on Friday at the State Library of South Australia in Adelaide. With 172 exhibits, including 31 before China's last dynasty Qing, the exhibition runs until Jan. 20, 2019. According to Li Yonghui, vice director with the Shandong Library, the mountain, river and sage were Mount Tai, the Yellow River and Confucius. "They represent the importance of nature and philosophy in Chinese history and culture," she said. The oldest original items on show are five books of Yongle Beizang Buddhist sutras, which were engraved and printed between 1419 and 1440. "The cover was made of silk of golden thread," she said. "From these books we could see the high quality of silk hundreds of years ago." The sutras were translated by Xuanzang, Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler and translator who traveled to India in the seventh century during the early Tang Dynasty (618-907). He was deified in the classic novel Journey to the West. "I once saw a painting depicting Xuanzang's journey in a gallery here in South Australia," Li said. "So we brought the books here this time to make Xuanzang's story more complete." Li told Xinhua that Shandong is hometown of many great scholars and she also brought exhibits related to their works, like the colored drawing Loyal Dog completed between 1851 and 1908. Loyal Dog is a story from the Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling (1640-1715). "In fact, the Chinese cultural heritage was guarded by generations," she said. "We librarians are also loyally guarding the cultural heritage. In a sense we are also like Loyal Dog." Another important exhibit is a copy of the earliest hand-drawn city map of Jinan. The original piece was completed in 1889. The copy, three meters long, shows visitors details of the city 130 years ago. "In the State Library of South Australia they have a photo taken in the late 1800s," Li said. "It is interesting to put the map and the picture together." People visit an exhibition in the State Library of South Australia in Adelaide,Australia, Sept. 7, 2018. (Xinhua/Wang Xiaotong) Several Chinese experts also demonstrated woodblock printing and how to repair the ancient books at the opening day of the exhibition. The Shandong Library will hand out some bookmarks with stamps of Chinese zodiac to visitors. "We are pleased to welcome our colleagues from Shandong Library to South Australia and to be a part of this valued two-way exchange of cultural and library expertise," said Geoff Strempel, acting director of the State Library of South Australia. "As the keepers of the memories and stories of generations of South Australians, it is fitting to connect and enrich the South Australian community with opportunities to engage with, and learn more about Chinese history and culture," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 09:53:48|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close TOKYO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- New Chitose Airport, the main gateway to Japan's quake-hit Hokkaido prefecture, has resumed international flights Saturday morning, the government said. According to Japan's transport ministry, about 90 international flights were scheduled to depart from and arrive at the airport near Sapporo during the day. An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7, struck Hokkaido prefecture at 3:08 a.m. local time Thursday (1808 GMT Wednesday). As of Saturday morning, a total of 18 people have been confirmed dead, two others in state of cardiopulmonary arrest, and some 22 people remain missing. New Chitose Airport, the main gateway to Hokkaido, was closed throughout Thursday due to damages from the quake as well as a power outage that affected the whole prefecture. The airport restarted services for domestic flights on Friday, though many passengers were unable to book seats on flights out of Hokkaido due to the masses of people waiting to leave. Lifestyle Age no bar; 80-year-old Pakistani former police officer earns PhD degree Following 40 years of service, Halimi got enrolled at the Balochistan University and secured his MPhil in 2011. Deciding he wasn't done yet, he went on to earn his PhD in 2019 but the convocation scheduled a year later was delayed due to the pandemic. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 10:08:51|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close CANBERRA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Australia's new Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced his intention to abandon his party's signature energy policy, the National Energy Guarantee (NEG). In his first series of newspaper interviews since being sworn-in as prime minister in late August, Morrison said he would return the governing Liberal-National party coalition (LNP) to its conservative roots. Morrison declared the NEG, the signature energy policy of former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, "dead," saying he would seek his party's endorsement to abandon the policy altogether. The NEG was Turnbull's downfall as prime minister with conservative members of the LNP revolting over the 26 percent emissions reduction target embedded in the legislation. "The NEG is dead, long live reliability guarantee, long live default prices, long live backing new power generation," Morrison told News Corp Australia on Saturday. In a significant shift from Turnbull's government, Morrison vowed to change laws to protect religious freedoms. "Just because things haven't been a problem in the past doesn't mean they won't be a problem in the future," he told Fairfax Media. "So I'll be taking a proactive approach when it comes to ensuring that peoples' religious freedoms are protected." Morrison, who served as treasurer under Turnbull, said that he believed the primary economic battleground in the upcoming election would be small businesses. The opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP) opposed Turnbull and Morrison's tax cuts for small businesses. "This will be the key fault line ... Labor wants every small business in the country to pay higher taxes ... every single one," Morrison said. "I want to continue working on tax, but I'm also looking at areas of access to finance, the cost of finance for small business ... and we are looking at what's happening in the workplace." Parliament resumes on Monday with Morrison set to face a grilling from the ALP in his first sitting week as prime minister. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 10:48:55|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations Ma Zhaoxu (C) addresses a meeting of the UN Security Council on Syria at the UN headquarters in New York Sept. 7, 2018. Ma Zhaoxu called Friday on all parties of the Syrian conflict to step up diplomatic efforts, address issues through dialogue, and facilitate de-escalation in the war-torn country. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- China's envoy to the United Nations (UN) Ma Zhaoxu on Friday called on all parties of the Syrian conflict to step up diplomatic efforts, address issues through dialogue, and facilitate de-escalation in the war-torn country. At a Security Council meeting on Syria, the Chinese permanent representative to the UN said the Syrian political process is stalled with rampant terrorist activities and high tensions in parts of the country, especially in the northwestern province of Idlib. Given the situation, "China calls on all relevant parties to step up diplomatic efforts, address issues through dialogue, and facilitate de-escalation," he said. Meanwhile, the international community should synergize their efforts and continue to resolutely combat terrorism and consolidate the gains so far achieved, he said. Friday's meeting was held against the backdrop of imminent offensive by the Syrian government aided by Russia on Idlib, the last remaining rebel stronghold in the country that has undergone seven years of conflict. UN officials have warned of "catastrophic humanitarian consequences," should the offensive take place, estimating about 3 million people would be put at risk. In this context, China calls on all parties to do everything possible to avoid harming innocent civilians, Ma said. Moreover, he stressed that all parties should abide by the rules and principles of the UN Charter and other basic norms of international relations, fully respect Syria's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, and avoid the willful use or threat of use of force. The Chinese envoy reiterated that China always stands for a political solution to the Syrian crisis, which is the only way out for peace and stability in Syria. The international community should provide steady support to the UN as the main mediator and support to its special envoy Staffan de Mistura in his efforts to facilitate the resumption of the Geneva peace talks, he said. De Mistura will hold discussions with relevant parties on the establishment of the Syrian Constitutional Committee, Ma said, urging all parties to exert their influence and push the government and the opposition groups to reach for early results, and to add momentum to the political process. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 11:08:57|Editor: Li Xia Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a congratulatory letter to the 20th China International Fair for Investment and Trade, which opened Saturday in the eastern Chinese city of Xiamen, Fujian Province. For more than 20 years, the fair has been committed to creating the platforms for promoting two-way investments, publishing official information, and discussing investment trends, Xi said in the letter. The fair has become one of the most influential international investment events in the world, and has made positive contributions to China's reform and opening-up as well as socialist modernization, Xi added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 11:34:02|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The two lead UN agencies for the Rohingya in Bangladesh said on Friday they are ready to assess Rakhine State villages in Myanmar in preparation for return of the refugees. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Development Program (UNDP) are prepared to begin assessments of 23 villages in Myanmar's northern Rakhine State, said Stephane Dujarric, a UN spokesman. The announcement comes three months after the UNHCR, the UNDP and the government of Myanmar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on conditions for the returns, he said. "Assessments in the initial list of villages are part of a broader work-plan that has been under discussion with Myanmar authorities since July," the spokesman said. "By commencing with needs assessments to identify and implement quick-impact projects, UNHCR and UNDP hope to jump start confidence building measures aimed at rebuilding trust and social cohesion with those communities that remain in Rakhine State," he said. According to the UNHCR, over 720,000 Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority living in mostly Buddhist Myanmar's northern Rakhine State, have fled to Bangladesh since violence broke out in August 2017. They joined another 200,000 Rohingya who earlier fled into adjacent Bangladesh, said the UNHCR. The UN has long maintained the refugees should not return unless they do so voluntarily, with dignity to sites they choose. It has also sought greater access in northern Rakhine State. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 12:04:06|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's goods trade went up 9.1 percent year on year to 19.43 trillion yuan (about 2.85 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, customs data showed Saturday. Exports rose 5.4 percent year on year in the January-August period to 10.34 trillion yuan while imports grew 13.7 percent to 9.09 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 1.25 trillion yuan, which narrowed by 31.3 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 12:04:06|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people were killed and 25 others injured after a long-distance bus collided with a truck in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar on Saturday, a provincial government spokesman said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 12:39:10|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's top securities regulator has approved new IPO applications for two companies, which will raise no more than 6.9 billion yuan (about one billion U.S. dollars) in the A-share market. TF Securities, a Wuhan-based brokerage firm, will be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC). Mindray, a medical device producer, will be listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the CSRC said. The two companies and their underwriters will confirm IPO dates and publish prospectuses following discussions with the exchanges. Under the current IPO system, new shares are subject to approval from the CSRC. China is gradually switching from an approval-based IPO system to one based on registration. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 13:09:13|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian police are investigating three people for their alleged ties to the attack on presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro though evidence indicates the attacker acted alone, authorities said Friday. Minister of Public Security Raul Jungmann told reporters that police are treating the attack as an isolated case, saying that the attacker was a "lone wolf," however they were investigating two others. "According to the information we have up till the moment, the act is concentrated on the one who committed the attack. There are others who could be implicated, but until the moment there is no evidence or proof, although they remain as suspects and continue to be investigated," he said. Jungmann said the police are working with intelligence department to reconstruct the attacker's steps as well as those around him. The suspect, Adelio Obispo de Oliveira, 40, was arrested immediately after the attack and will remain jailed until his first court appearance. He was charged with personal attack for political nonconformism. If convicted he could serve three to 10 years in prison. Brazilian law stipulates that if the attack results in grave injury, the sentence could be doubled. Bolsonaro underwent emergency surgery at a hospital in Juiz de Fora in the state of Minas Gerais. On Friday morning, he was transferred to a hospital in Sao Paulo where he is expected to remain a week to 10 days in recovery. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 13:19:14|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close (Xinhua file photo) BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's goods trade went up 9.1 percent year on year to 19.43 trillion yuan (about 2.85 trillion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of this year, customs data showed Saturday. Exports rose 5.4 percent year on year in the January-August period to 10.34 trillion yuan while imports grew 13.7 percent to 9.09 trillion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 1.25 trillion yuan, which narrowed by 31.3 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs. In August, exports rose by 7.9 percent while imports jumped by 18.8 percent. In the first eight months, exports and imports of products under the general trade category, which are differentiated from processing trade, gained 13.1 percent from a year ago to 11.43 trillion yuan, accounting for 58.8 percent of the total foreign trade, 2.1 percentage points higher than the same period in 2017. The country's trade with major trading partners saw an increase during the January-August period. Trade with the European Union, its largest trading partner, climbed 6.2 percent, and trade volume with the United States and ASEAN countries increased by 5.9 percent and 11.8 percent, respectively. Trade with countries along the Belt and Road totaled 5.31 trillion yuan, up 12 percent year on year, 2.9 percentage points faster than the average growth rate, data showed. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 13:24:15|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- Evan Low, an assembly member of the U.S. state of California, Friday called for enhanced economic relations between China and the United States, including California. "The significance of cultural and economic ties between China and California has become more prominent with the rapid growth of the economy of the People's Republic of China, especially in the recent decades," said Low in a statement. As a fourth-generation Chinese American, he said he is proud of the positive reciprocal exchanges between California and China. "With approximately 2 million Chinese and Chinese Americans living in California, an ongoing symbiotic cultural and economic relationship is important. Chinese immigrants have made significant contributions to the California we know today," said the statement. The statement was released in response to the Assembly Joint Resolution 44 (AJR44), which was introduced by Low and approved by 75 of the total 80 California Assembly members on Aug. 31. The AJR 44 announced that the legislature would actively support "continued coordination and collaboration between California and China to increase mutually beneficial economic opportunities and strengthen the substantial, bilateral relationship in the areas of people-to-people exchange, trade, climate change, education, tourism, technology, innovation, and green development." In 2017, the total trade volume between California and China was 175.6 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 27.6 percent of the U.S. trade with China, according to the resolution. Moreover, California's exports to China amounted to 16.43 billion dollars in 2017, accounting for 12.6 percent of U.S. exports to China. "The Legislature urges the President of the United States and the Congress of the United States to support actions that further strengthen economic links between the United States, including California, and China," said the resolution. An AJR does not have the power of law like a bill, but the copies of it would be transmitted to the president, each senator and representative from California in the Congress of the United States. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 13:34:16|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The knife attack against Brazilian presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro could have unforeseen repercussions in the upcoming Oct. 7 election, according to Brazilian experts. Carlos Pereira, professor of political science at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV), told Xinhua that "it's bad news that a candidate for president is the target of an attack against his life." Bolsonaro, candidate for Brazil's Social Liberal Party, was stabbed in the abdomen Thursday by a man, while taking part in a campaign rally in the city of Juiz de Fora in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. The far-right politician, who is leading in the polls, was taken to a local hospital where he underwent surgery. Doctors there said his condition was stable and he was transferred by plane to a hospital in Sao Paulo on Friday. He is expected to remain there for a week to 10 days. "The attack could change the outcome of the elections. Bolsonaro leads the polls for the first round of voting, but he loses in practically every scenario in the second round, but that has the possibility of changing as of today. That's a huge shock for the elections," Pereira said. He added that "the effects the attack can have will depend on who the assailant is." Police arrested Adelio Obispo de Oliveira, 40, following the attack and were in the process of evaluating his mental state. "The causes are the radicalization of the political process happening in Brazil, without a doubt," he said. For his part, Marco Aurelio Nogueira, doctor of political science at the University of Sao Paulo, also emphasized the importance of the attack. "The rest of the presidential candidates should exploit this as an alarm so that the society does not act in a more violent manner, whether that's in the electoral campaign or in everyday life. It's frightening," Nogueira said. "Things were already surpassing the reasonable limit in the arena of verbal debate, but when they reach this level we should be setting off all the alarms. Brazilian society doesn't deserve that the electoral process end with this type of violence," he said. Nogueira pointed out that Brazil "had never had an attack like this before and it provoked international repercussions resulting in making the country's image look even worse." "In terms of empathy, Bolsonaro's approval rating should go up while his disapproval -- which was very high -- should go down. The problem is that he will be off the campaign trail for several days, and the lack of media coverage and being out campaigning could hurt him," he said. Nogueira said "the martyrdom of the candidate is evident" but he wasn't sure if it would be enough to help the candidate win the election. "In 2014, socialist Eduardo Campos died in a plane accident in the middle of the campaign, and his vice president, who replaced him, didn't win," he said. Fernando Schuler, professor of political science at Insper, a leading institution of higher education in Brazil that focuses on business, economics and engineering, said "the greatest risk from this sad episode, is that it produces an escalation in political violence." "It was positive to see the reaction of the 12 presidential candidates who denounced the attack. Speculations on the impact on the election are premature," Schuler said. "What happened to Bolsonaro is the result of political tensions and the radicalized political rhetoric. It's not justified by any means, but it creates a climate where an unstable person commits a violent act," he said. Schuler said he doesn't believe the attack will destroy Bolsonaro's favorable view on weapons, "mainly because he is now the victim and can use it in his favor during his campaign." "The problem isn't so much the polarization, it's the political violence. The other candidates should come together with him in the name of political peace. A disputed election is one thing, a disputed election amid violence is another," Schuler said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 13:34:16|Editor: ZX Video Player Close People carry an injured man after a traffic accident at a local hospital in Kandahar city, Afghanistan, Sept. 8, 2018. At least 15 people were killed and 25 others injured after a long-distance bus collided with a truck in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar on Saturday, said an official. (Xinhua/Sanaullah Seiam) KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 15 people were killed and 25 others injured after a long-distance bus collided with a truck in Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar on Saturday, said an official. The accident occurred roughly at 06:00 a.m. local time when a head-on passenger bus collided with a running cargo truck along Kabul-Herat roadway in Hawz-e-Madad area of Zhari district, provincial governor spokesman Aziz Ahmad Azizi told Xinhua. "Those among the killed were three women and three children, and three women and a child were among the injured," he added. The injured were shifted to a main hospital in provincial capital of Kandahar city, east of Zhari. Road mishaps are frequent in the mountainous country and occur mostly due to poor road condition and reckless driving. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 13:39:17|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A militant was killed and a policeman wounded Saturday in a fierce gunfight in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said. The gunfight broke out in Khul-Ranipora near Achabal of Anantnag district, about 67 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. According to police, the gunfight was triggered after militants attacked a police picket. "Militants during the midnight hours attacked a police picket in Achabal. However, the attack was successfully repulsed by the alert policemen on duty," a police spokesman said. "In the retaliatory action one militant was killed and a weapon recovered." Police officials said a policeman was also wounded during the stand-off and he has been removed to nearby medical facility. Reports said following the attack the contingents of police and the army cordoned off the area to carry out searches. A guerilla war is going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989. The gunfight between the two sides takes place intermittently across the region. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 14:24:22|Editor: xuxin Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The state-owned Indian Railways will for the first time go all vegetarian on Oct. 2 to mark the 150th birth anniversary of pre-independence icon Mahatma Gandhi. "Instructions have been given in all zonal railways to serve vegetarian meals on the trains. The vegetarian meals will be served on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti," spokesperson for Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Siddharth Singh told the media. A senior official said on Saturday that this is for the first the Indian Railways has decided to serve vegetarian meals on all its outstation trains on Oct. 2. "The one-day gesture will be a kind of tribute to the Father of the Nation," he said. The Indian Railways is one of the world's largest train networks, criss-crossing the country from north to south. It operates some 9,000 passenger trains and carries nearly 23 million passengers every day. This vast public enterprise can be referred to as a semi-state. It runs schools, hospitals, has its own police force and construction companies, and has 1.3 million people on its payroll, making it the seventh biggest employer in the world. In 2015, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government pledged 137 billion U.S. dollars over five years to modernize and expand the railways. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 15:14:28|Editor: zh Video Player Close LONDON, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- One of Britain's leading astrophysicists said she will donate her 3-million-U.S.-dollar prize to encourage more people to break into the field. Jocelyn Bell Burnell, now 75, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967 as a graduate at Cambridge University. The discovery earned a Nobel Prize in 1974, but the honor went to her two male colleagues. Burnell said she was not eligible for the Nobel at the time because students could not receive awards. After more than 40 years, Burnell's contribution has finally been recognized. On Thursday, she received a Special Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for the discovery, and nearly 3 million dollars in award money. The laureate said she would donate all the money to help scientists from under-represented groups, namely female and ethnic minority physicists. "I have this hunch that minority folk bring a fresh angle on things and that is often a very productive thing. In general a lot of breakthroughs come from left field," she told BBC News on Thursday. The discovery of pulsars is "one of the biggest surprises in the history of astronomy," the Breakthrough Prize committee said in a statement Thursday. "Among many later consequences, it led to several powerful tests of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, and to a new understanding of the origin of the heavy elements in the universe," it said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 15:34:32|Editor: zh Video Player Close File photo taken on June 2, 2017 shows a helicopter of Altitude Air landing at Lukla Airport, Nepal. A domestic helicopter of Altitude Air has gone missing in Central Nepal since Saturday morning, government authorities said. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma) KATHMANDU, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A domestic helicopter of Altitude Air has gone missing in Central Nepal since Saturday morning, government authorities said. "A helicopter en route from Samagaun of Gorkha district to Kathmandu has gone missing since this morning. We are trying to ascertain the details," Raj Kumar Chhetri, general manager at Tribhuvan International Airport, told Xinhua. According to him, the ill-fated helicopter with a call sign 9N-ALS was carrying five passengers and a pilot. The chopper lost the communication since 7:45 a.m. local time. At the same time, according to a local English daily the Himalayan Times, Nima Nuru Sherpa, managing director at Altitude Air Pvt. Ltd., said that there were six passengers including a Japanese tourist and five Nepalese on board, except one pilot. Though some local media reported about the possible crash in Dhading district, 50 km away from the capital, the authorities could not confirm as the search and rescue operation is underway. Samagaun is a popular trekking stop in Gorkha district, which falls on the way to Mount Manaslu Base Camp. September-October is regarded as the peak season for Manaslu expedition and trekking, which sees a large number of foreign tourists. Nobody in the airlines answered calls from Xinhua for further information. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 15:54:35|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BISHKEK, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov met with visiting Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Xu Qiliang here on Friday, pledging to strengthen cooperation with China in defense and security. Kyrgyzstan attaches great importance to bilateral defense and security cooperation and is ready to work with China to prevent and combat the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, which will contribute to regional peace and security, Jeenbekov said. Xu, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, said the two countries have expanded their military exchanges, enriched cooperation, and improved their military mutual trust, adding that the cooperation has been fruitful within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and has played an important role in safeguarding security and stability of the two countries and even Central Asia. He said China is ready to work with Kyrgyzstan to implement the consensus reached by the two countries' heads of state and to inject new vitality into the development of a comprehensive strategic partnership. The Kyrgyz president said Kyrgyzstan firmly supports the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The ancient Silk Road and BRI have created a close bond between the two peoples and in recent years, bilateral relations in such fields as politics, economy and culture have developed in an all-round way, Xu said. During his visit, Xu also met with the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Kyrgyzstan, Rayimberdi Duishenbiev. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 16:44:46|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Education (MOE) on Friday released a circular calling for better food safety work for the country's nutritional improvement plan for students. The circular was based on recent food poisoning incidents in several regions that involved a large number of students. The crowded environments of middle schools and primary schools make food safety a major issue that cannot be overlooked, the circular reads. The lingering high temperatures and timid weather across the country also make it easy for pathogenic microorganisms to multiply, increasing the chance of food poisoning incidents. Schools in the pilot regions of the aforementioned plan should check the sanitary conditions of their canteens, and eliminate potential risks by checking the expiration dates of the foods and flavoring, as well as keep an eye on management to find potential problems. They should strictly implement the laws and rules on food safety, continue to improve their food safety management, and modify their contingency plans for food safety issues, according to the circular. The MOE also calls for measures including strengthening the supervision over food suppliers, improving the disinfection of tableware, and carrying out regular checks. Launched in November 2011 for elementary and middle school students in China's rural areas, the nutritional improvement plan offered schools subsidies to build canteens or outsource breakfast and lunch from catering companies, as well as free nutritional packages for infants and information on healthy nutrition for their caregivers. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 17:04:48|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close by Yang Jingzhong, Zhang Ning, Levi J Parsons PORT MORESBY, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Papua New Guinea's (PNG) minister responsible for Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Justin Tkatchenko, has told Xinhua in an exclusive interview earlier this week, that world leaders can expect a "cultural extravaganza" at the upcoming summit. Now just two months away, the APEC Leaders Meeting to be hosted in Port Moresby, has brought a huge amount of attention to the South Pacific nation and according to Tkatchenko, it's an amazing opportunity to show off the proud and rich culture of PNG. "While the world is watching... we will be showcasing all our provinces, their traditions and their traditional costumes," he said. "When all the world leaders arrive off their planes at Port Moresby Airport, they won't be welcomed by a military salute or a military guard of honor, they'll be welcomed by traditional groups from the different provinces to give them a real welcome to PNG!" With an air of excitement around the capital city, businesses, the government and local residents are bursting at the seams in anticipation for the historic event. But as the summit draws closer, Tkatchenko admits there's been enormous logistical challenges to overcome, in order to make sure operations run smoothly. Expecting upward of 8,000 delegates, media members and support staff for the APEC Leaders Meeting and the CEO summit, PNG officials have had to come up with some very creative ways to house the giant influx of visitors. "The biggest obstacle is accommodation," Tkatchenko said. "We only have about 2,500 beds on land with the hotels that we have, so to counteract that big gap, we've brought in three cruise liners." Able to accommodate over 6,000 people, Tkatchenko said the government decided on the luxury floating hotels to make the event more economically sustainable for the city. "The government doesn't have to invest millions in building all these brand new hotels and then after APEC when everybody leaves all the hotels are not making money and there's no one to fill them," he said. "So the floating hotels, the big cruise liners, solve the problem." Other issues like transportation and communications equipment have also presented organizers with a number of hurdles. "Thanks to the Chinese government with the supplying of buses, vehicles and other things (radio and communications gear), all has been covered, so we're very happy," Tkatchenko said. With preparations now "99 percent complete," the minister hit back at highly publicized criticisms around security, calling them "exaggerated" and "ridiculous". To ensure safety, a joint buildup of 1,800 military personnel from the United States, Australia and New Zealand will be on hand working with the PNG armed forces as a precautionary measure. "I sleep very well knowing security for all the world leaders will be first class," Tkatchenko said. "For the last three years the Australian government defense force, New Zealand and the Papua New Guinea defense force have been working on air, land and sea from day one." While APEC is an organization centered around trade, economic policy and geo-political discussion, most people around the globe probably know it best for the famous colorful shirts. Always a favorite moment for the world's media, the leader's group photo in the specially designed ensembles presents one of the best photo opportunities in global politics. "There is a shirt that the prime minister is designing which will have traditional patterns and motifs on, to promote our country and the 21 different provinces," Tkatchenko said. "I think it's like a safari suit, with different PNG icons... but it's a surprise." As for the famous leader's pins, this year local jewelers have been making the souvenir's out of 18 carat PNG gold in the shape of the bird of paradise, which is the country's national symbol. "It's going to be a huge event and at the end of the day we will be celebrating the success of APEC," Tkatchenko said. "I will ensure, the police minister will ensure, our prime minister will ensure that this event will be an absolute success." Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 17:24:54|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Public donations topped 75.5 billion yuan (more than 11.1 billion U.S. dollars) in China in 2017, said the Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA). The figure was announced by the MCA at a meeting on working experience exchanges between charities. China had 4,774 registered charities, among which 1,293 were qualified to raise funds from the public, as of Wednesday, said the ministry, adding that 206 foundations registered with the MCA had offered over 4.8 billion yuan of financial aid to poverty-stricken areas and people in 2016 and 2017. China's Charity Law took effect on Sept. 1, 2016, requiring all online charity fundraising to be conducted through government-approved Internet platforms. The first group of 11 online charity platforms approved by the MCA received donations of 980 million yuan in the first half of 2018. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 17:34:56|Editor: zh Video Player Close Yang Yang, a young Chinese dancer performs on the opening ceremony of The Fifth "Across the Pacific: China Arts Festival", in San Francisco, the United States, on Sept. 7, 2018. The Fifth "Across the Pacific: China Arts Festival", featuring concerts, photo exhibitions, opera performances and a movie festival to celebrate the rich Chinese cultural heritage, officially opened here Friday. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling) SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- The Fifth "Across the Pacific: China Arts Festival", featuring concerts, photo exhibitions, opera performances and a movie festival to celebrate the rich Chinese cultural heritage, officially opened here Friday. To continue till Oct. 21, the festival will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento in northern California, Portland in Oregon State, and Las Vegas in Nevada State. "Culture is not only the bridge of soul and feelings, but also the bond that strengthens mutual understanding and trust," Chinese Consul General Wang Donghua said at the opening ceremony in the Chinese Consulate General in San Francisco. Since China and the United States established diplomatic relations 40 years ago, their relationship has become the most dynamic and important bilateral one in today's world, in which cultural exchanges play an irreplaceable role, Wang said. The festival will build a bridge of friendship across the Pacific for the people of China and the United States, he added. "It is through music and cultural events that we as people can understand each other," Conway Jones, honorary chair of the Golden Gate International Choral Festival, said. Jones gave the example of the 2018 Golden Gate International Children's and Youth Choral Festival, which was held in Oakland in northern California in July. It brought together more than 500 children from around the world, including from Shanghai and Hong Kong. The children are "diplomats" responsible for exchange of culture and values around the world, he said. Daria Belle, a seventh grader from Yu Ming Charter School in Oakland, said she loves Chinese culture. "I have been learning Chinese for eight years," the 12-year-old said. "I love the fantastic Chinese food and like to listen to Chinese music." Jean Kellogg, executive director of the Merola Opera Program affiliated with San Francisco Opera, said she and her team are proud to be part of the Across the Pacific: China Art Festival. The all-expenses-paid Merola program, now in its 61st year, trains young artists. In the past 10 years, it has trained 26 young artists of Chinese descent, many of whom are now rising stars in the operatic world, Kellogg said. The festival is part of the China-U.S. cultural communication and exchange projects sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 17:39:57|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close GENEVA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- After two days of delay because of the absence of Houthi delegation, one of the major warring parties to the conflict in Yemen, the new round of UN-led peace talks collapsed on Saturday. The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told a press conference in Geneva that the world body failed to get the Houthi delegation to the talks. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 17:44:59|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close JAKARTA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 17 people were killed and scores of others wounded as a bus carrying employees of a firm plunged into a ravine in Sukabumi district of West Java province on Saturday, police said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 17:50:00|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close PORT MORESBY, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- China's Guangdong Province and Papua New Guinea have pledged here to develop bilateral relations to a new high. While meeting with Papua New Guinean Prime Minister Peter O'Neill on Friday, Li Xi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, said the development of bilateral relations between China and Papua New Guinea have achieved historic progress since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries 42 years ago. The leaders of the two countries have held many talks in recent years and reached important consensus on deepening communication and cooperation. China is willing to work together with Papua New Guinea to promote political mutual trust, deepen party to party communication and broaden mutually beneficial cooperation, Li said, adding Guangdong Province is also willing to consolidate cooperation with Papua New Guinea and push forward the bilateral ties to a new high. For his part, O'Neill said his country is a good friend of China and the development of bilateral ties between the two countries have enjoyed strong momentum. The prime minister thanked China's strong support for PNG's hosting of the forthcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in November this year. He said his country is willing to join hands with Guangdong Province to expand cooperation in all fields including economy and trade, energy, people to people exchange and tourism within the framework of China's Belt and Road Initiative so as to press for new progress in the development of bilateral ties. Li Xi pays a visit to Papua New Guinea from Friday to Sunday at the invitation of the government of Papua New Guinea. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 18:00:01|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close NEW DELHI, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- India's Coast Guard, entrusted with protecting the country's maritime interests, has decided not to offer subsidised liquor to its obese personnel. An order has been recently issued by one regional district headquarters of the armed force -- Coast Guard District, Porbandar, Gujarat, also the homestate of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "As an interim measure to give a check, curb and minimise the obesity cases, it has been decided the liquor issue to obese/overweight personnel is to be stopped with immediate effect, as the consumption of liquor is known to be exaggerating the obese condition," says the order. Sources said Saturday that the order, however, does not apply to officers and sailors of other regional district headquarters of the Coast Guard. "The move is to ensure that personnel stay fit and do regular exercise. But the order is not pan-India," sources said. All personnel of the Indian armed forces -- the Army, Navy and Air Force, as well as the Coast Guard -- are entitled to a monthly subsidised liquor quota, depending on their rank. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 18:05:02|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close JAKARTA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed and scores others wounded as a bus carrying employees of a firm plunged into a ravine in Sukabumi district of West Java province in Indonesia on Saturday, police officer said. The bus carrying the employees of PT Catur Putra Group plunged into a 30-meter depth ravine when it was passing on Cikidang street at mid day as the driver could not control the bus, police officer in charge of the district police office Hanapi told Xinhua over the phone. The bus departing from Bogor district was heading to a tourist destination in Cikidang area for rafting, he added. All the victims have been rushed into health clinics and a nearby hospital, the officer said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 18:10:03|Editor: Lu Hui Video Player Close XIAMEN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Multinational firms attending the 20th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) that opened Saturday in Xiamen expressed confidence in the China market and its potential. Despite concerns over a slowing economy, China is still considered a reliable source of profit due to its huge market, industrial upgrading and improving business environment, delegates of various multinationals said at the fair in east China's Fujian Province. "China's investment market remains large and continues to grow. Its consumer market is constantly expanding at a rapid pace," said Harley Seyedin, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China (ACCSC). Noting that the chamber has participated in the CIFIT for 16 consecutive years, Seyedin said this year a delegation of over 100, including senior managers of P&G, Mars-Wrigley, and Citibank, came to Xiamen for the event. According to the chamber's latest report on the state of business in south China, 73.3 percent of interviewed companies manufacture products and offer services for the China market, up from less than 23 percent in 2003. Seyedin believes the reason why China has remained popular among global investors is its growth potential in the global market. Over 53 percent of the respondents said China occupies the top spot in their global investment plans, while most foreign investment still rushes into first-tier Chinese cities where population and trade opportunities are most abundant, Seyedin said. Seyedin said ACCSC member enterprises have planned to reinvest about 14 billion U.S. dollars this year, up nearly 12 percent, to expand operations and increase market shares in China, adding that foreign-funded enterprises have become an integral part of China's economy. According to the Ministry of Commerce, 35,239 new foreign-invested enterprises have been set up across China from January to July, a year-on-year increase of 99.1 percent. The Internet, artificial intelligence, and consumption upgrading in fields such as finance, culture, education, medical care, and tourism have become the focuses at the CIFIT for multinationals to further tap into the China market. Signify is a leading lighting enterprise owned by Philips Lighting. It launched the world's first Light Fidelity technology in March. "We are trying to land the technology in China, which is a key step for our expansion into the Internet of Things lighting industry," said Yang Lili, vice president of Philips Lighting's Greater China branch. She said the company is optimistic about China's smart city development and hopes to make some contributions in the area with its new technology and services. "China has always been the most important market for us. What we care about most is not only the application of new technology in China, but also to reach out to the world with our Chinese partners," Yang said. Meanwhile, some multinationals pay close attention to China's industry transformation, and hope to find a new path into its market. OSI China, a leading meat processing company headquartered in Chicago, has invested over 1 billion U.S. dollars in China since it entered China about 30 years ago. "China's stable economic growth provided ample opportunities for foreign investors," said Denver Lyu, vice president of OSI China. "The central and local governments have made efforts to further open the market and welcome foreign investors." Lyu said China now focuses more on efficiency and quality rather than speed and scale, which offers better guidance for the development of his company. "We will reinforce industry transformation and upgrading within the company and look for investment opportunities in new areas," he said. CIFIT, scheduled from Sept. 8 to 11, has become an effective and important platform for promoting two-way investments, publishing official information, and discussing investment trends. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 18:15:03|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close GENEVA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- After two days of delay because of the absence of Houthi delegation, one of the major warring parties to the conflict in Yemen, the new round of UN-led peace talks collapsed on Saturday. The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told a press conference in Geneva that the world body failed to get the Houthi delegation to the talks. Stressing that the UN will sooner or later bring the parties together, Griffiths said the Houthi delegation were actually keen to travel to Geneva for the peace talks, and that he doesn't take this as a "fundamental blockage" in the political process. "They would have liked to get here. We didn't make conditions sufficiently correct to get them here," Griffiths said, adding that it was "too early to say when the next round of consultations will take place." However, he did not go into details on why the Houthis did not show up. Media reports from Sana'a said that the Houthis will not join peace talks in Geneva until their minute conditions are met, while another report said the Houthi delegation was stranded in Sana'a because the Saudi-led coalition, which controls the airspace, had not given their permission to fly. "The consultation process has started. We had three days of fruitful discussions with the delegation of the government of Yemen as planned, and the consultations will continue in Muscat and Sana'a," the UN envoy said, adding that he will travel to the region in the coming days. Photo shows winners of Zimbabwean presidential scholarships and their families at a farewell ceremony organized for them before they embark on trips to China to pursue studies. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuliang) by Gretinah Machingura HARARE, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe, which is targeting to become a middle-income economy by 2030, is seeking to boost educational cooperation with China in order to achieve its economic development goals. In recent years, an increasing number of Zimbabwean students have been going to China to further their education at various universities in the Asian country. While some are paying for their studies, a number of them are studying through scholarships granted by the Chinese government and firms. In 2016, Chinese firm Hengshun Zhongsheng Group started awarding scholarships to academically gifted but poor Zimbabwean students to study in China. The company has been sending 50 students each year to study in China under the Zimbabwean presidential scholarship program, and has to date awarded scholarships to 150 Zimbabwean students to study in various disciplines. The 50 students for 2018 are set to leave for China soon, after a farewell ceremony was held for them by the Zimbabwe government and the Chinese Embassy on Friday. In a farewell message, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa urged the students to go and harness their education potential in China for the benefit of the nation. "Go and acquire knowledge and skills that we do need so much. Work hard, be disciplined and represent us well. We want you to come back home when you finish your studies and join us in the economic revolution which the new dispensation is unraveling," the president said in a message read on his behalf by a government minister. Minister for national and presidential scholarships Christopher Mushowe speaks on behalf of Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa at the farewell ceremony organized for the scholarship winners before they embark on trips to China to pursue studies.(Xinhua/Zhang Yuliang) Minister for national and presidential scholarships Christopher Mushowe said the main thrust of the new government was on specialization, skills and manpower development to enable the country to attain its 2030 economic vision. "In the new government we will make sure that research and development, innovation and technology development are given priority. We have yawning skills gaps in the critical areas of science, technology and engineering and we want to fill those gaps with a deliberate focus on those areas," Mushowe said. Director of political affairs at the Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe Guo Jing said the sending of yet again 50 students this year to study at various universities in China was one of the many good examples of the successful China-Zimbabwe educational cooperation. "Our cooperation in educational exchange is a win-win job as this cooperation not only benefits the next generation of Zimbabwe and jump-starts the development of Zimbabwe, but also cultivates the young champions for China-Zimbabwe people-to-people and cultural exchanges," Guo said. She said Zimbabwe was at the dawn of a new chapter of development which requires a huge pool of critical skills to enable the country to push forward with its development agenda. "The knowledge acquired in China will serve as guidance for your work in Zimbabwe and toward the target of making Zimbabwe a middle income country by 2030," she said. She also urged the students to be practitioners of Zimbabwe-China cooperation that delivers fruitful win-win outcomes for the two sides. Hengshun Zhongsheng Group managing director Liu Baixue urged the students to work hard in their studies. "Do your very best in your studies so that you serve your nation with the knowledge you have acquired," she said. Nineteen-year-old Shalom Muguwe who will study a degree program in computer science and information technology at Ocean University of China said he was grateful to China for the study opportunity. "I am very happy to have been awarded this scholarship. I want to acquire knowledge in China that will help in building a better Zimbabwe and advance our country in terms of technology and development," he said. "I hope the Chinese government and other firms will increase the number of scholarships so that many bright but poor students benefit," he added. To Kudakwashe Meki, a 26-year-old university graduate who will pursue a Master's Degree in Environmental Science, said the study opportunity will help boost his chances to secure employment and contribute to the development of Zimbabwe. "I am happy that I will acquire practical education from China and I hope to come back and use those skills to develop my country," said Meki. The study opportunity came in handy for 19-year-old Heidrun Mvere whose dream of acquiring university education had been shattered following the death of her father and breadwinner last year. "Thanks to this scholarship I am now able to fulfill my dream of getting university education. On her own, my mother would not have managed to send me to university," she said. Twenty five-year-old Margeret Muskwe said she hoped not only to secure employment but to set up her company after completing her Master's Degree in Genetics in China. "I believe I should also do my own thing after university rather than simply look for a job. So I hope to improve the agriculture sector in Zimbabwe through animal and plant breeding," she said. The exponential growth of Chinese universities as world class institutions has resulted in the Asian country emerging as a popular overseas study destination among many Zimbabwean students. An official from Obepa Education and Scholarship Center said the dramatic increase in Zimbabweans seeking higher education in China can be explained in part by the Chinese government's commitment to higher education and China's technological advancements. "Technology in China is far much advanced, and students prefer to go where technology is more dynamic. Engineering programs are the ones that attract most students," said Pamhidzai Matambanadzo from Obepa Center. She said lower tuition fees and scholarships by Chinese universities also attract many students. In a keynote speech delivered at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held on Sept. 3-4, Chinese President Xi Jinping said China will train 1,000 high-caliber Africans, provide Africa with 50,000 government scholarships, sponsor seminar and workshop opportunities for 50,000 Africans, and invite 2,000 African youths to visit China for exchanges over the next three years and beyond. This is part of the eight major initiatives announced by Xi which China and African countries will implement in the next three years and beyond. The initiatives also cover fields such as industrial promotion, infrastructure connectivity, trade facilitation, and green development. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 18:50:09|Editor: ZX Video Player Close Photo taken on Sept. 8, 2018 shows the damaged house at Tongguan Township of Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province. Fourteen people suffered minor injuries as of 3 p.m. in an earthquake that hit Mojiang Hani Autonomous County at 10:31 a.m. Saturday, local authorities said. An emergency response was initiated and working teams were dispatched to the scene. (Xinhua/Zhou Lei) KUNMING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Fourteen people suffered minor injuries as of 3 p.m. in an earthquake that hit Mojiang Hani Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province at 10:31 a.m. Saturday, local authorities said. The provincial seismological bureau said 55 aftershocks have been recorded so far in Mojiang, with one above magnitude 3, two above magnitude 4, and one above magnitude 5. According to the county government, the 5.9-magnitude quake, with an 11km deep epicenter, had damaged dozens of homes as of Saturday afternoon. Tremors were felt in the 15 towns in Mojiang as well as cities including Kunming, the provincial capital. The Ministry of Emergency Management has initiated an emergency response and dispatched working teams to the scene. More than 600 policemen, firefighter, medical workers are carrying out resue operations. Professional rescue teams equipped with life-sensors, thermal cameras, and excavators, as well as search and rescue dogs also rushed to the quake-stricken areas. As of 3:40 p.m., 1,328 tents, 3,900 quilts, 2,000 sets of bedding, 2,000 folding beds, and 600 waterproof clothes had been sent to accommodate relocated residents. Traffic, telecommunications, and power supply have returned to normal in most parts of Tongguan, the town nearest to the epicenter. Rescuers in Tongguan told Xinhua that the casualties would not be high as most villagers were farming outdoors when the quake struck. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 18:50:09|Editor: zh Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered Saturday an investigation of the security force responsible for protecting Iranian consulate in Basra after it was attacked by demonstrators protesting rampant unemployment and lack of public services. A statement by Abadi's office said that the investigation is aimed to hold the security force accountable "for not fulfilling their duties in providing the necessary protection." On Friday evening, dozens of protesters stormed the Iranian consulate in Iraq's southern city of Basra, setting fire to the building after the security forces guarding the consulate withdrew to avoid casualties, while the Iranian employees had withdrawn earlier from the building to safe places. Abadi, who is also the commander-in-chief of the Iraqi forces, issued orders to the security forces "to deal firmly with the riots that accompanied the demonstrations and to protect the state and private institutions." Also on Saturday, the Health Ministry said in a statement that the Friday protests resulted in the deaths of three people and the injuries of some 48 civilians and two policemen. The demonstrators also tried to move toward the U.S. consulate in the city, but the attempt was unsuccessful because of upgraded security measures. Jabbar al-Saidi, head of security committee of the provincial council, told reporters that many areas in Basra province are under control of the demonstrators, but reinforcement troops from Baghdad have arrived there to take control of the security situation in the province. A security source in the city told Xinhua that commandos of Counter-Terrorism Service have been deployed on Saturday morning around banks and other government buildings in Basra and other towns of the province. Basra, the province's capital city which bears the same name, has long witnessed complaints among its over 2 million residents about the collapsing infrastructure, power cuts and corruption. Water supply in the province is also widely criticized for high salinity, with thousands of residents having been hospitalized. The protesters also accused the influential political parties of being behind the widespread corruption, which led to high unemployment rate and failure in rehabilitation of the country's electricity, water and other basic services. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 19:00:11|Editor: zh Video Player Close LAMU, Kenya, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan police in coastal Lamu region have arrested a middle aged male terror suspect believed to have links with the al-Shabab terrorist group, the police confirmed on Saturday. Paul Leting, Lamu County Directorate of Criminal Investigations Commander said the suspect was arrested on Friday evening by detectives at a local hospital following a tip-off on his presence in the county. The DCI commander also indicated that the terror suspect had in his possession items believed to be bomb and improvised explosive devices (IED) making materials. He said the items are being investigated by a team of bomb experts. "We are holding a man who we highly believe is linked to the al-Shabab terror group. We have intelligence that he has been in contact with the commanders in terror group. We also have material we believe he was using to make bombs and IEDs. We don't want to divulge much as the issue is still under investigation," said Leting. The commander expressed optimism that more arrests will be made once the suspect is thoroughly interrogated. Police are also trying to establish if the terror suspect has any links to medics at the county hospital and what he was doing at the staff quarters shortly before he was arrested. Lamu County has been in the spotlight for some years now owing to increased scathing attacks by the militants that have left hordes of security officers and civilians dead. In August, two terror attacks by suspected al-Shabab militants left at least 11 Kenya Defense Forces soldiers (KDF) dead in two separate attacks Lamu. On Aug. 8, six KDF soldiers were killed and five others seriously wounded after their vehicle ran over an IED at a local bridge in Lamu East Sub County. On August 29, five KDF soldiers were killed and 10 injured after their vehicle ran over an explosive device on the Kiunga-Sankuri road. The soldiers are part of a wider security operation launched to flush out al-Shabab militants believed to be hiding inside the expansive Boni forest in Lamu. The operation was launched by the national government in 2015. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 19:35:15|Editor: zh Video Player Close JAKARTA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 20 people were killed and scores of others wounded after a bus carrying employees of a firm plunged into a ravine in West Java province on Saturday, a local official said. Daeng Sutikna, senior official at the disaster management agency in Sukabumi district, told Xinhua that six out of the 20 died on the spot and the rest succumbed to injuries on the way to or in hospitals. The bus, as part of a convoy of four buses carrying the employees of PT Catur Putra Group, was heading to a tourist destination in Cikidang for rafting, he said. The driver lost control of the vehicle when it was traveling on a Cikidang road at midday and plunged into the 30-meter ravine, police officer at the district police office Hanapi told Xinhua. The bus departed from Bogor district of the province, he added. All the victims have been rushed into health clinics and a nearby hospital, the officer said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 19:35:16|Editor: zh Video Player Close KATHMANDU, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed while one woman survived after a helicopter of Altitude Air crashed in the dense forest in central Nepal on Saturday, officials confirmed. The ill-fated chopper which was heading towards Kathmandu from Gorkha crashed in the bordering area between Dhading and Nuwakot. The ill-fated helicopter with a call sign 9N-ALS AS350 B3e was carrying six passengers including a Japanese tourist along with a senior pilot. The chopper lost the communication since 7:45 a.m. local time. Sitaram Sapkota, an official at Altitude Air, told Xinhua that a Buddhist nun survived the crash, but has sustained severe injuries. The helicopter was located after the nun called the authorities about the tragedy. Rescue operation is underway despite of unfavorable weather condition and the remote location. The cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained. The helicopter was en route to Kathmandu from Samagaun, which is a popular trekking stop in Gorkha district. September-October is regarded as the peak season for Manaslu expedition and trekking, which sees a large number of foreign tourists. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 19:40:16|Editor: zh Video Player Close KATHMANDU, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Nepal will not join the first ever joint military drill among the armies of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) members, to be hosted by India next week, an advisor to the prime minister said here on Saturday. Kundan Aryal, press advisor to Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, told Xinhua that Nepal will not to join the joint military drill to be organized in Pune of the western Indian State of Maharastra on Sept. 10-16. "Nepal will not participate in the BIMSTEC joint military drill. This is the official decision of the government," he said, without giving details about reasons behind Nepal's decision to skip the military drill. Official sources told Xinhua on Saturday that the decision was made by the government amid growing criticism from multiple quarters over Nepal's possible participation in the first ever military drill among the armies of BIMSTEC members. The proposal for the joint military drill was first proposed by the Indian Army in June, followed by an initial meeting of BIMSTEC senior army officials in New Delhi, army sources said here on Saturday. BIMSTEC, founded in 1997, is a regional bloc grouping India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 19:40:17|Editor: zh Video Player Close CAIRO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced 75 former members of Muslim Brotherhood to death over their involvement in the armed sit-in in Rabaa five years ago, official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. According to the report, 44 defendants attended the trial, including Muslim Brotherhood leaders Essam El Erian, Abdel Rahman al-Barr, Mohamed Beltagy and Safwat Hegazi, while 31 other fugitives were tried in absentia. The case dates back to 2013 when supporters of the ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi gathered in Rabaa el Adawiya Square in Cairo's Nasr City district following his overthrow by the army in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule. The sit-in was dispersed violently by security men after warnings from the government. The protesters were also accused of hindering traffic, causing public disorder, terrifying the residents as they possessed weapons. Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood was banned by the government and most members of the group have received verdicts varying from death to life sentences over charges of violence, killing and espionage. Morsi is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence over inciting deadly clashes between his supporters and opponents in late 2012 and a 25-year jail term over leaking classified documents to Qatar. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 19:45:18|Editor: zh Video Player Close BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Brunei has registered an increase of 18.3 percent in the number of tourist arrivals to the country through Brunei International airport in 2017, the third fastest growth in Southeast Asia. The sultanate received nearly 260,000 international visitors, compared to about 219,000 in 2016, local daily the Borneo Bulletin reported on Saturday, quoting a recent report from United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). According to UNWTO, Vietnam scored the fastest growth in tourist arrivals with 29.1 percent. Other countries in the region that saw a significant increase were Myanmar (18.4 percent); Indonesia (16.9 percent); and Timor-Leste (12.5 percent). Thailand remained the region's most popular destination with around 35.4 million international arrivals. According to latest government statistics, Brunei also saw a surge in international tourist arrivals through the Brunei International Airport for the first quarter of 2018. China emerged as the top contributor to tourist arrivals into Brunei, due to the increase of air connectivity from chartered flights. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 19:45:19|Editor: zh Video Player Close RABAT, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian will visit Morocco next Monday, local media reported on Saturday. During his visit, the French foreign minister will meet his Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita and other senior officials, said Le360.ma news site citing government sources. It said that the main objective of this visit is to prepare for the expected visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to Morocco in early 2019. The same source revealed that during Macron's visit, he will chair with Morocco's King Mohammed VI the inauguration ceremony of Morocco's first high-speed train, which will link the northern city of Tangier and Morocco's financial capital Casablanca. Over 51 percent of the 2-billion-dollar project is financed by French government and institutions. The visit of Le Drian will touch on various aspects of bilateral cooperation and address regional issues, especially migration and the situation in Libya, the source added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 20:20:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan, Sept. 8, 2018. (Xinhua/Liu Tian) ISLAMABAD, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- China and Pakistan pledged here on Saturday to push forward the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries to a new high. While meeting with Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi hailed the smooth and successful general elections in Pakistan in July, saying China respects the choice made by the Pakistani people on their own will. As Pakistan's good friend, good partner and good neighbor, China will stand firmly with the Pakistani side, Wang said. Stressing ties between China and Pakistan as all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, Wang said relations between the two countries have been established on the basis of long-term mutual understanding, mutual support and mutual trust beyond party differences and government changes. China and Pakistan are "iron brothers" who have forged time-tested friendship, Wang said. Noting that China highly appreciates the reaffirmation of Pakistan's new government to continue taking the development of ties with China as the cornerstone of its foreign policy, Wang said China will also continue to take the development of ties with Pakistan as a priority in its foreign policy and neighborhood diplomacy. China will firmly support Pakistan's new government, help Pakistan in its efforts to realize new development targets, consolidate strategic mutual trust and strategic coordination and expedite the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), so as to elevate the level of all-round cooperation, deepen the friendship between the two peoples, push forward the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership to a new high and forge a closer China-Pakistan community of shared future, Wang added. For his part, Qureshi said Pakistan and China are most reliable partners and friends, and their friendship will not be affected by the change of governments. The new Pakistani government fully supports the unique Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, and always views its relations with China as the cornerstone of Pakistan's foreign policies, he said. The Pakistani side has always been, and will be fully supportive to China's core interests and issues of its major concern, the Pakistani foreign minister said. On issues related to Pakistan's national security and sovereignty, the Chinese side has also been standing with the Pakistani side as well, he added. The Pakistani new government is now pushing forward an ambitious reform agenda, and is willing to learn from China's experiences on economic development, poverty relief, disaster reduction, anti-corruption and environmental protection, among which the promotion of CPEC is the priority, Qureshi said. Pakistan is also willing to work with China to strengthen anti-terrorism and defense, and intensify coordination and cooperation on multilateral occasions, in a bid to lift Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership to a new high, he added. At a joint press conference after the meeting, the Chinese state councilor said the two sides have reached a 10-point consensus, including deepening strategic mutual trust, better pushing forward the construction of CPEC, developing bilateral trade in a balanced manner, vigorously promoting industrial capacity cooperation, and strengthening development and cooperation with an emphasis on people's livelihood. The two side also agreed to enhance cooperation on defense and security, increase experience exchanges on governance, expand cultural exchanges, cement cooperation on international and regional affairs, and build a closer China-Pakistan community of shared future. Wang is paying an official visit to Pakistan from Friday to Sunday. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 20:25:26|Editor: ZX Video Player Close DUBAI, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed to promote the development of financial centers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China, a statement by the UAE side said Saturday. Inked between UAE free zone Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and the Beijing Financial Street Services Bureau, the MoU "marks a continuation of ADGM's commitment to the Belt and Road Initiative," said ADGM's statement. The new MoU provides a formal platform for greater bilateral cooperation in areas including the development of financial centers in both countries, investment facilitation, joint research and closer exchange of information, the statement added. In 2017, bilateral trade between the UAE and China reached 41 billion U.S. dollars, up 1.1 percent year on year. Over 4,000 Chinese companies are now operating in the UAE, contributing significantly to the local economy. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 20:50:30|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BEIJING, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng on Saturday stressed the focus on solving problems in the country's food safety work while presiding over the first plenary session of the food safety commission of the State Council. Han, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and head of the food safety commission, said that food safety concerns the health of everyone, and is one of the top concerns of the people. More targeted, effective and practical measures must be taken to address issues that worry the people the most, such as pesticide residues on fruits, vegetables, and crops, adulterated food, and sanitary conditions of kitchens. He highlighted standards in the food industry as the fundamental framework for food safety, and asked for the establishment and improvement of a standard system, in order to bring China's standards in line with the international standards as soon as possible. Supervision must be strengthened over every phase of food production, circulation and consumption, and social forces should be encouraged to take part in the supervision, according to Han. He asked for the timely release of authoritative information, encouraged media outlets to join the supervision, and urged harsher punishments for those who violate food safety laws and regulations. Hu Chunhua and Wang Yong, both deputy heads of the State Council's food safety commission, also attended the plenary session and delivered speeches. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 20:55:32|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BANGKOK, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A Sri Lankan drug trafficking suspect, wanted by Interpol, has been arrested by police in southernmost Thailand, said a police general on Saturday. Deputy Tourist Police Commissioner Pol. Maj. Gen. Surachate Hakparn said the police in Narathiwat province, about 1,140 kilometers south of Bangkok, arrested the Sri Lankan national, identified as Saliya Perera Wiwala Arachchige, who had been hunted by Interpol for transnational drug trafficking charges. Interpol and Sri Lankan authorities had sought the whereabouts of the suspected drug trafficker and finally located him in Thai territory near the Thai-Malaysian border, prompting the Thai police to take action and arrest him at a hotel on Thursday, according to Pol. Maj. Gen. Surachate. The Sri Lankan drug suspect had fled his home country and slipped into Thai territory since the last five years and managed to find a hide-out in the southernmost province, the deputy Tourist Police commissioner said. The police have launched investigation into the case with the drug suspect currently detained at a local immigration office. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 21:05:35|Editor: ZX Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Up to 14 members of Iranian Kurdish opposition were killed Saturday and 39 others wounded in Iranian shelling on two headquarters of Kurdish party in Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, a medical source said. Iranian unmanned plane and artillery pounded in the morning two headquarters of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan near the town of Kwisanjaq, killing 14 people, the source from the town's hospital told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 21:10:37|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close GENEVA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- After two days of delay because of the absence of Houthi delegation, one of the major warring parties to the conflict in Yemen, the new round of the UN-led peace talks collapsed on Saturday. The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told a press conference in Geneva that the UN finally failed to manage to get the Houthi delegation to the talks. Stressing that the UN will sooner or later bring the parties together, Griffiths said that actually the Houthi delegation were keen to travel to Geneva for the peace talks, and he doesn't take this as a "fundamental blockage" in the political process. "They would have like to get here, we didn't make conditions sufficiently correct to get them here," Griffiths said, adding that it was "too early to say when next round of consultations will take place". However, he did not go into details on why the Houthi delegation did not show up. Media reports from Sanaa said that the Houthis will not join peace talks in Geneva until their minute conditions are met, while another report said that the Houthi delegation was just stranded in Sanaa because the Saudi-led coalition, which controls the airspace, had not given their permission to fly. "The consultation process has started. We had 3 days of fruitful discussions with the delegation of the government of Yemen as planned, and the consultations will continue in Muscat and Sanaa," the UN envoy said, adding that he will travel to the region in the coming days. According to the envoy, during the past days he held positive discussion with the government of Yemen delegation, which arrived in Geneva on Wednesday. He also met with a number of diplomats from both regional and international powers. "The environment for discussions is fairly positive, despite what's happening on the ground and despite the fact that we did not of course get the opportunity to receive the Ansarullah (Houthis) delegation," he said. "We will have similar consultations with Ansarullah," he added. Earlier on Wednesday, Griffiths announced that warring parities in Yemen had agreed that the time has come to restart the political process and were scheduled to kick off a new round of peace talks in Geneva on Sept. 6. The envoy said at this stage the parties will mainly discuss the framework for negotiations and relevant confidence-building measures so as to move the process forward. The last UN-backed peace negotiations for Yemen was held in 2016 in Kuwait, which continued for several months in the Gulf country but no constructive results had been reached due to serious differences between the rival parties. Yemen has been locked into a civil war since the Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including capital Sanaa, in 2014. Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that has intervened in the Yemeni war since 2015 to support the Yemeni elected government of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 21:40:41|Editor: zh Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- "Intensive" Russian airstrikes on Saturday targeted several rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idilb, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria, a monitor group reported. The airstrikes targeted the town of Latamneh in the northern countryside of Hama province near Idlib as well as the areas on the outskirts of Khan Sheikhun city in the countryside of Idilb, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Britain-based watchdog group said the Syrian artillery also targeted rebel-held areas in the southeastern countryside of Idlib. The observatory said the chances of a wide-scale offensive by the Syrian army in Idlib increases every day, as the Syrian army is preparing for the offensive and the rebels are taking measures to confront the government forces' anticipated attack. The Syrian government has been preparing for a military campaign to retrieve Idlib, in what is believed to be the last major battle in Syria. Several rebel groups in Idlib are designated as terrorists, mainly the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front, otherwise known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. A day earlier, the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey met in the Iranian capital Tehran to discuss the situation in Idlib. However, the summit has failed to come to a tangible agreement on Idlib, given the fact that Turkey supports several rebel groups there and has observation points in Idlib. Turkey wanted to establish a cease-fire while the Iranians and Russians, both main allies of Damascus, highlighted the need to "eliminate the terrorists in Idlib." On the other hand, the United States and its Western allies have been warning of the repercussions of the possible assault on Idlib, saying it would lead to a humanitarian catastrophe as nearly 3 million people live there. The Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari said during a UN session Friday that 50,000 terrorists are located in Idlib, stressing that it is the duty and right of the Syrian army to retake Idlib. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 21:40:41|Editor: zh Video Player Close CAPE TOWN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A group of armed men attacked commuters on a train in Cape Town, killing one and injuring several others, police said on Saturday. The incident took place on Friday night when several armed suspects robbed the train travelling between the Eerste River and Lynedoch stations, Metrorail Western Cape spokesperson Zino Mihi said. Some of the commuters were robbed, stabbed and thrown off the moving train, one of them killed and eight others injured, police said. Cases of murder and attempted murder have been registered and are being investigated, Western Cape police spokesperson Andre Trout said, adding that no one has been arrested. The incident occurred despite heightened security for commuters. Commuter trains have been targeted by criminals recently in Cape Town. In the last three months, four trains were apparently hit by arsonists. Most recently, two carriages were set alight at Cape Town station. In May, a commuter was killed in a fire near Ottery station while another suffered severe burn wounds. The motive behind the attacks remains unclear. A boy stands in front of a building destroyed in airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen, on Sept. 5, 2018. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed) GENEVA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- After two days of delay because of the absence of Houthi delegation, one of the major warring parties to the conflict in Yemen, the new round of the UN-led peace talks collapsed on Saturday. The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told a press conference in Geneva that the UN finally failed to manage to get the Houthi delegation to the talks. Stressing that the UN will sooner or later bring the parties together, Griffiths said that actually the Houthi delegation were keen to travel to Geneva for the peace talks, and he doesn't take this as a "fundamental blockage" in the political process. "They would have like to get here, we didn't make conditions sufficiently correct to get them here," Griffiths said, adding that it was "too early to say when next round of consultations will take place". However, he did not go into details on why the Houthi delegation did not show up. Media reports from Sanaa said that the Houthis will not join peace talks in Geneva until their minute conditions are met, while another report said that the Houthi delegation was just stranded in Sanaa because the Saudi-led coalition, which controls the airspace, had not given their permission to fly. "The consultation process has started. We had 3 days of fruitful discussions with the delegation of the government of Yemen as planned, and the consultations will continue in Muscat and Sanaa," the UN envoy said, adding that he will travel to the region in the coming days. According to the envoy, during the past days he held positive discussion with the government of Yemen delegation, which arrived in Geneva on Wednesday. He also met with a number of diplomats from both regional and international powers. "The environment for discussions is fairly positive, despite what's happening on the ground and despite the fact that we did not of course get the opportunity to receive the Ansarullah (Houthis) delegation," he said. "We will have similar consultations with Ansarullah," he added. Earlier on Wednesday, Griffiths announced that warring parities in Yemen had agreed that the time has come to restart the political process and were scheduled to kick off a new round of peace talks in Geneva on Sept. 6. The envoy said at this stage the parties will mainly discuss the framework for negotiations and relevant confidence-building measures so as to move the process forward. The last UN-backed peace negotiations for Yemen was held in 2016 in Kuwait, which continued for several months in the Gulf country but no constructive results had been reached due to serious differences between the rival parties. Yemen has been locked into a civil war since the Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including capital Sanaa, in 2014. Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that has intervened in the Yemeni war since 2015 to support the Yemeni elected government of exiled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 21:50:43|Editor: zh Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Up to 14 members of Iranian Kurdish opposition were killed Saturday and 39 others wounded in Iranian shelling on two headquarters of Kurdish party in Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, a medical source said. Iranian unmanned plane and artillery pounded in the morning two headquarters of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan near the town of Kwisanjaq, killing 14 people, the source from the town's hospital told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The Iraqi Kurdish regional government condemned in a statement the airstrike and artillery bombardment which targeted headquarters of the Iranian Kurdish opposition parties and killed and wounded a number of people. "The (Iranian) attack is totally unacceptable and leads to destabilization of the Kurdistan region and its stability, so we demand that such action not to be repeated and to respect the laws of the Kurdistan region," the Kurdish statement said. Iranian and Turkish forces frequently attack the military bases of their Kurdish opposition parties in the mountainous area in Kurdistan in north and northeastern Iraq as they accuse the Kurdish opposition of carrying out attacks back in their homes from the Iraqi Kurdish region. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 22:05:46|Editor: zh Video Player Close Abuja, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government Friday warned that 12 states across the country would soon experience flooding due to torrential rain falls. The government, through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the National Hydrological Services Agencies (NHISA), gave the warning on Friday during an emergency stakeholders' meeting in Abuja, the nation's capital. The stakeholders affirmed their preparedness to swing into action in the case of any flood disaster in any part of the country. Clem Nze, a director with NHISA, listed the states to include: Kogi, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Edo, Anambra, Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states, from the River Niger axis. He also listed Taraba, Benue and Adamawa as states to be affected from the River Benue axis. The expert also warned that the flood might be eminent, noting that all the indices that played out before the 2012 flooding had already manifested. He said the decision to raise the alarm was to ensure preparedness among stakeholders and residents of flood-prone communities. Nze revealed that as at Friday, the height of River Niger in Lokoja was at 10.1 meters as against the 9.74 meters in 2012, adding that the river continued to rise on hourly basis. The director said the water levels were increasing due to the opening of the Shiroro, Kanji and Jebba Dams. Earlier, Mustapha Maihaja, NEMA director-general, said the emergency meeting was called following the update on the flood situation received from NHISA and described the development as alarming and urgent. He said the meeting would also review the situation with a view to classifying the possible dangers, assess preparedness at individual and collective levels. Maihaja said this was to ensure that every relevant agency was ready for any eventuality, if the water level keeps increasing. He called on state governments to provide alternative accommodation for those in the flood affected areas so that they do not camp in schools, especially as the schools are now in session. In 2012, catastrophic flooding had affected up to 30 states in Nigeria and resulted in the deaths of over 300 people and displaced more than 2 million people, according to data from the National Emergency Management Agency. NIHSA believes the country is at risk of a recurrence of the disaster if steps are not taken. This comes exactly one week after the agency issued a flood alert for seven states - Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Anambra, Delta, and Bayelsa - on the floodplains of River Niger. The latest development called for watchfulness by states along floodplains of not just River Niger but those of River Benue as well. It called on 12 states to be on alert with Edo, Taraba, Benue, Adamawa, and Rivers states joining the seven states previously put on alert. Meanwhile, heavy rain continues in most parts of Lagos, Nigeria's economci hub, causing floods and traffic disruptions, forcing people to evacuate and businesses centers to close. Traffic in and around the metropolis was chaotic as commuters face difficulties connecting to their various destinations due to the heavy downpour. Some communities in Ikorodu area of the state have been cut off following early morning three-hour downpour which had rendered the road leading to the area impassable. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 22:15:47|Editor: zh Video Player Close GAZA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A 16-year-old Palestinian boy died Saturday of his wounds sustained Friday in the clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, medics said. Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra told reporters that Musbah Abu Tyoor, who had been shot and critically wounded by Israeli soldiers, died Saturday morning. On Friday, another 17-year-old boy was killed during the anti-Israel protests in eastern Gaza. The casualties of the Palestinian protests since March 30 have reached 174 deaths and 19,000 injuries, the spokesman said. Hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated Friday in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, as part of the rallies called the "Great March of Return," which have been organized on the 24th Friday since March 30. Meanwhile, the organizer of the rallies announced to organize a sea demonstration on Monday as part of its activities to end the Israeli blockade on Gaza. So far, the mediation of both Egypt and United Nations has been going too slow and nothing yet has been accomplished. Differences between Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party have also delayed the peace process, as the two disagree on whether to achieve internal reconciliation or to seek cease-fire with Israel first. Hamas leaders in Gaza insist that the popular protests against Israel in the Gaza Strip will go on as a pressure on Israel and the mediators to speed up the cease-fire deal that ends the status of deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 22:30:54|Editor: zh Video Player Close NICOSIA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Cypriot anti-poaching police, in cooperation with environmental organizations, have started an early campaign against bird trappers ahead of the arrival of millions of migratory birds, BirdLife Cyprus said in an emailed message on Saturday. BirdLife Cyprus said that the anti-poaching campaign is carried out on the south coast of the eastern Mediterranean island that is in the way of the migration route of the birds. The bird trapping season started at the end of August when the first birds made their appearance on the shores of Cyprus. The message said that the police force has already had its first success in the campaign, arresting a man in possession of mist net paraphernalia used to trap birds. A court case has been opened against him on charges of possessing the means for poaching, which included equipment transmitting bird singing intended to lure birds to the mist nets. He faces a possible fine of several thousand euros. Police Superintendent Andreas Pitsillides said the early arrest has sent out the message that the police are out there, and bird trapping "will absolutely not be tolerated". He said a large part of the success in fighting bird trapping comes from the use of drones and covert cameras which beam pictures of perpetrators in the act. Pitsillides added the authorities will build on the success of last year, when kilometers of mist nets were confiscated, and will continue to work towards fully eradicating this crime. Bird trapping has become a big issue for Cyprus as the EU state faces huge fines imposed by the European Commission in case of failure to effectively apply legislation banning bird trapping. Despite strong opposition, Cyprus enacted strict legislation providing for big fines or even imprisonment to avoid sanctions by the Commission. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 22:56:00|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Rescue members operate excavators at a site of landslide due to earthquake in the town of Atsuma, Hokkaido prefecture, Japan, on Sept. 7, 2018. (Xinhua/Ma Caoran) TOKYO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A total of 35 people have been confirmed dead, two others in state of cardiopulmonary arrest and three remain missing in the wake of a powerful earthquake that rocked Hokkaido Prefecture in northern Japan days ago, local authorities said on Saturday. According to the local governments, a total of 31 people in the town of Atsuma, one of the hardest-hit areas by the 6.7-magnitude quake, have been confirmed dead, two others in the town were in state of cardiopulmonary arrest, and three were unaccounted for. Meanwhile, four men in the city of Sapporo, the city of Tomakomai, the town of Mukawa, and the town of Shinhidaka, respectively, were also confirmed dead, bringing the death toll to 35. About 640 others across the prefecture have reportedly been injured due to the quake, while rescuers race against time to search for the unaccounted for. At one point after the powerful quake on Thursday which logged the maximum 7 on Japan's seismic intensity scale, some 2.95 million homes in Hokkaido were without electricity as the whole prefecture suffered a power outage. According to Hokkaido Electric Power Co., Inc., as of Saturday night, power supply has almost been fully restored except for a few hundred of households. On the other side, the government and the power company also called for homes and offices already with power to cut usage, with risks that power supply would be unable to meet the peak demand during the weekdays. New Chitose Airport, the main gateway to Hokkaido, has resumed international flights Saturday after it restarted services for domestic flights the previous day, though many passengers were unable to book seats on flights to get out of Hokkaido due to the masses of people waiting to leave. While hundreds of aftershocks have followed since the powerful quake on Thursday, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has warned that earthquakes with a similar magnitude could still occur in the area during the week following the previous quake. As heavy rain is expected to hit some of the quake-hit areas from Sunday, the JMA also warned about possible landslides and other secondary disasters. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 22:56:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close by Peter Mutai NAIROBI, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Cultivation of green grams that has been embraced by farmers in the semi-arid eastern Kenya has proved a game changer thanks to enhanced food security and income for households. The leguminous crop that was introduced two years ago in the vast plains of eastern Kenya has given farmers long used to crop failure, hunger and abject poverty, a new lease of life. "I have made a bumper harvest this year and has paid my own dowry since my jobless husband was unable to do so," Elizabeth Mutuku, a green grams farmer in the southeastern Kenyan county of Makueni, told Xinhua during a recent interview. The mother of four has been growing green grams since 2013 but has never harvested more than one bag of the crop. "I harvested five bags of the crop and sold three bags at one dollar per kilogram that I used in paying for my outstanding dowry payments," said Mutuku. Mutuku said that she used her savings to buy grade cattle and construct a chicken pen. She also purchased learning materials for her school-going children. She has been growing maize over the years and occasionally intercropped with beans and green grams for domestic consumption but has been experiencing low harvests until a program called Feed the Future Kenya Accelerated Value Chain Development (AVCD) was introduced in her locality. The program that is implemented by the International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) as a drought tolerant crop component in a three-year program (2013-2018), has led to the increased production of green grams in the recent past. The 29 years old farmer now plans to lease additional land to her one acre piece of land to enable her to buy grade chicken with the money that she expect to realize during the coming 2019 harvest and also start saving money to care for tuition of her children who are in middle school. "I want to start saving school fees from green gram farming in readiness for my son who will be completing his primary school education next year," said Mutuku. Catherine Mbili has bought a dairy cow, built animal feed store, bought 40 chicken layers and is paying school fees for her two college going children that to green grams farming in the past two years. "The program was introduced to us at a time when I was contemplating dropping farming all together due to perennial losses from maize and millet growing," said Mbili. She stopped growing maize in the late 1990s due to negative impacts of climate change and adopted pigeon peas, cowpeas, millet and green grams. Mbili said that since joining the AVCD program in 2014, she has been realizing good harvest but this year's harvest exceeded the previous years. Joseph Kimeu, a cereals retailer at Kathonzweni market for the past 10 years, this is the first time that few green grams consumers have been purchasing the commodity. "I have been making good profit in the past three years but this year seems the worst ever. I have to wait until October to sell my current stock," said Kimeu. He revealed that he used to sell green grams at between 0.50 U.S. dollars - 0. 70 dollars per kilogram but this year's sale has dropped to 0.40 dollars a kilogram. Kimeu said that due to the fact that the cereal is grown by many farmers since it is the only cash and food crop in the region, farmers require science based management approaches after harvesting season. "The cereal is easily infested by pests if it is not stored well hence the need to improve its storage methods to help save the harvest," said Kimeu. Following the bumper harvest, market forums were convened in Kitui and Makueni counties recently to negotiate on green gram prices, quantity in supply and demand, delivery period as well as propose marketing strategies to stabilize prices and enhance the margins for farmers and other market intermediaries. The meetings that were attended by farmers and leaders agreed that the national government purchase the surplus green gram and sell for school feeding program, food relief, military, police and National Youth Training colleges. Dr. Moses Siambi, ICRISAT's Eastern and Southern Africa Regional and Research Program Director noted that the program that is funded at 4.5 million dollars is aimed at promoting cereals and legumes that are not only climate resilient but are also nutritious and offer an alternative to farmers in the drylands that have very few other options. "We started with 125,000 households who were given seeds with improved agronomic practices, taught post harvest handling and linked with the markets through farmers' groups," Siambi told Xinhua. "The over production this year is not a crisis since Kenya is a net importer of 43,000 tons of green grams from Tanzania in meeting its domestic need that is 143,000 tons every year," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 23:21:06|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LONDON, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A woman was arrested Saturday after a man was allegedly stabbed by her in a town in Britain's South Yorkshire as police investigation is still underway. The incident occurred in the morning as police received reports of an individual in the Barnsley town center with a knife. They arrested a woman whose name was not given. The attacked man suffered minor injuries. South Yorkshire Police said they are investigating whether the incident is isolated and whether the individual acted alone. The incident came amid waves of crimes in the country. Critics blame the rising crime rate on lack of public fund and the government's budget cut. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 23:41:10|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ABUJA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least a dozen people were feared killed and more wounded following an attack by suspected Boko Haram terror group in the town of Gudumbali in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, according to local sources on Saturday. Attackers wearing military uniforms rode into the town on motorcycles on Friday, shooting indiscriminately at residents, said a witness identified as Abubakar. Abubakar said some of the attackers also fired missiles, causing many residents, mostly peasant farmers, to flee their homes. "Some of our people who had only recently returned to Gudumbali have fled again. They may never return home again, despite assurances by the authorities," said Abubakar who has sought refuge in the state capital Maiduguri. Thousands of residents had just returned to Gudumbali, located 209 kilometers north of Maiduguri, in June after a deadly attack that sacked them from the community about three years ago. The attack in Gudumbali on Nov. 18, 2015, was regarded as one of the fiercest attacks by Boko Haram in nearly a decade insurgency in Nigeria's northeast region. A total of 206 Nigerian soldiers were killed in the town following that attack. Until then, the town was a quiet and relatively unknown community even to many people in Borno State. Nigeria's army spokesman Texas Chukwu did not immediately respond to Xinhua's call and text message about Friday's attack, but a military source said the authorities had launched an investigation into the incident. Boko Haram has been trying since 2009 to establish an Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria, in the process killing some 20,000 people and forcing displacement of millions of others. The resilience of the insurgent Boko Haram group in the Lake Chad basin since 2009 posed enormous security, humanitarian and governance challenges, according to the United Nations. Four countries caught up in the insurgency are Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria. The United Nations said the Boko Haram had displaced nearly 2.4 million people in the Lake Chad sub-region. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-08 23:56:16|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Huang Baodong, a Chinese expat in Ethiopia, had worried how he would adjust to a new lifestyle far from his native land when he first arrived in the East African country. But, since he arrived in Ethiopia earlier this year, Huang, one of the estimated 50,000 Chinese people living in Ethiopia, has had little difficulty adjusting to life in the east African country, helped by the fact that he's found his favorite food ingredients in traditional markets in Addis Ababa. Speaking to Xinhua, Huang, a regular customer at a traditional market place in the Bole district of Addis Ababa, said he buys food ingredients from Ethiopian shopkeepers in order to use it to make his own food. "We come to this market to buy some food and materials we need, we can cook Chinese food by ourselves, so there is no problem," he said. With Ethiopian New Year "Enkutatsh" just three days away from being celebrated, Huang is preparing to invite his Ethiopian friends to taste Chinese foods, while his Ethiopian friends have also invited him to their homes to taste a variety of Ethiopian foods. The Ethiopian New Year, or Enkutatash in Amharic language, falls on September 11 (or September 12 during a leap year). The East African nation uses a unique calendar, which counts its year seven to eight years behind the Gregorian calendar. Presently, the country is preparing to celebrate the arrival of 2011 which this year will fall on Tuesday. "Ethiopia people have made us very welcome here, they have invited us to spend the Ethiopian New Year with them, in their spare time they also invite us to weddings, and we feel very good," he said. While Huang and fellow Chinese expats are delighted to find they have food ingredients in Ethiopia needed to cook their native cuisines helping ease their homesickness, for Genet Beyene, an Ethiopian shopkeeper in Bole district of Addis Ababa, the presence of Chinese customers has made her business more profitable. "Our vegetable products are bought by both Ethiopians and Chinese, but most of the time our customers are Chinese," Beyene told Xinhua, emphasizing the importance of Chinese customers to her business. However, Beyene's interaction with her Chinese customers hasn't been limited to commercial transaction, with her and other Ethiopian shopkeepers in the area now able to speak basic Chinese for daily communication. "I speak basic Chinese to interact with my Chinese customers, but I also have witnessed many Chinese customers are now able to speak our native language Amharic while some others communicate in English," she said. With the number of Chinese customers and their needs fast expanding, Beyene is already looking to diversify her vegetable products to expand her customer base. "There are various vegetable types that I have seen with Chinese in Ethiopia, if I can get hold of these vegetables my business will become even more vibrant," she told Xinhua. Another Ethiopian shopkeeper whose business has boomed with the influx of Chinese expats is Hewan Abebe, a meat seller. "I sell chicken fingers, chicken legs, chicken wings as well as whole chickens, I also sell pork meat and various fish types," explained Abebe. Abebe also said the increasing number of Chinese customers she's seeing for her meat business has given her the confidence to plan for the expansion of both the size and variety of meat products she currently sells. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 00:06:21|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Up to 14 members of Iranian Kurdish opposition were killed Saturday and 39 others wounded in Iranian shelling on two headquarters of Kurdish parties in Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, Kurdish sources said. Iranian unmanned plane and rockets bombed the camp, during a meeting of the Kurdistan Democratic Party-Iran (KDP-I), near the town of Kwisanjaq, some 30 km west of the borderline with neighboring Iran, a local Kurdish security source told Xinhua. The Iranian rockets also attacked the camp of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), targeting their political bureau, training center, and fighters' housing area in Kwisanjaq, the source said on condition of anonymity. Meanwhile, a medical source from the town's hospital anonymously told Xinhua that the Iranian bombardments took place in the morning and killed a total of 14 people and wounded 39 others, ten of them were in critical conditions. The Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) condemned in a statement the bombardment which targeted headquarters of the Iranian Kurdish opposition parties and killed and wounded a number of people. The KRG statement reiterated the region's policy to reject the use of Iraq's Kurdistan territory to launch attacks on neighboring countries. "Therefore, we demand that such (Iranian) action not to be repeated and to respect the laws of the Kurdistan region," the Kurdish statement said. Iranian and Turkish forces frequently attack the military bases of their Kurdish opposition parties in the mountainous area in Kurdistan in north and northeastern Iraq as they accuse the Kurdish opposition of carrying out attacks back in their homes from the Iraqi Kurdish region. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 00:06:24|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met here Saturday with Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and regional issues, especially the peace process in Afghanistan. Wang said that the Pakistani military is the protector of the China-Pakistan friendship, and the bilateral military relations are an important part of the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries and a symbol of their high political mutual trust. The Chinese state councilor told Bajwa that his visit aims at a comprehensive contact with the new Pakistani government so as to push the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two sides to a new stage and build a closer China-Pakistan Community of Shared Future. The Pakistani military has made great efforts to ensure the security of CPEC which is a key to Pakistan's long-term development, said Wang, adding that he believes the Pakistani military will continue to improve relevant security work for the construction of CPEC and China-Pakistan cooperation. Meanwhile, Wang said the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have started to improve, hoping that the two sides will keep engaging in dialogues and accumulating mutual trust. China is willing to utilize the trilateral foreign minister dialogue among China, Pakistan and Afghanistan to continuously play a constructive role in improving the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, Wang said. For his part, the Pakistani army chief said that the new Pakistani government is devoted to lifting the Pakistan-China all-weather strategic cooperative partnership to a new high and the Pakistani military fully supports the development of the bilateral friendship and will keep adopting effective measures to guarantee the smooth development of CPEC. Bajwa also said that the Pakistani side commits to the anti-terrorism cause and will continue to firmly fight against the East Turkistan Islamic Movement. The army chief expressed his appreciation over China's efforts on mediation for the improvement of relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan, saying Pakistan is devoted to improving its relations with Afghanistan and is willing to make more efforts on the reconciliation in Afghanistan. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 00:16:28|Editor: huaxia Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least four Somali soldiers were killed and four others injured Saturday in an al-Shabab attack at a checkpoint in southwestern region of Bay in Somalia, officials said. A military commander who requested not to be identified told Xinhua the attack happened in the early hours of Saturday in Makuda village on the outskirts of Baidoa in Bay region. "They (al-Shabab) attacked our forces and we responded in a heavy gun battle. We lost four soldiers during the fighting while four others were injured but we inflicted heavy casualties on them," the military official said. Residents said there were huge blasts in early morning followed by gun fire in the area. "We could hear heavy exchange of fire and blasts coming from the side of Makuda," Guled Abdullahi, a resident, said. "People said al-Shabab had attacked a check point manned by government forces. The militant group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack saying it killed five soldiers and seized weapons. The group still controls large swathes of territory in the Bay and Bakol regions. Meanwhile, unidentified warplanes conducted airstrikes in southern town of Jilib on Saturday in the latest strikes targeting senior al-Shabab commanders in the Horn of Africa nation. Local residents reported hearing heavy assaults targeting members of the terror group near Jilib town, in Middle Jubba region. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 00:21:28|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ISTANBUL, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Since Turkey is concerned about an impending Syrian offensive to retake the rebel-held province of Idlib that would cause a fresh wave of migrants toward its border, analysts are suggesting the re-establishment of dialogue with Damascus in a bid to minimize the threat and persuade rebels to lay down arms. The first thing Ankara should do to eliminate the threats from Syria, including the worst scenarios caused by an Idlib operation, is to talk with Damascus, argued Cahit Armagan Dilek, a former staff officer with the Turkish military. The Syrian army, backed by the Russian air force and Iran-linked militia, is preparing to launch an all-out offensive to wipe out the rebels from their last major stronghold in Idlib, where some 2.5 million people are living, including around 50,000 armed rebels. Despite efforts of Russia and Iran, both staunch supporters of Damascus in the long-running war, to politically settle the Syrian conflict, Turkey has refused to have any official contact with the Syrian government which it sees as illegitimate. Syrian and Russian jets as well as Syrian artillery have for several times pounded certain rebel-held areas in Idlib during the week. Ankara said it expressed its discontent about the strikes to Moscow ahead of a trilateral summit on Idlib between Turkish, Russian and Iranian leaders in Tehran on Friday. Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are partners in the Astana process aimed at ending clashes and setting the stage for a political settlement in Syria. In the view of Dilek, the issue would be more easily coped with if Turkey could persuade what it calls moderate rebels in Idlib to hand over the areas under their control to the Syrian army. Not only that the al-Qaida-linked radical groups would be contained in this way, but also that the clashes would be prevented from spreading all over the province, said Dilek, who currently heads the Ankara-based 21st Century Turkey Institute. "This would considerably decrease the risk of a refugee influx toward Turkey," he added. The al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham alliance controls much of the Idlib province, while Ankara-backed rebels hold the rest of the territory. Turkey is concerned that a full-scale attack on Idlib would expose it to a major security risk by forcing millions of refugees toward its border. In addition, many fear that rebels disguised as civilians may also attempt to infiltrate into the country. Turkey cannot afford to accommodate yet another 3.5 million refugees, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the Tehran summit. When Ankara starts talking with the Syrian government, it could more easily persuade the moderate groups to lay down arms, observed Hasan Koni, an analyst on international relations. "Because it can then convincingly tell the rebels, given that it would be talking with Damascus, that it can ensure their inclusion in the political process," he said. The Tehran summit revealed that Ankara did not agree on Idlib to be taken over by the Syrian army, while Erdogan's call for a cease-fire in the province was not accepted by Russia or Iran. Erdogan warned that strikes on Idlib would collapse the ongoing Astana political process. "It's vitally important that Idlib's current status be maintained," he cautioned. Under a deal concluded last year among Ankara, Moscow and Tehran in Kazakhstan's Astana, Idlib is one of the four areas designated as de-escalation zones, and the Turkish military has established there a total of 12 observation posts herein. Koni, who teaches at Istanbul Kultur University, does not expect Ankara to switch sides due to disagreement on Idlib with its Astana partners, arguing that such a move would lead to troubled ties with Moscow and some other Asian powers. Recalling damaged ties between Ankara and Moscow after Turkey shot down a Russian jet in 2015, Koni said, "if Ankara once again hurts Moscow, then it would find itself in a very difficult position as it could no longer exploit Russia as a balancing element against the U.S. in the future." Until the summer of 2016 when Ankara started to mend ties with Moscow, Turkey supported, together with the United States, the rebels who fought to topple the Syrian government. For Dilek, it is highly probable that Turkey would again partner with Washington in the Syrian theater. "At the end of the day, Turkey will side with the U.S. due to its backstage engagements and its tendency to favor the U.S. game plan over Syria," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 00:46:32|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ADDIS ABABA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC), Moussa Faki Mahamat, on Saturday welcomed recent positive developments in the Horn of Africa amid improved relations among countries in the region. The continental body chairperson's positive remarks regarding the Horn of Africa region followed optimistic agreements as well as discussions that involved various countries in the region. Amid the easing of tensions in the region, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Wednesday signed a trilateral agreement that aimed at strengthening ties among the three countries. Ethiopia also on Thursday reopened its embassy in the Eritrean capital Asmara as the two long-time rivals embark on strengthening ties. The reopening of Ethiopia's embassy in Asmara, which followed the reopening of Eritrea's embassy in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa on July 16, is the latest of the positive developments as relations between the two African countries deepen over the past few months. The AU said on Saturday that the chairperson is "encouraged by the recent positive developments in the Horn of Africa, in particular the improvement of relations between countries of the region." Faki "commends the leaders of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia for their steadfast efforts and commitment to the higher interests of their people and the region as a whole," the pan African bloc said in a statement. Faki further reiterated that the steps taken are a major milestone in Africa's endeavor to silence the guns by 2020 and promote deeper regional and continental integration, in line with Agenda 2063. "These regionally-led efforts are also a clear demonstration of the value and effectiveness of the search for African solutions to African problems," the statement quoted Faki as saying. The chairperson also urged other parts of the continent where active conflict and crisis situations are witnessed to follow the footstep s of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia. The ongoing positive developments involving the various Horn of African countries started with moves to normalize relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the region's longtime arch rivals. After 20 years of hostility, Ethiopia and Eritrea resumed diplomatic relations recently. On July 8, Ethiopia's PM Ahmed made a landmark visit to the Red Sea nation and a week after, Eritrea's Afwerki paid a courtesy visit to Ethiopia. Recent positive developments are considered as a new beginning since the two countries fought a bloody two-year border war in 1998-2000 that killed an estimated 70,000 people from both sides. The war was ended by a December 2000 Algiers peace agreement, but it left the two countries in a state of bitter armed standoff. Amid the easing tensions, telecom services between the two countries have resumed, and agreements were made to strengthen economic ties. The two countries' flag carriers, Ethiopian Airlines and Eritrean Airlines, have also started flights to Asmara and Addis Ababa respectively. Leaders of the two countries, in another bid to augment their growing ties, had also agreed to increase the movement and amount of bilateral trade through Eritrea's port city of Assab to Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 01:06:33|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close SKOPJE, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on Macedonian citizens to participate in the name referendum on Sept. 30 to decide for their future and the future of the country, as her political message conveyed during her official visit in Macedonia on Saturday. During the press conference with Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Merkel emphasized that the people on Sept. 30 have the chance, the same as 27 years ago (when they voted for their independence), to vote whether they want to be part of European Union (EU) and NATO family, which requires at the same time to accept the agreement with Greece. In his speech, Zaev expressed satisfaction on German support for Macedonia to the strategic goals to join EU and NATO, and mentioned that 2018 marked the 25th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral relations between the two countries. "This visit is yet another encouragement that the great powers back the two countries to implement the Prespa Agreement and a confirmation that it guarantees Macedonia's future and our place in the EU and NATO," said Zaev. The agreement on the name settlement and the strategic partnership between the country and Greece was signed in June in Greece's Prespa region. It requires the approval in a referendum. Merkel and Zaev also discussed on the economic cooperation between the two countries. According to Zaev, Germany is the number one trade partner of Macedonia, and trade exchanges are estimated at over 3.6 billion U.S. dollars. On her side, Merkel called the two countries' relations as intensive, friendly and successful. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 01:16:35|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close by Burak Akinci ANKARA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The tripartite summit in Tehran has offered no clear answers to the fate of the last rebel-held area of Syria's northwestern Idlib province while Turkey warned of a "bloodbath" and a new large-scale influx of refugees in case of a looming Russian-backed Syrian offensive. Speaking at the summit on Friday with his Iranian and Russian counterparts Hassan Rouhani and Vladimir Putin -- both major allies of the Syrian government -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed that an attack on Idlib would result in a massacre and a disaster, proposing a cease-fire, fearing the destabilization of areas his country now hold in Syria. "If we can ensure a cease-fire here, this will be one of the most important steps of the summit, it will seriously put civilians at ease," he said. "We need to find a rational solution in Idlib that will address everyone's concerns." Idlib is designated as a de-escalation zone by Turkey, Russia and Iran, and Turkish armed forces have so far built 12 observation posts in the region as part of the Astana deal that was brokered by the three countries. The majority of Idlib is held by former Syrian affiliates of Al-Qaida and extremists militants groups. "A decision on Idlib will shape the region and you must appreciate our position as we begin to help our Syrian brothers," Erdogan said. Russian President Putin, who favors a muscular approach, said that he was against a cease-fire because the Nusra Front and Islamic State (IS) fighters located there were not part of the peace talks. Putin said the Syrian government should regain control over all of its territory. Turkey has held some intensive diplomatic dialogue on this crucial question in recent weeks with western and regional allies and the conclusions of the Tehran summit show that these efforts have neither succeeded nor failed, said analysts. All three participants countries to the summit are facing separately increasing U.S. pressure and sanctions, and their meeting highlighted the stark differences among them on the seven-year-old Syrian war. "The Idlib question was doomed to explode one day or another," Togrul Ismayil, a professor in Kahramanmaras University told Xinhua. Ismayil argued that a large-scale offensive in Idlib would be "very risky for Russia as it can alienate Turkey" and also ostracize Moscow from western power seven more, who have warned of catastrophic results of a massive offensive. But Ismayil also underlined that some targets, considered as terrorists, will be hit eventually by the Russian-backed Syrian regime in order to show that they have the upper hand in the war. "These three countries have never reached a strategic point of view on the Syrian war as they have contradicted opinions," said this expert underlining that each of the three nations has their own interests in the conflict. For Oytun Orhan, a specialist on the Middle East and the Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM), the Idlib issue has put the Astana participants to the test but that Turkey's concerns have been taken into account. "There is still uncertainty regarding Idlib but at least the trilateral Astana cooperation is alive," he said, adding that the prospect of a large-scale ground offensive in the province seems to be averted. "Russia will want in the near term to get rid of pockets of extremists near its bases in Syria with air raids, but the path for more diplomatic dialogue is still open," said the scholar, adding that Ankara for its part will most likely insist on separation of radical groups from moderate ones in Idlib. Fighting seems looming in Idlib, where around 3.5 million civilians are living in opposition-held territory with no clear route of escape if fighting escalates. Regime troops shelled rebel positions on Wednesday, a day after Russian warplanes ended weeks of calm with a barrage of airstrikes. Turkey is worried that an attack on Idlib will trigger a mass exodus of refugees fleeing towards the Turkish border. Turkey already shelters 3.5 million Syrians. "Around 3.5 million people live there. It is again Turkey where those people will flee in case of a disaster," Erdogan told Turkish journalists before the summit. Metin Corabatir, a local expert on refugee issues, told Xinhua that this scenario will be "a disaster" as Turkey is already saturated with its massive refugee community, the world's largest one. Corabatir, the president of the Ankara-based Research Center on Asylum and Migration, also insisted that Ankara should continue to negotiate with its international partners over the humanitarian situation and explain them that the burden of a potential refugee influx should be shared. Russia has so far made no commitment not to launch an all-out attack but has also pointed to the Tehran summit. Syrian regime and Russian jets have been striking Idlib but an all-out assault has not yet begun. Conquering Idlib would be a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on his quest to take back all of Syria's territory and crush the rebellion which broke out against him in 2011. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 01:26:37|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CAIRO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian-U.S. joint military exercise known as "the Bright Star" kicked off on Saturday at a military base in Egypt's seaside province of Alexandria, the Egyptian state TV reported. Scheduled to be held from Sept. 8 to 20, the military manoeuvres include land, naval and air forces from Egypt, the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Greece, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, in addition to other 16 states that participate as observers. "The Bright Star exercises contribute to enhancing strategic and security relations between the United States and Egypt," said the Egyptian military spokesperson in a former statement on Thursday, while announcing the continuous arrival of participant forces. The massive drills were launched in 1981 and held biannually until 2009, after which they were suspended due to the ouster of former Egyptian Presidents Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Morsi in 2011 and 2013 respectively, in addition to the dissatisfaction of former U.S. President Barack Obama's administration with the Egyptian new leadership. The Bright Star maneuvers were resumed in 2017 after eight years of suspension, under Obama's successor Donald Trump who repeatedly exchanged remarks of praise and support with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi. Cairo receives annually 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in military and economic aid from Washington since Egypt signed the 1979 U.S.-sponsored peace treaty with Israel. Part of the aid, about 300 million dollars, was suspended last year by Washington over human rights concerns in Egypt, but Trump's administration released in late July 195 million of them. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 01:51:41|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LUANDA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Angolan President Joao Lourenco was elected Saturday president of the ruling MPLA with 98.58 percent of the votes. The results of the election held during the party's sixth extraordinary congress corresponded to 2,309 votes in favor and 27 against, MPLA electoral commission announced. The party electoral commission declared the elections held by secret ballot as free, transparent and fair. The MPLA has been in power in the southern African country since 1975. Joao Lourenco who has been vice president of the party, replaces Jose Eduardo dos Santos who held the chairmanship of the party for 39 years. The outgoing MPLA president stressed in his farewell speech that he leaves the presidency of the party with the "conviction of having fulfilled" his role and "ready to pass the testimony of the party leadership to its next president." Dos Santos assumed that he committed mistakes during his Angola's 40-year rule as president of the country stressing that "there is, of course, no human activity free of mistakes". Lourenco, in office since Sept. 26, 2017 as Angolan president, inherited a nation marked by ingrained corruption in all sectors of society and a devastated economy aggravated by the fall of the crude oil price in the international market since 2014. This is considered as an historic moment in the ruling MPLA as for the first time the party's presidency is transferred from an alive president to another. Jose Eduardo dos Santos took over after the death of the first MPLA and the country's president, Antonio Agostinho Neto who died in September 1979. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 01:56:42|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Photo taken on Aug. 21, 2018 shows a view of the workshop building of the Fuyao Glass America (FGA) facility in Moraine of Dayton in Ohio, the United States. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) by Xinhua writers Xu Jing, Chang Yuan, Wang Ying CHICAGO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Twenty-three-year-old Jason Harbut used to work at another factory. Unsatisfied about the long work hours, he quit the job and joined Fuyao Glass America (FGA) facility located in Moraine, Dayton of Ohio, in February 2016. Starting as an hourly worker, Harbut followed Charles, a Chinese training teacher, to learn how to apply rings to auto front glass of different models. More than two years later, Harbut is now a chief in charge of an ARG (aftermarket auto glass) preassembly lamination line. Talking of his advance from an hourly worker to a chief, Harbut told Xinhua: "When we learned it, we all just try to compete against each other. So we worked and I just worked on our speed and that's how I ended up catching against fastened." In FGA Moraine facility's Ring Room, whenever an auto front glass of a specific specification came out on the preassembly Lamination line, Harbut would expertly select a matching rubber ring, apply it to the glass edge and then carry the finished piece of glass to another production line. The whole process took only 13 seconds. Harbut is not the only one who earned his promotion in FGA through hard work. 47-year-old Darren Noble joined FGA Moraine facility as an unloader in January of 2016. In about two years, he was promoted to be ARG Assembly Department Manager. Noble still remembered his Chinese supervisor's words: If you are willing to work hard and do the job, if you're ambitious, if you want to go far, Fuyao has almost endless opportunities. "I took him at his word. I decided to do exactly what he said." Noble told Xinhua that he was just one of the many people that have demonstrated a good work ethic, a positive attitude, a willingness to continually learn, never stop learning, never stopped growing at Fuyao. "Those people are succeeding here because that's the culture from the chairman all the way down. There's this constant support for learning and growth and reward of good performance. It's a very, very supportive culture for growth and learning." In 2014, Fuyao bought a former General Motors (GM) facility that was closed in the 2008 Financial Crisis in Moraine, Dayton, for 15 million dollars, and turned it into a two-million-square-feet glass manufacturing plant. The plant started operation in 2015, and now employs more than 2,100 workers. It is the third largest manufacturer and one of the top employers in the Greater Dayton region. And the plant is still expanding as orders keep pouring in, with the number of employees expected to increase in near future. Being a local resident in Dayton, 48-year-old James Reid used to work in the GM facility. He joined FGA in January 2015. Talking of the differences of his work in GM and in FGA, Reid said: "A lot of skilled trades are involved in this one." "We've given a lot of opportunities. People can move up and learn their skill, improve in a different environment." Reid used to be a production associate on an assembly production line in GM. "I started out same position on the line in FGA, and then moved up to team leader and then I'm a supervisor, assistant manager and manager." Reid is now FGA Moraine facility lamination manager for the Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) windshield line, overseeing about 200 people that make windshields. "(This is) my favorite job I've ever had here. I really, really enjoyed it," Reid said. Reid told Xinhua that he was on FGA Moraine facility's first employment list, and has witnessed the plant's whole evolution from "an open factory that is dark, dirty and had not an equipment in it all the way to what we have now: a state of the art, clean, well-lit factory." Fuyao is the largest single auto glass manufacturer in the world. It has invested about one billion dollars in the United States, and FGA is a flagship plant in its overseas strategy, FGA President Jeff Liu told Xinhua. "Fuyao's business in U.S. is growing steadily." Liu estimates that the sales revenue of the company will reach 460 million dollars, and the profit 20 million to 26 million dollars this year. "We still have a huge market space," he said. Liu believed that all people in a company form an interactive chain: the management understands and addresses the need of workers; the workers manufacture the best products to meet customers' needs; the customers place orders for the best products; and the company makes profit to take care of the welfare of the workers. "We are a whole team." It is a common practice in FGA for the management to go into the grassroots once a month, informing workers of the company's plan in the next step and addressing workers' problems. FGA is actively merging into the local communities. It has established the FGA Hardship Fund to help workers in need. Meanwhile, with assistance of Heren Charitable Foundation launched by Fuyao Chairman Cao Dewang in 2017, FGA has actively participated in community activities, interacted with local residents, and donated to local hospital, public service, public school and local disaster relief organizations. "We want local residents know what kind of company FGA is," Liu said. "We are not only a Chinese company, but also an international company, which is deeply rooted in local community." "Respect and trust are earned," Liu said. When one is respected and trusted, fosters gratefulness to everything around, and knows how to compromise, he will be successful. Local workers' commitment to FGA echoed Liu's words. "I was ready to commit myself for the last 25 years of my working career to FGA," said Noble. "What the satisfaction for me is creating something. So even almost three years into this thing, we're still developing, we're still growing." "It is teamwork that makes my success possible. Without the support and encouragement from the Chinese Team, I would not be in this position. Without the support of the American Team, we would not be growing, as we are," he added. "Seeing how we're growing and knowing that the potential is limitless. That's very satisfying," Noble reiterated. On an assembly line, a veteran worker is showing eight local residents surrounding him how to install accessories to a piece of auto front glass. They are ready to seek growth opportunities here. (Xinhua staff Miao Zhuang, Yang Shilong and Li Feihu also contributed to the story) File photo: An Egyptian warships fires a missile during a military drill in the Mediterranean sea off the coast of Alexandria, Egypt on Oct. 21, 2012. (AP Photo) CAIRO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian-U.S. joint military exercise known as "the Bright Star" kicked off on Saturday at a military base in Egypt's seaside province of Alexandria, the Egyptian state TV reported. Scheduled to be held from Sept. 8 to 20, the military manoeuvres include land, naval and air forces from Egypt, the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Greece, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, in addition to other 16 states that participate as observers. "The Bright Star exercises contribute to enhancing strategic and security relations between the United States and Egypt," said the Egyptian military spokesperson in a former statement on Thursday, while announcing the continuous arrival of participant forces. The massive drills were launched in 1981 and held biannually until 2009, after which they were suspended due to the ouster of former Egyptian Presidents Hosni Mubarak and Mohamed Morsi in 2011 and 2013 respectively, in addition to the dissatisfaction of former U.S. President Barack Obama's administration with the Egyptian new leadership. The Bright Star maneuvers were resumed in 2017 after eight years of suspension, under Obama's successor Donald Trump who repeatedly exchanged remarks of praise and support with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi. Cairo receives annually 1.5 billion U.S. dollars in military and economic aid from Washington since Egypt signed the 1979 U.S.-sponsored peace treaty with Israel. Part of the aid, about 300 million dollars, was suspended last year by Washington over human rights concerns in Egypt, but Trump's administration released in late July 195 million of them. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 02:16:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close CHICAGO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural commodities closed mixed over the trading week which ended Sept. 7, with wheat futures plunging over 6 percent as export prospects for U.S. supplies remained dim despite crop shortfalls in key production areas of the Black Sea region. The most active corn contract for December delivery rose 2 cents weekly, or 0.55 percent, to 3.67 dollars per bushel. December wheat delivery dropped 34.25 cents, or 6.28 percent, to 5.1125 dollars per bushel. November soybeans went up 0.5 cent, or 0.59 percent, to 8.44 dollars. CBOT corn futures ended steady and did little ahead of U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)'s important September data release. There's an expanding body of evidence indicating a cut to U.S. corn yield is needed. Extreme summer heat is producing disappointing yields in southern half of the U.S. Midwest. Argentine FOB corn prices have fallen in tandem with weakness in Argentine peso. Argentine corn is the world's cheapest feed grain today. But another rise in freight prices in Brazil, and very expensive corn in the Black Sea keeps record U.S. export potential intact. Wheat futures fell to new 7-week lows on Friday. U.S. and European markets have been forced to follow Black Sea cash prices lower. Russian Agriculture Minister comments suggesting no limits on exports was needed, which weighed on world values. Russia and Ukraine have exported 40 percent more wheat than last year's record in July and August. The export pace is torrid. But many traders in Russia believe that the government will move to impose wheat export restrictions in October or November. Soybeans quietly traded back and forth through the holiday shortened week and firmed at Friday's close. Market news was limited, which lead to one of the narrowest trading weeks in months. Cash markets remain depressed while the CBOT spreads encourage producers to store the upcoming harvest. The USDA will release the September Crop Report on Wednesday. Traders are looking for a U.S. soybean yield of 52-53 bushels per acre, a record September estimate. Chinese President Xi Jinping (C, back) meets the press together with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (L, back) and Senegalese President Macky Sall, former and new African co-chair of the Forum on China-AfricaCooperation (FOCAC), after the conclusion of the 2018 FOCAC Beijing Summit at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on Sept. 4, 2018. (Xinhua/Liu Weibing) BRUSSELS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The defining feature of China-Africa cooperation is sincerity and equality. China and Africa are closely bound by their similar historical experience, common aspirations for the future, and shared commitment to make progress together, Zhang Ming, head of the mission of the People's Republic of China to the EU, said Sunday. In a signed article published on local media The European Sting, Zhang recalled the just concluded Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held in Beijing, China earlier this week. He said China will launch, in close collaboration with African partners, eight major initiatives in the coming three years, and to make sure that these initiatives are well implemented on the ground, China will extend 60 billion U.S. dollars of financing to Africa in the form of government assistance as well as investment and financing by financial institutions and companies. "China sincerely hopes that Africa could achieve greater prosperity and that its people lead a better life. China always bears in mind Africa's concerns and priorities, and works constantly to enhance cooperation with Africa as equals, with a view to contributing to the development of this land of great promise," said the ambassador, who also served as Vice Foreign Minister in charge of African affairs from 2013 to 2017. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres recently commended China-Africa cooperation for its exemplary role in South-South cooperation "which makes important contributions to world peace and development with demonstrative significance". China-Africa cooperation has produced notable results. For example, in the past four decades since the Tanzania-Zambia Railway was completed, China has helped built, or is building over 6,200 km of railway in Africa through assistance, investment and financing support. The Mombasa-Nairobi railway in Kenya is a stellar example in this regard. Over the past year since its inauguration, trains running along the line have attained an occupancy rate of over 95 percent. Hailed by local people as the "road to prosperity", the project has lowered cargo transportation cost by 80 percent, and pushed up Kenya's GDP by around 1.5 percent. Official figure shows that it has created nearly 50,000 local jobs and helped train nearly 1,000 transport professionals. Commenting on some skeptical and even accusatory voices in Europe against China-Africa cooperation, Zhang said the best way to address such misunderstanding is to listen to what African people say for themselves, or to personally go to the continent to see what China is exactly doing on the ground. "In the values that it promotes, in the manner that it operates and in the impact that it has on African countries, FOCAC refutes the view that a new colonialism is taking hold in Africa, as our detractors would have us believe," said South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, while addressing the FOCAC. "The relationship between Africa and China is based on equality, mutual respect and a commitment to a shared well-being. Today the Forum (FOCAC) has grown into a powerful engine of cooperation fully aligned with Africa's Agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals," said President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, The Chairperson of the African Union believed that the so-called China "debt trap" is a fabricated concept and an attempt to discourage relations between China and Africa. "We are pleased to see that many countries are revisiting their Africa policy and are increasing their input by leveraging their strength. To African countries, this is indeed a welcome development," said Zhang. "Only when Africa gets better off, can the whole world become a better place. Only when Africa gets stronger, can the whole world become more peaceful, prosperous and stable. This point must resonate well with Europe due to its geographic proximity and traditional links with Africa," he noted in the article. "China has an interest to join forces with the EU to explore more ways of dialogue and cooperation in relation to Africa. Our cooperation with Africa stands to benefit all sides and contribute to Africa's peace and development," he added. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 02:46:52|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, a radio astronomy observatory, is seen on an isolated high desert plateau in New Mexico, the United States, on Sept. 3, 2018. Laying on a remote desert area in southern United States, a radio astronomy observatory attracts researchers and tourists all over the world. Being one of the busiest telescope on earth, it serves as a facility where many important discoveries were made. (Xinhua/Richard Lakin) by Richard Lakin ALBUQUERQUE, the United States, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Laying on a remote desert area in southern United States, a radio astronomers observatory attracts researchers and tourists all over the world. Being one of the busiest telescope on earth, it serves as a facility where many important discoveries were made. The Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (the VLA) is a radio astronomy observatory located on an isolated high desert plateau in western New Mexico state of the United States. Situated on a dry lakebed on the plains of San Agustin at 2,124 meters elevation, it is encircled by mountains, making it an ideal spot to avoid the normal wireless interference from cities. It is extremely dry there, and the lack of humidity in the air also makes for a clearer radio signal. The VLA was named to honor Karl Guthe Jansky, who is considered to be the U.S. father of radio astronomy. Jansky was a physicist and radio engineer employed by Bell Laboratories to determine the source of interference to their overseas wireless communications. In 1933 he surprised the world's astronomers by announcing that one of the sources was extraterrestrial -- radio waves emitting from the gaseous center of the Milky Way galaxy. In the decades since, astronomers and engineers have advanced the science of translating these radio waves into observable images. When the VLA first comes into view on the drive across the desert, the massive size of the array is very awe-inspiring. There are 27 radio dishes, each one 25 meters across and weighing 209 tons. The data from each dish is combined via a supercomputer, creating a singular radio telescope observation. The dishes are arranged in a Y-shaped pattern, and are moved into different configurations on a network of railroad tracks to facilitate specific observation projects. Each of the 3 legs of the configuration contains 9 dishes and can be moved from two-thirds of a mile to 23 miles in length. The configuration changes about every 3 to 4 months to accommodate the research schedule. Featured in the 1997 movie "Contact," where the facility received a radio transmission from an extraterrestrial source, the VLA became a popular tourist destination, with the number of visitors doubling after the movie premiered. Despite its reputation in fictional pop culture, however, the VLA has made many real-world discoveries. More than 200 Ph.D. degrees have been awarded because of research done there. The facility makes observations of many types of astronomical objects; quasars, pulsars, supernova remnants, suns and planets, and black holes. Dr. Chris Carilli, the Chief Scientist for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory told Xinhua: "The Very Large Array is extraordinarily powerful, the most powerful radio telescope in the world, and we perform a tremendously versatile range of science. We study things, everything from the ionosphere, our own earth's ionosphere, right out to the very first galaxies in the universe and everything in between." In 1991, the VLA discovered ice on the planet Mercury. In 2011, astronomers found a black hole a million times bigger than our sun, 30 light years from our planet. The VLA also confirmed Einstein's theory that massive objects could create a gravitational lens that bends light. In 2011, an upgrade project resulted in the VLA expanding its technical capacities by factors of as much as 8,000. "Some of the high-profile work that's come out of the upgraded Very Large Array, include direct imaging of the formation of planets outside of our own solar system. Spectacular work, showing the birth of planetary systems very much like our own solar system," Carilli said. Due to the distance from Earth and the time that radio emissions take to reach our planet, it is possible to study the primordial state of developing galaxies. "If you move to the edge of the universe, the Very Large Array is a major component in telescopes that study the very first galaxies of the universe, galaxies that are forming within a few hundred million years of the Big Bang, meaning 5 percent the age of the universe, so right back to the beginnings of time and the VLA is imaging the cold gas out of which the first stars form," the scientist explained. Modern astronomy techniques use multiple observation facilities to analyze the cosmos with a variety of spectrums and methods, not just a single telescope. Dave Finley, the public information officer for the National Radio Astronomy Observatory said that astronomers want to use every telescope they can to study a particular phenomenon since each telescope gives a difference piece of the overall picture. "We routinely operate by looking at the same thing Hubble is looking at or the Chandra X-Ray Observatory or the Spitzer Infrared Observatory or other ground-based optical observatories and we will be looking at the same thing that these other observatories will be looking at. Each one of us providing a piece of the picture that lets astronomers understand the whole of what is going on," he said. The VLA invites scientists from all over world to submit proposals for radio telescope observation projects. More than 3,000 researchers from around the world have used the VLA for over 11,000 different astronomy projects. It is one of the busiest telescope facility on earth. As Carilli explains: "We are a national laboratory with open access to astronomers from around the world. If you have a good idea and you want to use our large telescopes to perform astronomical research, then you will submit proposals and they will be reviewed and ranked accordingly. If they're good you get observing time." Photo taken on Sept. 8, 2018 shows the wall of a tomb in Giza, Egypt. Egypt inaugurated Saturday an Old Kingdom tomb of a man called Mehu who was a minister during the end of the Sixth Dynasty. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) CAIRO, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Egypt inaugurated Saturday an Old Kingdom tomb of a man called Mehu who was a minister during the end of the Sixth Dynasty. The tomb, located in Giza near Cairo, was opened for the first time since its discovery in 1939 by an Egyptian mission led by Egyptologist Zaki Saad, Mostafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, told Xinhua. A woman takes selfies inside a tomb in Giza, Egypt, on Sept. 8, 2018. Egypt inaugurated Saturday an Old Kingdom tomb of a man called Mehu who was a minister during the end of the Sixth Dynasty. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) A restoration work was carried out before its inauguration, Waziri added. "The tomb is one of the most beautiful in Saqqara Necropolis because it still keeps its vivid colours and distinguished scenes," Waziri said, "among the most strange scenes is the one depicting the marriage of crocodiles with the existence of a turtle." The walls feature scenes of the tomb's owner while hunting in a jungle or fishing. Others scenes showed harvesting, cooking and acrobatic dance, which was not previously shown in Saqqara before the sixth Dynasty. A man takes photos inside a tomb in Giza, Egypt, on Sept. 8, 2018. Egypt inaugurated Saturday an Old Kingdom tomb of a man called Mehu who was a minister during the end of the Sixth Dynasty. (Xinhua/Ahmed Gomaa) "The tomb does not belong to Mehu himself, but for members of his family as well," Waziri pointed out. Mehu lived during the reign of King Pepsi I and held 48 titles inscribed on the walls of his burial chamber. Among the titles are the scrub of the royal documents, the vizier and Head of the Juries. The tomb consists of burial chambers for his son Mery Re Ankh and grandson Hetep Ka II. It also has a long narrow corridor with six chambers. Egypt, one of the most ancient civilizations, has been working hard to preserve its archaeological heritage and discover the secrets of its ancient antiquities in a bid to revive the country's ailing tourism sector. Tourism sector has suffered an acute recession over the past few years due to political turmoil and relevant security issues. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 03:16:57|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DUBLIN, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- A new political party seeking Ireland's exit from the European Union (EU) is being launched in Dublin, reported local media on Saturday. Named Irexit Freedom Party, the party organized a conference here on Saturday afternoon as part of its efforts to seek enough members in order to have it officially registered. According to Irish laws, any political party with no less than 300 members aged 18 or over who are recorded on the Register of Electors can be registered in the country. The new party is set to be launched as the requirement for having it registered as a political party is not something too difficult for its founder Hermann Kelly, a former editor of The Irish Catholic weekly newspaper, who also contributes articles to numerous local media, said local political watchers. The party has already gathered some quite influential figures around it such as the former Irish ambassador to Canada, Ray Bassett, and Professor of Economics from University College Dublin, Ray Kinsella, who are considered to be two strong advocates for Ireland's withdrawal from the EU. According to local media reports, both Ray Basset and Ray Kinsella addressed Saturday's conference, during which Ray Basset said that if Ireland left the EU Customs Union it could maintain frictionless trade with Britain after Brexit while Ray Kinsella argued that leaving the EU would maintain Ireland's neutrality. It is the view of Hermann Kelly that the benefits of Ireland's EU membership are diminishing. There had been a valid argument for Ireland to join the EU in the 1970s because it was "like a cash cow", he said in a recent interview with local media. "But going forward now, Ireland is a net contributor to the EU, we give them 2.7 billion euros (3.1 billion U.S. dollars) per year," he said, adding that Ireland was paying figures like Jean Claude Juncker to write and implement many of our laws, which he said were not helpful. Hermann Kelly is also Director of Communications for the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the European Parliament. Local media reports indicated that while it is easy for Hermann Kelly to garner enough signatures of supporters to have his new party officially registered it may not be the same easy thing for him to find many followers in the foreseeable future as a recent opinion poll showed that 92 percent of Irish people think the country should remain in the EU. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 03:42:03|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of five Somali regional states on Saturday resolved to suspend relations with the central government, citing a lack of political and security progress in the Horn of Africa nation. In a joint statement issued at the end of a two-day meeting in southern port city of Kismayo, the leaders from Jubaland, Puntland, Southwest, Galmudug and Hirshabelle regions also accused the central government of interfering with regional issues, failure to implement security architecture and not fulfilling political agreements. "From the perspective of the key elements of cooperation between the two parties, the Council suspended cooperation between the central government and the states," the leaders said in the statement. The regional presidents criticized the central government for failing in the fight against al-Shabab, saying there was no proper coordination between the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops and national security forces. They also cited lack of tangible progress in the constitutional making process, saying Mogadishu has done little to ensure that the country holds a one-person-one-vote elections in 2020. The presidents' meeting under the Council of Inter-State Cooperation (CIC) added that there lacks a mechanism for sharing national resources between the regional states and the government. The leaders said they will only resume normal ties with Mogadishu until all the agreements reached in the past meetings held in the capital and Baidoa are implemented. The regional presidents: Abdiweli Mohamed Ali Gaas (Puntland), Ahmed Duale Gelle (Galmudug), Mohamed Abdi Ware (Hirshabelle), Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden (South West State) and Sheikh Ahmed Madobe (Jubaland) also decried lack of sharing of foreign aid. There was no immediate response from the central government. Analysts say the resolutions are the latest political setback by the central government which is trying to partner with the international community to stabilize the Horn of Africa nation. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 03:42:04|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close DAMASCUS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- With the development of the anticipated battle to retake the last major rebel stronghold of Idlib province in northwestern Syria, the upcoming military campaign is likely to be limited, not a full-scale one. In previous battles across the country, the rebels were forced to surrender and accept a deal to evacuate to Idlib. Idlib has turned to the main destination for the defeated rebels, including al-Qaida-linked militants, which are the strongest among all other factions. The turn of Idlib came after major victories and there is no place else for the rebels to evacuate to, as the Syrian army captured most of the country. For the Syrian army and its Russian and Iranian allies, now is a golden opportunity to launch an offensive to defeat the rebels who are mostly gathered in Idlib. But it is not an easy task, due to regional and international complications. When the army started sending reinforcement to the frontline areas among the central Hama province, the northwestern province of Latakia and Idlib, the United States, Britain, and France issued a warning. The warning was simply reviving old pretexts to threat with the use of force against the army. The three powers alleged they had information that the Syrian army was planning a chemical attack in the upcoming battle in Idlib and warned that they would respond with force. They had done it before in April when the three powers struck Syrian military positions over the same pretexts, which were slammed by Damascus and its allies as lies to justify foreign strikes. This time, the Syria side and its allies also slammed the Western claims, saying the United States was plotting with the rebels to stage such an attack to justify another foreign attack on the Syrian army. The U.S. administration has repeatedly warned against the battle, saying it would cause a humanitarian catastrophe. The Turkish side, which is engaged with the Iranians and Russians in negotiations for the situation of Idlib, also warned against such operation. A day earlier, the presidents of Turkey, Iran, and Russia met in the Iranian capital Tehran to discuss the situation in Idlib. Despite previous arrangements between the officials of the three countries ahead of the meeting, differences were hard to be missed during the summit that was aired live by the Iranian TVs. While Russia's Vladimir Putin and Iran's Hassan Rouhani were heavily backing a military operation to get rid of the ultra-radical rebels in Idlib once and for all, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to the summit with a proposal. The Turkish president proposed a cease-fire in Idlib, a suggestion that was not approved by the two other leaders. Turkey is now in the eye of the tornado, especially after it had previously failed in persuading al-Qaida-linked militants to dissolve themselves. It is worth noting that the Syrian government has prioritized the "reconciliation" deals in Idlib in tandem with the preparations for the battle. Even now, the battle is expected to target the rebels who reject reconciliation and open the way for others to embrace the government deal, which was implemented in other parts of the country where the rebels laid down their weapons in exchange for an amnesty. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a recent report that the Nusra Front rounded up and killed tens of the advocates of the reconciliation with the government in Idlib. The group has even issued a statement last month, stressing resolve to keep on fighting the Syrian army and to confront the attack on Idlib. Maher Ihsan, a Syrian political analyst, told Xinhua that the battle in Idlib is inevitable. He said the al-Qaida-linked groups will likely refuse to surrender. He noted that Turkey and the Western powers will more likely support a limited operation against the terror-designated groups, but now a full-scale one as Idlib is home to nearly 3 million people. Ihsan also referred to the recent stance by Ankara, when it branded the Nusra as a terror group, "which is a green light that this group should be fought." For his part, the retired Major-General Mohammad Abbas told Xinhua that the Idlib battle will take place and would be a "surgical one." "It would be a partial one, meaning that it would hit certain targets," he said, adding that the Syrian forces have focused on, with artillery and airstrikes, specific targets of the Nusra Front and other radical groups in Idlib. The preliminary targeting weakens the capabilities of the terror-labeled groups and when the army moves to the ground offensive, they will not have the strength to resist, he added. Earlier on Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry was cited by local media outlets in Syria as saying that the rebels are expected to stage the chemical attack in certain areas in Idlib on Saturday evening. But the Russian side seems determined to end the file of Idlib despite the Western threats as it has carried out war games off the Syrian coast after bringing in military fleets. Bashar al-Jaafari, permanent representative of Syria to UN, said on Friday during a UN Security Council session that there are "50,000 terrorists" in Idlib, stressing the Syrian government's determination to capture all Syrian areas. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 03:52:07|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close MANAMA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Bahrain's security agency on Saturday arrested 14 Iranians for illegal entering with forged Asian passports. "They turned out to be Iranians who had bought the passports to enter Bahrain in coordination with Bahrainis of Iranian origin," said director general of the Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science in a statement. The official said the case has been referred to the Public Prosecutor. Bahrain cut all diplomatic ties with Iran in 2016, citing Tehran's interference in domestic affairs. The decision was made one day after Saudi Arabia broke its ties with Iran as demonstrators stormed and set fire to the Saudi Embassy in Tehran. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 03:57:08|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi Ministry of Health said Saturday that 15 people have been killed and 190 others wounded since violent protests against worsening living conditions broke out several days ago. "The casualties come from both demonstrators and security forces," the Health Ministry Spokesman Sayf Bader said in a statement. Bader said that most of the wounded have received treatment and left the hospitals of Basra province. During the week, hundreds of angry demonstrators burned the provincial government buildings, the offices of leading political parties and the headquarters of some Shiite militias in protest of wide-spread corruption, poor public services, unemployment and water contamination in the province. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called for restraint over the deterioration of the security situation in Basra. "The deaths of civilians and the growing number of casualties at the ongoing demonstrations is particularly worrying, as is the use of firearms for restoring public order," ICRC statement said. Basra, the province's capital city which bears the same name, has long witnessed complaints among its over 2 million residents about the collapsing infrastructure, power cuts and corruption. Water supply in the province is also widely criticized for high salinity, with thousands of residents having been hospitalized. The protesters also accused the influential political parties of being behind the wide-spread corruption, which led to high unemployment and failure in rehabilitation of the country's electricity, water and other basic services. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 04:17:12|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed Saturday the visit two days ago by foreign ministers of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia to Djibouti, hailing it as "another important step" in the rapprochement among the countries in the Horn of Africa region. In a statement through his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, Guterres said the agreement reached among the four ministers to work together to restore peace and stability in the region is a positive example for the region and beyond. He reiterated the readiness of the UN to support countries in the region in consolidating the recent "remarkable" gains. As a result of the visit on Thursday, Eritrea and Djibouti agreed to normalize relations after a decade of diplomatic stalemate. The two countries have a border dispute extending back to 2008. The Horn of Africa region has seen a number of diplomatic thaws since Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in June decided to fully accept a 2002 border deal that followed a 1998-2000 war with Eritrea. Restored diplomatic ties quickly followed. Eritrea and Somalia in late July also agreed to restore diplomatic ties. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 04:22:13|Editor: Shi Yinglun Video Player Close Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras delivers a speech at the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) in Thessaloniki, Greece, on Sept. 8, 2018. Greece has emerged stronger from the eight-year debt crisis and focuses on fair growth in the post-bailout era, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Saturday inaugurating the 83rd TIF. (Xinhua/Dimitris Tosidis) ATHENS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Greece has emerged stronger from the eight-year debt crisis and focuses on fair growth in the post-bailout era, Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Saturday inaugurating the 83rd Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF). Addressing the opening ceremony at Greece's largest annual trade fair hosted in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, the Greek Premier outlined his government's economic policy after the country's exit on Aug. 20 this summer from the painful bailout programs which helped the country to avert bankruptcy and stay in the euro zone. "Greece today is a different country, a country which following the clear exit from the memoranda stands on its feet again, relies on its own forces and can look ahead towards the future with confidence," Tsipras said during his speech that was broadcast live on Greece's national broadcaster ERT. Greece has left behind the harsh austerity and steep recession and has returned to growth, the Greek leader said, pointing to latest positive financial indexes regarding unemployment, investments and growth. "Today, I did not come here at this historic 83rd TIF to give handouts. I came to share with you our vision for Greece in the new era dawning," he added. Underlining that Greece has learnt from past mistakes and will not fall back on policies that created deficits, Tsipras said that with the Greek debt load now sustainable, the country can be reconstructed and heal its wounds. The primary goal in the government's strategy from now on is fair growth to the benefit of all, the Greek Premier said. In order to achieve this target he pledged measures to support social cohesion, employment, entrepreneurism and investments via increased public spending and structural reforms. In this context he promised among others the increase of the minimum wage in 2019 and the gradual reduction from next year of real estate property taxes, taxation for enterprises and VAT rates, as well as the level of contributions to social insurance funds. Buoyed by the fiscal outperformance the Greek leader also said that Athens will try to convince lenders this fall that future fiscal goals can still be met without having to further cut pensions next year, as it has been agreed. With the U.S. as the honored country in this year's TIF, Tsipras also expressed hope that the two countries will strengthen their cooperation in the future from trade to culture. The Greek Premier closed his keynote speech defending as step to stability and peace the agreement his government reached this June with Skopje for the renaming of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to Republic of North Macedonia in order to resolve a long-standing dispute between the two neighboring states. Outside the venue where he spoke, thousands of Right-wing protesters staged a rally against the name deal, while members of labor unions, Left parties and anarchists marched against the government's economic policy. Demonstrators clashed briefly with police forces that dispersed the crowd with tear gas. No injuries were reported, according to Greek national news agency AMNA. More than 4,000 police officers had been deployed across Thessaloniki to keep order. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 04:27:13|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths addresses the media in Geneva, Switzerland, Sept. 8, 2018. After two days of delay because of the absence of Houthi delegation, one of the major warring parties to the conflict in Yemen, the new round of the UN-led peace talks collapsed on Saturday. (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan) by Murad Abdu ADEN, Yemen, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The UN-sponsored talks between the Yemeni warring rivals failed Saturday after two days of delay because of the absence of a delegation representing the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Undermining the first attempt in two years to negotiate an end to the four-year civil war raised fears among the majority of Yemeni people about the fate of their impoverished Arab country. The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told a press conference in Geneva that the UN failed to get the Houthi delegation from the capital Sanaa to join the talks with the Saudi-backed Yemeni government team that arrived early in Switzerland. The exhausted Yemeni citizens started their preparations for the worst after their expectations of a permanent peace from Switzerland's Geneva faded away again for the fourth time. "The failure of Geneva talks means that our future will be more difficult," said Amjad Abdullah, a Yemeni citizen, adding that "all the warring factions will engage in fighting instead of peace talks because they don't care about the suffering of ordinary people." "We expected that this year would be the last one with fighting and suffering but unfortunately it turned out that we were wrong because more years of war will come," he said. All the leaders of the warring factions in Yemen are linked to other neighboring powerful countries that provide them with instructions and directions about what to do, according to the observers. "The Yemeni government and the Houthi rebels only keep exchanging accusations and ultimatums because they did not receive instructions from Iran or from Saudi Arabia to engage in peace talks to end the war," Haitham Haidrah, a political activist and observer said. The international community must take necessary measures to bring peace to Yemen by preventing foreign interventions that keep fueling proxy wars in Yemen, said local observers. Fighting heavily erupted hours after the failure of Geneva talks amid expectations that the country will be thrown into more chaos. In the Red Sea coast city of Hodeidah, the pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led coalition continued to make ground advancement during the second day of an offensive launched to capture the city's strategic port from the Iranian-backed Houthis. The country's Foreign Minister Khaled Yamani who leads the government delegation to Geneva accused Houthis of "intending to sabotage the UN-sponsored talks in Geneva by creating obstacles to the UN that was not firm enough with them." The UN envoy to Yemen announced during a press conference he exerted hard efforts and tried by all means to bring the Houthi negotiation team to Geneva but received no response. Griffiths said that that he will fly to Muscat and Sanaa again in the upcoming days in order to meet the Houthi leaders but gave no clue or specific time about next negotiations. The Saudi-backed Yemeni government issued a statement and highly appreciates the efforts of UN envoy, which aimed at implementing the UN Security Council resolutions and restarting the peace talks. The government delegation responded to the UN envoy invitation and showed up on the appointed date and time of the peace consultation in Geneva; whereas the Houthis made up excuses, failed to show up, and created obstacles to the peace process, the statement said. For his part, chief of Yemen's Houthi rebel group, Abdulmalik al-Houthi, on Saturday accused the Saudi-led coalition of hindering Houthi delegation from traveling to UN-sponsored peace talks in Geneva. "The reason behind the failure of the UN-hosted round of consultants was because the aggression coalition has blocked our national delegation from travelling to Geneva," al-Houthi said in a speech aired by the group's al-Masirah television. The last UN-backed peace negotiations for Yemen were held in 2016 in Kuwait, which continued for several months in the Gulf country but no constructive results had been reached due to serious differences between the rival parties. The impoverished Arab country has been locked into a civil war since the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including capital Sanaa, in 2014. The internal military conflict between the Iranian-backed Houthis and the Saudi-backed Yemeni government recently entered its fourth year, aggravating the suffering of Yemenis and deepening the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 05:07:19|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed Saturday Madagascar's designation of an acting president following the president's resignation in compliance with the country's constitution ahead of the election set for November. In a statement through his spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, Guterres welcomed "the designation on 7 September of Mr. Rivo Rakotovao, Speaker of the Malagasy Senate, as acting President of Madagascar, following the resignation of President Hery Rajaonarimampianina in compliance with the country's Constitution and ahead of the 7 November presidential election." The UN chief reiterated the commitment of the UN to continue to support the electoral process leading to a peaceful, credible and inclusive poll. He commended the ongoing close coordination between the UN, through his special adviser Abdoulaye Bathily, and international partners including the African Union and the Southern African Development Community in supporting the Malagasy-led dialogue and reconciliation. In Armenia, killing is still the main method of controlling the number of stray dogs, whereas the civilized world has been sterilizing them for quite some time. Hetq sent a request to town community mayors to get data about how much money was spent in 2015-2017 to kill, sterilize or control the number of stray dogs. The Hrazdan Municipality reported it killed 275 stray dogs in the past four years and received 1.297 million drams in state funding in 2015-2018 to control their numbers. The Etchmiadzin Municipality says it did nothing on the issue in 2015-2017. Armenia lacks a comprehensive animal cruelty law The Pro Paws Animal Welfare Charity UK-RA has made proposals for legislative solutions to the Armenian government. Pro Paws Representative Nare Aramyan told Hetq that there is no systematic solution to the problem of stray animals in Armenia. There is no law regulating how animals should be treated, only a few separate articles in different codes, like the Code of Administrative Offenses. Nare says the issue of stray animals should be regulated by law and state agencies. She believes a government-affiliated body should be formed, involving the Ministries of Health, Emergency Situations, Nature Protection and the Police. "Over the years, we have worked on a legislative bill. Today, all the ministries are ready to cooperate with animal welfare organizations. At the professional level, it will be possible to change both the legislation and its application, and it will be possible to switch to strategic programs. We have provided the initial skeleton of the law where we suggest all the provisions to regulate the relationships with animals, says Nare. Karineh Panosyan manages educational projects in schools, which is one of the programs of Pro Paws. The organization has proposed a school program of animal care, with teaching materials, to the Ministry of Education and Science The goal is to make environmental safety and nature protection classes mandatory at least in elementary schools in Armenia. Dingo Team - first aid and rehab center A few weeks ago, Dingo Team NGO representatives left for Chambarak village in Gegharkunik Province, following an emergency call that a village resident had tied his two dogs to a car and dragged them through the village. One of the guides accompanying tourists in the village videotaped the scene and sent it to the NGO. The villager was fined 230,000 drams - 200,000 drams for driving without license plates and 30,000 drams for cruelty towards dogs. During its ten years of operation, Dingo Team NGO has taken care of, treated and helped to adopt a minimum of 2,500 dogs. Upon receiving alerts about wounded dogs, NGO staffers respond and take care of the animals until someone adopts them. There are animals that have been taken care of for four years at the organization's rehab center. The founder of the organization, Ovsanna Hovsepyan, says that some of the dogs living in the rehabilitation center have been run over, while others have become victims of human cruelty. "Our rehab center has 80 spots for dogs in need of emergency treatment. People apply to us when there is a wounded animal that needs medical care. After the treatment, the animal gets sterilized and goes to the dwelling. After the final recovery, they are sent back to the courtyard where they were picked up. If they dont have a place to live, they stay here until somebody adopts them, says Ovsanna. She says past governments did nothing to solve the issue. For years, rumors talked about 46,000 stray dogs in Yerevan. Hovsepyan says its only 3-5,000 and that the number was exaggerated to make more money on sterilization. "We are now working on legislative regulations. The current planned fines are quite low. Together with MP Lena Nazaryan, we are now drafting an article that covers all aspects of the issue, from who can breed dogs to punishment for cruel treatment and including criminal penalties and fines. In December, the draft law will be submitted to the National Assembly, Ovsanna says. Elen Papyan, head of the Dingo Team's adoption unit concludes on a positive note, saying more and more stray dogs are adopted every year in Armenia. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 05:22:22|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close SANAA, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chief of Yemen's Houthi rebel group Abdulmalik al-Houthi on Saturday accused the Saudi-led coalition of hindering them from traveling to the peace talks in Geneva. "The aggressive coalition has blocked our delegation from travelling to Geneva," al-Houthi said in a speech aired by the group's al-Masirah television. "In the previous talks (in Kuwait in 2016), the United Nations (UN) demanded us to waive any compensation if the delegation plane was targeted during their return to Sanaa... so this time we asked a guarantee for our delegation to return safely," he said. "Our delegation was not able to return safely at that time only through the exchange of U.S. spies we had arrested in our country," al-Houthi said, adding that the coalition turned down their request for transferring injured Houthis. The UN-sponsored talks between the two warring rivals were scheduled to start on Thursday but the Houthi leaders decided to set new conditions before talks, including flying some of their seriously injured members to neighboring Oman for treatment. "I called on all free Yemenis to go to the front line to defend the country," he said. Earlier in the day, the UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told a press conference in Geneva that the UN finally failed to manage to get the Houthi delegation to the talks. "They (Houthis) would have like to get here, we didn't make conditions sufficiently correct to get them here," Griffiths said, adding that it was "too early to say when next round of consultations will take place." However, he did not detail on why the Houthi delegation fail to show up. On Thursday, the Houthis said the Saudi-led coalition prevented their delegation from flying to Geneva to attend the meeting. On Wednesday, the delegation of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government arrived in Switzerland's Geneva to attend the new round of talks and gave the Houthis 24-hours ultimatum to show up. In 2016, a similar UN-backed peace negotiations between the Yemeni rival parties in Kuwait have failed to achieve peace progress after several months of talks. Yemen has been locked into a civil war since the Houthi rebels overran much of the country militarily and seized all northern provinces, including capital Sanaa, in 2014. Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab military coalition that intervened in Yemen in 2015 to support the government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi after the Houthi rebels forced him into exile. According to the UN, Yemen is now undergoing the world's worst humanitarian crisis, with an estimated eight million of Yemenis remaining precariously close to famine. The war has killed more than 10,000 people, mostly civilians, and displaced three million others. According to a latest statement by the World Food Programme, intensified conflict is worsening the humanitarian situation, particularly in Hodeidah, the key port which is a lifeline for millions in northwestern Yemen. Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-09 06:17:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BAGHDAD, Sept. 8 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations special envoy to Iraq Jan Kubis on Saturday condemned violence and riots in Iraq's southern province of Basra, and urged Iraqi authorities to ensure law and order. In a statement by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Kubis condemned "attacks on government, political parties' and media offices, hospitals, oil installation and the airport, the ransacking of the Iranian consulate and public and private property." He expressed his full support to legitimate demands in peaceful way of the protestors, and calls on the Iraqi government to take all necessary steps to protect diplomatic and consular premises, as well as public and private property. Kubis also calls on the Iraqi government to take all necessary steps to protect diplomatic and consular premises, as well as public and private property. He urged the authorities to investigate the events of the riot, in order to identify those behind the violence and bring them to justice, the statement added. During the past week, hundreds of angry demonstrators burned the Iranian consulate, provincial government buildings, offices of leading political parties and headquarters of some Shiite militias in protest of wide-spread corruption, poor public services, unemployment and water contamination in the province. The Iraqi Ministry of Health said that 15 people have been killed and 190 others wounded since violent protests against worsening living conditions broke out several days ago. Basra, the province's capital city which bears the same name, has long witnessed complaints among its over 2 million residents about the collapsing infrastructure, power cuts and corruption. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Following todays meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated that he hoped that relations between the two countries would be built on their shared interests and on the principle of non-interference in the others domestic affairs. I am convinced that these issues will be resolved and that we will adhere to the principle of respecting the interests and sovereignty of our countries, of not interfering in the domestic affairs of the other, Pashinyan stated according to the Kremlins website. Pashinyan said that despite the pessimistic articles published by the mass media, cooperation between the two countries is developing. I believe that the primary task is to implement the full potential of our cooperation. Of course, our relations are great, but I think we shouldnt limit ourselves to this. In particular, there is great potential in the field of our political and economic collaboration, and also within the scope of our military cooperation, and in strengthening our humanitarian ties, Pashinyan is reported to have said. PRIOR LAKE, Minn. - Paul V. Perkovich, 56, of Prior Lake, formerly of Ironwood, Mich., passed away unexpectedly on Aug. 29, 2018. Paul was born in Milwaukee, Wis., to John and Catherine (Klug) Perkovich. After his graduation from high school he attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo where he received a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. In 1990, he received his master's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Central Florida. He received his Lean Six Sigma Black Belt from Villanova University. He was employed as an engineer with several companies over the years, including PaR Systems, ADC Telecommunication Company, Harris Corporation and Accudyne Corporation. He is survived by his brother, Peter (Barbara) Perkovich; sister, Heidi Klein; and nephew, Adam Perkovich. He was preceded in death by his parents; and nephew, Jan Perkovich. Private services for Paul were held at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Ironwood with Father Robb Jurkovich officiating. Interment is at Riverside Cemetery in Ironwood. McKevitt-Patrick Funeral Home of Ironwood is assisting the family with arrangements. For more information and to express condolences, visit mckevittpatrickfuneralhome.com. 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... At Capogiro, Tom Pittakas (left) joins as director of operations and David Katz joins as culinary director. Stephanie Reitano founded the company in 2002. Read more Capogiro, the Philadelphia-based gelato chain, has hired two restaurant-industry veterans as it begins a push to become, at once, a leaner operation and well as a larger company. Stephanie Reitano, who founded the company in 2002 with her husband, John, a psychiatrist, said she has brought in chef David Katz as culinary director and Tom Pittakas as director of operations two new roles in the company. She acknowledged business challenges over the last several years, including a fire next to Capofitto the Italian restaurant and gelateria in Old City that shut down traffic on Chestnut Street. "One thing we never, ever do is cut corners with anything we do," she said. "But our stores need love." She said she has begun talks with investors in a bid to expand. Katz and Pittakas, she said, would "tighten things up" operationally and expand the non-gelato food offerings at the three Capogiro parlors in Midtown Village, Rittenhouse, and South Philadelphia. Katz's last role was culinary director at Honeygrow, the growing stir-fry and salad specialist. He previously was regional sales manager and company chef for Creekstone Farms, an all-natural beef producer, and from 2008 to 2012 owned and operated the restaurant Meme, near Fitler Square. Pittakas comes to Capogiro from a comparable role alongside Katz at Honeygrow. He previously was beverage manager for Kevin Sbraga's restaurants. They're starting at Capofitto, the Reitanos' Italian restaurant at 233 Chestnut St. in Old City, where they're revamping the menu with new chef William Kells (Meme, URBN, Wokworks). Marc Vetri and the band at Jimmy Kimmel Live! Read more That guy strumming a Fender Stratocaster on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live! Friday night probably looked a lot like Marc Vetri. In fact, it was Philadelphia's best-known Italian chef, who traded a knife for an ax as he performed with Cleto and the Cletones, the house band. Vetri and Kimmel are longtime friends. Vetri helped create the Great Chefs Event, the longtime benefit for Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation, and Kimmel has been involved in the Los Angeles versions of the fund-raiser. Vetri was a chef at Kimmel's Oscars afterparty in March, and Kimmel wrote a blurb on the back cover of Mastering Pizza, Vetri's brand-new cookbook. Vetri was preparing to fly to L.A. to attend Saturday's ninth annual LA Loves Alex's Lemonade fund-raiser when he got a call from Kimmel. "It was a last-minute thing," Vetri said Friday night after the taping. "He was like: 'You're going to L.A. Why don't you just sit in with the band. That would be fun.' " Vetri, who has been playing guitar for 40 of his 51 years, says he rehearsed for about 20 minutes with the band. They did a few blues vamps and a snippet of "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Kimmel gave Vetri and Mastering Pizza a shout-out from his desk. "It was so cool that even though he was talking about the book, it wasn't a food segment," Vetri said. "This was really fun. I was just out there doing something I do every day." The episode is Season 16 Episode 117, if you're searching on your DVR. The Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) will partner with the Florida-based cannabis company Cansortium Health Partners to conduct research on medical marijuana, school officials said Friday. At PCOM's campus on City Avenue, the college's scientists and educators will design studies and analyze observational data collected from patients at Cansortium medical marijuana dispensaries. PCOM researchers plan to investigate the drug's ability to treat anxiety, depression, and chronic pain, said Mindy George-Weinstein, a professor who serves as the school's chief research and science officer. "We were approached by at least eight national companies, and we're still getting phone calls," said George-Weinstein. "We interviewed five, and I have to say they were all quite good and committed to the research mission. But there was a certain je ne sais quoi about Cansortium that instilled confidence and convinced us they would be the best partner." The Pennsylvania Department of Health last year awarded a permit to Cansortium to open three medical marijuana dispensaries in Pennsylvania. The company currently has one retail store in York County, which operates under the name Knox Medical. It has seven dispensaries in Florida and one in Puerto Rico. Pennsylvania law allows eight of the states health-care systems called Academic Clinical Research Centers (ACRCs) to pair with marijuana companies, which are referred to in the law as Clinical Registrants (CRs). The partnerships are expected to be lucrative. The companies, which will grow and process marijuana, will also be allowed to operate up to six retail dispensaries. George-Weinstein declined to discuss the funding arrangements with Cansortium, other than to say that five principal investigators already are lined up to work on cannabis-related projects, including scientist Frederick Goldstein, who has conducted research into post-operative and chronic pain for 35 years. In May, the health department approved five Philadelphia medical schools to become ACRCs: those of Thomas Jefferson University, the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University, Drexel University, and PCOM. But a lawsuit challenged the state research program, forced the Department of Health to rewrite regulations, and has required all of the institutions to reapply to be part of the program. PCOM's partnership with Cansortium, like all academic pairings, is contingent on approval by the Department of Health. The department began to accept applications from the schools this week. Applications from the marijuana companies won't be submitted until November. Research at PCOM, which will involve student scientists, will begin as soon as the permits for the school and Cansortium are granted, George-Weinstein said. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) on Wednesday introduced a Senate bill that would require large employers such as Amazon.com and Walmart to pay the government for food stamps, public housing, Medicaid, and other federal assistance received by their workers. Read more U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced legislation on Wednesday that proposes to put a tax on large businesses with employees who receive benefits from safety-net programs. The idea is simple: If a business isn't paying enough to keep its employees from qualifying for, say, food stamps and public housing, then the business should be taxed an amount equal to those benefits. If a McDonald's employee receives $400 in food stamps, then McDonald's would owe the government $400 in additional taxes. Fox News host Tucker Carlson thinks this is smart policy. In a tweet last week, Carlson pointed out that Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, is "the richest man in the world. Many of his employees are so poor, you're paying their welfare benefits." "This is an indefensible scam," Carlson continued. "Why is only Bernie talking about it?" On his show, Carlson also took shots at Walmart and Uber. Populism makes strange bedfellows. Whether motivated by concerns about inequality, as the Vermont senator is, or by the increasingly common view on the political right that when it comes to certain corporations that big is bad both Sanders and Carlson betray a fundamental misunderstanding of economics and of the proper ordering of society. Forces in a market economy will push the wage earned by workers toward the amount of revenue they generate for their employer. It is simply unrealistic to expect a company to pay, say, $15 an hour to a worker who is only generating $9 per hour of revenue for the business. Under such an arrangement, the company is losing $6 every hour the worker is on the job. That situation is untenable. My argument may sound off, given the amount of attention currently paid in some circles to issues such as "market concentration," "monopsony power" and the like. To be clear, I do not deny that these factors play a role in determining wages. But particularly in the low-wage labor market, a worker's productivity plays a very important role in determining his wage. And large gaps between wages and productivity are ultimately unsustainable for many workers. So in some sense, Sanders and Carlson have it exactly backward: Walmart, Amazon, and McDonald's are not being subsidized by taxpayers because some of their employees receive assistance from safety-net programs. Instead, employers of lower-wage workers are surely reducing safety-net rolls. In the absence of these jobs, more people, not fewer, would likely be receiving government assistance. The logic underlying the claim by Sanders and Carlson also leads to a place that the senator at least probably doesn't want to go. Sanders argues that if Amazon has employees on Medicaid, then taxpayers are subsidizing Amazon. At the same time, the senator supports single-payer national health care ("Medicare for All"). Should we view any national health-care program as a multitrillion-dollar taxpayer subsidy to business? Of course not. And we shouldn't view food stamps as a subsidy to business, either. Doing so reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of how U.S. society has chosen, through politics, to assign different roles to different actors. No one who works full time and heads a household should live in poverty. Making sure this doesn't happen is a social goal, and resources from all of society should be marshaled to achieve it. The responsibility for achieving this goal should not fall exclusively on the employers and customers of low-wage workers, as Sanders and Carlson implicitly argue. Of course, McDonald's and Amazon have a role. But so do hedge-fund managers and upscale retailers and publishing houses and economists that is, those who don't employ low-wage workers. I am pointing to a system of work-based income redistribution, a key component of the U.S. social-safety net. Wages are determined in markets, and taxpayer-funded government programs are used to further the goal that working households do not fall below a baseline level of material well-being. Understood this way, the fact that some Walmart workers qualify for government benefits demonstrates a feature of the system, not a bug. This is not to say that the system works perfectly, that households in certain situations don't fall through the cracks, that markets necessarily create socially just outcomes, and that government programs don't influence market outcomes. It is also not to say that corporations don't have a broader social obligation to their workers an obligation that they do not always meet. But the system works pretty well, and is much preferable to a situation in which the employers of low-wage workers bear the full responsibility for their standard of living. That responsibility lies with us all. Shant Harutyunyan, the leader of the Tseghakron political party arrested on November 5, 2013 for organizing a march in Yerevan entitled The Revolution of Values and sentenced to six years imprisonment, was finally given the opportunity today to hold a press conference from within the walls of the Vardashen Correctional Facility. Harutyunyan first thanked Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and prison official for the chance to talk to reporters, noting that this fact alone proves that Pashinyan differs from past government heads. Harutyunyan told reporters that he would reject any offer of conditional release or being allowed day leave, only to return to prison at night. Harutyunyan took issue with a recent statement by Pashinyan that as prime minister he cant intervene in the case simply by making a telephone call to a judge as past government heads were accused of doing. The jailed activist said that Pashinyan is the guarantor of justice and is responsible for the legal operation of all sectors in the country. Harutyunyan said other court cases have been reopened in Armenia since Pashinyan came to power in May, and he hoped that his case would be reviewed as well. He said that all charges against him must be dropped and that he wouldnt even agree to being released under a general amnesty. In all, 38 protesters were arrested on November 5, 2013 when they set off fireworks as they made their way from Liberty Square to the Presidential Palace. Fourteen of the 38 were formally arrested on charges of hooliganism, and twelve were found guilty. "Student loan debt has hindered many, especially within this millennial population," says Maurice Hampton, treasurer of the Chicago Association of Realtors and managing broker at Centered RCG. Read more Mama may have, Papa may have / But God bless the child that's got his own. The famous Billie Holiday lyrics ring true when it comes to the current state of homeownership. Although millennials made up 36 percent of home buyers in 2017, they have yet to catch up with other generations in home ownership. A recent study found they have lower homeownership rates than the nation's two previous generations, and millennials of color have rates nearly 15 percentage points lower than their white counterparts. "Student loan debt has hindered many, especially within this millennial population," said Maurice Hampton, treasurer of the Chicago Association of Realtors and managing broker at Centered RCG in Chicago. "The other aspect is that, due to the stripping of the wealth, the wealth rebuilding among blacks and Latinos is extremely lagging behind other communities since the recovery of the recession." The study from Urban Institute, a Washington think tank, and Better Mortgage, a New York-based digital mortgage company, found that between 2005 and 2015, the homeownership rate among white young adults was 38.5 percent, compared with 28.8 percent for Hispanics and 14.5 percent for African Americans. In that time frame, the black millennial homeownership rate fell almost 10 percentage points and was the only group to not experience an increase during the housing boom. "We had the credit crisis and millions of Americans lost their homes, and we still don't have basic financial literacy for Americans. We don't have it for the most vulnerable members of our society," said Vishal Garg, CEO of Better Mortgage. "If your parents didn't come from wealth or aren't in the business of managing their own money, you fundamentally are left on your own. You don't learn how to compound interest or figure out how to shop for the best loans, and fundamentally every aspect of American life today to move up in the socioeconomic ladder requires engaging in some sort of borrowing," he said. Denise Soler Cox, a Denver resident, was incensed by the report's findings. Cox, 47, one of the filmmakers behind Being Enye and a co-creator of Project Enye, a website aimed at empowering Latinas, agrees that part of the problem is lack of generational wealth for many first-generation Latinos. She says there are also cultural norms at play, such as reconciling collective vs. self-reliant mindsets. "Family is everything in our culture. If it's between me saving for a down payment on a house, or the family needing money, many are probably going to choose to help their family," Cox said. "I don't remember many times sitting down and talking to my mother about money. All I was ever told was don't get into debt, that it's terrible. But she never talked to me about good debt, that there is such a thing as good debt. There's a number of contributors to this, but at the end of the day, brown people are the most affected," she said. Cox aims to shift some cultural norms in the Latino community, in hopes that more people of color can start forging their own financial legacy. The report confirms some of Cox's and Garg's beliefs. It attributes low millennial homeownership rates in part to student debt, tightened credit standards, and limited availability of affordable housing in cities but points out that minorities face an additional burden a lack of intergenerational wealth (wealth passing from one generation to the next). Young adults are more likely to be homeowners if their parents are homeowners and have the means to help their kids with a down payment, according to the study, which found that white parents have an 83.7 percent rate of homeownership, compared with 64.4 percent for Latinos and 47.7 percent for African Americans. And buying a house can be difficult when, according to a 2018 investigation by Reveal from the Center for Investigative Reporting, nearly two-thirds of mortgage lenders deny home loans for people of color at higher rates than for white people. But millennials' shifting attitudes toward homeownership also have contributed to the decline, according to the study. Those who endured the Great Recession at a certain age are unlikely to take wealth building through homeownership as a given millennials choose to become buyers when it meets their needs but aren't sold on the idea that making sacrifices today to save for a down payment is the best strategy. "I think we have people who are very debt-averse because they watched their parents go through a foreclosure or struggle with mortgage payments or lose their homes I think that's a contributor," said Erica Dumas, spokesperson for Better Mortgage. To turn millennial homeownership numbers around, the study suggests enhancing financial education at the high school and college levels and improving homeowner awareness through online educational campaigns. It says streamlining the mortgage process and changing zoning regulations to allow for more construction in areas with limited housing supply would also help. "We have to have these hard conversations, and we have to see how we can influence the younger generation into understanding that it's kind of on us, no one is coming to save us. We have to save ourselves," Cox said. Garg is hoping the study will be a rallying cry for those seeking change in the homeownership landscape, both publicly and privately. "You have to decide to pick a place on the battlefield and keep saying I'm going to push and make this process more accessible and affordable," he said. "We will continue to work with public officials and institutions to discuss policy recommendations, and call on private institutions to join us in educating the public and confronting issues, like financial discrimination, head on." The lot at 1020-1024 Christian St., where the Christian Street Baptist Church once stood. Developer Ori Feibush ordered for the church to be demolished in July. Read more The lot is filled with crumbled bricks and wood. The nearly 130-year-old building is gone. But that's not all that's changed about the site where the Christian Street Baptist Church once stood. Developer Ori Feibush is also out of the picture. On July 26, the lot at 1020-24 Christian St. in Bella Vista was quietly sold to the locally owned MRR Investments Inc. for $1.5 million, property records show, capping months of speculation about the fate of the site since Feibush announced he would walk away from it. In June, the often-controversial South Philadelphia developer said he was transferring his agreement of sale to someone who would buy the land and develop it once the church was demolished. At the time, Feibush provided no details about the new buyer or why the church needed to first be toppled raising questions among critics about whether a buyer existed. The property's fate has riled neighbors and preservationists since Feibush agreed to buy it for $1.5 million in 2017 aiming to demolish the 1890s church and parish house, and build townhouses. Yet despite unsuccessful efforts among residents to nominate the property for historic preservation, and attempts to find a preservationist buyer (Feibush initially offered that option, then withdrew it), the buildings came down in July. Now, at the lot, where demolition protesters gathered only three months ago, just two pink dumpsters and rubble remain. And though the sale has not been publicly announced, property records suggest what might be ahead. According to Pennsylvania Department of State documents, MRR Investments was incorporated in December 2017 by Margarita Yakubova, a Philadelphian who has owned and traded more than a dozen properties citywide since 1997 many of them rentals, and the majority in Northeast Philadelphia. Yakubova's real estate deals were often not solo ventures. Instead, since her first purchase a twin rental in Bustleton in 1997 many of her properties have been purchased with or sold to Roman Mosheyev, a Philadelphian and licensed real estate agent who similarly has invested in more than 30 city properties in two decades, often using numerous LLCs. According to some records, Mosheyev also goes by Reuvan. Mosheyev's name is not directly associated with the Christian Street site. In 2003, Yakubova gave Mosheyev special power of attorney that allowed him, records show, to indefinitely sell property, execute leases, and borrow money on her behalf. Reached by phone, Mosheyev said he had a "connection" to the Christian Street site, but would not answer further questions or describe his involvement. Yakubova and Feibush did not return calls. Exactly how Mosheyev and Yakubova became interested in 1020-24 Christian St. remains unclear. But Mosheyev is no stranger to Feibush. In May 2015, during Feibush's bid to unseat Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, Mosheyev contributed $500 to the Friends of Ori Feibush campaign, a contribution that Feibush's campaign, among other donations, initially did not report, documents show. Mosheyev has built a modest real estate business in the same way that dozens of developers in Philadelphia have staying out of the limelight and carrying a handful of properties at any one time. Most of the properties that he and Yakubova have bought are single-family homes scattered in outlying areas Northeast Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, Brewerytown, and elsewhere, records show. Most are renovated and flipped quickly, often for hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit. In the last decade, records show, Mosheyev under his name or LLC's began putting up new buildings closer to Center City. In 2011, for example, Mosheyev purchased six vacant parcels along the 2000 block of Annin Street in Point Breeze for $159,000, records show, before transferring them to Phila Lifestyle Inc., registered in his name. Today, new rowhouses stand on the once-blighted block most appearing to operate as rentals, though one is listed for sale for nearly $480,000. In 2014, records show, Mosheyev, using the name Phila RnT Inc., purchased and demolished the New Hope Primitive Baptist Church in Mantua, redeveloping it into a three-story multi-family rental property. Earlier this year, he sold the property for $3.3 million nearly an eightfold increase from the $430,000 he paid for it. As for what's next at the Christian Street site in Bella Vista, details remain uncertain. In early August less than two weeks after the property had been sold to MRR Investments Feibush appeared in front of the Bella Vista Neighbors Association, pitching six residential units for the vacant site, with parking for each. To achieve the plans he presented, zoning relief would be needed. It was not clear why Feibush presented the plans even after the property had been sold. That night, as they had in the past, the majority of neighbors in attendance voted against Feibush's proposal. Councilman Mark Squilla agreed. Philadelphia's Zoning Board of Adjustment, which also heard the application in August, has yet to make a decision. Two years after a devastating fire swept through a 19th Century building on Locust Street in the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood, it has been faithfully rebuilt. Read more On a frigid January evening in 2016, just two weeks into Mayor Kenney's tenure, a historic, 19th-century apartment house off Rittenhouse Square erupted in a gusher of flames and smoke. Because the fire had been incubating in an air shaft before anyone noticed, it was unusually hot and spread quickly. By the time firefighters contained the blaze, the roof had collapsed, the grand oak staircase was reduced to kindling, and fat icicles hung like stalactites from the windows. An engineering report prepared for the owner concluded that the brick building was a total loss. Such declarations have typically been treated in Philadelphia as the final word on the matter, the equivalent of an architectural death sentence. But in this case, the Department of Licenses and Inspections pushed back. Commissioner David Perri personally requested a second opinion, one that focused on what it would take to renovate the historic structure, rather than on how badly it had been compromised, according to a statement from his office. By reframing the problem, the report helped convince Marc Ginsburg, who owns William Penn Realty, that reconstruction was feasible. It took his company more than a year of painstaking work, but today you would never know that the Georgian Revival apartment house at 2122 Locust was once a smoldering ruin. A new fourth floor has been stitched onto the building, using a red-and-black brick pattern that perfectly matches the original. The elaborate notched cornice, which was left a tangle of twisted tin after the fire, is back where it belongs. Power-washed and freshly pointed, the whole place gleams. As you might guess by now, this is one of those man-bites-dog stories. Historic structures are being demolished almost daily across Philadelphia, and their remains carted off to the garbage heap without so much as a "nice to know you" from city officials. Mayor Kenney, who once promised to give the city's preservation laws real teeth, rarely mentions the issue any more. The task force he formed 16 months ago to look for solutions to the preservation crisis has yet to produce any recommendations. The bulldozers keep coming. So why did 2122 Locust have a happy ending, and how can the results be replicated elsewhere? For starters, the restoration is a testament to what the city can achieve when top officials decide to make preservation a priority. Perri played a crucial role here, just as he did in February, when he ordered the owner of a Civil War-era apartment house on Second Street in Old City to preserve its cast-iron facade after a similarly devastating fire. Those pieces are being stored off-site until reconstruction can begin. The other big reason for the survival of these two apartment houses is that they had the good fortune to be in a city-managed historic district. That meant that they immediately came under the jurisdiction of the Historical Commission, as well as L&I, after the fires. The Locust Street building is also listed individually on the city's Historic Register. Yet, as we know, plenty of worthy older buildings don't get the same love from the city. Those two success stories stand in sharp contrast to a recent case involving the Frankford Chocolate & Candy building, one of the last intact Civil War-era factories on Washington Avenue in South Philadelphia. The massive compound was already listed on the National Register and had just been nominated for the city's Historic Register, when developer Ori Feibush bought the property for $15.5 million. Even though the chocolate factory had a strong chance of being designated a landmark by the city, Feibush made no secret of his intention to replace it with a mix of apartments and million-dollar townhouses. To do that, he needed a crisis. While the factory had never suffered a major fire, it had been neglected by its previous owners. After bricks started popping off the facade, Feibush brought in engineers, who concluded the building was in danger of collapse. L&I subsequently issued a code violation deeming the factory "imminently dangerous." That happens to be the same designation that 2122 Locust received after the fire. According to a building professional who toured both buildings, the chocolate factory was in much better condition than 2122 Locust and could have been easily stabilized. Instead, Feibush applied for a demolition permit. In this case, L&I did not push back. In an interview this spring, Perri told me that he personally believed it was possible to save the chocolate factory, but he had no independent evidence to challenge Feibush's engineering reports. For some reason, neither Perri nor the Historical Commission sought an independent assessment, despite the urging of the Preservation Alliance. "We had to go with" the recommendations of Feibush's engineers, Perri insisted. Why the different treatment for the chocolate factory? One explanation may be that the chocolate factory didn't look like a typical historic building. Even though it dates from the late 19th century, just like the buildings on Second and Locust Streets, it wasn't built as a home for a wealthy family or designed by a famous architect. As an industrial relic, located well outside the city's original core, it isn't valued in the same way. It also seems likely that the two apartment houses got extra attention because both are part of handsome architectural ensembles that define their neighborhoods and provide vivid, physical evidence of the city's development. Built in 1899 as a single-family house for Charles T. Cresswell, a prominent lawyer, 2122 Locust marks the spot where Rittenhouse Square's fashionable set switched from the exuberant Victorian style to a more conservative, neocolonial look. Every house to the west of Cresswell's, between Van Pelt and 22nd Street, adopted the same restrained Georgian Revival demeanor. You can literally see that arc of history by walking down the block. Perri wisely understood that losing one piece would unravel the whole group. Still, 2122 Locust might not have been brought back to its original splendor if Ginsburg had contested the findings of the second engineering report. Ginsburg also hired a preservation consultant, Powers & Co., to help him apply for federal tax credits, which will significantly offset the $2.5 million reconstruction. Although Ginsburg complains that the Historical Commission "put us through the wringer," he is pleased with the result: 16 brand-new, one-bedroom apartments that are now being rented for around $1,800 a month. One bonus from the renovation is that he uncovered a trove of interior details from stained glass to mosaic floors that had been obscured by past renovations. All that would have been lost if Ginsburg had treated the "imminently dangerous" designation in the same way that Feibush did. L&I is right to be vigilant about protecting public safety, but as the experience at 2122 Locust shows, it can be the most powerful advocate for preservation the city has. Geoffrey Owens, ex-Cosby Actor was job shamed after he was photographed working at a Trader Joe's in New Jersey. Read more The ex-Cosby Show actor who got job-shamed for working at a Trader Joe's will head to Atlanta soon, to start filming Tyler Perry's The Haves and the Have Nots on OWN. Perry hired Geoffrey Owens after he was outed by a shopper who last month shared unflattering photos that went viral of the actor bagging groceries. Since then, the classically trained actor, who portrayed the Huxtables' son-in-law, Elvin, has been sifting through numerous other offers, including one by Nicki Minaj to give him $25,000. "I went from being a relatively anonymous Trader Joe's bagger/shelf stocker to internationally discussed poster child for a new cause celebre about the virtues of work and the working man," he said. "All in the course of a week or less. So, my head is spinning. It's been bizarre. It's been wonderful, challenging, exhausting, and mostly really great." In other words, Owens is going to be OK. I can't say the same for the rest of us, though. The way he made headlines for working at Trader Joe's exposed something really ugly about us: We're a nation of snobs. Too many of us feel certain work is beneath us. And when we saw a former "star" whose face we remembered from TV dressed in a stained T-shirt and working at a grocery store, we were straight-up appalled. I've got to give it to Owens, a cum laude graduate of Yale University who lives in Montclair, N.J. The 57-year-old didn't slink off in embarrassment the way a lot of us would have. Instead, he spoke eloquently about the virtue of putting in an honest day's work, reminding us how there's honor in that. "I hope this isn't a conversation that goes away when I go away," he told me. "I'm going away soon in terms of me being hot in the news. "What I hope doesn't go away is this thing we're talking about about the virtue and the nobility of work, no matter what it is," he added as he drove to the home he shares with his wife, Josette, also an actress, and his 19-year-old son. "That's something that I think as Americans, it's really difficult for us to wrap our heads around." He's right about that. Many of us have been conditioned to think that there are certain jobs that are more acceptable than others. "I'm hoping that this week, it won't end, that we'll continue to be sensitized to the fact that the vast majority of people do work that no one considers particularly famous or glamorous," Owens told me. "The vast majority of people do jobs that are just valuable in the fact that they serve a good purpose, and they provide money [and] ways for people to live, and that's nothing to be demeaned or looked down upon." "I mean, this is like 99 percent of us," he continued. "We have to stop thinking that that 1 percent that have different kinds of jobs are better." Owens was influenced by his parents as well. His mother is a teacher and his late father was a librarian who later became a congressman. "They always taught me the value of work," he said. "They also taught me that money isn't the most important thing." Owens, who also teaches and directs, is "on an indefinite leave of absence" from Trader Joe's. And although it's not his intention, he wouldn't be averse to one day going back. That's looking less and less likely lately. "I hope that what this leads to is if not huge, glamorous things just enough work on a daily level, enough work on a modest scale for me to make a living and not have to do anything else outside of the business," Owens said. "We'll see what happens." "I will go back to a job like Trader Joe's if I have to, as I did to begin with." . PATNA: The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar is likely to ban the use of polythene bags below 50 microns of thickness soon. The state government is expected to announce a formal decision in this after getting feedback from people. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi had sometimes back hinted that the state government would soon take the decision about banning the use of polythene bags below 50 microns of thickness after getting feedback from people. The state government would seek people's feedback on the draft proposal to ban the production, distribution, and sale of plastic bags, he said. The BJP leader made these remarks while addressing "Bihar Prithvi Diwas" function in the state capital. Sushil Modi, who also holds charge of the Environment and Forest Department, said the draft proposal to ban plastic would be issued soon. After the draft proposal is issued people can give their feedback, he said. The Bihar government last week issued a draft notification calling for a blanket ban on the manufacture, import, storage, transport, sale and use of plastic after it received feedback, objections and suggestions from civilians, institutions and stakeholders. According to the notification, the plastic bags are non-biodegradable, produce toxic gases on burning, cause blocking of sewers and drains, reduce soil fertility and pose a threat to the life of cattle. The state government also passed an 11-point resolution which talks about planting saplings, protecting the environment, saving energy, maintaining cleanliness and sanitation in and around their vicinity, save water, etc. Interestingly, the Patna High Court had last month directed the Bihar government to impose a ban on the usage of plastic bags. A bench comprising Patna High Court Chief Justice MR Shah asked the state government to make a law on the ban and to use the media to create awareness. It also posted the matter for next hearing on September 24. NEW DELHI: An official vehicle belonging to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) caught fire at Shantipath area in Lutyens' Delhi, said reports on Saturday. According to ANI, there was no loss of life or injury to anyone due to the fire. Delhi: Fire had broken out in a vehicle of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) at Shantipath today. It was later doused with the help of a fire tender. No injuries/casualties have been reported. pic.twitter.com/5myHlIZ6xL ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2018 Though what caused the fire is yet to be ascertained, the blaze has been completely doused as of now. Minutes after the vehicle caught fire, the fire brigade officials were informed about the same and fire tenders rushed to the spot. A call about the fire was received at 2.19 pm and a fire tender was rushed to the spot, a fire brigade official said. The fire was doused by 2.50 pm, he added. Meanwhile, locals also gathered near the vehicle and helped the fire officials in dousing the flames. Last month, a major was reported at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) building here. Reports suggested that fire broke out in a nursing room. No one was injured due to the blaze there. A similar incident was reported when a fire broke out in the Lok Nayak Bhawan, where many government offices are located. As soon as the Delhi Fire Services headquarters received information, six fire tenders were dispatched to douse the flames. The building, which is the headquarters of the Enforcement Directorate, also has some offices of the CBI, Income Tax, and the National Disaster Response Force. New Delhi: Already high fuel prices across the country have witnessed further increases in the last few days - pushing petrol above the Rs 80-per-litre mark in the national capital on Saturday. In most other cities across the country, it is even more expensive courtesy state taxes. And the perpetually burdened common man - already feeling the pinch - is now feeling the pain. Petrol has seen a hike of 87 paise per litre in just two days while diesel prices have gone up by Rs 1 per litre in the same period. The government - represented mainly by finance minister Arun Jaitley and oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan - has once again blamed international factors like rising crude prices in the global market. They add there is nothing to worry about. Today Indian currency is stronger as ever, in comparison to all other currencies. But how do we purchase oil? Through Dollars. Today Dollar is, in a way, wold's biggest exchange currency. That is creating problem for us: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on fuel price hike pic.twitter.com/eKgOyim8s8 ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2018 Worry though is written clearly on faces of people at pumps across the country. In Jaipur, where petrol on Saturday was at Rs 83.61 per litre and diesel at Rs 77.50 per litre, those looking for a refill were quite distraught. Almost every commuter - on bikes, scooters and in cars - told Zee News that they are paying through the nose. "We are left with no choice but to pay. I have never seen petrol prices this high. The government is not coming out to help us. If this continues, I will park my bike and get myself a cycle," said one such commuter. In Delhi, petrol breached the Rs 80 per litre mark for the first time ever. The common man here, much like elsewhere, was left to bemoan his much lighter wallet. Petrol & Diesel prices in #Delhi are Rs 80.38 per litre & Rs 72.51 per litre, respectively today. Locals say 'The price hike is scary for common man. If the prices go up with this speed then the situation can become worse in the coming days. Govt should think about it.' pic.twitter.com/8pFz7ep7mt ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2018 Mumbai is one of the most expensive cities to buy petrol and diesel in. Here, the two fuels were at Rs 87.77 and Rs 76.98 per litre. And while the government maintains that factors beyond its control are pushing prices up, it is pocketing close to Rs 20,000 crore input tax by keeping petrol, diesel, natural gas, jet fuel and crude oil out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). 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 percent sales tax is charged on both the fuel. There has been a growing demand for the fuels to be put under GST and in the past, Pradhan has gone from saying that it is under consideration to stating that states may not agree. There is no denying though that while fuel prices under GST would mean lesser collections, it could come as a massive relief for people at large. Fuel prices are likely to be a key factor in the run-up to Lok Sabha elections next year with several opposition parties already calling a nationwide bandh on September 10 to protest against the hikes. These parties have accused the government of hiking 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 only cutting the tax just once in October last year by Rs 2 a litre. Political rivalry aside, the ground reality is that a falling rupee, rising international crude prices and an unlikely cut in excise on fuel could indeed hit prices in India into triple digits. And this could be one century the common man is unlikely to applaud. Lambasting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat over his remark "if a lion is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy it", All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Saturday accused RSS of not believing in the Constitution and condemned their "weird ideas to demean people". Speaking at the second World Hindu Congress in Chicago, the US on Friday, Bhagwat had said that Hindus had no aspiration of dominance and the community would prosper only when it works as a society. "If a lion is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy the lion. We must not forget that," he said. The WHC marks the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's historic speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893 in Chicago. Owaisi criticised the RSS saying the Constitution defines everyone as humans and doesn't treat anyone as dogs or lion. He pointed out that the problem with RSS is that they "don't believe in Indian constitution". He also accused the RSS of having weird ideas to demean people by calling others dogs and assuming themselves as the tiger. He further said added the RSS has been using such language from the last 90 years. "So who are dogs and the lion? Indian Constitution defines everyone as humans & doesn't treat them as dogs or lion. The problem with RSS is that they don't believe in Indian constitution. They (RSS) have their weird ideas to demean people by calling others dogs and assuming themselves as the tiger. This has been the language of RSS from last 90 years and I am not surprised. People of India will reject such crass and crude language," said Owaisi. Earlier, Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar had also condemned Bhagwat's statement. Condemning Bhagwat's statement, Ambedkar claimed that the "dog" reference was for the "Opposition parties" in the country. "I condemn this 'mansikta' (mentality) of Mohan Bhagwat that he has referred to Opposition parties in the country as dogs," Ambedkar said. He said parties have come and gone out of power but this mentality indicated that the ruling dispensation thinks that the Opposition cannot fight them. NEW DELHI: In a significant development, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday extended the tenure of its national president and decided to contest the crucial 2019 Lok Sabha polls under his guidance. The party also deferred the organisational elections till 2019 Lok Sabha polls so that the party can focus on the upcoming assembly elections in four states and the general elections next year. "Organisational elections are a vast exercise and it takes time too. All the workers get involved in it. So, a discussion is going on to defer the organisational polls until the 2019 Lok Sabha polls are completed," West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said at the sidelines of two-day National Executive meet which began here on Saturday. The issue of holding organisation elections was reportedly discussed at the meeting of the BJP office bearers, state unit chiefs and its general secretaries (organisation) which was held under the chairmanship of Shah. A formal resolution, in this regard, is expected to be passed by the National Executive which has formally begun at Ambedkar International Centre here. The office-bearers meeting took place before the inauguration of the National Executive to set its agenda. BJP National President Shri @AmitShah inaugurates BJP National Office Bearers meeting at Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi. #BJPNEC2018 pic.twitter.com/L4gQVG3pzV BJP (@BJP4India) September 8, 2018 According to the party constitution, any eligible member can hold the post of president for two consecutive terms of three years each. Shah was elected unopposed as the party president on January 24, 2016, for a second term, this time for a full tenure of three years. He had earlier completed Home Minister Rajnath Singh`s interrupted tenure as President from July 2014. His second term will end on January 26, 2019. In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Shah was in-charge of Uttar Pradesh where the BJP won 73 out of total 80 seats. In line with BJP's ''one person, one post'' formula, Shah took over as the BJP president in July 2014 from Rajnath Singh who became the Home Minister in the Narendra Modi government. During the office-bearers meeting, Shah said that his party will come out with an absolute majority in the upcoming 2019 general elections. Expressing confidence of sweeping the Lok Sabha polls, Shah said, "We will come with an absolute majority. Sankalp ki shakti ko koi parajit nahi kar sakta (No one can defeat the power of determination)." A slogan of 'Ajey BJP' (Invincible BJP) was also adopted at the meeting of the party's national office bearers and also presidents of its state units. Later, briefing reporters about the office bearers meeting, BJP secretary Rahul Sinha quoted Shah as saying that the party will contest the 2019 polls on the performance of the Modi government and strength of other organisation. "The opposition parties are trying to spread confusion among the people but they will not succeed. We will win 2019 Lok Sabha polls with a bigger margin," Sinha said. He said there are 22 crore beneficiaries of the central government`s schemes and it has been decided that 9 crore party workers will reach out to them. "Their (workers) responsibility would be to take these beneficiaries to the polling centres," Sinha said, adding that party`s booth level workers has been given responsibility to take voters out from their houses to polling centres. Prime Minister Modi will address the National Executive on Sunday afternoon. (With PTI Inputs) New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has called for a two-day national executive meeting starting on Saturday, ahead of the crucial assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh later this year. The meeting will be attended by senior party leaders from across the country. The meeting was earlier scheduled to be held on August 18 and August 19. It, however, was called off following the health condition of BJP stalwart and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who died on August 16. Delhi: BJP two-day National Executive meeting will begin today in Delhi. Visuals from outside Ambedkar International Centre where the meeting will take place. pic.twitter.com/FheYuMuPT7 ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2018 The two-day meeting, which will be held in Delhi's Ambedkar International Center, assumes significance due to the upcoming assembly polls in three states, all of where the BJP is in power. The meeting will begin at 3 pm with an address by the party president Amit Shah. The assembly elections' results are likely to be a key factor in setting the tone for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls scheduled for April-May 2019. The 'crucial' executive meeting will conclude with a guidance speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It will be graced by party veterans such as LK Advani, Rajnath Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley among others. Party chiefs of all the BJP-ruled states, all chief ministers and deputy chief ministers from the party and other members of the organisation will also attend the meeting. At least thirty-five villagers were allegedly thrashed by Maoists for refusing to attend a meeting called by them at Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh, police said on Saturday. Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said some people in Phulpad village under Kuakonda police station limits had refused to attend the meeting called by naxals on Thursday. "Naxals tied them to trees and hit them. At least 35 villagers have been injured, 10 of them grievously," he said. Pallava said 16 of those thrashed had been admitted to the Kuakonda community health centre, while another villager with severe injuries was admitted to Dantewada district hospital. "Rest of the villagers who sustained injuries in the naxal beating refused treatment as they feared that Maoists would punish them for seeking police help," the SP said. A police team, along with three ambulances, rushed to Phulpad Friday morning, Pallava said. He said such a mass beating was a first in the region and was probably due to frustration on the part of naxals over recent arrests of their accomplices. Nine victims have come forward to file complaints and a search operation for the culprits was underway, the SP said. Indore: Supreme Court judge Justice Arun Mishra wondered on Saturday whether the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) had acquired a new meaning as the "Political Interest Litigation". Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, who, along with Mishra, attended the foundation stone-laying ceremony for a new district court building here, also expressed concerns about the misuse of PILs. "Public interest litigation has been a powerful weapon for the judiciary. In public interest, even letters have been entertained as PILs. But today, has the PIL become Political Interest Litigation?" Justice Mishra asked. "Politically sponsored cases are filed in the guise of a PIL. If such petitions are not disposed of in the petitioners' favour, the courts are slammed and the date of such a judgment is dubbed as a 'black day for the judiciary'," he added. Asking lawyers to introspect on this, Justice Mishra also wondered whether the time had come to "remodulate" the idea of a PIL. Mahajan, who presided over the function, also expressed concern over the issue. "Many times, a PIL becomes a 'Personal Interest Litigation'," she said. Madhya Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Hemant Gupta and state Law Minister Rampal Singh were present on the occasion, among others. Jammu & Kashmir: Terrorists fire upon a man, in Bomai Sopore, in Baramulla district. He has been rushed to the hospital in critical condition. Srinagar: A man on Saturday was shot dead by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district. The incident took place at Bomai area of Sopore. Identified as Hakim-ur-Rehman, the man was a Hurriyat activist. He was a resident of Reshipora Bomai. Rehman had received critical bullet injuries in the attack. "He was immediately shifted to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival," said a police official. The injured was evacuated to the nearby hospital for medical attention where he succumbed to injuries, the official added. Police have registered a case in this regard and investigation in the instant matter has been initiated, he said. The slain activist was affiliated with the group led by Syed Ali Geelani and had been recently released from jail. (With inputs from agencies) KATHMANDU: A day after China agreed to provide sea and land ports to Nepal and end India's monopoly over trade, Nepal has withdrawn from the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) to be held in India next week. BIMSTEC is the first-ever joint military drill among the armies. Kundan Aryal, Press Adviser to Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on Saturday told Xinhua news agency that Nepal will not be a part of the joint military drill to be organized in Maharashtra's Pune from September 10-16. "Nepal will not participate in the BIMSTEC joint military drill. This is the official decision of the government," he said, without giving details about the reasons behind the decision. The decision was made by the Nepali government amid growing criticism from multiple quarters over the country's participation in the first ever military drill among the armies of BIMSTEC members, officials confirmed. Earlier on September 3rd, Nepal said that there was no discussion held or agreement reached during the recently concluded 4th BIMSTEC summit on holding a joint military exercise of the member states. Foreign Minister Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said the matter of holding joint military exercise has not been incorporated in any mechanism of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit hosted by Nepal on August 30 and 31 in Kathmandu. Briefing the International Relations Committee under the House of Representatives regarding the agenda endorsed by the BIMSTEC Summit, Gyawali had earlier said that the Summit did not dwell on the issue of holding the joint military exercise as reported in the media. The BIMSTEC member countries include India, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan- countries which are dependent on the Bay of Bengal. It was founded in 1997. The grouping accounts for 22 percent of the global population, and has a combined gross domestic product of USD 2.8 trillion. The news of Nepal's withdrawal from the joint military drill comes a day after China on Friday extended its support by providing four seaports and three land ports to former, cutting India's monopoly over trade. Nepal will be able to access Shenzen, Lianyungang, Zhanjiang and Tianjin, the latter being the nearest seaport at a distance of around 3,300 kms from the Nepalese border, according to foreign ministry sources here. Nepal has been allowed to use Lanzhou, Lhasa and Xigatse land ports (dry ports) as well. This will provide alternative routes for Nepal to carry out international trade. The deal has paved the way for Nepal, which had been relying on Indian ports as of now, to diversify its access to seaports and alternative routes for third-country trade. (With Agency Inputs) In an outrageous statement, Jammu and Kashmir's Mendhar MLA Javed Ahmed Rana on Saturday accused the security forces and the state police of being involved in the prevalent tensions and disturbances. Pointing a finger at the security forces, he said they were behind the stone-pelting. The MLA also courted controversy by calling the Jammu and Kashmir Police 'dalal', thieves (chor) and disloyal (namak haram). This is not the first time that he has spoken ill of the security forces or the state police. The MLA from Mendhar in Poonch district was speaking on the death anniversary of former chief minister Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. In his statement, Rana said the security forces are behind the anti-national slogans in Mendhar. He hurled abuses at the police forces and officials calling them they are 'dalal', thieves (chor) and disloyal (namak haram) besides several other abuse. He also said the prevailing situation in Mendhar is being intentionally maligned by the police and security forces. New Delhi: The Delhi Police's Special Cell has arrested a 37-year-old member of Manipur-based banned terrorist outfit, Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-PWG), for allegedly threatening and extorting businessmen and influential people, police said Saturday. The accused, Moirangthem Rana Pratap alias Paikhomba, self-styled general secretary of the banned outfit, was arrested from Bishnupur area on September 4, they said. He along with his associates was allegedly threatening and extorting money from businessmen and influential people, said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell). Earlier on August 28, Oinam Ibochouba Singh alias Khoirangba, a top commander and self-styled acting chairman of the banned outfit was arrested from south Delhi's Kotla Mubarakpur area, he said. Police said it was Paikhomba, who had directed Khoirangba to go to Delhi and set up a base here to conduct their activities. On his directions, Khoirangba had allegedly given threats to the Manipur chief minister, the senior officer said. Khoirangba was in the process of setting up a base in Delhi allegedly to carry out anti-national activities. He had allegedly threatened Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and some other ministers, the DCP added. Paikhomba is also wanted by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) and a reward of Rs 2 lakh was declared on his arrest by the agency, the officer said. During interrogation, Paikhomba confessed about his involvement in terrorist activities in Manipur. The accused was earlier arrested by the Assam Police under the Unlawful Activities Act in 2005, in Thangal Bazar area in west Imphal, the officer added. After releasing from jail, the accused continued his illegal activities and in order to escape police, he went to Nepal where he married a local girl and set up his base in Nepal's Pokhra, he said. The accused used to extort money from different government authorities, local businessmen and private schools by threatening them with demand letters sent through over-ground-workers (OGW) in Manipur, the DCP said. The OGWs used to collect the extortion money from victims and further distributed the same among different offices of the banned outfit, the DCP added. The accused also received his share from the extorted money. He was living in Nepal since last five years and later shifted his base from Nepal to Bareilly in UP from where he directed his aide Khoirangba to set up a base in Delhi to carry to his alleged anti-national activities, the officer said. He has been brought to Delhi on transit remand from Manipur, the officer added. KCP (People War Group) was formed in January 2016 by a combined extremist group of KCP-Poirei faction, KCP-Tamnganba faction and KCP-Paikhomba faction under the chairmanship of Laishram Ranjit Meetei. In January 2017, the Special Cell arrested the self-styled convener of KCP/PWG Ranjeet Singh Porai alias Rocky and in August 2017 busted a module of KCP/PWG with the arrest of top leadership, including commander-in-chief of KCP-Tamnganba faction Laishram Ranjit Meitei. In protest against the alleged rape of a Kerala nun by Roman Catholic Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar diocese, nuns in Kochi on Saturday demanded his arrest. The sit-in protest that took place at the High Court Junction bus station in the city was called by the Joint Christian Council. At least five nuns from a convent in Kottayam, to which the victim belonged, also took part in the demonstration and alleged that the victim had been denied justice by the church, police and the government as no action has been initiated against accused Bishop Mulakkal. "We are fighting for our sister. She has been denied justice by the Church, government and the police. We are ready to go to any extent for ensuring justice to our sister," a nun told protesters here, who held placards demanding arrest of Bishop Franco. She sought to know why Bishop Franco has not been arrested despite sufficient evidence against him and also questioned the Church's stand on the matter. "Seventy-four days have passed since the complaint was made against Bishop Franco. The police recorded her statements several times. But the accused bishop was interrogated only once," the nun said. They alleged that the police probing the case was trying to sabotage the investigation. Catholic reformation organisations, including Kerala Catholic Church Refomation Movement (KCRM), took part in the protest, KCRM office bearer George Joseph said, adding some organisations, including KCRM, were planning to continue the stir till justice is delivered in the case. In her complaint filed at Kuravilangad Police Station, the victim had alleged that she had received death threats from unknown people two months ago. The nun has accused Jalandhar Bishop Franco of raping and having unnatural sex with her multiple times between 2014 and 2016. A special team probing the case has said according to preliminary investigation, Bishop Franco abused his position and repeatedly raped the nun. Responding to a petition seeking speedy probe, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kottayam, K Subhash had informed the Kerala High Court on August 13 that the probe was proceeding effectively and impartially. The police, in a statement based on initial investigation and available evidence, had said it was found that the Bishop allegedly committed an unnatural offence and raped the nun against her will. In the statement, it was alleged that the bishop confined the nun to a guest room in St Francis Mission Home in Kuravilangad in Kottayam district of Kerala. Srinagar: A terrorist was gunned down during an attack at a police picket in Jammu and Kashmir's at Anantnag district. The incident took place on Friday night at Anantnag's Achabal. Terrorists attacked a Guard post in Achabal Anantnag. Attack was successfully repulsed. In the Ensuing gunfight, one militant was killed. While one police official sustained minor injury.@JmuKmrPolice @KashmirPolice Anantnag Police (@AnantnagPolice) September 7, 2018 The shootout also left one security personnel injured. He got injured in a weapon snatching bid which was foiled by the Jammu and Kashmir Police. The security personnel has, meanwhile, been admitted to a hospital and his condition is said to be stable. Jammu & Kashmir: One LeT terrorist was killed last night when terrorists attacked a police picket at Anantnag's Achabal. Search operation launched to nab terrorists ;1 security personnel was injured in the incident, his condition is stable. (Visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/zBEMrgkTFm ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2018 The terrorist has been identified as a member of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror outfit. He was involved in carrying out terror attacks on the security forces and civilian atrocities in the area. Search operations have been launched to nab the remaining terrorists in the area. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday attacked the Centre over the "Rafale scam" and accused the BJP of being more corrupt than the Congress. Almost five years ago people had ousted the Congress from power because of its indulgence in corruption with a hope that the BJP government would usher in change, Kejriwal said, adding both the parties are "ghotaale baaz (corrupt)". He was joined by former minister Yashwant Sinha and BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha in slamming the Narendra Modi government. The CM also mentioned several alleged scams. "They have turned out to be more corrupt than them. If they did 2G, the other has done Sahara-Birla diary scam, if they did the Commonwealth scam, the other has done the Lalit Modi scam. If they did Bofors scam, the other has matched them with this Rafale scam," he said. Kejriwal was sharing the dais with Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha at an event here after the culmination of AAP MP Sanjay Singh's padytara from Saharanpur. He said, "I got to know about Rafale scam. I hear they have bought some fighter planes at exorbitant prices." "Yashwant ji is saying that one aircraft, for our defence forces, was priced at Rs 540 crore which was bought by them for Rs 1,670 crore. Someone somewhere must have made some money. Or they have given it for free? But who made the money?," he asked. Recounting his government's work in education sector, healthcare, regulating power tariffs among others, the chief minister said the AAP came to power in Delhi almost the same time the BJP formed government at the Centre, and asked people to compare the achievements of the two parties. "If we can transform the government schools in Delhi, create hundreds of mohalla clinics and provide power at lowest tariff in the country, why can't Modi ji do it across the country?" he asked. "The unprecedented work done by our government in Delhi is being talked about in the world. Tell me one good thing that the Modi government has done in the last four years," Kejriwal said citing "problems" faced by people and traders due to demonetisation, GST and the rising fuel prices. Referring to AAP MP Sanjay Singh's 'padyatra' in Uttar Pradesh, he said the state has lagged in development because of its size. "Uttar Pradesh should be divided into Awadh, Bundelkhand, Purvanchal and Pashchim Uttar Pradesh -- four states. This is the people's demand. And not only do we support it, we will struggle with the people of the state for the fulfilment of this demand," Kejriwal said. Congratulating Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha for their efforts in raising with the people issues of the Narendra Modi government, he said, "Recently he (Yashwant Sinha) announced that he won't contest elections any more. But if good people like him won't do it then who would?" Asking the people should Yashwant Sinha contest in polls, he then told the veteran leader, "Sir, it's the public demand that Yashwant Sinha should contest elections." Yashwant Sinha praised Sanjay Singh for his 250-km walk in Uttar Pradesh and took a jibe at some politicians saying, "Nowadays those participating in debates on TV channels are considered leaders." "Some think the citizens of this country are fools and the media is under their control. But the people will no longer accept this. They will punish those guilty in the next election," he said. Shatrughan Sinha said he is often asked why he keeps criticising the BJP. "I belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party, but I belong more to the 'Bharatiya janta' (Indian people). For me, the party is important but the country is more important," he said. Sanjay Singh criticised the Uttar Pradesh government and chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the last year's incident at a Gorakhpur hospital in which several children had died. Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj's scheduled visit to war-torn Syria next week has been deferred due to the tensions prevailing in the country. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said fresh dates for her visit will be decided in consultation with the Syrian government. "The external affairs minister's visit to Syria has been deferred due to the prevailing situation in that country. Fresh dates will be decided in mutual consultation with the Syrian side," he said. Swaraj was scheduled to visit Syria and Lebanon on a three-day visit from September 11. It would have been the first visit by an Indian external affairs minister to Syria after the civil war-like situation broke out in that country. According to reports, Russian fighter planes have mounted fresh strikes on the Syrian province of Idlib, amid a meeting in Tehran among leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey to chalk out a common strategy to deal with the volatile situation in Southern Syria. The Russian military has warned its US counterparts not to get involved in any military operation in southern Syria. India has been maintaining that all parties should exercise restraint and avoid any steps that may further escalate the situation in the country. The war between India and Pakistan in 1965, which was triggered by Operation Gibraltar by the neighbouring country, designed to facilitate infiltration into the Indian territory, brought with it several tales of bravery by our soldiers. One of such missions during the war was undertaken by Indian Air Force personnel, who foiled a major attack bid by the enemy, on September 8 in 1965. Four hunters of 20 Squadron of the Indian Air Force took a flight at 1800 hours. Their target was Raiwind railway yard, located in Lahore. When the IAF personnel reached the yard, they found an ammunition train loaded with tanks. #1965War & IAF :08Sep 65, first mission was 04 Hunters of 20 Sqn at 1800hr. The target was Raiwind railway yard. Menon, Khullar, Bishnoi & Negi on reaching the Yard found an ammunition train loaded with tanks. They carried out the attack devastating the yard and the train. pic.twitter.com/ZqdRYyO8PS Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) September 8, 2018 #1965War & IAF :Mysteres from 8 Sqn also found their mark at interdiction targets at Pasrur, Sialkot & Chhamb sector. Flt Lt Jimmy Bhatia distinguished himself on that day. His Vir Chakra (VrC) citation mentioned his exploits in great detail. Details on https://t.co/33K8Y1Nvqw Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) September 8, 2018 They attacked the Raiwind railway yard, devastating the train loaded with ammunition and tanks. They also destroyed the yard so that enemy could not use the same during the war. The IAF took to Twitter on Saturday to share details about the operation. The tweet read, 08Sep 65, first mission was 04 Hunters of 20 Sqn at 1800hr. The target was Raiwind railway yard. Menon, Khullar, Bishnoi & Negi on reaching the Yard found an ammunition train loaded with tanks. They carried out the attack devastating the yard and the train. Another tweet by the IAF read, Mysteres from 8 Sqn also found their mark at interdiction targets at Pasrur, Sialkot & Chhamb sector. Flt Lt Jimmy Bhatia distinguished himself on that day. His Vir Chakra (VrC) citation mentioned his exploits in great detail. The war of 1965 caused heavy casualties on both sides of the border. It also witnessed one of the largest engagements of armoured vehicles and largest amassing of troops in Kashmir in independent India. The war between the neighbours ended with a ceasefire mandated by the United Nations. The war was fought majorly by the Indian Army, with backing from the IAF and the Navy. A senior official of the HDFC bank has been missing from his office in Kamala Mills area in Mumbai since Wednesday, September 5. Though the police launched the search for HDFC Bank vice president Siddharth Kiran Sanghvi soon after the information came in, they have failed to make much headway. On Thursday, the police traced his car at Kopar Khairne area in Navi Mumbai. A missing persons complaint was registered by the police at NM Joshi Marg police station. According to a report in The Indian Express, the bank official had left for his office at around 8.30 am, and left back for home after 7.30 pm. The report said that there were blood stains on the seat of the car that was found abandoned in Navi Mumbai. Another report said that the police suspect that there was another person in the car with the senior bank official. New Delhi: On a day when a new slogan 'Ajey BJP' (Invincible BJP) was adopted at the two-day meeting of the party's national office bearers in Delhi, a senior minister in the Yogi Aditynath government in Uttar Pradesh has warned that the saffron party will pay dearly in the upcoming polls if the Opposition parties unite. The warning came from Om Prakash Rajbhar, who heads the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and is a minister in the Uttar Pradesh government. Rajbhar on Saturday said that the saffron party will have to face a tough time to win elections if a Grand Alliance of non-BJP parties actually comes into existence. The Minister of Department of Backward Classes Welfare and the Department of Disabled People Development also hinted at the possibility of the SP, BSP an Congress coming together to take on he powerful BJP. "This is a harsh reality that if the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress join hands, the BJP would have a tough time," Rajbhar said. However, the minister stopped short of clarifying whether he meant the grand alliance for the Lok Sabha polls, which is due to 2019, or the state assembly polls. It may be recalled that the previous assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh were held in 2017. The minister also regretted that his party;s alliance with the BJP has not been fruitful as he has not gained anything from the alliance. Rajbhar claimed that he had made several requests for an office for party activities but got nothing. Rajbhar has made headlines earlier as well for criticising the BJP. Last month, the Uttar Pradesh minister, in a veiled attack on the state government, had said that renaming Mughalsarai Railway station as Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Junction would not help spur development or ensure that trains run as per schedule. Earlier in June this year, Rajbhar had made headlines for taking up a spade and repairing a 'pitiable' road outside his house in a Varanasi village himself. Rajbhar did this in his Fatehpur Khonda village of Varanasi where he lives. According to reports, the road outside his residence was in a bad shape for years and the minister had made several requests to the concerned department of the state government to get it repaired, but to no avail. Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has decided to cut funds meant for developmental works in the country approximately by Rs 250 billion. According to a report in Pakistan-based Dawn News, the saving will be used to increase the budget allocation for purposes such as water sector projects and deficit financing. While the previous budget allocation for developmental works stood at Rs 1,030 billion, the government is now working to reduce it to Rs 775 billion. The Dawn News report said that the Planning Commission has released Rs 35 billion for development projects. Notably, the panel had, for the same period last year, released Rs 135 billion. The priority of the government at this point is water sector projects, with most of the saving expected to be used for the purpose. The Imran Khan government reportedly feels that the budget allocated for the same at present is not sufficient. This comes even as the Pakistan government has said that the country needs billions of dollars to fulfil its basic needs. Pakistani media had recently reported that Finance Minister Asad Umar had said that the country would need to borrow $9 billion. The number that we need to borrow, according to the budget, is $9 billion, but we are trying to address the root cause that compels us to borrow these $9 billion. Of course, we know any measures will take time maybe even two or three years to bear fruit, he had informed the senate , as per a report in Dawn News. Umar said that plans being formalised would be completed in a week or two and that suggestions would be sought from the country's National Assembly. He however said that knocking on International Monetary Fund's door is an idea still under consideration. Many have been predicting Pakistan to approach IMF for a bailout package. Notably, Imran Khan-led PTI government has also launched austerity measures. As part of it, first class air travel has been banned for VIPs and senior officials. Also, several luxury cars at the Prime Minister's House have been auction. What will become of the Ukrainian church after it gains autocephaly? Open source A little bit of history The confrontation between the two largest Orthodox churches in Ukraine: of Moscow and Kyiv Patriarchates has been going on for more than a quarter of a century. In 1990, the Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow granted the status of self-governing status to the Ukrainian church, but nevertheless it remained a part of the Russian Orthodox Church. Two years later, at the Bishops' Council, the head of Ukrainian Orthodox Church Metropolite Filaret was deprived of his rank for blackmail and perjury. According to some bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church, he urged the Ukrainian metropolites to support the proclamation of independence of the Ukrainian Church in 1991. Filaret refused to admit his guilt, and a year later, with the support of secular authorities, proclaimed the creation of a separate from Moscow Kyiv Patriarchate. In 1995, he became a patriarch of the Kyivan Church, and two years later he was anathematized by the Russian Orthodox Church. Kyiv Patriarchate considers Moscow Patriarchate to be Kremlin Church and opponents of Ukraine's independence and blames it for the sympathies for separatists. While Moscow Patriarchate do not see the opponents as the church at all calling them renegades who indulge politicians. There are currently three Orthodox churches in Ukraine, only one of which is canonical - that is, officially recognized by world Orthodoxy. One is Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Moscow Patriarchate: before 1991, it had the status of an exarchate (patrimony) within the Russian Orthodox Church, and is now a self-governing church with the rights of broad autonomy within the Moscow Patriarchate. The second is the above-mentioned Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kyiv Patriarchate created in 1992 and headed by Patriarch Filaret since 1995. Further, in 1989, the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church has resumed its activity as the heir to the church with the same name liquidated in the 1930s. There are over 12 thousand communities of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine, and about 5 thousand of Kyiv Patriarchate, according to data of the Ukrainian Culture Ministry for the beginning of 2018. However, according to the Kyiv think tank Razumkov Centre, a little less than half of Orthodox Ukrainians (43%) consider themselves a part of the Kyiv church, and about 20% of believers consider themselves parishioners of the Moscow Patriarchate. Ukrainian sociologists note that five years ago the situation was completely opposite. The balance changed after the victory of Euromaidan, the annexation of Crimea by Russia and outbreak of crisis in Donbas. Some experts in 2014 stated a reputation catastrophe that has hit the Moscow Patriarchate. On the way to receive Tomos Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko addresses the Verkhovna Rada to create Ukrainian autocephaly on April 12, 2018 and it was supported by the Parliament a few days later. Earlier, Poroshenko wrote a letter to Ecumenical Patriarch with a request to provide autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. In 2018, the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate decided to initiate the procedures necessary to grant Tomos on autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in Ukraine. Tomos is a decree of the primate of the local Orthodox Church on important issues of the church system. By having a tomos, the church can officially gain autonomy in management or autocephaly. In other words, Tomos is the main document that proclaims autocephaly. According to the President of Ukraine, he personally held six-hour talks with Patriarch Bartholomew and announced that the Synod of Ecumenical Patriarchate was ready to grant Tomos on autocephaly in case of a joint appeal of the Ukrainian president, parliament and church bishops. The answer from Constantinople made even the sceptics believe that this time everything is serious. A short communique of the Holy Synod of the Constantinople Patriarchate stated: the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a true Mother Church for the Ukrainian people, considered the appeal of the Kyiv church and civil authorities and decided to closely coordinate this issue with its sister Orthodox churches. Initially, it was expected that the next meeting of the Synod will be held before July 28 on the 1030th anniversary of the Christianisation of Rus-Ukraine. However, later it became known that the Synod would not make this decision in July as the delegation of the Constantinople Patriarchate has not yet informed the other local Churches about it, which is why it was postponed until the end of August. On August 31 the Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew informed Patriarch Kirill of Moscow about the implementation of the decision on autocephaly in Ukraine. Open source Autocephaly: the consequences At the Bishops Council of the Constantinople Church in Istanbul, it was decided that the Patriarchate of Constantinople could provide a church with autocephaly without the consent of the other churches. After Ukraine receives the Tomos on the United Local Church, the Moscow Patriarchate in case it refuses to join the autocephaly, will be named the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine. This was stated by the Kyivan Patriarch Filaret. We will have Tomos. After that, there will be a council of those bishops who appealed to the Ecumenical Patriarch to give Tomos on autocephaly. Those who did not apply for it, will not have such right. The council means that all three churches have united in one single local Ukrainian autocephalous church, and it will choose the primate and there will be one Ukrainian church in Ukraine. Those who do not join this Ukrainian church should be called the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine," he said. On April 24, Poroshenko said that if Bartholomew provided the tomos of autocephaly of Orthodox Church in Ukraine, the head of such church would be elected in Ukraine. Open source Earlier it was reported that after gaining autocephaly, all the real estate currently occupied by the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine will become the property of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. It means that Kyiv Pechersk Lavra and Pochayiv Lavra, now owned by the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate, will be transferred to the Ukrainian Church. The militants violated the ceasefire regime eight times form the beginning of the day Open source Since the beginning of the Friday, from 7 a.m. through 6 a.m., the militants in Donbas violated ceasefire regime eight times, as a result, two Ukrainian servicemen injured. The press office of the Joint Forces headquarters claimed this on Facebook. The rival conducted aimed fire from different grenade systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms. The prohibited the Minks Agreements weapons were not used by the enemy. As a consequence of the shelling, two servicemen of the joint Forces were wounded, reads the report. Yet, over the day, the Ukrainian positions were shelled in the areas of the settlements Shchastya, Krymske, Katerynivka, Yuzhne, Hruntove and Vodiane. The sniper of the militants was conducting aimed fire at the positions of Shchastya population center. In the case of threat of life, the commanders were adopting decisions on carrying out a fire impact on the enemy in order to force them to stop the firing. The situation in the JFO area remains under control,' reads the message. The enemy used the prohibited by the Minsk Agreements weapons Open source For the previous day, September 7, the militants opened fire 32 times at the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a result of the hostilities, one Ukrainian serviceman died, two more were injured. The press office of the Joint Forces reports on Facebook. It is noted that the enemy used the weapons prohibited by the Minsk Agreements. Related: 24 hours in Donbas: Two Ukrainian servicemen injured 'Russian occupation forces were conducting aimed fire from grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms. Moreover, the enemy shelled the positions of the Joint Forces from 152mm artillery in the direction of Luhansk sector near Krymske populated area, yet in the evening was opening fire at the stronghold in the area of Svitlodarsk from 120mm mortar,' reads the message. The hostilities were held in the area of the settlements Malynove Shchastia, Krymske, Orikhove, Katerynivka, Luhanske, Svitlodarsk, Pivdenne, Novohorodske, Opytne, Avdiivka, Pavlopil, Hruntove, Lebedynske, and Vodiane. Related: 24 hours in Donbas: One Ukrainian soldier dies 'During the hostilities over the previous day, one serviceman of the Joint Forces died, yet two more were injured,' JFO pointed out. According to the reconnaissance, three militants were eliminated over the previous day. From the beginning of the following day, September 8, the rival shelled the Joint Forces positions three times in the areas of Krymske, Lebedynske, and Hruntove from grenade launchers of different systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms. Reuters Canada expressed a serious concern that the Bashar al-Assad regime may use the chemical weapon in Idlib provincial. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada Chrystia Freeland, as Ukrinform reports. 'We are really concerned that the Bashar al-Assad regime may again use the chemical weapon against its own people in Idlib, that would be a military crime. Related: Putin and Merkel Discuss Nord Stream, Ukraine, Syria in a Changing Strategic Context (Part Two) 'Canada and international community repeatedly condemned the blatant usage of the chemical weapon by the Syrian regime, which was confirmed by the international investigators,' she noted. 'From the beginning of the war, the Syrian regime and its alliances conducted serious the transgression of the international humanitarian law and keep regularly bomb and shell the civilians,' Freeland added. 'Canada will keep facilitating the efforts to bring the regime to justice for its military crimes by collecting and saving evidence in the region,' the Minister assured. Washington is ready to once more strike Syria if the Syrian authorities will use chemical weapons. As of today, the Ukrainian filmmaker is on a hunger strike for 118 days Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and the jurors of 2018 Venice Film Festival called Russia to release the Ukrainian political prisoner, filmmaker Oleg Sentsov. The relevant claim was published on September 8, as AFP reports. Actress Naomi Watts, actor and director Christoph Waltz and the other jurors of the festival and celebrities claimed that Sentsov was "imprisoned and tortured... after a trial that clearly did not respect the rights of the defence". Related: Sentsov rejected hospitalization due to absence of satisfactory conditions in hospital They called the Kremlin to immediately release Sentsov to avoid his death. Reportedly, earlier, the chief doctor of the hospital was threatening Sentsov to tie him up and forcibly As it was reported, Kolchenko declared a hunger strike on May 31, requiring the release of Oleg Sentsov. He had to suspend the strike, as he got very weak. Kolchenko and Sentsov were detained by Russian intelligence services in Crimea in May 2014. They were accused of the organization of a terrorist act on the peninsula. Kolchenko was sentenced to 10 years of the colony, Sentsov to 20 years. Both are denying their guilt. Related: Russia claims Sentsov looks 'quite healthy' despite 115 days of hunger strike Recently, Sentsovs lawyer stated on the deterioration of his condition. He has a very low hemoglobin, which led to anemia, as well as a very low pulse. Oleg has a bad heart, he was asked twice to be taken to a hospital. However, the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia in Yamalo-Nenets County claimed that the medical staff examines Sentsov on daily basis, and his condition is satisfactory. Furthermore, according to the lawyer of the political prisoner, the Chief Doctor of the Hospital in Labytnangi city was threatening Oleg Sentsov by tying up and drugging him with medicine and artificial nutrition. NATO is also confident that in the future Ukraine will obtain membership in the Alliance 112 Agency NATO supported the right of Ukraine to freely choose its Euro-Atlantic path without external interference. This was stated by the official representative of the NATO headquarters, Ukrinform reports. "We are firm in our support for Ukraine's right to decide its own future and foreign policy, freely, without external interference," the Alliance noted, commenting on the proposal by Petro Poroshenko on amendments to the Constitution to secure the irreversibility of the European and Euro-Atlantic course of the state. NATO also noted that Ukraine has resumed its Euro-Atlantic aspirations, and then, the decision of the Bucharest summit that the state will gain membership in the future, remain unchanged. We recall, on September 3, President Petro Poroshenko submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a bill that fixes the Euro-Atlantic foreign policy course of Ukraine in the Constitution. The document provides that the parliament, the president and the government should implement the Euro-Atlantic course of Ukraine. Earlier the US President Donald Trump stated that thanks to him, NATO member states increased the defence spending, but actually it is because of his Russian colleague Vladimir Putin, as Bloomberg reports. Countries on NATOs eastern border do not need Donald Trump to boost defense spending. They decided this long before he came to power. The spending boost was because of a president, but it was Vladimir Putin, not the U.S. President, Tomas Valasek, the Director of Carnegie Europe, said. Last month, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, thanked Trump for clearly having an impact on defense spending by the allies. The US President in his turn has often called for increasing the defence spending of NATO member states and stated that his demands added $41 billion to the European and Canadian defence spending. Yet, it was stressed that the jump in acquisitions behind the former Iron Curtain of aircraft, ships and armored vehicles began when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Related: U.S. transfers 1500 servicemen to Germany According to the source, the exercises began after a warning from Russia that it plans to enter the zone in southern Syria Syrian Observatory In Syria on Friday, September 7, the US military conducted exercises in response to the military threats of the Russian Federation. This is reported by CNN with reference to the US official. More than 100 American soldiers took part in the drills. According to the official, the exercises began after a warning from Russia that it plans to enter the zone in southern Syria, where the US military is stationed. The exercises were aimed at ensuring that the divisions of the Russian Federation and the ruling regime in the region see activity and understand the possibilities of the United States. "Our forces have demonstrated the ability to act quickly, attack targets using integrated fire and ground forces," the spokesman for the Central Command said. We recall, on September 5 as a result of airstrike in Russia on Syria, 13 civilians were killed. Earlier we reported that USA intended to increase its military contingent in Germany by 1500 people. The U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell claimed this, as DW reports. According to him, such a decision was adopted for the purpose of strengthening NATO and European security. The Ambassador noted that the additional troops will start arriving this year, and the process will last till 2020. Federal Minister of Defence of Germany Ursula von der Leyen welcomed the decision of Washington, which according to her is the evidence of the viability of the transatlantic relationship and the contribution to maintaining overall security. It is noted that as of now, 33 thousand American soldiers are in Germany. Expected that the additional force will be placed in American garrisons in the federal states of Bavaria and Rhineland-Palatinate. Earlier, Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of NATO called Germany's government to significantly increase the defense spending. Related: U.S. transfers 1500 servicemen to Germany Open source After a chemical emission in Armyansk, in the north of the occupied Crimea, 61 Ukrainian border guards asked the doctors for help. This was confirmed by the assistant to the chairman of the State Border Service of Ukraine Oleg Slobodyan. "Now 61 border guards need medical help, five of them have been hospitalized and a detailed medical examination is taking place here in Odesa," he said. Slobodyan stressed that all but the aforementioned five hospitalized patients received the necessary medical assistance and they returned to their official duties. The assistant to the head of the State Border Service also said that the situation on the border with Crimea remains without significant changes. In particular, the checkpoints "Kalanchak" and "Chaplinka" are temporarily closed for those citizens who plan to travel to the occupied peninsula. The winds continue to blow towards the occupied Crimea, therefore, according to Slobodyan, "the main risks remain in this territory." The State Border Guard Service and Emergency Service held the analysis for the presence of the toxic substances in Kherson region after the chemical emission from the Crimean plant Tytan. Vadym Chernysh, the Minister of of Temporarily Occupied Territories and IDPs claimed this as 112 Ukraine reported. The State Border Guard Service along with the Emergency Service held the quick analysis; the gas analyzers show the presence of the pollutants, including one of the hazardous sulfur dioxide that can make the sulfuric acid when it contacts with water. One of these factors we relatively easily monitor at the controlled territory. And this gap in the information field allowed by the occupation authorities during the week shows that they tried to hide the real situation as the wind was coming from the territory controlled by Ukraine to the uncontrolled territory, he said. Chernysh noted that the toxic substances did not get to Kherson region at the greatest concentration. Also, we will order the monitoring of the surface of this storage to see whether it increases or decreases, is there is water at the surface, does it preserve the evaporations or not. We do not know exactly, he noted. According to him, the specialized commission holds the extended analysis: of the soil, water and air. As we reported an unknown substance was discharged in the air in Armyansk, North Crimea. A greasy mud with a yellow shade appeared on metallic objects, roofs and leaves on the trees. Later, Sergey Aksyonov, head of the annexed Crimea claimed that the situation with the discharge of the unknown substance in the air goes beyond the norms. Moreover, toxic chemicals were detected in the air in the Kherson region, southern Ukraine. Refat Chubarov, the Chairman of the Crimean Tatars Mejlis claimed that the evacuation of the children due to the emission of the unknown substance has begun in Armyansk. Five of all Ukrainian border guards who complained of poor well-being because of the chemical emission in Crimea were hospitalized. Oleh Slobodyan, Representative of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine claimed this, Hromadske reports. According to him, generally, 41 border guards complained of poor well-being on September 7. Related: Chemical emission in Crimea: schools, kindergartens closed in Kherson region 'Considering the border guards, in fact, 41 of them appealed with complaints about poor well-being to doctors, as dizziness, nausea, tickle in the throat, some of them have a skin rash. Five of them need deeper examination, this is why they are directed to Odesa hospital where the reasons that provoked these symptoms will be thoroughly and deeply studied,' Slobodyan explained. He added that doctors from Odesa are in Kherson region, they are examining the border guards. 'Once more, they are ready to provide help to local residents who may appeal to them. Also, the Ukrainian citizens from occupied Crimea may appeal,' he noted. Earlier Kalanchak and Chaplynka, the checkpoints on the administrative border with the occupied Crimea are temporarily shut down because of the dangerous leak of chemicals, which took place at Titan factory in Armyansk, in the northern part of the occupied peninsula. Related: Chemical emission in Crimea: Gas analyzers shows presence of pollutants in Kherson region As we reported an unknown substance was discharged in the air in Armyansk, North Crimea. A greasy mud with a yellow shade appeared on metallic objects, roofs, and leaves on the trees. Later, Sergey Aksyonov, head of the annexed Crimea claimed that the situation with the discharge of the unknown substance in the air goes beyond the norms. Moreover, toxic chemicals were detected in the air in the Kherson region, southern Ukraine. Refat Chubarov, the Chairman of the Crimean Tatars Mejlis claimed that the evacuation of the children due to the emission of the unknown substance has begun in Armyansk. Related: Ukraine's Ombudsman addresses UN about environmental risk in Crimea Earlier it was reported that the hit of the shells at the technological tanks during the training of the detachments of the Armed Forces of Russia became the reason for the chemical emission at the plant Crimean Tytan. On September 6, it was reported that the plant on the production of the titanium dioxide, the subsidiary of Titanium investments in Crimean Armyansk will completely stop to work on Sunday, September 9. 112 Agency There are no cases of chemical poisoning among the population of Kherson region, so there is no need to evacuate residents. This is reported on Twitter by the Ministry of the occupied territories, referring to the information of the Department of Health of the Kherson Regional State Administration. The ministry noted that about 2 thousand children will be sent to Skadovsk "with the goal of prophylactic and preventing possible negative health consequences." "Children will study at school and relax with their parents and accompanying teachers," the ministry said. According to the Ministry of Education and Science, 700 people were already sent to Skadovsk in two days. We are talking about a possible danger for residents of the Kherson region after the release of a substance of unknown origin into the atmosphere in the town of Armyansk, which is in the occupied Crimea. At first, the representatives of the occupation authorities did not recognize the problem, but on September 4 "Crimean authorities" for the first time declared that the maximum permissible concentration of sulfur dioxide in Armyansk and surrounding villages exceeded the norm. The children were evacuated, the local residents were urged to spend as little time as possible in the open air. It is known that after a chemical outbreak in Armyansk 61 Ukrainian border guards asked for medical help. Related: Jury of Venice Film Festival calls Russia to release Sentsov Open source The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church said that the communique of the General Secretariat of the Constantinople Patriarchate Holy Synod, published on September 7, 2018, informing the appointment of two hierarchs of this church, Archbishop Daniel of Pamphylia (USA) and Bishop Hilarion of Canada (Canada), "exarchs" of the Patriarchate of Constantinople in Kyiv, threaten the unity of world Orthodoxy. The corresponding statement was published by the press service of the synod of the ROC. "These actions lead to a stalemate between the Russian and Constantinople churches, create a real threat to the unity of the whole world Orthodoxy. The Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church declares that all responsibility for these anticanonical acts falls personally on Patriarch Bartholomew and those persons in the Church of Constantinople who support him," said in a statement of the synod of the ROC. At the same time, the Moscow Patriarchate stated that "retaliatory actions" will take place in the near future. Earlier, the UOC stated that the appointment of Constantinople exarchs in the person of Archbishop Daniel of Pamphil from the United States of America and Bishop Edmond of Illarion from Canada to Kyiv is a gross violation of the canonical territory of the UOC, and also contradicts the second rule of the Second Ecumenical Council of Constantinople. Reportedly, the Bishops Council of the Constantinople Church began on September 1 and will last till September 3. The main topic of the Council is the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Orthodox church. It is expected that after negotiations with the bishops from all over the world, the Patriarchate of Constantinople can make a final decision concerning the terms of Tomos provision. Related: Tomos for Ukrainian Orthodox Church: Why, how and what happens next 112 Agency The Consulate General of Ukraine was opened in Edmonton - the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin took part in the opening event, the press service of the department reports. "This is a solemn event, by which Ukraine recognizes the special role played by the Ukrainian community in the west of Canada, and opens the door for trade and investment contacts," the minister said. After the opening ceremony, Pavlo Klimkin personally congratulated the first visitor of the consulate general - two-year-old Danil, who received a document on the acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship. In the province of Alberta, there are more than 350,000 Canadians of Ukrainian descent. The newly formed Consulate General will work for other provinces of western Canada - Saskatchewan, British Columbia, as well as the Yukon and Northwest Territories. "This is a pragmatic decision: it is based on geography and on the powerful business potential that is present in Alberta, but this is an emotional decision also: we are repaying the debt to the Ukrainians of Prairie who built Canada for generations, preserving the dream of an independent Ukraine," said the Ambassador of Ukraine in Canada Andriy Shevchenko. The Consulate General in Edmonton was the first that Ukraine opened after the beginning of Russian aggression. By this time, the Ukrainian embassy in Ottawa and the consulate in Toronto worked in Canada. Previously, Klimkin said that Canada will provide Ukraine with more than $ 7.5 million for humanitarian assistance. Before that, Poroshenko discussed with the Canadian Foreign Minister the aggravation of the situation in Donbas, and also noted the important role of Ottawa in promoting the UN resolution on human rights in Crimea. Related: Tomos for Ukrainian Orthodox Church: Why, how and what happens next PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) AllAfrica publishes around 700 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us. Thus, the Head of State enacted the legislative decree that creates the Genetic Database. Said tool will help identify people who went missing during the period of political violence that convulsed the Inca nation between 1980 and 2000 "() This is more than just an economic issue (referring to the corresponding reparations ). It has to do with sentiment, justice, and humanity," the leader expressed. Arquimedes , in memory of thousands of missing people and their relatives who continue to tirelessly search for them," he added. "This is in memory of Mama Angelica and her missing son, in memory of thousands of missing people and their relatives who continue to tirelessly search for them," he added. As stated by the President, he signed the decree to relieve families' suffering to a certain extent and to truly put the State at their disposal. Furthermore, he underlined the great significance of this legislation for the Government since helping relatives find their loved ones has a special meaning. "This violence hit us all, but not as much as the ones who lost their loved ones," the Peruvian leader indicated. The Justice Ministry highlighted that the Genetic Database will enable the cross-reference between relatives' genetic profiles and DNA samples found in missing people's bone remains. The enactment ceremony was held at the Government Palace in Lima. (END) CCR/DTK/RMB President Martin Vizcarra on Friday affirmed his administration will make every effort to bring justice and compassion to relatives of those disappeared due to political violence.Published: 9/7/2018 "I was not alone after I introduced the proposal on July 28; I feel I've received majority support from the population ()," Vizcarra said, referring to his proposal to hold a referendum to decide a ban on political parties' private financing, an end to lawmakers' re-election, the creation of a second chamber in Congress, and a reform at the National Council of the Magistracy (CNM). Speaking at the opening of National University of Engineering's (UNI) Training and Research Center, the statesman said Government's efforts to develop the country will be fruitless if discredited institutions are not improved. This is the case of the Judiciary and political parties he underlined whose members, in some cases, let down the trust of the population. "That's why we proposed a political and justice reform, which we consider as important as the execution of engineering works. In fact, they have to go hand in hand ()," he added. According to the Head of State, besides a timely implementation and adequate technical data, works require honesty to be effective. "That's what makes the difference," he commented. (END) CCR/RMB Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra on Friday affirmed his proposal to improve political and justice systems has been backed by the majority of citizens, who demand anti-corruption reforms, further transparency, and honesty from authorities.Published: 9/7/2018 Stormy Chromer Multi-genre jams by Patrick Dunn From the September, 2018 issue "The borders of my mind can always be redrawn." Even those who don't consider themselves jam-band enthusiasts may share the sentiment from the group Stormy Chromer's song "Redrawn," after seeing the Ypsi-based band perform live. Drummer Amin Lanseur and bassist Ryan King were inspired to start the band in 2014 after attending a festival organized by that progenitor of jam bands, Umphrey's McGee. Stormy Chromer's lengthy, improvisational, and often instrumental numbers fit Umphrey's template to a degree. But the band's versatility and impressive musicianship add unique appeal. Stormy Chromer's members all have professional musical training, an unlikely precursor to playing their current instruments in a rock band. King has a degree in classical clarinet from U-M, while Lanseur took tuba and other music classes at EMU, where he met guitarist Spencer Hanson in jazz class. Guitarist Brendan Collins, too, has studied jazz and other musical topics at WCC. Neither tuba nor clarinet is heard at a Stormy Chromer show, and the sound could only occasionally be described as jazz. But the players' professional attention to detail is clear. The members frequently turn their heads to form a loose circle around Lanseur, who leads the band's regular shifts in tempo and groove with his innovative and energetic drumming. Lanseur knows his instrument well, and he constantly adds graceful flourishes that add complexity to otherwise simple beats. Collins handles the lion's share of the lead guitar work, employing a small army of pedals as he cycles from attention-grabbing blues solos to mellow, echoing arpeggios. Hanson adds colorful rhythm parts and some impressive leads of his own. And while the band's sound isn't bass-heavy, King flashes some funky chops in occasional solos. The players' diverse musical backgrounds also have engendered a loosey-goosey approach to genre that can be fascinating to behold. Their jams can run up to ten or fifteen minutes, shifting fluidly from groovy funk to mind-expanding prog drone to heavy-metal sludge to power-chord classic rock, all with impressive ...continued below... Definitely going to check these guys out at the Blind Pig on September 7th, bound to be a good one - as hometown throwdown's often are. This show is going to be great! Awesome write up :) Thanks for the kind words! Can't wait to play at the piggy on the 7th! ease. Often they'll throw in their original folk-inflected ballad "Virginia in Vermont," with King and Lanseur singing pleasant harmony, for good measure. The covers that leaven their mostly original sets are similarly diverse, ranging from the Cranberries to Rush to Ann Arbor's own Tally Hall. Where many jam bands play primarily funk or prog, those are just ingredients in Stormy Chromer's delightful, danceable mix. If the band ever seems to be settling into a particular musical idiom, just keep that pencil ready at the borders of your mind and wait for the next intriguing shift. [Originally published in September, 2018.]On August 29, 2018, Erika wrote:On August 29, 2018, Brisket wrote:On August 29, 2018, Amin Lanseur wrote: >> AnnArborObserver.com >> City Guide >> Neighborhoods >> Burns Park City Guide Burns Park Burns Park Blocks of tree-canopied streets and well-tended classic old homes set around a historic park and school-as well as its location near both U-M's campus and downtown-make Burns Park one of the city's most desirable neighborhoods. Northeast of the namesake park, the shady streets climb the gentle slopes of the area known as Ives Woods, which has one of the highest median household incomes in Ann Arbor. Even higher in income is the area north of Washtenaw, where eclectic homes on large, wooded lots, including some recent construction, dot the streets stretching east toward Huron Pkwy. Burns Park includes the South University business district, home to the 18-story, 240-unit University Towers apartments-ugly to some, but home to Madonna back in the day. After it was built in the 1960s the city slapped a height limit on the area that lasted forty years. When it was finally lifted in the mid-2000s, developers quickly responded with new luxury student high-rises, including the 10-story Zaragon Place on East University, the 14-story Landmark, catercorner from U Towers, and the 13-story Arbor Blu, which rises above the Pizza House restaurant. The wave continues: the new 14-story Six11 midblock between East University and Church have joined Vic Village North and the now-approved Vic Village South. Near Packard and Hill, older houses occupied by longtime residents mingle with large fraternity, sorority, and cooperative houses and student apartment buildings. More student rentals are sprinkled around Lower Burns Park (affectionately "LoBuPa") south and west of Packard, though zoning changes seek to halt any further advance. Adults predominate in the 262-unit Ann Arbor Woods apartments on E. Stadium. Students from the immediate Burns Park area all go to Tappan Middle School, but then they split, with those north of Washtenaw going to Huron High and the rest to Pioneer. Students also are bused in to Burns Park from Arbor Pointe, with 280 apartments across from Washtenaw Community College, and the huge Glencoe Hills complex, whose 584 units extend from Washtenaw to Clark east of US-23. Students from these areas go on to Scarlett Middle School (except for a few living north of Clark who are in the Clague area) and to Huron High. Bike lanes: Packard and Stadium (from Packard to Washtenaw) have marked bike lanes; Huron River Dr. has a sidewalk path. Walking: Burns Park School has a walk score of 63 (walkscore.com). Part of the appeal of historic Burns Park lies in its proximity to the U-M-it's a hike in winter, but walkable from most places. The eastern part of the district is within walking distance of retail on Washtenaw or Stadium. YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Former Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan informs about accusation against him. ARMENPRESS reports Abrahamyan wrote on his Facebook page that on September 4 the Special investigation Service sent him a notification for interrogation as a witness, afterwards charges were pressed. Abrahamyan was allowed to leave after he signed about not leaving the place of residence. ARMENPRESS is trying to get details from the Special Investigation Service. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. The Azerbaijani troops violated the ceasefire regime nearly 200 times on Artsakh-Azerbaijan contact line in the period of September 2-8, during which over 2000 bullets were fired in the direction of Armenian border guards from different caliber weapons. As ARMENPRESS was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of Artsakh, the front line units of the Defense Army refrained from retaliation and continue to confidently carry out their military duty. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. The relations between Russia and Armenia are progressing in all directions, the correspondent of ARMENPRESS informs from Moscow that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced during talks with Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan at the Kremlin. At the beginning of the meeting the Russian President emphasized the special nature of our relations. Today the relations between Russian and Armenia develop progressively in all the directions. This goes for political relations, military spheres, security issues and economic cooperation, he said. Putin emphasized the cooperation in the sphere of energy, as well as touched upon nuclear and thermal energy. The Russian President said that the relations between the two countries also develop in the spheres of metallurgy and mechanical engineering. In a word we have a lot of topics to discuss, Putin added, emphasizing that last year trade turnover rise amounted to 30% and hoped that it will further improve. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Armenian siblings Lili,12 and Howick,13 who were to be deported to Armenia from the Netherlands on September 9 have again hidden, ARMENPRESS reports spokesperson of the Government of the Netherlands informs. Spokesperson of the Justice Ministry of the Netherlands informed that the minors who were identified only as Lili and Howick have abandoned their foster parents with whom they stayed after the court of Amsterdam rejected their application to suspend their deportation and have hidden. ARMENPRESS tried to contact with the Embassy of Armenia in the Netherlands for details, but the calls remained unanswered. Lily and Howick moved to Netherlands from Russia together with their mother Armina Hambartsjumian in 2008. They asked for asylum and received the response 9 years later which was negative as a decision was made to deport them to Armenia. Armina Hambartsjumian was deported, but the kids stayed in the Netherlands as the authorities had no information about the location: the mother sent the children to a secret address. The kids re-emerged from hiding. The kids have never lived in Armenia, they were born in Russia, but spent the past ten years in the Netherlands. Their mother was born in Azerbaijan, lived in Russia, but is a citizen of Armenia. Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands recently commented on this case, calling on the government to allow the kids to stay in the Netherlands. I cant and dont want to judge the situation, but I have a great deal of sympathy for what these children are going through, she said as quoted by Dutch News. The Dutch government in its turn announced that the kids should be reunited with their mother. On September 7 childrens ombudsman of the Netherlands Margrite Klaverboer said the Dutch government will be infringing on fundamental childrens rights if Lili and Howick are deported back to Armenia. Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan The super-rich are no longer just spending their money on private jets, yachts, and hotels - they're also splashing out on second passports. The Second Citizenship Survey 2017 from CS Global Partners found that 89% of people would like to own a second passport, and over 34% said they had looked into investing in a second citizenship. Even more striking were the 80% who said they would be willing to invest or donate 5% of their annual salary for a second citizenship - more than they spend on monthly rent. Also read: The world's richest billionaires revealed Luckily, a number of countries offer Citizenship by Investment (CIP) programs where money - normally invested in real estate - can actually buy a second passport, and the elite status that comes along with owning citizenship in another country. Other programs offer "elite residency" - an extended visa with perks - in exchange for similar investments. Nuri Katz, President of Apex Capital Partners, an international advisory firm that specialises in CIPs, told Business Insider: "For a lot of wealthy people having a second or third passport is important for the ability to travel. For some it's also a status symbol, like buying a fancy car to show your friends." He added that along with the travel benefits and the status that comes along with owning real estate around the world, the programs also allow people to manage their tax burdens. Also read: Here's how long it really takes to save a first-home deposit "Second citizenship is becoming more than just getting a passport," he said. "There are certain advantages towards using second citizenship to create residence in countries where tax burdens would be lower than where you are at the current time." However, Katz explained there's a difference between CIPs and residency programs. "Citizenship is forever, and cannot be taken away unless you received it under fraudulent circumstances," he said. "You also get a passport." Story continues Meanwhile, as laws change, a residency visa can be taken away - but it's a more affordable way to get the perks that come along with living in another country. In order to put together a complete list of countries that offer citizenship or residency by investment, along with advice from Katz, Business Insider consulted the latest CBI Index, published by the Financial Times' PWM magazine, and spoke to global investment migration firm Henley & Partners and global citizenship and residence planning company Knightsbridge Capital Partners. Whether you choose to splash out for full citizenship or you invest in residency, here are 23 countries where money can buy you a second passport - or at least a chance to live long-term abroad - ranked by cost, from cheapest to most expensive. ALL PRICES ARE IN LOCAL CURRENCY OR US/UK CURRENCY 1 USD = 1.40676 AUD 1 GBP = 1.83316 AUD 23. Thailand 'Elite residency' from THB 500,000 ($US15,253 or $21,432). The Thai government offers "elite" residency visas for wealthy foreign citizens, allowing them to live in the country for around $US3,000 a year. There are seven different packages, with the most expensive being the "Elite Ultimate Privilege" scheme for $US60,000 for 20 years of residency. Here are the three most popular options, according to Henley & Partners: Elite Easy Access Five-year residence visa for the one-time fee of THB 500,000 ($US15,253) Elite Family Excursion A five-year visa for two people, for a one-time fee of THB 800,000 ($US24,405), plus an additional charge of THB 300,000 ($US9,152) per dependent. Elite Superiority Extension/Elite Ultimate Privilege 20-year residence visa for a one-time fee of THB 2.14 million ($US65,283)-Package includes complimentary VIP privileges such as government concierge services and airport services 22. Latvia Residency from 64,600 (58,318 or $US74,973). For residency in Latvia, here's what's required: A minimum of 286,000 ($US333,064 or 257,472) over a period of five years in a credit institution, or; To invest in equity capital, the foreign national must invest a minimum of 36,000 ($US41,924 or 32,409) and must pay a minimum of 28,600 ($US33,306 or 25,747) in the next year. Henley & Partners added that there are also options to apply for the residence permit through the purchase of real estate or interest-free government bonds. You can apply for citizenship after five years through process of naturalization (i.e. language test, history test), according to Katz. "The true catch here is when they want to get citizenship, they have to take a language test, and Latvian is an impossible language to learn as an adult," Katz said. "No one can, and they know it, and as such they know no one will ever become a citizen." =19. Saint Lucia Citizenship from $US100,000 (77,786). There are three ways to get citizenship in Saint Lucia, according to Katz: A donation of at least $US100,000 (77,113) to the Saint Lucia National Economic Fund (depending on number of dependents), or; Investment of at least $US300,000 (231,517) in an approved real estate development, or; Investment of $US3.5 million (2.7 million) in an approved enterprise project. =19. Dominica Citizenship from $US100,000 (77,786). Dominica is appealing due to its visa-free access to more than 110 countries, according to Arabian Business. Katz said there are two options: A donation to the National Transformation Fund of $US100,000 (77,113) for a single applicant, or $US200,000 (154,226) for a family of four, or; A real estate investment of $US200,000 (154,226). =19. Antigua and Barbuda Citizenship from $US100,000 (77,786). There are three ways to get citizenship through investment in Antigua and Barbuda: Real estate investment of a least $US400,000 (308,452), or; A donation to the National Development Fund of $US100,000, or; A $US400,000 investment in an existing but newly-created business venture. =17. St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship from $US150,000 (116,657). Following the devastation St. Kitts and Nevis faced after last year's hurricane season, pricing for the CIP programme has been adjusted, according to Katz. Its citizens also now have access to more than 150 jurisdictions worldwide, since the country has signed travel treaties with the likes of Russia, Moldova, Nepal, India, Indonesia, Rwanda, and Taiwan within the last year. Here are your options, according to Henley & Partners: A non-refundable donation of $US250,000 for a single applicant to the SIDF, a non-profit foundation which funds the developent of alternative industries to support the national economy, or; A non-refundable donation to the SIDF of $US300,000 for an applicant with up to three dependants, as well as an additional $US25,000 per additional dependent, or; A non-refundable contribution of $US150,000 to the SGF, a fund which supports economic growth in all sectors of the economy, with an additional $US25,000 for a spouse or $US10,000 for each additional applicant, or; The purchase of real estate valued at at least $US200,000 which cannot be sold for a seven-year period, or;The purchase of real estate valued at at least $US400,000 which cannot be sold for a five-year period. =17. Grenada Citizenship from $US150,000 (115,910). There are two ways to get citizenship through investment in Grenada: A $US150,000 (154,226) donation to the Grenada National Transformation Fund, or; Real estate investment of at least $US350,000 (269,874), plus some additional fees. 16. Vanuatu Citizenship from $US155,000 (120,878). According to the latest CBI Index, the Vanuatu Contribution Programme (VCP) is one of two active citizenship by investment schemes, alongside the Development Support Programme (DSP), but under the DSP citizens cannot vote or participate in political life. Under the VCP, here are the requirements: A minimum contribution of $US130,000, plus $US25,000 in processing fees, and; A minimum net worth of $US250,000. 15. Cambodia Citizenship from 1bn Cambodian riels ($US245,230 or 191,309). Cambodia has been allowing foreigners to naturalise following an investment since 1996, according to the latest CBI Index. While the Cambodian senate approved a draft law on June 11, 2018 that could alter the country's economic citizenship landscape (and increase the investment thresholds,) for now, these are the options: Invest 1.2bn Cambodian riels ($US294,276 or 229,571) into the nation. Investment must be approved by either by the Cambodian Development Council or by the Royal Government, or; Donate 1bn Cambodian riels ($US245,230 or 191,309) for the restoration and rebuilding of Cambodia's economy. Applications must also have knowledge of Khmer history and language, and must travel to Cambodia to obtain good behaviour, police, and health certificates, as well as to sign the relevant citizenship oath. 14. Moldova Citizenship from 250,000 ($US289,692 or 225,885). A CIP program has been confirmed for Moldova, and according to Henley & Partners, these are the options: An investment of 450,000 to projects in developed areas, or; An investment of 250,000 to projects in underdeveloped areas. 13. Greece Residency from 250,000 (225,656 or $US290,143). To gain residency in Greece, you need to invest a minimum of 250,000 (219,301) in Greek properties. =11. Portugal 'Golden Visa' from 350,000 (315,919 or $US406,200). To gain residency in Portugal, there are plenty of options, according to Henley & Partners. The options include: Capital Transfer A transfer of at least 1 million into a Portuguese bank account, or approved investment option, or; 350,000 investment in research activities that are part of the national scientific and technological system, or; 350,000 investment in artistic production or the national cultural heritage, or; 350,000 in investment or venture capital funds committed to the capitalisation of companies incorporated under the Portuguese law, with a maturity of at least five years. Property Aquisition Real estate purchase of at least 500,000, or; Real estate purchase of at least 350,000 for the refurbishment of properties older than 30 years, or in an area of urban regeneration. Business Creation of a minimum of 10 new jobs, or; 350,000 for the incorporation or increase of share capital of a Portugese company, creating or maintaining a minimum of five permanent jobs, for a period of three years. =11. Montenegro Citizenship from 350,000 ($US406,200 or 315,919). There are two options for citizenship by investment in Montenegro, according to Katz. A program limited to 2,000 applicants that will launch in October includes: Invest 250,000 in a government-approved development project in the northern part of Montenegro (undeveloped area); or Invest 450,000 in a government-approved development project in the southern part of Montenegro (developed area). There's an additional fee of 100,000 per application, which is also be paid to the government, and will be invested in "a special fund for the development of less developed areas within Montenegro." 10. U.S. Residency from $US500,000 (388,858). The EB-5 visa leads to US conditional resident status (known as a green card), which can then lead to a U.S. passport. Two years after conditional residence is granted, investors and their families become eligible for permanent residency. Investment options: Investment of $US500,000 (385,594) in a rural area, or area with high unemployment into a new commercial enterprise to create 10 new full-time jobs, or; Direct investment of $US1 million (771,188) in an American commercial enterprise. Funds may stay invested until permanent resident status is granted (usually 4 years). There is also the Regional Center Program, where applicants: Invest $US500,00 into a designated Regional Centre project, becoming a limited partner of the enterprise The applicant is then free to live and work anywhere in the USA. However, they must have a net worth of at least $US1 million. 9. Spain "Golden Visa" from 500,000 (451,312 or $US580,286). Spain has a Golden Visa program, which can eventually lead to citizenship. Here are the options for residency, according to Henley & Partners: Minimum investment of 500,000 (438,602) in real estates, or; Minimum investment of 1 million in shares of Spanish companies, or; Minimum deposit of 1 million at a Spanish bank, or; Minimum investment of 2 million in government bonds. After five years, applicant can request permanent residency. After 10 years, they can request citizenship. 8. Bulgaria Citizenship from 1 million BGN (461,422 or $US593,384). There are two investment options in Bulgaria. Investment option one: A 1 million Bulgarian lev (448,443) investment in a full-guaranteed government bond for five years. The investment will be returned to the investor after the term without interest. The fast-track option: Investment of 1 million lev (448,443) in government-guaranteed bonds, and; I nvestment of an additional 1 million lev (448,443) one year later. At least one year of permanent residency You must hold both investments for at least two years after the citizenship is granted. 7. Canada Citizenship from $US800,000 (476,020 or $US612,075). Created by the Canadian government to attract wealthy business people to the country, the Immigrant Investors Program means you can gain permant residency if you meet the following four criteria, according to Henley & Partners: Demonstrate proper business experience - must have previously managed or operated a qualified business for at least two out of five years preceding your application, and; You (and your spouse) must have a personal net worth exceeding $US1.6 million, and; Entire family must complete and pass Canada's medical and security evaluations, and; You make an investment of at least $US800,000 for a period of five years under one of the two available programs. The Federal Immigrant Investor Program This program has been closed since its annual application cap was filled in 2011. However, it does not apply to Quebec. The Quebec Immigrant Investor Program Investor must obtain a Certificate of Selection of Quebec before applying for health and security screening to be admitted to Canada. Once admitted, you don't have to live in Quebec, as all Canadian residents have freedom of movement and establishment across provinces and terriories =5. Turkey Citizenship from $US1 million (779,855). Launched in January 2017, Turkey's economic citizenship programme offers five options, three of which involve investment over three years, according to the CBI Index. The first three options are: Purchase a property valued at $US1 million, or; Deposit $US3 million into a Turkish bank, or; Invest $US3 million in government bonds. But there are two more routes: Investment of $US2 million in fixed capital, or; The creation of 100 jobs in Turkey. =5. Malta Citizenship from 880,000 (792,220 or $US1 million). The current investment options in Malta are: A non-refundable contribution of at least 650,000 (569,925) to National Development and Social Fund, and; Purchase of 150,000 (131,521) in government stocks/ bonds, and; A property transaction, which can include a purchase (for a minumum of 350,000) or a rental (for a minimum of 16,000 per year), held for five years. 4. Australia Residency from $US1.5 million AU (841,349 or $US1.08 million) Australia boasts a residency program that can lead to citizenship in the long term. However, it's on the more expensive end. You'll need: A personal net worth of a least $US2.25 million AU (1.3 million) which must apply for the two years previous to the individual's application, and; An investment of $US1.5 million AU (885,299) into an Australia project or enterprise, which will in turn benefit the Australian economy. 3. Cyprus Citizenship from 1.5 million (1.35 million or $US1.74 million). Until recently, Cyprus had the most expensive CIP program,according to Arabian Business. The current investment options include: Real estate investment of at least 2 million (1.8 million), or; Investment of at least 2 million (1.8 million) in businesses or companies based and operating in Cyprus, or; Investment of at least 2 million in purchase units fromAlternative Investment Funds (AIF). You can also hold residency. Here are the criteria: The purchase of new property worth at least 300,000, and; Deposit a minimum of 30,000 from abroad into an account which will be locked for three years, and; Have an annual income of at least 30,000 deriving from abroad. 2.New Zealand Residency from 3 million NZD (1.54 million or $US1.98 million). In New Zealand, you can live, work, and study under the Investor 1 and Investor 2 Resident Visa programs. you've got two options for residency, according to Henley & Partners: With Investor 1: An investment of 10 million New Zealand dollars (5.6 million) over three years. No maximum age limit, no language requirement, and no business experiencerequirement With Investor 2: An investment of 3 million NZD (1.7 million) over four years, and; Must be over 65, be English speaking, have at least three years of business experience, and a minimum of 2.5 million NZD in available funds or assets. 1. UK Visa from 2 million ($US2.57 million). Luke Hexter, director of global citizenship and residence planning company Knightsbridge Capital Partners, told BI that the UK Tier 1 Investor Visa is one of its most popular. Here's how it works: Former UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has reportedly split with his wife Marina Wheeler QC, after longstanding rumors of infidelity. Wheeler, a barrister and divorce specialist, and Johnson, both 54, are living separately after 25 years of marriage, the Sun reported Thursday. Sources told The Sun that Wheeler kicked Johnson out over fresh allegations that he had been seeing another woman. Conservative Party sources have said Johnson may be preparing for a leadership bid following his resignation as Foreign Secretary in July. Johnson has been accused of affairs previously, most notably with British journalist Petronella Wyatt, who claimed she aborted their unborn child. Johnson denied those allegations, which he called an "inverted pyramid of piffle", but he was ultimately sacked as shadow arts minister and Tory Party vice chairman in 2004 for publicly lying about the affair. He also reportedly had an affair with journalist Anna Fazackerley and another with art consultant Helen Macintyre, with whom he fathered a child. The existence of his illegitimate daughter became a major court case, with three appeal court judges ruling in 2013, when Johnson was Mayor of London, that the public had a right to know. Their judgment said in part that "it is fanciful to expect the public to forget the fact that the man who is said to be the claimant's father, and who is a major public figure, has fathered a child after a brief adulterous affair (not for the first time)". Wheeler, Johnson's second marriage, had thrown her husband out of the family home twice, but the two later patched up their relationship. The couple have four children together, and Wheeler has been credited as a key influence in his decision to back Brexit in 2016 referendum. Recent polls put Johnson in the lead for taking over as head of the Conservative Party after Theresa May. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told Business Insider in an interview that any law-abiding person who graduates from a US university should be given a green card alongside the degree, regardless of their immigration status. According to Dimon, President Trump said in a meeting with him that he agreed with this idea. Any law-abiding graduate from a US university should receive a green card, regardless of their immigration status, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon told Business Insider in an interview. Dimon, speaking to Business Insider in July in San Diego, said that President Trump also agrees with this idea. This stands in contrast to the hard line that the White House has taken to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program which shields nearly 800,000 young immigrants brought illegally to the US as minors - many of who are now university students - from deportation. "The fact is, most Americans want proper border security. That's doesn't necessarily mean the wall but the fact is we didn't have it for the last 20 years. But do that, make DACA, everyone who is DACA stay, give the law-abiding, undocumented a chance, a path to legal status and citizenship. Anyone who gets a degree here should get a green card with the degree," Dimon said. "Even President Trump in a meeting said to me and a whole bunch of other people, 'I want to do that.' We'll let's just go ahead and do it." Dimon made the remarks in the midst of an annual bus tour driving around the US to visit branch employees, customers and local officials. This is not the first time that Dimon has called for immigration reform. In September 2017, he said that young undocumented immigrants brought to the US as children should be allowed to stay in the country. He has also spoken against against the policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the U.S. border with Mexico. A White House official did not respond for comment. Watch BI's interview with Dimon here. Pre-tax spending has been around for decades, but many Americans don't take advantage of it. The startup Alice is trying to help Americans get money back into their bank accounts, and the average annual savings are $US583. Alice connects to participating employers' payroll systems, and it monitors employees' expenses for pre-tax eligible items. Employees can save money on expenses related to childcare, ride-sharing, parking, prescriptions, and more. A New York-based startup trying to help American employees keep track of pre-tax eligible expenses is bringing an average of $US583 back into their bank accounts each year. Pre-tax spending - money that is not taxed on paychecks, such as childcare costs and parking expenses - has been around for decades, but many employees have stayed away from monitoring it, citing the pain of navigating Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Accounts, and other employee savings plans. The startup, called Alice, is automating pre-tax spending for hundreds of employers in the United States. Alice connects to the payrolls of participating employers in a process that takes less than 15 minutes, Alice co-founder Avi Karnani told Business Insider. After an employee connects a credit or debit card to the system, they receive messages anytime Alice flags a purchase as pre-tax eligible. The software then adjusts payrolls based on employees' responses. All the money that the employee saves by labelling the right items as pre-tax goes to the employee. Karnani said Alice only makes money off the employer's savings. Alice and the employer each receive half of the money saved when an employer does not pay taxes on pre-tax eligible items. Karnani's efforts to tackle commuter benefits go back to 2014, when he worked with Alice co-founder Paul Barnes-Hoggett in New York as part of a Robin Hood Foundation fellowship. Karnani and Barnes-Hogett interviewed hundreds of New Yorkers to learn what kind of new technology could help low- and middle-income people. Story continues The two fellows focused on commuter experiences and found that 1.5 million people in New York use seven-day subway cards instead of monthly cards - a 15% increase in cost. "They make it cheaper if you buy more of it, but unlike a jar of mayonnaise, which should be cheaper if it's bigger ... it's still a yellow plastic MetroCard," Karnani said. "That shouldn't cost working people hundreds of extra dollars a year for their entire lives." Barnes-Hoggett and Karnani began lending people money to purchase monthly MetroCards. They bought $US120,000 of MetroCards and mailed them to New Yorkers who applied via text message for loans that they would pay back each week. Eventually, though, the two colleagues turned to automated commuter benefits in an effort to better help people save money. "We realised commuter benefits were this sort of dumpster fire of forms and maths and terms that no one was using," Karnani said. Then, in 2016, New York City implemented a law that required companies with 20 or more full-time, non-union employees to offer commuter benefits. Karnani and Barnes-Hoggett, after speaking with several employers, began building an automated system for commuter benefits and later broadened the idea to pre-tax spending in general. About 10 categories apply to pre-tax spending, including ride-sharing, prescriptions, daycare, and dentist visits. Since its launch, Alice has expanded to San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, and other cities. Clashes between Kurdish forces and regime fighters in the divided northeastern city of Qamishli killed 18 combatants Saturday, the Kurdish forces and a war monitor said. The rare flare-up in the Kurdish-majority city near the Turkish border saw 11 regime fighters and seven Kurds killed, the Kurdish security forces known as Asayesh said in a statement. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported the same death toll for the fighting near a Kurdish checkpoint in the city. The Asayesh said a regime "patrol opened fire on our forces with light and medium weapons, causing our forces to respond to this violation, which killed 11 regime fighters... and seven of our comrades". The Observatory said the shootout started when Asayesh members at the checkpoint asked regime fighters aboard a patrol vehicle to step out but they refused. "When they did not comply, the shooting started on the car," Observatory chief Rami Abdelrahman said, and the clashes escalated after both sides called in reinforcements. An AFP correspondent at the scene saw empty camouflaged pick-up trucks in the street. Some bore bullet holes, while traces of blood were visible on the tarmac, he said. Kurdish forces control most of Qamishli, but regime forces and allied militiamen hold part of the city and its airport. Deadly clashes last broke out between Kurdish forces and pro-regime fighters in Qamishli in April 2016, but ended days later with a truce. That fighting began with a scuffle at a checkpoint and, according to Kurdish security forces, killed 17 civilians, 10 Kurdish fighters and 31 regime troops and militia. With US-led support, Syria's Kurds played a prominent role in the war against the Islamic State group during which they seized large swathes of northern and northeastern Syria where they have set up automous institutions. The Damascus regime has vowed to reintegrate the Kurdish-held areas, by force if necessary. In late July, it opened talks with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces on a negotiated settlement. A member of the Kurdish security forces walks past a bullet-riddled Syrian government pick-up truck in the northeastern city of Qamishli where clashes killed 18 combatants on September 8, 2018 Syrian Kurdish forces control most of Qamishli, but regime forces and allied militiamen hold part of the city and its airport The Dutch justice ministry said two Armenian teenagers who disappeared to avoid their deportation on Saturday could live in the Netherlands, in the latest twist to a high-profile drama that has gripped the country. Howick, 13 and his sister Lili, 12, who have gone into hiding several times before to avoid the authorities, were due to be deported to join their mother in Armenia, after a last-ditch legal bid failed to stop their expulsion. Migration Minister Mark Harbers has "after careful consideration decided that the children can remain in the country," the justice ministry said in a statement sent to AFP. "The concerned authorities are now trying to establish if the children are safe and where they are currently," it said. They were last seen on Friday night at their grandparents' home in the southeastern city of Wijchen, police said in a statement. The saga has gripped the country, with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Dutch royal Princess Laurentien weighing in, while the youngsters have appeared on national television to plead their case. Howick and Lili last went missing a week ago, after the Hague-based Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, ruled there was no reason why the two teens should not be sent back to Armenia. The children have been living with foster parents since their mother, Armina Hambartsjumian, was sent back to Yerevan last year after her asylum request was finally denied. Just before leaving the country the 37-year-old briefly hid the children, refusing to tell immigration officials where they were. Hambartsjumian was deported without them and has since told Dutch supporters she is unable to look after her children in Armenia. By the time Howick and Lili eventually emerged that time, their case was before the courts. On Friday, the children's lawyer had launched a last bid at the Amsterdam court to halt their expulsion, arguing that their mother was not able to look after them. But the judge ruled that there was no viable reason to stop the deportation. Howick, 13 and his sister Lili, 12, who have gone into hiding several times before to avoid the authorities, were due to be deported on Saturday An Australian model who was found unconscious on a Mexican billionaires superyacht near a Greek Island last week was just days from returning to Australia to reunite with her family. Sinead McNamara, 20, was found in critical condition at the rear of the Mayan Queen IV early last Friday local time while the vessel was moored in the port of Argostoli in Kefalonia. She died as she was being airlifted to hospital. Ms McNamara was discovered unconscious on the luxury yacht and later died on her way to hospital. Source: Instagram The social media influencer was believed to have been planning to meet her family in Europe, however they only flew to Greece following her death, The Daily Telegraph reported. She had in fact been planning to return to Australia and had taken to Instagram to reveal her excitement over her imminent reunion with her family. It is less then a month till I get to see my family & friends in Aus. Excitement overload!! she wrote in an Instagram caption. The familys Greek lawyer, Haralambos Triandafylopoulos, revealed in a statement she was just two days away from returning home at the time of her death. McNamara family calls for thorough investigation In light of this, Triandafylopoulos statement on behalf of the family called for authorities to thoroughly investigate the moments before she was found unconscious to discover the truth over her death. While initial evidence gathered by the coast guard suggested the Instagram influencer took her own life, the final cause of death will not be announced until lab tests are completed, which could take a month or more. The 20-year-old was due to fly home to Australias two days after her death. Source: Instagram Greek coroner Elias Bogiokas told News Corp that suicide was the most probable cause of her death. Her heartbroken family, who are now demanding answers, have released a statement through Triandafylopoulos, who revealed that Ms McNamara reached out to her family before the fatal incident. (Sinead) had communicated by telephone with her mother and brother shortly before the unfortunate incident under investigation, the statement read. She was crying and referred to an incident that took place on the yacht with another crew member. Story continues The family said the model was happy with her life and they werent aware of any problems in her life. The Port Macquarie resident had been working for four months as a stewardess on the six-storey vessel owned by billionaire mining mogul Alberto Bailleres. She had been working her last shift on the vessel when she was found unconscious. Australian woman Lisa Cunningham faces a potential death sentence in the US after being indicted in Arizona for the abuse and murder of her seven-year-old stepdaughter. A Maricopa County judge ruled after a two-day hearing Cunningham and her American husband, Germayne Cunningham, a former police officer, were eligible for the death penalty if convicted at their upcoming trial. The Phoenix Times newspaper reported Cunninghams daughter, Sanaa, died of pneumonia and complications such as sepsis in February last year. Lisa Cunningham and Germayne Cunningham will be eligible for the death penalty if convicted of the death of 7-year-old Sanaa Cunningham. Source: Maricopa County Jail Prosecutors allege the Cunninghams restrained Sanaa with plastic ties, a makeshift straight jacket and shackles, forced her to wear nappies and locked her in a laundry room or outside. The court heard Sanaa, who was afflicted by schizophrenia and other behavioural disorders, died four hours after she was taken to hospital. There were many warning signs with regard to her need for medical attention, Judge Michael Kemp said at last weeks hearing, according to the Phoenix Times. Sanaa Cunningham was allegedly restrained in a straight jacket and forced to wear a nappy. Source: GoFundMe This was more than reckless behaviour. This was more than a failure to provide care and it led to the childs death. The Weekend Australian newspaper reported Lisa Cunningham, 43, grew up in Adelaide and moved to the US after marrying an American serviceman 20 years ago. A six-year-old boy has big plans for his two sets of Coles Little Shop collectables. Oliver Nguyen, from Altona North in Melbournes south-west, is raffling off his most prized possessions to raise money for the Royal Childrens Hospital. Oliver is the envy of many children his age, collecting not one, but two little shop sets. It was pretty cool that I had all 30 but that was too many for me, he said. Oliver Nguyen is raffling off his Coles Little Shop collectables. Source: 7 News The kind-hearted school boy has chosen to auction his highly sought-after prizes by selling raffle tickets at his parents bakery. Weve actually raised now over $500 for the hospital, mother Huong Nguyen said. Oliver claims other kids with the full set dont really want to give it away but he decided he would raise money for the hospital after spending time there as a child. There are three days left to gather Coles Little Shop collectables. Source: 7 News The madness for these mini collectables is not over yet as customers continue to shop up big at Coles supermarkets hoping to collect the full set. There are only three days left for people to gather the rest of the collectables. Colombian armed forces killed "the most dangerous" dissident guerrilla from now-disbanded Marxist rebels FARC on Saturday in the drug violence-infested jungle area on the border with Ecuador, the government said. Victor David Segura had been identified by President Ivan Duque as "the dissidents' main ringleader." He was killed alongside his sister, Carmen, in the Pacific region of Colombia known for its proliferation of drug plantations and as one of the principle routes for illegal drugs trafficked into the United States. Segura was "the most dangerous ringleader in the Pacific... today we've dealt a blow and we're showing that all these criminals feel stalked by the state," said Duque. Segura was "responsible for drug-trafficking, murders, extortion, forced displacement, kidnappings," Duque wrote on Twitter. He said Segura's sister was also a high-ranking rebel operative. The thick jungle area on the border with Ecuador has been wracked by drug-related violence ever since FARC rebels signed a historic peace accord in December 2016, transforming themselves into a political party. But some dissident groups refused to participate in the four-year peace process hosted by Cuba and have continued to fight government forces. Segura had been involved in a bloody dispute over the lucrative drug trade with another well-known dissident, Walther Arizala, who goes by the alias "Gaucho," and accused of being behind the murders of an Ecuadoran press team kidnapped in March. The warring rebels each have links to a powerful Mexican drug cartel -- namely the Jalisco New Generation and Sinaloa cartels -- according to the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation. Last year, the US said the impoverished Tumaco jungle area of Colombia close to Ecuador had reached a record level of 209,000 hectares of coca leaf plantations. Colombia is the world's biggest producer of cocaine, made from coca leaf, much of which is destined for the US market. Meanwhile, Duque said that he would not resume peace talks with ELN leftist rebels until that guerrilla group releases all its remaining hostages. "Until that premise is fulfilled, we will not designate anyone to sit around the (negotiating) table," said Duque. The government claims the ELN is holding at least 17 hostages, some of them from the police and military. Duque had set a September 7 deadline to decide whether or not to restart talks put on hold a month ago when he took over from Juan Manuel Santos, who won the Nobel Peace Prize over the FARC deal. Since then, the ELN, which has around 1,500 fighters, has been the last remaining recognized rebel group fighting authorities in the country. Colombian armed forces have been fighting dissident FARC guerrillas ever since the rebel group laid down arms in 2016 Colombia is waiting until the last minute to see if ELN Marxist rebels release their remaining hostages before deciding whether or not to restart stalled peace talks, President Ivan Duque said on Friday. Right-winger Duque gave the ELN a one-month deadline after his inauguration on August 7 to convince him it is serious about laying down arms and reentering civilian life. That cut-off point expires on Friday. "Today, I want us to wait for the liberation of hostages," said Duque in a press conference in which he was expected to announce his final decision. The government estimates that the guerrillas, the last recognized armed rebel group operating in Colombia, are holding at least 17 people. "I want to progress towards demobilization, disarmament and reinsertion of the ELN, but let's not deceive ourselves, we need the total suspension of criminal activities," added Duque. Colombia's ombudsman revealed on Wednesday that three kidnapped soldiers had walked free from ELN captivity. They were amongst nine people, mostly government forces, captured last month. "If these acts of good faith take place, if they liberate the hostages and suspend criminal activities, the government is ready to proceed," said Duque. "But what we can't do is keep validating violence." Duque had previously insisted that the liberation of hostages was a prerequisite to restarting peace talks put on hold a month ago when his predecessor Juan Manuel Santos left office. Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize for signing the historic accord with Marxist FARC rebels in 2016, turning that armed group into a political party after more than 50 years of violent insurrection. Speaking from Cuba, which hosted peace talks, the ELN's chief negotiator Pablo Beltran said his group is prepared to restart the peace process. He told Colombian radio station Kapital Stereo that the ELN wants to release its hostages but said it wouldn't be possible before the end of the government's deadline. "I would say it could happen at the end of this week or beginning of the next one," he said, blaming military operations against his group for the delay. Colombia Ivan Duque insists the ELN must release all hostages for peace talks to resume Jet air hand dryers shouldnt be used in hospital toilets because they spread more germs than disposable paper towels, scientists have warned. A study carried out in three hospitals found contamination, including from faecal and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, was significantly higher in toilets on the days that jet air dryers were in use compared to paper towels. The problem lies in people not washing their hands properly, say scientists, which means microbes get blown off by the jet dryers and spread around the room. Writing in the Journal of Hospital Infection, researchers said official Department of Health guidance is that air dryers can be put in toilets in public areas of a hospital but not in clinical areas but for reasons of noise rather than health risks. A new study has found jet hand dryers spread bacteria around public bathrooms. Source: Getty They said official guidance about how to prevent bacterial contamination in hospital buildings needs to be strengthened. Mark Wilcox, professor of medical microbiology at the University of Leeds, who supervised the international study, said the issue arises with bathroom users not cleaning their hands sufficiently. The problem starts because some people do not wash their hands properly. When people use a jet air dryer, the microbes get blown off and spread around the toilet room, he said. In effect, the dryer creates an aerosol that contaminates the toilet room, including the dryer itself and potentially the sinks, floor and other surfaces, depending on the dryer design and where it is sited. If people touch those surfaces, they risk becoming contaminated by bacteria or viruses. Paper towels a better solution Professor Wilcox says while jet air dryers rely on no-touch technology to initiate hand drying, paper towels absorb the water and microbes left on the hands. If [paper towels] are disposed of properly, there is less potential for cross-contamination, he said. The study the largest of its type to investigate whether the way people dry their hands has an impact on the spread of bacteria looked at bacterial spread in two toilets in each of three hospitals in the UK, France and Italy. Story continues Experts say the problem stems from people not washing their hands properly. Source: Getty Each had paper towel dispensers and jet air dryers, but only one of these was in use on any given day. The levels of bacteria in the toilets were measured each day over 12 weeks, allowing comparisons to be made when either paper towels or jet air dryers were in use. The target bacteria included Enterobacteria, which cause a range of infections such as gastroenteritis, pneumonia and septicaemia, and Staphylococcus aureus, which is responsible for conditions from minor skin and wound infections to life-threatening septicaemia. In Leeds and Paris, at least five times more bacteria were recovered from the floors when jet-air dryers were in use, compared with paper towels. And it appears its not only hand dryers that appear to be a hotbed for germs, with another study earlier this year identifying reusable water bottles as a serious problem when it comes to bacteria. "I don't care if they call us racist but things simply cannot carry on this way," said Paula Neubach at a far-right rally in the flashpoint German city of Chemnitz, rocked by anti-foreigner violence since late August. Extremist groups and thousands of locals have taken to the streets since a fatal knife attack on a German man allegedly by asylum seekers, with many participants shouting anti-foreigner slurs and flashing the illegal Nazi salute. Mobs have also assaulted reporters and police, sparking counter-racism demonstrations and prompting German Chancellor Angela Merkel to declare that "hate in the streets" had no place in Germany and that vigilante justice would not be tolerated. "It's normal to help people who have fled war in their country," said 55-year-old Sabine Sterben, standing near the rally late on Friday. The city in the former East Germany has been polarised over the question of migrants since Daniel Hille was stabbed to death on August 26. The 35-year-old carpenter was repeatedly knifed and his suspected attackers, according to police, are three Iraqi and Syrian asylum seekers. The far-right has seized on the attack as further proof that crime and insecurity have soared since Merkel opened the borders to millions of asylum seekers three years ago after Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II. They are also calling for a "peaceful revolution" to change what they call the "Merkel system" and held a rally in Chemnitz late Friday like in the past week. - 'We are not Nazis! - "We are not Nazis!", said Daniel Reichelt, 55, who was one of the 2,000-odd people who turned up at Friday's demo. He brushed off the Nazi salutes in earlier rallies as a "mistake", adding: "There are bad people everywhere. "I've had enough of the social and economic inequalities" in the former Communist east, he said. "Salaries and pensions are still lower than the West and we don't have work," he said. Neubach came specially from Berlin to attend Friday's rally and laid flowers at a makeshift memorial where Hille was killed. "One cannot enter another country and kill people," she said. A few metres away stood an imposing statue of Karl Marx with his famous slogan "Workers of the world unite" written in four languages. Meanwhile, a counter-demonstration by the far-left took place nearby with police and barriers separating the two sides to pre-empt clashes that have broken out in the past. - East-West divide - Sabine Sterben said she could not understand how the city, formerly named Karl-Marx-Stadt, had changed so radically. "I never thought there would be so many extremists in my city," she said, adding: "It's really important to take a humanitarian position." The divide in Chemnitz is also playing out across the country and has even rocked Merkel's government with the conservative Interior Minister Horst Seehofer backing the right-wing rallies. "We are not racist. I myself have Arab friends but crime has exploded since the migrants arrived," said Uchi Tuhlman, 43. Official figures however show that crime has actually declined during this period. "We just want to reclaim our city," said Tommy Scholz, 31. "We are just patriots, we don't want violence and we are fed up of keeping quiet." This tide of xenophobia does not surprise historian Klaus-Peter Sick, who specialises in the far-right. The former East Germany "was less open to the rest of the world and people encountered foreigners less," he said. "East Germany has remained more German than the West," he said. People hold national flags during a march organised by the right-wing populist 'Pro Chemnitz' movement They held banners saying 'Chemnitz is neither grey nor brown', referring to the colour of uniforms worn by some Nazi paramilitary units A climate protest rolling across the world's time zones Saturday peaked in San Francisco, where thousands marched in a bid to shame political leader into stepping up action on global warming. In a festive, sun-soaked atmosphere, demonstrators from across the state and country set out from the city's Embarcadero Plaza beating drums and carrying handmade banners and posters. The dominant message was two-fold: speed up transition to a world powered by renewable energy rather than planet-warming fossil fuels, and protect the people most vulnerable to climate-addled weather, including droughts, heatwaves and superstorms. Several slogans were barbs from the heart of Blue America pointed at Washington. "Alternative Energy, not Alternative Facts," read one, while another -- more blunt -- said: "More Science, Less Bullshit." "Defend democracy: impeach Putin's poodle," read a third, taking aim squarely at US President Donald Trump, who opted out of the landmark 2015 Paris climate treaty and has moved aggressively to dismantle the climate policies of his predecessor, Barack Obama. Many participants were demonstrating for the first time. "We're not really the protesting kind," said Mariko Eastman, 65, speaking also for her husband Dick, 81. "But for this, we had to come out. There is too much at stake." - 'Keep fossil fuels in ground' - "Climate change is not a niche topic anymore," said Payal Parekh, program director for 350.org, an umbrella organiZation for hundreds of activist groups worldwide. "More and more people are seeing how the fossil fuel industry is ultimately responsible for the climate crisis," he told AFP. "Fossil fuels need to be kept in the ground." California -- by some estimates the fifth largest economy in the world -- has committed ambitious goals for slashing carbon dioxide emissions over the next three decades. Governor Jerry Brown leads a coalition of subnational regions and cities also taking aggressive climate action. Many will be represented next week in the port citty at the Global Climate Action Summit. But within his own state, Brown has come under attack for allowing the expansion of natural gas and oil extraction under his watch. "Normally a pragmatic visionary, Governor Brown has failed to reconcile to key climate facts: California is a major oil producer and climate science demands that we phase out oil and gas," said Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club, a major conservation group. The protests in San Francisco and elsewhere are unfolding as United Nations climate talks struggle to breathe life into the Paris Agreement, which enjoins nations to cap the rise in global temperatures at "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). "If national governments are not willing to do the work necessary to stop greenhouse gas emissions... then others are willing to fill the gap," said Parekh. Global climate march organizers said some 450 grassroots groups held nearly 1,000 events across more than 90 countries. Crowds march in San Francisco during the "Rise For Climate" global action on September 8, 2018 Several slogans were barbs from the heart of Blue America pointed at Washington Alex Palms, nine, shows off his sign just before the start of the climate march Thai fishermen and labourers whose livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels kicked off an international day of protests in Bangkok Saturday, where key UN talks are attempting to breathe life into the Paris Agreement on climate change. As global warming races ahead of efforts to contain it, the discussions are deadlocked over a number of contentious issues, with activists demanding immediate action to prevent irreparable damage to the planet. The "Rise for Climate" protest movement -- which has organised events in dozens of countries on Saturday -- wants governments to end their reliance on fossil fuels and transition fully into renewable energy. Beginning in Australia, a tall ship moved through Sydney Harbour in front of the Opera House as activists on board held up protest signs. Its billowing sails featured banners that read "Rise for Climate; Action with 350" -- referring to environment advocacy group 350 which spearheaded the global protest. Blair Palese, CEO of 350 Australia, said that the country -- heavily reliant on coal mining for its economy -- has long suffered the effects of climate change. "We are fighting bushfires in winter, suffering a crippling drought, and scientists fear back-to-back bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef this summer," he said. In the Thai capital, some 200 protesters assembled in front of the UN regional headquarters, where delegates were discussing how to implement measures agreed by world powers under the 2015 Paris Accord on climate change. The talks aim to create a draft legal framework for limiting global temperature rises that can be presented to ministers and heads of state at a final round of discussions in Poland in December. The delegates have been meeting since Tuesday, but have made little progress, according to multiple sources close to the negotiations. "The negotiators are not taking any action," Ruchi Tripathi, head of climate justice at charity ActionAid, told AFP. Dozens of labourers and fishermen from the Gulf of Thailand, whose livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels and coastal erosion caused by climate change, joined Saturday's protest. Many brought examples of their produce, including crabs and shrimp, and held banners demanding that delegates take action. "I came here today to ask the government to put coastal erosion on the national agenda," 58-year-old fisherwoman Aree Kongklad told AFP. She said that the mangrove forests near her coastal home had been destroyed, jeopardising the supply of crabs which are her livelihood. In Manila, more than 800 people, including one dressed as a T-Rex holding a "Go Fossil Free" sign, marched through the streets protesting the country's heavy reliance on coal. Along with Bangkok, the Philippine capital is projected to be among the world's hardest hit urban areas by climate change impacts. "We are among the most vulnerable and we are among those still stuck in an energy system that is backwards," campaigner Chuck Baclavon told AFP, adding that the government is out of excuses. Around 10,000 school students and their teachers in northern India tied red ribbons to trees in a call to end deforestation. "We came out in support of this global initiative because it draws attention to a very urgent and important issue," said Red Tape Movement founder Prabhat Misra. In a separate initiative, the New Delhi local government launched a drive to plant half a million trees around the Indian capital on Saturday. burs-dhc-pg/gle/rma The tall ship Southern Swan sails on Sydney Harbour as part of an environmental protest People marched in Manila to protest the country's heavy reliance on coal An environmental activist wearing a face mask depicting US President Donald Trump takes part in a Bangkok demonstration Some 200 protesters gathered in front of the UN regional headquarters in Bangkok, where climate talks are under way Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is to unveil his government's post-bailout economic strategy in a keynote speech on Saturday as thousands protested against a controversial planned name deal with neighbouring Macedonia. Speaking at the annual Thessaloniki Trade Fair, where economic policy for the coming year is traditionally announced, Tsipras is expected to roll out a plan to scale back cuts to work benefits, enforced from 2010 onwards under the terms of Greece's three international bailouts. "(It) is a historic moment... after eight whole years, we can now plan (and) envisage Greece as we wish it, within, of course, the fiscal frame we have decided," Tsipras said Saturday during a visit to the fair ahead of his keynote address. "We are leaving behind recession and austerity," he said. Over 7,000 people are demonstrating in the city in separate protests against the government's economic policies, and in opposition to a recent diplomatic agreement aiming to end a quarter-century name row with neighbouring Macedonia. Thousands of police are deployed to keep protesters apart from each other, and at a safe distance from the fair venue. Riot police fired tear gas at one group of demonstrators who threw flares and stones at them as Tsipras was about to begin his speech. Opposition parties and unions dispute that the end of Greece's third bailout last month leaves much cause for celebration. "(Greeks) believe that austerity is not over. All that has ended is the obligation of creditors to give the country money... and a tough tutelage remains," said Yiannis Panagopoulos, head of Greece's leading union GSEE. Unemployment has fallen below 20 percent for the first time since 2011, but most Greeks continue to struggle under heavy taxation and drastically reduced income. The 44-year-old Tsipras is trying to bounce back from poor ratings exacerbated by Greece's worst fire tragedy in July in which nearly 100 people died near Athens. He reshuffled his cabinet last month, and last week indicated he would bolster labour safeguards and raise the minimum wage. Elections are not scheduled for another year but there is speculation a snap ballot could be held by May. The preliminary agreement with Macedonia in June, to be confirmed by a referendum by Skopje later this month and a Greek parliamentary vote early in 2019, will see the Balkan state renamed North Macedonia. The tiny landlocked country had joined the United Nations in 1993 as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Greece also has a northern province named Macedonia, the heart of Alexander the Great's ancient kingdom, and many Greeks fear the deal will officially enable Skopje to lay claim to their cultural heritage. Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras is trying to bounce back from poor ratings exacerbated by Greece's worst fire tragedy in July in which nearly 100 people died near Athens UN-backed talks between Yemen's warring parties ended Saturday before properly getting off the ground, with the UN envoy acknowledging it had not been possible to convince the rebels to come to Geneva. "We didn't manage to get... the delegation from Sanaa to come here... We just didn't make it," Martin Griffiths told reporters in Geneva. He said it was "too early to say when the next round of consultations will take place." His comments came after the Huthis, powerful armed tribes locked in a war with Yemen's Saudi-backed government, have refused to take off from the rebel-held capital of Sanaa unless the United Nations meets a list of conditions, which includes securing a safe return from Geneva to Sanaa for their delegation. The talks had been scheduled to formally open Thursday but were put on hold, leaving Griffiths scrambling to save them. Griffiths hosted a number of meetings with the government delegation, which arrived in Geneva on Wednesday, and diplomats from countries with influence in Yemen's bloody conflict. Griffiths said the meetings were "fruitful consultations", insisting that "we made some good progress... (on) confidence-building measures". A day earlier, the Huthis' Supreme Revolutionary Council said they were becoming "increasingly suspicious that the coalition intended to insult" the rebels. It accused the Saudi-led alliance of planning to strand the rebel delegation in Djibouti, where their plane was to make a stop en route to Geneva. The Huthis hinted they feared a repeat of 2016, when 108 days of talks in Kuwait broke down and a rebel delegation was stranded in Oman for three months due to an air blockade, the council said in a statement on Telegram. The Saudi-led military coalition controls the country's airspace and Sanaa international airport has been largely disused for years. The Iran-backed Huthis also demand the evacuation of their wounded fighters from Sanaa to Oman. Saudi Arabia and its allies have meanwhile said they have already granted the Huthis clearance to fly, accusing the rebels of intransigence. Griffiths, who said earlier this week he believed the Geneva talks would offer a "flickering signal of hope" to the Yemeni people, has been up against difficult odds from the start. He is the UN's third Yemen envoy since 2014, when Huthis overran the capital and drove Hadi's government into exile. All previous attempts to resolve the conflict have failed. Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened on behalf of the government in 2015, triggering what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. N-backed talks between Yemen's warring parties ended Saturday before properly getting off the ground, with the UN envoy acknowledging it had not been possible to convince the rebels to come to Geneva. Long awaited UN-backed talks between Yemen's warring parties sputtered out Saturday before ever truly starting, after the Huthi rebels refused to travel to Geneva and fresh fighting broke out on the ground. UN envoy Martin Griffiths said he had held "fruitful consultations" with the delegation representing the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, but acknowledged he had been unable to convince the rebel delegation to even show up for the talks. "We didn't manage to get... the delegation from Sanaa to come here," he told reporters. "We just didn't make it," he said, insisting though that efforts would continue to bring the parties together. Rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi defended his decision not to send a delegation to Geneva, calling on his supporters to fight and slamming the government as "mercenaries" and "traitors". "Our choice is steadfastness and resistance to aggression on all fronts," the rebel chief said in his first public statement after the collapse of negotiations. The talks, meant to be the first meeting between Yemen's warring sides in two years, had been scheduled to formally open Thursday, but the absence of the rebels left Griffiths scrambling to try to save them. The Iran-backed Huthis, powerful armed tribes locked in a war with Yemen's Saudi-backed government, refused to take off from the rebel-held capital of Sanaa unless the UN met a list of conditions, which included securing a safe return from Geneva for their delegation. They accused the Saudi-led alliance backing the Hadi government of planning to strand their delegation in Djibouti, where their plane was to make a stop en route to Geneva. They hinted they feared a repeat of 2016, when 108 days of talks in Kuwait broke down and a rebel delegation was stranded in Oman for three months due to an air blockade. Complicating things further, fighting flared again on the ground on Friday with government forces attempting to close in on the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hodeida, which had been expected to be one of the main topics of discussion in Geneva. - 'Appeasing' the rebels? - Head of the Yemeni government delegation, Foreign Minister Khaled Yamani, charged that the rebels were "trying to sabotage" the negotiations, and slammed them for being "totally irresponsible". "I believe that their absence from Geneva is part of their panic over losing their grip on areas under their control," he told reporters. He also harshly criticised Griffiths for "appeasing" the rebels by refusing to lay blame for the failure of the talks squarely on their shoulders. When asked at Saturday's press conference who was to blame for the stillborn negotiations, Griffiths had insisted that "it's not my job to find fault. It's my job to find agreement". This enraged Yamani, who said the UN envoy in private conversations had "expressed his dissatisfaction with (the) unjustified position" of the Huthis not to come to Geneva. "I believe that the (public) words of the Special Envoy... were unfortunately appeasing the coup plotters and giving them excuse," he said, urging the UN to be "firmer". - No 'fundamental blockage' - Griffiths, who said earlier this week he believed the Geneva talks would offer a "flickering signal of hope" to the Yemeni people, said on Saturday that his own hope had not faltered. "A restart is a very delicate, fragile moment? in any negotiations, he said. "I don't take this as a fundamental blockage in the process." He hailed "good progress" made in discussions in recent days with the government delegation on so-called confidence-building measures, including issues like prisoner swaps and the reopening of Sanaa airport. Griffiths said he would be travelling to Muscat and Sanaa over the next few days to lay the groundwork for future talks, but hinted he might initially engage in separate discussions with the two sides. He said it was "too early to say when the next round of consultations will take place". Griffiths has been up against difficult odds from the start. He is the UN's third Yemen envoy since 2014, when Huthis overran the capital and drove Hadi's government into exile, but all previous attempts to resolve the conflict have failed. Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened on behalf of the government in 2015, triggering what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. UN-backed talks between Yemen's warring parties ended Saturday before properly getting off the ground, with the UN envoy acknowledging it had not been possible to convince the rebels to come to Geneva Longchamp decamped across the Atlantic on Saturday to make their New York Fashion Week debut and celebrate their 70th anniversary by looking to the future, fronted by new brand ambassador Kendall Jenner. Guests were invited to the World Trade Center, where a dazzling view of the Manhattan skyline provided the backdrop to a collection summed up as 1970s glamor, California spirit and Parisian elegance. The French staple, best known by millions around the world for the iconic Pliage bag, is building on its leather goods heritage by highlighting its ready-to-wear, sunglasses and footwear lines. Their first fashion-week runway show comes hot on the heels of opening a new boutique on New York's legendary Fifth Avenue in May, and the selection of supermodel Jenner as their new ambassador. In two weeks' time, they are opening a new boutique in Beverly Hills -- hence the California spirit, which Jenner herself evokes, as does model-of-the-moment Kaia Gerber, 17, who walked the runway. Jenner's dazzling looks and fame as one fifth of the Kardashian-Jenner sisters, is likely to raise Longchamp's profile among the new Instagram generation. She sat front row, sporting the Longchamp Gladiators on her slender pins, next to Kate Moss, who was the face of Longchamp for eight years and in turn sat next to Priyanka Chopra. "It's a way of expressing the international development of the brand," Longchamp CEO Jean Cassegrain, 53, told AFP by telephone of the decision to come to New York, showing on the third day of fashion week. "A way of showing the cosmopolitan side of the brand," he added. Longchamp at heart is still a private, family firm. - 'Vote Cynthia!' - Cassegrain is the grandson of the founder. Sister Sophie Delafontaine is creative director, brother Olivier heads up operations in America and their 81-year-old father is still company president. Delafontaine sought to evoke "dreamy desert drives" and late nights in Los Angeles with animal print dresses, leather bikinis and lots of fringed tops, shorts and mini-skirts in suede. There were gladiator sandals in black, beige, orange, red and green, as well as the new Amazone bag. Ikat-style prints adorned blouses, long skirts and dresses. The 40 looks emphasized Longchamp's leather roots while looking to the future, reflecting the wider industry trends of clothing empires moving to accessories and leather goods embracing fashion. "Twenty-five years ago, fashion and leather goods were separate sectors," Cassegrain said. "The bag is now a fashion items, and labels also have to be fashion labels." Longchamp has around 1,500 stockists around the world, mostly in Europe, which makes up 60 percent of sales. Only 300 of them are operated directly by the brand. While the non-leather goods side of the business is growing, ready to wear, shoes and glasses still only make up 10 percent of business and only 50 of the stockists sell clothes or footwear. Overt politics have taken something of a backseat at New York Fashion Week since the early days of the Donald Trump presidency, with the fashion industry doing everything in their power to signal unhappiness. But Saturday, Christian Siriano brought it back to the fore by using his runway show to endorse Cynthia Nixon, the former "Sex and the City" actress campaigning to become New York's first woman governor. Nixon, whose effort to oust two-term incumbent Andrew Cuomo will do or die in Thursday's Democratic primary, sat in the front row. Each guest was given a Vote for Cynthia leaflet, there were special thanks to her in the notes for "all you are doing for New York" and Siriano came out for a bow at the end in a Nixon T-shirt. A model walks the runway at the Longchamp Spring/Summer 2019 runway show in New York Longchamp is building on its leather goods heritage by highlighting its ready-to-wear, sunglasses and footwear lines Kaia Gerber walks the runway at the Longchamp Spring/Summer 2019 runway show in New York Longchamp sought to evoke "dreamy desert drives" and late nights in Los Angeles with animal print dresses, leather bikinis and lots of fringed tops, shorts and mini-skirts in suede Pope Francis on Saturday urged newly-ordained bishops to fight abuse and reject what he termed the "clerical" culture which has seen a series of sex abuse scandals rock the Catholic Church. "Dear brothers, turn away from clericalism. Just say no to abuse, of power, conscience or any type means saying no forcefully to all forms of clericalism," the Argentinian pontiff told 74 new bishops, the bulk hailing from Africa. The group were attending a two-week seminar on how to lead their respective dioceses as the Church attempts to react to paedophilia scandals which have left the Vatican reeling and the pope accused of being party to a high-level cover-up. Archbishop of Malta Mgr Charles Scicluna, who Francis sent earlier this year to investigate a paedophilia scandal in Chile, and Hans Zollner, director of the Rome Centre for Child Protection, are both due to address the bishops in the course of the seminar. The pope did not directly mention the scandals which have threatened to spark a schism between conservatives and the Church's progressive wing but told bishops not to succumb to the temptation to behave like "princes". "Be men who are poor in material goods and rich in (human) relations, never harsh or confrontational but affable, patient, straightforward and open," Francis said, urging dedication to the poor and the young in particular, even if the latter might sometimes appear "hedonistic". He also warned the bishops against succumbing to apathy or mediocrity. Warning of the evils of materialism, the pontiff added: "Do not forget that the devil enters via your pockets!" Pope Francis told the newly ordained bishops to reject abuse in all its forms A helicopter crashed into a hillside in central Nepal on Saturday, killing six on board including a Japanese tourist, officials said. One woman survived the crash with injuries and has been airlifted to the capital. District police chief Basanta Bahadur Kunwar told AFP authorities were working to retrieve the bodies, but that reaching the crash site, located in thick forest and with no road access, had been "challenging". He added that the cause of the accident remained unknown. The single-pilot Kathmandu-bound Altitude Air helicopter was carrying six passengers, including a Japanese trekker, when it lost contact with air traffic control after taking off from the central district of Gorkha. Nepal has a booming private helicopter industry, flying tourists and goods to remote corners of the Himalayan nation where road access is limited or non-existent. But the impoverished country has a poor air safety record due to poorly trained staff and lacklustre maintenance. In 2016, seven people were killed in a helicopter crash 22 kilometres (14 miles) north of the capital. There were multiple helicopter accidents, claiming over a dozen lives, in the wake of a powerful 2015 earthquake when choppers were used to rescue the injured and deliver aid to communities cut off by the disaster. The European Union banned all Nepalese airlines following international alarm over the country's air safety record. The single-pilot helicopter was bound for Kathmandu (pictured May 2015) when it lost contact with air traffic control and crashed into a hillside Sweden's "naive" approach to integrating asylum seekers has opened the door to the far-right, an outspoken lawmaker told AFP ahead of elections expected to see the country's once-marginal anti-immigration party make gains. Amineh Kakabaveh is an Iranian Kurdish ex-peshmerga fighter who sought asylum herself in Sweden in the 1990s and has been a member of parliament since 2008. She has been a vocal critic of Sweden's handling of the 400,000 asylum seekers taken in since 2012, including 160,000 in 2015 alone, the highest number in Europe per capita. Sweden is "increasingly divided", said the 40-year-old politician, whose views have earned her enemies among her own formerly-communist Left Party who accuse her of stigmatising immigrants. Yet Kakabaveh is ruthless in her criticism of Sweden's shortcomings on integrating immigrants, giving it a failing grade. "We have been naive. We have not been brave. We had no plan," she said, adding that this has enabled a rise in "fundamentalism" in Sweden's suburbs that has fuelled the far-right. "Sweden has been having integration problems for 20 years," Kakabaveh tells AFP in an interview just days before the election. "This is why the Sweden Democrats (SD), a racist party, is now (poised to be) the second biggest party," she says. SD, an anti-immigration party created in 1988 by ex-neo-Nazis, is tipped to win around 20 percent of votes, according to an average of seven polling institutes in the final weeks of the campaign. That would put SD just behind Prime Minister Stefan Lofven's Social Democrats, and neck-and-neck with the conservative Moderates Party. Kakabaveh is worried about all the asylum seekers who have fled "from war, dictatorships, Islamic dictatorships, and regimes like Daesh (the Islamic State group)." Sweden is "increasingly divided," she says, clad in a red dress, red cardigan and high heels. "All red -- I'm a socialist!" she says with a laugh. "This multicultural society has been poorly constructed over the past two decades, and that has led to a separation of communities." The issue is so infected that it's taboo to talk about, she says. "SD has occupied the public debate even though it has ideas that have nothing to do with wanting to help the most vulnerable in society. Now they're heroes because the others don't dare rise to the challenge," she says. - Kalashnikovs and social work - Kakabaveh is not a household name in Sweden. But she's been threatened by "racists and fundamentalists" and says she lives under the protection of Sweden's security service Sapo, in charge of intelligence gathering and counter-terrorism. Despite her disillusionment with Sweden, she still thinks the Scandinavian country that prides itself on being a "humanitarian superpower" and model of tolerance is "a land of opportunity." "I arrived here illiterate. Six years later I was at university and now I've been a member of parliament for 10 years," she says. A peshmerga fighter in Iran, she was sentenced to death and fled to Sweden in 1992 where she was granted refugee status. In a picture on the cover of her autobiography published in 2016, a younger Kakabaveh is seen wearing typical peshmerga clothing, a Kalashnikov slung over her shoulder and a firearm on her hip, a leather cartridge belt around her waist. In Sweden, she earned a degree in social work before starting a Swedish branch of the French feminist movement "Neither Whores nor Doormats" in 2005. Women's liberation is her main focus, fighting for bans on minor girls wearing the Islamic headscarf and on religious schools. She is known for her vehement opposition to "religious extremism" and "the oppression of women because of honour codes" in Kurdish and Arab circles. But her outspokenness has come at a price: the Left Party refused to put her on their list of recommended candidates for Sunday's election. She nonetheless made it onto the list in Stockholm when other party members voted for her, though she is so far down she's unlikely to get elected. And what will she do if she's not re-elected? "Something else," she says, not missing a beat. "Maybe some social work for oppressed women in another country, on another continent." Amineh Kakabaveh is an Iranian Kurdish ex-peshmerga fighter who sought asylum in Sweden in the 1990s and has been a member of parliament since 2008 A film that follows two friends through four nightmarish years of the Syrian civil war has lifted some of the top prizes at the Venice film festival, which ends Saturday. "Still Recording", a documentary by Ghiath Ayoub and Saeed Al Batal, records what happened to two idealistic art students after they were swept up in the fervour of the Syrian revolution. It picked up two awards at Venice Critics' Week. Friends Saeed and Milad leave Damascus and go to Douma in 2011, a suburb under rebel control, to set up a radio station and recording studio. There they struggle to keep a flicker of hope and creativity alive as they endure fighting, siege and famine. Ayoub and Al Batal, who shot 500 hours of footage, told AFP that with so little reporting coming out of Syria it was important to bear witness. "We started doing this because there wasn't, and still isn't, an efficient working media in Syria because it's not allowed to enter and if it is, it's under the control of the regime," said Al Batal. "Art is nothing if it is not resistance, even if there isn't revolution... it is resistance against a huge amount of emotions you have got inside you. "Emotions need to come out and expressing them through art can do that," he added. The win comes as the Syrian regime and its Russian allies are preparing to launch an assault on Idlib, the northern province that is the last major stronghold of the rebel and jihadist groups which have been trying to overthrow Bashar al-Assad for the past seven years. Al Batal said the situation in Syria "is more dangerous than ever now" because the Russian military are more ruthless than Assad's badly trained soldiers. "They know where to hit, and how to hit hard," said Al Batal, who said the "media army behind them" was the same. A film that follows two friends through four nightmarish years of the Syrian civil war has lifted some of the top prizes at the Venice film festival Syria's last major rebel bastion Idlib was Saturday targeted by the "most violent" Russian air strikes in a month, a monitor said, after the failure of a three-way summit on the Syrian conflict. The renewed strikes came a day after the leaders of rebel backer Turkey and regime allies Russia and Iran failed at the summit in Tehran to agree on how to stave off a threatened offensive on the northwestern province of Idlib. Aid organisations have warned that any military campaign to retake the region of nearly three million people on the Turkish border could spark one of the worst humanitarian disasters in Syria's seven-year war. On Saturday, dozens of Russian air raids hit southern and southeastern areas of Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. At least nine civilians including two children were killed in the strikes and as dozens of barrel bombs were dropped by regime aircraft, the Britain-based monitor said. An AFP correspondent in the southern village of Al-Muntar saw huge clouds of grey smoke billow up above olive trees after a barrel bombing. - Civilians flee - Women and children ran terrified across nearby fields, one woman appearing to clutch a baby in a blanket. An elderly man sat out of breath, barefoot and dazed in the red earth, his walking cane by his side. An underground hospital located in the province's Hass area was hit by an air strike, damaging the building and equipment, an AFP correspondent said. "We've had non-stop air raids since the morning," said Abu Hussein, originally a resident of Hama province to the south before he found refuge near the Idlib village of Al-Abdine. "Barrel bombs dropped by helicopters crashed close to us," he told AFP. The raids prompted hundreds of families to take to the roads, as dozens of cars and trucks tried to ferry civilians away from the bombardment. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the raids targeted jihadist and rebel positions, some of which were empty and others in use. It was the heaviest bombardment since August 10, when at least 53 civilians were killed in Idlib and the neighbouring province of Aleppo, he said. Idlib is largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance led by Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate, as well as rival rebels. The United Nations has warned that any offensive could force up to 800,000 people to flee their homes and urged key powerbrokers to avoid a "bloodbath". On Friday, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly disagreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a press conference in the Iranian capital. Erdogan called for a "truce", while Russia's president said Damascus "has a right and must eventually take under control all of its national territory". Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned against a "scorched earth" policy, but said "fighting terrorism in Idlib is unavoidable". Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime has upped its rhetoric on retaking control of Idlib and surrounding areas over the past month. The threat comes after it recaptured areas around the capital Damascus and in southern Syria earlier this year, through a combination of deadly bombardment and surrender deals. - Regime, Kurds clash - Idlib's provincial health chief Munzer al-Khalil warned Saturday that a large-scale military operation could result in "the most catastrophic crisis in our war". Russian military spokesman Igor Konashenkov, for his part, said Moscow had "irrefutable information" that Syrian rebels were planning a "provocation" in Idlib province to justify Western intervention. More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's civil war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-Assad protests. Elsewhere on Saturday, clashes between Kurdish forces and regime fighters in the divided northeastern city of Qamishli killed 20 combatants, including 13 regime personnel, the Observatory said, updating an earlier toll. Kurdish forces control most of Qamishli, but the regime and allied militiamen hold part of the city and its airport. The Observatory said shooting broke out when Kurdish security forces at a checkpoint demanded that regime fighters step out of their patrol vehicle but they refused. The Kurdish forces said they had retaliated to regime fire. With US-led support, Syria's Kurds played a key role in the war against the Islamic State group, during which they seized large swathes of northern and northeastern Syria. The Damascus regime has vowed to reintegrate the Kurdish-held areas, by force if necessary. In late July, it opened talks with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Syrian protesters wave the flag of the opposition as they demonstrate against the regime and its ally Russia, in the rebel-held city of Idlib on September 7, 2018 Smoke billows following Syrian government forces' bombardment around the village of Al-Muntar on the southern edges of rebel-held Idlib province A member of the Kurdish internal security police walks by a government forces' pick-up truck at the site of clashes with regime forces in Qamishli, northeastern Syria US President Donald Trump said Friday he was expecting a "positive" new letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, indicating that negotiations on denuclearizing the peninsula remain alive after weeks of apparent deadlock. "I know that a letter is being delivered to me, a personal letter from Kim Jong Un to me, that was handed at the border," Trump told reporters traveling with him to North Dakota. "I think it's going to be a positive letter." Trump, who said he expects Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to deliver the note, also brought up a statement from Kim on Thursday emphasizing his continuing "trust in Trump," despite difficulties in denuclearization negotiations. "That was a very positive statement, what he said about me," Trump said. "There's never been a more positive statement." He accused the news media of not covering it, however, adding: "Honestly I didn't see it on the front page of your papers." Trump lauded the progress he said had been made with Pyongyang since the June summit with the North Korean leader in Singapore. "We have our hostages back," he said. "I say it a hundred times -- no missiles, no rockets, no nuclear testing. There's been some rhetoric, let's see what happens." Kim on Thursday renewed his commitment to the goal of denuclearization in talks with a special envoy from Seoul, ahead of a summit planned in Pyongyang September 18-20 with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. "The north and the south should further their efforts to realize the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," KCNA quoted Kim as saying. Kim's expression of confidence in Trump, relayed by Seoul's envoy, prompted the US president to tweet out his thanks to the North Korean leader and vow to "get it done together." Trump and Kim pledged to denuclearize the Korean peninsula at the Singapore summit but no details were agreed. And Washington and Pyongyang have sparred since on what that means and how it will be achieved. - 'Still more work to do' - Trump in late August canceled a planned trip to Pyongyang by Pompeo over a lack of progress in North Korea's nuclear disarmament. But relations seem to have improved since then. South Korean national security advisor Chung Eui-yong, who met with Kim, said the North Korean leader also emphasized that his "trust in Trump remains unchanged," the comment which led to the US president's tweet. Chung added that Kim expressed his intention to work closely with the United States to achieve denuclearization "in the first official term of President Trump," which ends in January 2021. In a statement on August 24, Trump said he was scotching Pompeo's trip "because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." He also slammed China as not helping with the effort to convince Pyongyang to halt its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile program. In New Delhi on Thursday, Pompeo, the former US intelligence chief who heads the US negotiating effort, struck a sober note, saying there was still much work to do. North Korea "is the only country that has commitments under UN Security Council resolutions," Pompeo told reporters. "It is the case that there is still an enormous amount of work to do. We haven't had any nuclear tests, we haven't had any missile tests, which we consider a great thing," Pompeo added. "But the work of convincing Chairman Kim to make the strategic shift which we talked about, for a brighter future for the people of North Korea, continues." President Donald Trump told reporters traveling with him to North Dakota that North Korea's Kim Jong Un had made a "very positive" statement about him The United States plans to cut $25 million in aid to six hospitals primarily serving Palestinians in Jerusalem, a State Department official confirmed Saturday. The official said the decision followed a President Donald Trump-directed review of assistance to the Palestinian Authority and in the West Bank and Gaza "to ensure these funds were being spent in accordance with US national interests and were providing value to the US taxpayer." "As a result of that review, at the direction of the president, we will be redirecting approximately $25 million originally planned for the East Jerusalem Hospital Network. Those funds will go to high-priority projects elsewhere." Palestinians reacted angrily. "This is not a formula of peacebuilding, this is a complete inhuman and immoral action that adopts the Israeli right-wing narrative to target and punish Palestinian citizens to compromise their rights to independence," said Ahmad Shami, a spokesman for Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. "Such an act of political blackmail goes against the norms of human decency and morality," added Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee. In the past, the US funds made it possible for many Palestinians to seek specialized treatment -- such as cardiac surgery, neonatal intensive care or children's dialysis -- unavailable in the West Bank and Gaza, according to the World Health Organization. Palestinian officials vociferously protested US President Donald Trump's December 2017 decision to recognize the disputed city of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. They accuse him of using aid as a coarse lever to force them back to peace negotiations with Israel. The Trump administration this year cut funds to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees and scrapped around $200 million in payments by USAID to the Palestinians. Trump made it clear Thursday he was working to force the Palestinians to negotiate. "You'll get money, but we're not paying you until we make a deal," he said in Washington. "If we don't make a deal, we're not paying." Instead, Palestinians say his position has weakened moderates and encouraged radicals across the Middle East. The PLO's Hanan Ashrawi, seen here in a 2015 file photo, has called the Trump administration decision to cut aid to Palestinian hospitals "an act of political blackmail (that) goes against the norms of human decency" The United States on Friday recalled its envoys to three Latin American countries that recently switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China, saying it would hold consultations with the diplomats. The move comes after Washington accused Beijing last month of destabilizing cross-Strait relations and engaging in a campaign of "political interference" by poaching Taiwan's allies in the western hemisphere. "The Department of State has called back the US Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Robin Bernstein, the US Ambassador to El Salvador Jean Manes and the US Charge d'Affaires in Panama Roxanne Cabral," a statement said Friday. "Our three chiefs of mission will meet with US government leaders to discuss ways in which the United States can support strong, independent, democratic institutions and economies throughout Central America and the Caribbean," it added. Taiwan and China have been engaged for years in a diplomatic tug-of-war in developing countries, with economic support and other aid often used as bargaining chips for diplomatic recognition. Beijing sees self-ruling, democratic Taiwan as part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has not ruled out using force to do so. Relations between Taipei and Beijing have worsened since Tsai Ing-wen came to power in 2016 as her government refuses to acknowledge that Taiwan is part of "one China." El Salvador, which switched its ties in August, became the fifth diplomatic loss under Tsai's presidency and the third this year. But while most countries have established formal relations with Beijing rather than rival Taipei in recent decades, Taiwan still has unofficial relationships with powerful countries. Its most important unofficial ally is the US, which remains Taiwan's leading arms supplier, despite switching diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 1979. Ties have warmed between the US and Taiwan in recent months, incensing Beijing. Some analysts saw the poaching of El Salvador as an indirect slap in the face to President Donald Trump's administration and a warning against further friendly overtures. A guard closes the gate of the Embassy of Taiwan in San Salvador in August 2018 Retail giant Walmart has been slammed for selling T-shirts and hoodies featuring Soviet hammer and sickle symbols. Lithuania urged the American chain to stop selling the items, insisting that the image insults victims of often deadly Soviet-era persecution. We sent a letter to Walmart requesting the withdrawal of products with Soviet symbols and we are still waiting for a reaction, Lithuanian Ambassador to the US Rolandas Krisciunas told AFP. The hammer and sickle symbol is banned in Lithuania, a European Union member of 2.9 million that was the first republic to secede from the Soviet Union as it began to crumble in 1990. The Baltic states Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius tweeted: You wouldnt buy Nazi-themed clothing, would you? This red t-shirt is one of several items of clothing for sale with the hammer and sickle symbol. Source: Walmart We trust Walmarts moral stance & call to withdraw products with the symbols of mass murders. Vilnius estimates that more than 50,000 Lithuanians died in camps, prisons, and during deportations in 1944-1953, while another 20,000 partisans and supporters were killed in anti-Soviet guerilla fighting. Walmart is selling red-hooded sweatshirts and T-shirts emblazoned with the yellow hammer and sickle symbol over the caption CCCP, which means USSR in the Cyrillic alphabet. Hoodies on Walmarts website cost US$29.95 (AUD$42.15) while the T-shirts go for US$18.00 (AUD$25.30). The Soviet-inspired style has become trendy in recent years as Russian designers make their mark. Walmart has labelled the clothing as cool on their website. Source: Getty Walmart did not immediately respond when contacted by AFP, but guidelines posted on its website prohibit the sale of products related to any historical or news event that could be considered offensive. Politicians in neighbouring Baltic states Estonia and Latvia, where people also suffered decades of Soviet occupation, joined the call for the worlds biggest retailer to pull the Soviet-themed merchandise from its shelves. Walmart is present in 28 countries, but not in the Baltic states or other eastern European countries dominated by the former Soviet Union. Story continues Lithuania, which joined both the EU and NATO in 2004, was a battleground between Nazi and Soviet troops during World War II. It was seized by Moscow in 1940 under a secret pact with Adolf Hitler, and within a decade, some 300,000 Lithuanians had been deported, mostly to Siberia, or killed in insurgent fighting. Its not the first time a major brand has faced criticism for controversial clothing. In February Amazon was slammed for a Chinese costume for children that encouraged racism. Yemen's foreign minister slammed a UN envoy Saturday for "appeasing" Huthi rebels by not squarely blaming them for the failure of peace talks in Geneva. "I believe that the words of the Special Envoy... were unfortunately appeasing the coup plotters and giving them excuse," Khaled Yamani told reporters. His comments came shortly after UN envoy Martin Griffiths announced that talks scheduled this week had ended after the rebels failed to show up. "We didn't manage to get... the delegation from Sanaa to come here... We just didn't make it," he told reporters, insisting however that the Huthi delegation had wanted to come and were "disappointed not to be here." Asked who was to blame for the stillborn negotiations, he insisted: "It's not my job to find fault. It's my job to find agreement." "I'm not in the business of finding fault with one side so that the other side allegedly can be happier." His comments certainly did not please Yamani, who has been heading the Yemen government delegation that arrived in Geneva on Wednesday for the talks. He insisted that in private conversations with his delegation, Griffiths had "expressed his dissatisfaction with (the) unjustified position" of the Huthis not to come to Geneva. But publicly, he said, Griffiths "is providing excuses for their absence." "The lack of pressure on this group of coup plotters has encouraged them... to look with distain on the efforts of the Special Envoy." The talks, which had been meant to be the first meeting between Yemen's warring sides in two years, had been scheduled to formally open Thursday but were put on hold. The Huthis, powerful armed tribes locked in a war with Yemen's Saudi-backed government, have refused to take off from the rebel-held capital of Sanaa unless the United Nations meets a list of conditions, which includes securing a safe return from Geneva to Sanaa for their delegation. They accused the Saudi-led alliance of planning to strand the rebel delegation in Djibouti, where their plane was to make a stop en route to Geneva. The Huthis hinted they feared a repeat of 2016, when 108 days of talks in Kuwait broke down and a rebel delegation was stranded in Oman for three months due to an air blockade, the council said in a statement on Telegram. The Saudi-led military coalition controls the country's airspace and Sanaa international airport has been largely disused for years. The Iran-backed Huthis also demand the evacuation of their wounded fighters from Sanaa to Oman. Griffiths meanwhile said he had held "fruitful consultations" with the government side, and that efforts would continue to bring the parties together. Yemen's foreign minister slammed a UN envoy Saturday for "appeasing" Huthi rebels by not squarely blaming them for the failure of peace talks in Geneva. The head of Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels called Saturday for "resistance" as UN-brokered peace talks with the government collapsed after the insurgents stayed away. "Our choice is steadfastness and resistance to aggression on all fronts," rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi said in a defiant speech. "I appeal to the free and honourable people of Yemen today to go to the fronts ... We must move on all fronts to recruit for our defence." Huthi's representatives failed to show up at the talks in Geneva this week, prompting UN envoy Martin Griffiths to call off the attempted negotiations. In his first reaction to the collapse of the talks, Huthi said he did not negotiate with "mercenaries" and "traitors", referring to the government. "The delegation of mercenaries ... in Geneva does not even make its own decisions," he said in a speech broadcast on the rebels' Al-Masirah TV. "If the delegation ... does not have the decision even in its personal affairs, how can it go to Geneva and lead negotiations on key issues, including finding a solution to their aggression?" The peace talks, initially scheduled to open Thursday, would have been the first official negotiation effort between the government and rebels since 2014. But the Iran-backed Huthis refused to take off from the rebel-held capital for Geneva unless the UN met a list of conditions, which included securing a safe return to Sanaa for their delegation. They accused the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's government of planning to strand their delegation in Djibouti, where their plane was to make a stop en route to Geneva. While the rebels control Sanaa, the coalition controls Yemen's airspace. The Huthis had hinted they feared a repeat of 2016, when 108 days of talks in Kuwait broke down and a rebel delegation was stranded in Oman for three months due to an air blockade. Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since 2015 when Saudi Arabia and its allies joined the government's fight against the Huthis -- triggering what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Iraqi protesting the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen (pictured March 2015) hold a portrait of Yemeni rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi, who said the only choice is "steadfastness and resistance to aggression" as the UN-brokered peace talks collapsed AUBURN Ava Mollinedo, 5, was all smiles as she held a net aloft as a part of the activities at CNY TomatoFest in downtown Auburn Saturday. Performer Nate "Nate the Great" Marshall juggled several balls and then tossed them in the direction of Ava's net. Though the objects didn't quite make it the first time, Ava managed to maneuver the net to catch most of the balls when Nate tried again. Ava, the top half of her face adorned with purple and white paint, said the juggling was her favorite part of the annual festival. The festival raises money for eight Cayuga County food pantries associated with the Central New York Food Bank. Musicians, vendors and more were lined up throughout a portion of Genesee Street throughout the day. Sheep, goats and chickens were displayed at the festival, and Andrew Kalet, a K9 unit officer with the Auburn Police Department, performed a demonstration with police dog Chuey. Heads were often turned on the street toward Speedy, an African spur tortoise. Whenever Speedy would get too close to a structure, Diana Sleiertin of MaxMan Reptile Rescue gently would gently redirect it with her cowboy boots. Speedy caught the attention of Kooper Charles, 5 who repeatedly pointed at the reptile. Kooper's dad, Jared Daniels, and Tricia Charles said they were glad to find a family-friendly event in the area. Kooper said he enjoyed making crafts at the event, such as a large paper flower and a ladybug bracelet the latter of which lighted up, Kooper proudly noted. Donna Wolfgang, coordinator of the Western Cayuga County Emergency Food Pantry in Union Springs, said there is a significant community need for food, as some people may be unable to make ends meet due to high medical bills, poor insurance or various other factors. She said food pantries and similar programs could make a difference on if some children will eat on a given night. Donna said she is thrilled by how many people in the community contribute and get involved. "They don't ignore the problem, they do everything they can to help out," she said. Staff writer Kelly Rocheleau can be reached at (315) 282-2243 or kelly.rocheleau@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter @KellyRocheleau. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 1 Sad 0 Angry 0 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. Vision Zero, Mayor de Blasio's signature campaign to reduce traffic deaths, has notched big victories worth lauding: a lower speed limit across the city, cameras that catch speed demons, redesigned intersections that safeguard pedestrians and cyclists. That just 216 people were killed in traffic collisions last year, an all-time low, is cause for sustained applause. So what's the mayor's excuse for the shrinking size of the Collision Investigation Squad, charged with investigating car crashes where a crime might have occurred? Back in 2013, before de Blasio came into office, what was then known as the Accident Investigation Squad had 26 officers; they investigated 466 crashes. Then-Commissioner Ray Kelly, recognizing that "the term 'accident' has sometimes given the inaccurate impression or connotation that there is no fault or liability associated with a specific event," rebranded the unit and committed to ramping up its post-crash forensic work. Five years later, under a mayor who's put safer streets front and center, the squad has just 24 officers and has investigated only 380 crashes, the New York Times finds. Which means almost all of the 61,000 New Yorkers injured in crashes last year more than 11,000 of them pedestrians, and nearly 5,000 of them cyclists saw their cases pursued by patrol cops with no special forensic training, if by anyone at all. C'mon, mayor. C'mon, police commissioner. You can do better than this. The Daily News, New York There was some cause for celebration at the Labor Day barbecue this year. Unemployment is down and those 401(k)s are getting meatier because the stock market is up. The number of private sector jobs on Long Island rose by 1 percent over the year in July slightly less of a jump than the state and nation at large, but still good news. Unfortunately, recovery from the Great Recession has been uneven for too many here and nationwide. Wages have been stagnant, and even the hopeful economic numbers mask people who are underemployed, freelancing without benefits, don't have the skills needed in the digital marketplace or just gave up looking for jobs. Big companies are getting bigger through mergers, lessening the leverage of workers to switch jobs for higher pay. Meanwhile, CEO compensation has skyrocketed, increasing the income inequality gap, despite decades of increased worker productivity. The 2017 tax bill benefits the wealthiest and will ultimately do little for everyone else. One example of how the rich get richer, the so-called carried-interest loophole, still allows hedge-funders to pay lower taxes on their profits. Strong unions have been a key bulwark of worker power in American history, one that has won workplace protections and real bargaining power. But their strength in the private sector has eroded badly and public sector unions are being weakened in the courts. It hasn't helped that a few unions have been shortsighted or distanced from the needs of their rank and file. Without consistently rising wages, the American dream is being denied to too many. The hope to buy a home, to see children get a better education and a better life, even to retire with security, is slipping away. The solutions to stagnant paychecks are not easy to realize. Creating opportunities must be a singular focus, and that starts with investing in human capital and formulating policies that support workers. That would make those late-summer barbecues celebrating workers a lot more celebratory. Newsday, Long Island For all appearances, Brett Kavanaugh is headed for confirmation as a Supreme Court justice. But that is no reason for Democrats to allow such a reactionary nominee to sail through without a fight not only in the Senate, but in the court of public opinion. Republicans have the barest majority 51 seats but it would be enough to assure Judge Kavanaugh the nomination. No doubt he will do what nominees before him have done for decades dodge questions about his thinking on legal issues, and do his best to perpetuate the fiction that he is just a faithful interpreter of the law who will not apply his personal, political and ideological views to his decisions. Which is, of course, nonsense. There is every indication starting with President Donald Trump's statements that he would nominate anti-abortion, pro-gun justices that Judge Kavanaugh would engage in judicial activism, just a brand more appealing to conservatives. And there's every indication Mr. Trump chose him specifically to shield himself from being questioned or prosecuted in the scandals swirling around him. Not that he'll admit it, much less promise to recuse himself from such matters, as he should. That means senators will likely hear the kind of platitudes and nonanswers they've come to accept over the years that he's a "pro-law" judge, that it would be inappropriate to offer an opinion on matters that might come before the court, that he greatly respects precedent. As for his thoughts on women's rights, gun control, health care, worker and consumer rights, corporate power, campaign finance, and anything else no comment. Even those inclined to support Judge Kavanaugh should be concerned about how this nomination is proceeding. Hundreds of thousands of documents from his days as a White House counsel have been withheld. Hours before the hearings began Tuesday, 42,000 pages were cynically dumped on the Senate. It's an argument Americans need to hear and one they should press Republicans to heed or face a judgment of their own come November. The Times Union, Albany Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The California legislature passed the nations toughest net neutrality bill on August 31, but a full week later the states outgoing governor, Jerry Brown, has not yet signed the billor even made a public comment about it, according to a San Jose Mercury News report. Browns inaction has angered net neutrality advocates and given time for the states internet service companies to pull together an effort to persuade Brown to veto the bill, SB 822. According to a report by the tech news site Motherboard, at least one ISP has tried to recruit its own employees to pressure Brown into rejecting the bill with his veto stamp. Frontier Communications has urged its employees in an internal company email to sign an online form letter to Brown, saying, I oppose SB 822 because it will harm consumers and impose complex layers of costly regulation. This will deter investment and delay broadband deployment in California, especially in rural areas that still lack high-speed Internet access. The letter claims that, Frontier Communications supports an open Internet where providers do not block, throttle, or interfere with customers' ability to access and navigate the Internet. But according to Motherboard, the company was part of a coalition which repeatedly sued the Federal Communications Commission over the 2015 net neutrality rules, which were repealed by the now-Republican-led FCC by a vote in December. Nationwide net neutrality officially ended on June 11. On Friday, September 7, a coalition of advocacy groups including the ACLU, Common Cause, Center For Media Justice and 17 others sent an open letter to Brown, pressing him to sign the net neutrality bill without delay. Your signature on SB 822 would mark a historic victory for Black people and other underrepresented groups, advancing the long-held civil rights fight for equal voice, now in a digital age, the letter states. But Brown has yet to take any public position on the net neutrality issue. The internet is not just a luxury, its wired into our DNA in 2018 America, San Francisco State Senator Scott Wiener said at a Thursday press conference in Los Angeles, urging Brown to sign the bill. We need to make sure it remains a level playing field. Under California legislative rules, Brown has until September 30 to sign or veto the bill. If Brown fails to sign the bill by the deadline, it takes effect without his signature. Photo By California Air Resources Board / Wikimedia Commons Should Beaufort County's commissioners be resolved to ask the federal government to defend our Southern Border by ending the Biden /Harris Open Border policy in regards to that one border that is intentionally made OPEN? Yes, Illegal Migrants are a huge expense to local governments. No, the cost of Undocumented Immigrants is insignificant in our providing a pathway for the "Browning of America". Eric Davis was chosen to replace Bill Cobey as chairman of the State Board of Education.Davis recently became vice chairman after A.L. "Buddy" Collins left to campaign for a seat on the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners. Board member Alan Duncan was chosen as the new vice chairman.The votes during a meeting of the board Thursday, Sept. 6, to approve Davis and Duncan were unanimous.Cobey announced in July he wouldn't seeking another term as chair, explaining thatIn August, Cobey reported he would resign from the board this month.In August, board members Greg Alcorn and Becky Taylor also announced their resignations from the board. Cobey, along with Taylor and Alcorn, were appointed in 2013 to the board by former Gov. Pat McCrory. The Sept. 6 meeting was the last day for all three board members.Taylor said.Taylor is leaving to live with her husband full-time in their beach house in Carteret County, which isn't in the region she was appointed to represent. She praised the SBE staff for their hard work and said she feels the board is in good hands with Davis and Duncan.Alcorn is leaving the board to focus on his early childhood education nonprofit called ApSeed, but he may return to the board at some point.Alcorn said in his brief farewell speech.Cobey said he was speaking from the heart when he said this is the best board he has ever served on.Cobey said.Gov. Roy Cooper stopped by at the start of the board meeting to share his education agenda and to bid farewell to the departing board members.Cooper said.Cooper urged for a bipartisan approach to improving education.Cooper said. The way North Carolina governs alcoholic spirits must change, for myriad reasons.It breeds favoritism and corruption. It's archaic, monopolistic, and, when comparing the N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control system to its counterparts in neighboring states, downright embarrassing.Clearly, lawmakers need to reconfigure, if not trash entirely, this nonsensical system, which empowers 168 local boards - effectively fiefdoms - to choose winners and losers based on political sway and personal animus.The system is indefensible in that it gives the state unfettered authority to control all aspects of the liquor trade, including sales, and gives producers little to no recourse.Many N.C. distillers speak out loudly against the system in private yet are careful not to criticize the ABC in public over fear of retribution, which is real. Some distillers will say that no system is perfect, and they do their best to work within its boundaries.Nonsense. The system is broken and irreparable. It's time to blow it up.A state audit that found ABC officials cost the state more than $13.5 million over more than a decade is evidence enough. The hand-wringing and departures that followed the scathing audit devolved into politically tinged finger-pointing and evasion. Fighting over who did what or who's most wrong is silly, much like trying to argue that it's better to live in Venezuela than in North Korea. It's bad either way.But what to do?My colleagues at the John Locke Foundation have championed total privatization, which most distillers I've talked to are reticent to embrace because they fear the heft of international conglomerates, which will overwhelm the marketplace, especially if the three-tiered system - a relic - remains in place. Distillers use words such as "crushed" and "squashed." Some would prefer a system more like that of Virginia, a control state like North Carolina but much different because it promotes sales over control and passes laws friendly to distillers.As for the prohibitionists who continue to defend our 80-year-old system, Virginia has churches, too. As does South Carolina and Tennessee.N.C. distillers just want a level playing field, so to speak, in which liquor is governed more like beer and wine. A modified control state would be a good place to start, in the near term. But the long-term goal should be privatization. If, that is, privatization means freedom to distribute to customers, as well as to breweries, restaurants and the like, sans regulation governing the number of stores or what products they can and can't sell, etc.Roy Cordato, senior economist and resident scholar at the John Locke Foundation, says a free market for distilled spirits in North Carolina would give local, state-based distilleries a real chance to step out on their own - particularly in the current atmosphere in which consumers are looking to buy "boutique" and "craft-made" products made by local producers."The craft beer movement is a perfect example. One could expect distilled spirit shops to spring up across the state specializing in locally produced alcoholic beverages. This might include businesses that not only sell distilled products but also beers and wines from North Carolina, all under the same roof.Cordato says.No distiller should argue that last point. Otherwise, we would ask a few questions about his or her motives. Our nation's first minimum wage law, the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931, had racist motivation. During its legislative debate, its congressional supporters made such statements as, "That contractor has cheap colored labor that he transports, and he puts them in cabins, and it is labor of that sort that is in competition with white labor throughout the country." During hearings, American Federation of Labor President William Green complained, "Colored labor is being sought to demoralize wage rates." As part of the US-Mexico trade deal that was announced last week, the Trump administration argued for and won a $16 per hour minimum wage for auto and auto parts workers in the United States and Mexico. In particular, the agreement states that 40 to 45 percent of the goods coming from factories in either country be made by workers earning a minimum of $16 per hour. According to Bloomberg , this isOf course, American workers are making well above that amount.So, it must be the case that Trump is supporting this provision because he's concerned about social justice for Mexican workers. Surely the Trump administration is doing this because it believes that no one should have to work for less than a living wage and it is exploitation by big auto companies to pay Mexican auto workers so much less than American workers. It's about worker solidarity, right?Is there anyone, on the right or the left, that really thinks that? Of course not.Everyone knows why he negotiated this deal. The minimum wage will allow American auto workers to compete with Mexican workers by pricing them out of the market. This, in turn, will discourage auto manufactures from continuing to operate plants in Mexico. In other words, the point is to price Mexican workers out of the market, not to provide them with a "livable wage" or "right an injustice." Mexican auto and auto parts workers will not see a huge increase in their wages but face the prospects of being unemployed, that is, a zero wage.Economists have always argued that minimum wage laws prevent lower-skilled, less well-trained and, consequently, less productive workers from being able to compete with higher-skilled, better-trained and more productive workers. In other words, minimum wage laws aren't compassionate or an expression of social justice but spring from the same sentiment as a tariff or quota: protectionism. They are meant to advance the fortunes of one group of workers at the expense of another. And this is true, whether they are protecting a group of domestic workers from foreign labor competition or one group of domestic workers (typically union or union supported) from another less politically powerful group, such as teenagers or others who have fewer work skills.Minimum wage hikes during the mid-20th century were pushed by politically powerful labor unions throughout the Northeast to prevent Southern non-union workers from competing for textile and other manufacturing jobs. And unions have always opposed a minimum wage differential for teenagers because it would allow younger and less experienced workers to compete more effectively with older workers. Indeed, it has always been a common refrain that such a differential would allow teenagers to take jobs away from their parents.It is only more recently, at the earliest since WWII, that the minimum wage in the United States has been supported on social justice grounds. In the early 20th century, the first calls for a minimum wage were primarily to keep lower-wage black and Chinese workers from competing with white labor in the railroad industry. During the debates on the Davis-Bacon Act in 1931, racist motives to protect white workers from black worker competition also raised their ugly head. As economist Walter Williams has pointed out in a 2017 commentary Outside the U.S., it is well known that minimum wage laws were primarily supported in apartheid South Africa by whites-only labor unions because native blacks were breaking their diamond mine worker cartel by offering lower wages.The truth is that, by negotiating this trade deal, the Trump administration is using a minimum wage for what it has traditionally been used for - to keep an underprivileged and less productive classes of workers, in this case typical laborers working in a Mexican auto or auto parts factory, from competing using the only tool they have available to them, lower wages. The further truth is that no one denies this. It is, in fact, the widely recognized purpose of this part of the agreement.What is especially hypocritical is that the American left, particularly labor unions and union-funded left-wing advocacy groups, deny that this same result would occur if the United States nearly doubled the national minimum wage to $15 per hour. But it is certainly not puzzling, given the history of those unions' advocacy for higher minimum wages in the past. I borrowed the meme below from the #WalkAway guys. They are pretty awesome. Plus, they have the best memes!!- Conservatives are more responsible with guns (WalkAway meme)Anyway, I wanted to use this to make a point, in addition to the very powerful message this meme sends. It is true, the only threats of violence and acts of violence committed in the last 10 years, at least, has been by liberals and by progressive activists, by left-wing nut jobs, and by radical Islamists (embraced by Democrats). The only exception is Dylan Roof, a self-professed white supremacist who many equate with the conservative side. (Note, it was not his original intent to shoot up a predominantly black church. He initially wanted to go on a shooting rampage at a local community college but when he scoped it out, he noticed there were too many armed security guards. Gun-free zones attract evil-intending shooters, no doubt about it). Yet despite the propensity of liberals and liberal/progressive activists and those identifying with the Democratic Party and those with minds poisoned by hatred against conservatives to obtain guns for the purpose of harming innocent people, President Obama made the calculated and politically-motivated decision to have the Department of Homeland Security shift its focus away from radical Islamists and other extreme Muslim groups as potential threats of violence in the country to CONSERVATIVE groups and individuals, such as veterans, Christians ("those who still cling to their Guns and their Religion"), Second Amendment groups, Tea Party organizations, etc. According to Obama (and then DHS), such people and such groups are the most likely to radicalize and become violent.Check it out for yourself:I guess Obama was asleep during the whole Black Lives Matter protest. Who can forget that infamous march in Dec. 2014, led by race hustler Al Sharpton (I will never honor him with the title "reverend"), where black protesters chanted: "What Do We Want? - Dead Cops!" "When Do We Want Them? - NOW!" After that, all the shootings and needless violence and killing of innocent cops ensued. Where was Obama on that and then all the killing? Where was the Department of Homeland Security on the Black Lives Matter protesters? Which group of people was most likely to radicalize and become violent?There was no honesty in what Obama did to conservatives. He targeted them needlessly for political purposes only. There was - and is - no honest comparison between conservatives and the Black Lives Matter movement when it comes to likelihood to become organized and violent.Conservatives treasure their right to have and bear firearms for self-protection only (primarily). Other groups - liberal groups, progressive groups, BLM groups, Antifa - want guns to hurt people, to intimidate, to usher in a sense of fear, to silence speech and conduct.Again, from what group are American's freedoms and privileges under assault from?That document, "Countering Rightwing Extremism" was implemented in April, just 2 months after Obama was inaugurated. DHS forced that policy on all state and local law enforcement agencies. Soon after, Obama's IRS began harassing and targeting Tea Party groups and refusing to allow them to organize. If they couldn't organize, they couldn't collect money to engage in the election process and seek to advance their issues and their candidates.So I ask you this: Was the IRS targeting all just an innocent mistake, without any political intent, as Obama told the American people? Or was it just another policy to target, harass, silence, and vilify conservatives?Having the benefit of hindsight, we now see the bigger picture: First, Obama targeted conservatives for his own political purposes - to minimize the effect of Tea Party groups and other conservatives in the election of 2012, when he himself was running for a second term. You will remember that while he did win easily, in many states, his margin of victory was extraordinarily slim And then there was the 2016 election... With everything we know now - all the Deep State type efforts to take down Trump and to ensure that Hillary Clinton won the election (to continue the Obama-era policies) - we can conclude that one of Obama's most important and consistent efforts was to target conservatives, minimize their political voice, create division to make it seem like conservatives were the bad guys, the racists, weaponize the government against them, and all for the purpose of ensuring that the government remain committed to his agenda (his progressive and global agenda) and remain in the hands of the Democratic Party.Obama will go down in history as our most corrupt US president. He will be credited with the greatest level of citizen distrust in government - in its intelligence-gathering agencies, in its ability to administer justice fairly and evenly, in its ability to conduct itself within its legal/constitutional and ethical guidelines, and in its ability not to become a weapon against the American people. The director of housing for UCSC's Silicon Valley campus asked the university's 6,000 professors to consider sheltering their students to help bridge the shortfall between university-subsidized housing and the student body's needs, amidst the whitest of white-hot property markets in the nation. Local share-houses are in scarce supply and a small room can cost more than $1,100/month. In an email to around 6,000 UC Santa Cruz faculty and staff members, Executive Director of Housing Services David Keller stated that there are currently "several hundred students without housing guarantees on the waiting list for housing." Keller added that there aren't nearly enough community rental listings available to accommodate the increased number of students. Since Santa Cruz is made up of mostly single family homes, the university is looking at all other housing options. "The need is real and it is urgent, so I am reaching out to the faculty and staff community for help," said Keller in the letter. "Offering a room in your home to a student who has not been able to find housing for the school year would be a tremendous support to their success at UCSC." UC Santa Cruz Wants Staff To Rent Rooms To Students Due To Lack Of Housing [Kiet Do/KPIX] (via /.) - Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi suspects there are 'state capture forces' behind the recent arson attempts in Pretoria - There have been 2 alleged arson attempts at the Health Department's national office during the past week - Nxesi is convinced the arson attempts and the fire at Johannesburg's Health Department building are not coincidental PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly news on your News Feed! There have been alleged acts of arson at the Health Department's national office situated in Pretoria lately. According to Public Works Minister Thulas Nxesi, these arson acts were committed by 'state capture forces'. In the past week alone, there were 2 arson attempts at the Health Department office, according to a report by EWN. Nxesi doesn't think the fires that happened at the Civitas Building and the Health Department's office in Johannesburg are coincidental. We are bound to suspect a hidden agenda. Are we witnessing new tactics led by state capture forces that Minister Gordhan talked about? PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app Aaron Motsoaledi, South Africa's Health Minister did not back up Nxesi's claims. He simply said he has nothing to say about the matter. The incidents have since been reported to the police. The Civitas Building houses the national offices of the Health Department and is also reported to be a health risk. Briefly.co.za reported earlier that workers have protested against the horrible conditions they are forced to work in. READ ALSO: National Police Commissioner confirms Senzo Meyiwa murder case to be reopened No one could deny that the Civitas building is badly neglected and not maintained like it should be: Do you have news that might interest us? Message 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. Take a look at this silly video: MTV Video Music Award: Jennifer Lopez And A New Dress head over to Briefly South Africa's YouTube channel for more awesome videos. Source: Briefly.co.za - SAFTU leader Zwelinzima Vavi seems spooked by China's loan to Eskom - He cited the case of Sri Lanka, which has reportedly given up control of its harbour to China - He asked what the terms of the loan are, apparently worried that Eskom could be handed over to China as well PAY ATTENTION: Click "See first" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly News on your newsfeed! Zwelinzima Vavi, the General Secretary of the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU), seems spooked by China's recent loan to Eskom. Writing on Twitter, Vavi cited the case of Sri Lanka, which received a loan from China to revamp its Hambantota port. According to Reuters, the Sri Lanka government found it difficult to service the debt. It therefore gave a Chinese company a 70 percent stake of the port as part of a 99-year lease agreement. PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app Vavi alleged that China could even use the port as a military base. He was therefore concerned that Eskom could similarly be handed over to China should it fail to repay the loan. He accompanied his tweet with a cartoon to emphasise his point, Briefly.co.za learned. It showed China's president, Xi Jinping, holding South Africa's president, Cyril Ramaphosa, on a leash. The veteran trade unionist then asked, "What are the terms of this loan to Eskom?" READ ALSO: Pretoria granny, 79, is having too many flings, says hubby who is filing for divorce Vavi's tweet sparked plenty of debate among his followers. Many agreed with him that the terms of the loan should be made public. However, others argued that South Africa has nothing to worry about as long as it honours the terms of the loan. Some even accused Vavi of having nothing positive to say about the government's efforts. READ ALSO: Sasol employees take strike to the next level and it shook Twitter Discover 5 interesting things about top model Melissa Magiera 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 - ACDP leader Rev Kenneth Meshoe urged South Africans to stop blaming apartheid for their problems - He said the blame for current woes lie squarely on the ANC because it has governed for 24 years - His tweet sparked intense debate among South Africans on Twitter PAY ATTENTION: Click "See first" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly News on your newsfeed! Reverend Kenneth Meshoe has urged South Africans to stop blaming apartheid for their problems. Writing on Twitter on 7 September, the leader of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) said the ANC is squarely to blame: The ANC has governed SA for 24 years - crime, violence, corruption, unemployment & poverty has increased. BEE was created & made only the ANC elite wealthy. Stop making excuses for a corrupt, incompetent & failed ANC government. PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app Rev Meshoe's tweet sparked intense debate among South Africans on Twitter, Briefly.co.za gathered. It has racked up over over 1,300 retweets and 2,800 likes so far. Many tweeps agreed with him that the ANC government could indeed have done much better. READ ALSO: Jacob Zuma's maladministration cost SA GDP R1tn, according to economists However, some tweeps disagreed with Rev Meshoe's argument. They held the view that it takes time to dismantle apartheid's legacy. READ ALSO: Hello EFF! Ringo praises the party as he becomes its newest member 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 - A viral video showed a brave woman ramming her car into another one driven by hijackers - Her gutsy fightback forced the hijackers to flee - However, she insists that she's not a hero and all she wanted was to protect her daughter PAY ATTENTION: Click "See first" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly News on your newsfeed! The gutsy woman who rammed her car into another one driven by hijackers recently says she's not a hero. As Briefly.co.za reported, the unnamed woman refused to open the car doors when hijackers trailed her into her home in Alberton. She then reversed her car and forced the hijackers out into the street. She followed them, rammed into their car again, and forced them to flee on foot. PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app While some social media users praised her for her heroic fightback, others said it could have ended badly. However, the woman told News24 that all she wanted to do was to protect her daughter, who is aged 16. She said she told her daughter not to open the door and to remain calm. READ ALSO: Minister spends R116,000 on knives, forks, and crockery for her office The woman explained: I kept talking to her and I even turned the radio up, so she wouldn't hear the hammering of the gun against the window or their shouting. Those seconds felt like an eternity. She began reversing the car when her daughter started panicking. The two sustained minor bruises from the dramatic incident and received trauma counselling. READ ALSO: Man roasts Woolworths over R54 bread: "Did Jesus bake this bread?" The woman added that her insurance company will cover the cost of her car's repairs. Her biggest concern is that the hijackers might return. Police said they arrested five suspects in Pretoria two days later. They also confirmed that the guns they brandished at the woman and her daughter were real. Watch a satirical guide on how to be an African president 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 - Radovan Krejcir is serving jail time in a South African prison but he wants to return to the Czech Republic, his home - However, it looks like the Justice Department is set on denying his request - Krejcir said that if he's not sent home, he would escape from prison PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly news on your News Feed! Drug kingpin and murder accused Radovan Krejcir wants out of South Africa. He wants to be extradited back to the Czech Republic and serve out his sentence at home. However, it's not looking likely to happen as it is believed the Department of Justice is going to deny Krejcir's request. IOL News reports that 2 sources with information on Krejcir's request said it would be denied because the accused still has pending criminal cases in South Africa. Earlier this week, Briefly.co.za reported that Krejcir has warned that it would be in the national interest for the government to send him home. His lawyer said if Krejcir was not extradited he would probably escape from prison. PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app Krejcir has pulled closer 2 of South Africa's best-known lawyers, Dali Mpofu and Eric Mabuza, to help him get extradited. The lawyer duo wrote to the Minister of Justice Michael Masutha. They asked that Krejcir be extradited so he can serve the rest of his 35-year sentence at home. According to the 2 lawyers, the security assigned to Krejcir has already cost taxpayers more than R200 million. Judge Masutha is expected to give his answer soon. Do you have news that might interest us? Message 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. Watch the Policeman Animated Joke From Africa and take a look at what else is happening on Briefly South Africa's YouTube channel. Source: Briefly.co.za - An American deaf boy, Octavius Mitchell Jr, turned 4 years old recently - His mom and uncle took him to a restaurant to celebrate - Waitresses realised he was deaf, quickly learned sign language on YouTube, and sang him "happy birthday" PAY ATTENTION: Click "See first" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly News on your newsfeed! A heartwarming video showing waitresses singing a deaf boy "happy birthday" in sign language has gone viral. The boy, Octavia Mitchell Jr from Tennessee in the US, turned four years old recently, Briefly.co.za learned. His mom, Shatika Dixon, and uncle took him to a restaurant to celebrate. One of the waitresses, Kathryn Marasco, noticed her speaking to Octavia in sign language. PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app Ladbible.com reports that Kathryn asked her fellow waitress Brandie White if she knew how to say "happy birthday" in sign language. The two then found a YouTube video that showed them how to sign it. They quickly got the basics right and went on to sing Octavia "happy birthday" in sign language. READ ALSO: Sasol employees take strike to the next level and it shoot Twitter Shatika took a video of the adorable moment and it soon went viral on social media. It shows a beaming Octavia appreciating the two waitresses who made his day extra special. An extremely grateful Shatika said: Everybody thinks we're crazy when we're out talking and we're signing. So it's really important to me that someone noticed that and picked up on that and made that special just for him, my baby. READ ALSO: Cassper Nyovest gains celebs' support as #FillUp saga continues Watch a funny animated joke 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 #SkeemSaam fans simply love the Mabitsela family. Their storyline is one that viewers can relate to and appreciate. Viewers hoped Leshole and Big Boy's recent vacation would bring the men some happiness and it did - in a very unexpected way. PAY ATTENTION: Click "See First" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly news on your News Feed! Leshole Mabitsela and his dad Big Boy have been going through tough times. When the two finally got a break and headed to Durban for a holiday, Skeem Saam viewers were overjoyed. Briefly.co.za reported on how happy fans were to see the vacation realise after it almost didn't happen. Fans of the Mabitsela expected the men to have a chill time and when Leshole even got a girlfriend, they were gobsmacked. As is the norm these days, South Africans responded in meme-form: PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app READ ALSO: The Rivers Lindiwe deviously blindsides the entire Refilwe community Do you have something interesting to tell us? Message us on Facebook and we could be sharing your story. To stay up to date with the latest news, download our news app on Google Play or iTunes today. Enjoy the Pastors Joke: What Are Pastors Talking About? and head over to Briefly South Africa's YouTube channel for more awesome videos. Source: Briefly.co.za - 99-year-old Luther Younger has been married to his wife Waverlee for 55 years - Waverlee is ailing and admitted in hospital - Despite his age, Luther walks almost 10km every day to visit her PAY ATTENTION: Click "See first" under the "Following" tab to see Briefly News on your newsfeed! In what is an inspiring demonstration of true love, a 99-year-old man walks almost 10km every day to visit his ailing wife in hospital. According to CBS News, Luther Younger and his wife Waverlee have been married for 55 years. They have lived in Rochester, New York, for most of their lives. Doctors discovered a tumour in Waverlee's brain in 2009, Briefly.co.za learned. She has been in and out of hospital since then. PAY ATTENTION: Save mobile data with FreeBasics: Briefly is now available on the app Luther doesn't have a car, so he simply sets off on foot to check on his beloved Waverlee in hospital every day. While his daughter Luretha sometimes gives him a ride, he prefers to take the walk in order to reminisce about his wife. READ ALSO: Woman who rammed her car into hijackers says she's not a hero Luther kisses Waverlee once he gets to the hospital and simply tells her, "Baby I'm here." He then spends time beside her even though she's often unconscious. The dedicated hubby said Waverlee is a "tough woman" who made him a much better person. His life would have been much different if it wasn't for her, Luther added. READ ALSO: Ringo sings EFF praises as he becomes their newest member Watch a hilarious animated 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 Simbarashe Sithole Councillors who won the July 30 elections in Mazowe Rural District Council's 35 wards were sworn in yesterday at Concession council board room.The swearing in ceremony was led by Mazowe District Administrator Mark Kadaira who implored all the elected councillors to work hard in serving the people who elected them."As Mazowe we implore all elected councillors to work hard and fight corruption by serving the people who voted you in power without fear or favour since the voice of the people is the voice of God," said Kadaira.Ward 9 councillor John Mudzonga was voted the chairman of Mazowe District council for by 34 councillors since Mvurwi was excluded from other wards as it is run by three commissioners appointed by the Minister of Local government.Mudzonga will be deputised by Takabvepi Chinhema from ward 10 who was also elected by the 34 councillors.Speaking after his election Mudzonga urged all the councillors to make Mazowe a leading brand in terms of service delivery."Ladies and gentleman l feel greatly honoured to be your chairperson for this term may l take this opportunity to urge everyone here to make Mazowe a leading brand in terms of service delivery, l seriously condemn corruption let us work together in building our nation l thank you," said Mudzonga.The event was also graced by Mazowe chiefs that is Chief Negomo, Chief Chiweshe and Chief Makope , various Non-Governmental Organisations (NGO), members of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) and councils chief executive officers. News / National by Staff reporter BOTH the ruling Zanu PF and opposition MDC Alliance parties yesterday briefly set aside their differences and saluted the late Trudy Stevenson, who served as Zimbabwean ambassador to Senegal and The Gambia, describing her as an outstanding foot soldier and brave democrat.The late Trudy StevensonStevenson died at her Dakar home on August 24 and her remains were flown home this week for cremation.In a speech read on his behalf at a memorial service held in Harare yesterday, Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo said Stevenson represented the country with distinction."Like all our ambassadors, Ambassador Stevenson was indeed a capable foot soldier who ensured that the country's national interests were paramount, protected and advanced. In that regard, she was indeed instrumental in the strengthening and consolidation of Zimbabwe's relations with Senegal and the other countries to which she was accredited," Moyo said."Through her able leadership, the embassy worked closely with the governments of Senegal and The Gambia and promoted co-operation in the fields of agriculture, wildlife management and education."He chronicled a number of achievements she managed to accomplish since her appointment.Patrick Chinamasa and David Parirenyatwa (former Finance and Health ministers, respectively) also attended the event and laid the wreath on behalf of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.Chamisa told journalists that Stevenson, as a founding member of the MDC rose through the party ranks to the national executive and was passionate about opposition politics."She was a very passionate patriot who worked for the country and her interest where about Zimbabwe and she transcended tribe, race, creed or mere political colour to be able to be of service to the country," Chamisa said."For us, it also fortifies to note that the MDC has become a permanent home to very credible and consummate citizens who can serve the country in whatever capacity. For her to be a diplomat of note from the MDC is something significant and we appreciate it."He added: "We have lost a cadre, a heroine and a very brave lady. She went through a lot of challenges, but she was committed to her country and that is what we salute, her love, the bravery, the humility and dignity and more importantly the connection with the people." News / National by Staff reporter ZIMBABWE'S business executives have endorsed Professor Mthuli Ncube's Friday appointment as Finance Minister with some hoping he leveraged from his education and vast experience in world business to end the country's dire economic situation.The 55-year-old academic takes over from Patrick Chinamasa who did not get any portfolio in the latest cabinet appointments.Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries president Sifelani Jabangwe said the new minister was rightly placed for the job.Renowned economist, Aenias Chuma said Ncube was "a very good duck with concrete and traceable experience in the academic and finance sector".Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce, past president, Divine Ndhlukula was full of Mnangagwa praise for appointing Ncube to one of the country's most important ministries.Godfrey Kanyenze, the Labour and Economics Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe director said Ncube was "the right man for the job" as he was both experienced in finance and was educated.Confederation of Zimbabwe Retailers president, Denford Mutashu said Ncube was right for the job as he had a lot of international finance and trade experience.Ncube has long history in the finance, academic and economic related disciplines.He has served as a lecturer in finance at the London School of Economics, UK before joining the Africa Development Bank where he served as vice president and Chief Economic Officer.Ncube is Professor of Public Policy at Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, where he has been teaching and researching in the areas on macroeconomics, finance, development economics, political economy, and health economics.He has served as Vice President and Chief Economist of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), among other top posts he has occupied. News / National by Staff reporter LOSING Presidential candidate and MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa today held a rally in Chitungwiza where he engaged his supporters on the way forward.The rallies, to be held throughout the country, are meant to afford Chamisa an opportunity to consult his supporters on the way forward in the wake of the July 30 disputed elections, which he says were rigged in President Emmerson Mnangagwa's favour.The rallies are also meant to thank his supporters for voting for him. News / National by Staff reporter LOSING Presidential candidate and MDC Alliance president Nelson Chamisa today held a rally in Chitungwiza where he engaged his supporters on the way forward.The rallies, to be held throughout the country, are meant to afford Chamisa an opportunity to consult his supporters on the way forward in the wake of the July 30 disputed elections, which he says were rigged in President Emmerson Mnangagwa's favour.The rallies are also meant to thank his supporters for voting for him.The MDC Alliance leader said the MDC Alliance will soon make tough decisions on the way forward after consulting his grassroots supporters.Chamisa who remains defiant despite losing the disputed July 30 elections said their next move will shape the future of Zimbabwe."Our next move is very crucial for Zimbabwe's future. Things must change. We're currently engaging Zimbabweans countrywide on the steps ahead. We're ready to serve you. Tough decisions are about to be made. You decide we abide. Your wish is our command. Your thoughtsideas?" Chamisa said on his twitter account.Chamisa's sentiments also come as his party is predicting economic doom saying Mnangagwa's government is clueless on how to solve the current economic crises."The economic health of the country has remained precarious under Zanu-PF's misrule for a very long time," MDC said in a statement."The situation is worse following the stolen election. Unemployment is at its record high and is set to increase yet the clueless government is unable to arrest the situation. Rising prices of essential commodities in general, the unavailability of some goods and impending shortages of most basic commodities is cause for great concern"The people of Zimbabwe voted for change because they knew that they wanted a truly reformed country and a developing economy."The country's biggest opposition party said Mnangagwa "rigged" the election but he cannot rig the economy."Those who rigged the election must now realise that while they could rig the elections, it is impossible to rig the economy. As is evident, the economy is fast freezing, following the illegitimate inauguration, which resulted in a clear deficit and short supply in market confidence. While it is possible to change electoral statistics, it is not possible to tamper with figures in economics."What the Zanu-PF approach does not understand is that once one rapes the election (politics) they also rape the economy."The further added that there is need to address the issue of legitimacy for the country to move forward."Zimbabwe needs a government that is clear, clever and hardworking. The current government suffers a terrible deficiency of a governing and economic philosophy."The government must understand that moving the economy forward requires legitimacy and the respect of what the people voted for. It also requires a government that respects the rights of the people, the rule of law and promotes public peace and trust."The economy needs national stability, which is why the failed Zanu-PF government must understand that people cannot be led by fear and force." News / National by Staff reporter Veteran opposition kingpin Eddie Cross has challenged his former party boss Nelson Chamisa to to accept President Emmerson Mnangagwa as the leader of the country.Writing in his latest instalment of his keenly-followed blog on national politics, Cross said, "Firstly, we have held another election, it was more open, democratic and acceptable than any other election I can recall, and I have been a player in all of them since 1980."When you appreciate that the MDC Alliance won only 570 councillor seats out of nearly 2 000 (28,6 percent), you can understand why I think the MDC Alliance claim of a presidential victory with 2,6 million votes is most unlikely and not credible."Not one of these council elections have been challenged - and how can they? ... That is why the Constitutional Court unanimously decided that Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected as president."It must also be understood that he (Mnangagwa) beat Nelson Chamisa by over 300 000 votes - nearly the same majority that Morgan Tsvangirai beat Mugabe in 2002," Cross wrote."Secondly, it is now clear that the international community has accepted the above outcome ... Theresa May's comments in South Africa that Emmerson Mnangagwa was elected as president and then the German minister of Development Cooperation announcing that their government was again open for business with Zimbabwe, sealed the issue."Thirdly, the new president, for the first time, is asking the whole country for help to secure the future and he has extended the hand of reconciliation to the opposition."I am deeply disappointed that the MDC Alliance seems to have turned its back on these initiatives and instead have continued to make the assertion that this was a stolen' election and that Chamisa is the legitimate president."Not only is this futile, but it also threatens further violence and instability when what we really need is national unity and an agreement to put our differences aside in a concerted effort to deal with the tough issues that confront us in the next five years," Cross added. News / National by Staff reporter President Emmerson Mnangagwa has thanked the people of Midlands Province and the entire Mapanzure community for heavily nurturing him at a young age.Speaking to thousands of people at Runde Primary School in Zvishavane where he was having a first thank you rally to celebrate his victory, Mnangagwa said the suffering Zimbabwe is currently facing will come to an end as investors are coming to partner the nation in its developmental thrust.He said through unity, love and hard work Zimbabwe will leap frog other neighbouring countries on its developmental journey.The President said currently they are mandated by people who want to start business in the country including Germany, Britain and France.Vice Presidents Dr Constantino Chiwenga and Kembo Mohadi also attended the inaugural thank you rally which saw the entire leadership of Midlands attending.Meanwhile, Dambudzo Clinic which is a stone throw away from his (President) traditional residents was given an ambulance by Bitumen Company as part of their corporate social responsibility.The President said it will engage the company (Bitumen) to repair the roads across the country since MDC run urban councils failed to repair roads prompting the central government to intervene. News / National by Staff reporter The Vice President of Zimbabwe Retired General Constantino Chiwenga outlined the plans by the government to refurbish the Kazungula border to recover the losses caused by its state.At the Sanganai/Hlanganani Tourism Expo which he termed as a mirrored growth of the tourism sector, the Vice President said the Kazungula border traffic delays have caused a lot of shortfalls to the tourism and business sector."It is high time we restore the lost market which has been caused by the delays in traffic at the Kazungula border post," he said.He said with the $15 million established by the Ministry of Finance, he is giving a task to ministries such as the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Tourism to create a compatible destination for business and tourism because Zimbabwe is open for businessThe statistics by the Department of Immigration confirm that approximately 700 travellers use the border daily and such traffic delays are very harmful to the tourism industry. Opinion / Columnist A team of top notch scientists must be dispatched immediately to Blue Roof Mansion, Harare; the task is to take and test blood samples, urine samples, test all medicine, perfume, test all the food and drinks, water, air, everything. There can be no doubt that both Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace are under the spell of some hallucinogenic drug(s). The two have started hallucinating, again!All these years people thought the two were addicted to absolute power, a very powerful and highly addictive drug in its own right. The two had tasted absolute power and their hooked for life, the more power they had the more they wanted. Even when it became increasingly obvious that power was slipping out of Mugabe's hands he tried desperately to hang on."Baba vanovata rimwe ziso rakasvunura!" (My husband now sleeps with one eye open!) Grace Mugabe confessed in September last year. She was talking about how fearful the two were of someone staging a military coup and wrestle absolute power out of their hands.Lo behold, their worst nightmare did come true on the earlier hours of the morning of 15 November 2017; the couple were rudely awakened looking up the business end of an AK 47 rifle. Mugabe must have had his bad eye open! A few days later Mugabe signed his resignation letter as the men and women who had cowed before for 37 years were all taking turns to public denounce him and were now keen as mustard to have him impeached.After nine months cooling off period, one had hope that Mugabe and his wife had used the time to reflect on chaos, suffering and deaths their reign of terror fuelled by their insatiable greed for absolute power and all the influence and wealth it brought, had visited on the nation. It is very disappointing therefore to discover they are back wittering the same nonsense, proof they are high on some hallucinogenic drug(s) again."Former President Robert Mugabe yesterday implored the nation to rally behind President Mnangagwa, saying his election victory in the July 30 harmonised elections legitimised his leadership. The remarks by the ex-president were buttressed by his wife, Grace, who said they would pray for President Mnangagwa as his leadership was God-given," reported The Herald."There was an election, Zanu-PF was represented by Emmerson Mnangagwa and (Nelson) Chamisa represented MDC-Alliance and results came out saying the person who won was Emmerson Mnangagwa and I said zvava mugwara zvino," said Mr Mugabe."We have accepted the result and we hope that we will continue respecting the will of the people. The gun does not and should not lead politics."What is the idiot blabbering about! The elections were rigged and he, of all the people, knows it!Mugabe's fear of a coup was completely justified as the November coup was the second one. The first coup in 2008 was staged by the same dirty dozen led by the same person, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to deny Tsvangirai and his MDC followers getting into power after Tsvangirai polled 73%, by Mugabe's own Freudian slip, in the March election.Mugabe bribed Tsvangirai and company to make sure not even one reform was implemented during the 2008 to 2013 GNU. With not even one reform in place everyone knew Zanu PF will keep on blatantly rigging the elections and that is exactly what happed in 2013 and again this year. You, Mr Mugabe, and your Zanu PF party have stayed in power these last 38 years because you have blatantly rigged the elections. It is an insult that you should insist this was "the will of the people!"Zimbabwe is in this serious economic mess with unemployment a dizzying 90% and of our people now living on US$1.00 or less a day because the nation has been stuck with a corrupt, incompetent and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship for 38 years and counting. As long as nothing is done to stop Zanu PF rigging the elections it is clear the thugs will be ruling this nation for many, many more decades yet! There will be no meaningful economic recovery because investors and lenders will stay away; they do not do business with thugs."We used to travel using commercial flights during our tenure as the First Family. That has changed. President Mnangagwa charters a flight. It just takes us a phone call. It was a beautiful plane, a brand new Gulfstream 650 from Qatar," said Grace Mugabe. She was praising Mnangagwa for chartering a plane to fly her back home from Singapore."If I get rich I will buy such an aircraft. I have never boarded such a plane. The crew told me that I was the first person to board it. It is my dream plane. I felt comforted. VaMnangagwa comforted me. If it takes my mother's death for us to restore our old friendship, then let it be."VaMnangagwa loves us. He knows we love him too. We pray for him because it is God's will that he is President of the country. We pray that he be given the wisdom to lead the country."Of course, Grace was hallucinating. The $1.4 millions wasted on the chartered plane should have been used to buy live saving drugs for the 100 000 babies now dying for lack of very basic medicines. How can making a foolish decision defying all logic be judged wisdom and "God's will"?Both Robert Mugabe and his wife's hatred of first Joice Mujuru and then Emmerson Mnangagwa was total to the point of wishing the two dead whilst they were considered a threat to the president. It was a very bitter pill to swallow when Mnangagwa did seize power.Still the two have since recovered to not only accept Mnangagwa as president but to even publicly defend the vote rigging and de facto one party dictatorship. The secret to this change of heart: they have now received concrete guarantees from President Mnangagwa that their fabulous wealth and luxurious lifestyle is secure.The moral of this story is; our ruling elite are not just addicted to absolute power they are equally drunk and addicted to the fabulous wealth and the life of leisure and luxury. If we are serious about ending the scourge of vote rigging then we must also dispossess the filthy rich of their ill got wealth and give it back to its rightful owners the impoverish masses. As long as we allow the rich to keep their wealth they are certain to use it to fight against all efforts to bring about any meaningful democratic change. BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) A Washington state family that survived the mass shooting last year at a Las Vegas concert says a neighbor shot and killed the dog they got to deal with stress and anxiety from the attack. The neighbor was cited by police for recklessly firing a gun and declined to comment. The Bellingham Herald reported that Lona and Joseph Johnson were at the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival in October when a gunman shot and killed 58 people and injured hundreds of others. Among the wounded was their cousin, Melinda Brockie, who attended the festival with them. The couple heard that dogs are good pets to help heal from post-traumatic stress, Joseph Johnson said, and they picked out a Labradoodle named Jax. The comfort dog was for themselves and their two children, who weren't at the concert but saw the news coverage and knew their parents had been shot at. "He was such a blessing," Joseph Johnson said of Jax. ""He gave us something to look forward to. I really believe Jax was a big part of our healing." Early Sunday, they heard gunshots. They say a neighbor in their rural northwest Washington community shot and killed Jax. The Whatcom County Sheriff's Office said it cited the neighbor, 49-year-old Odin Maxwell, for recklessly discharging a firearm. The sheriff's office reported that Maxwell said the dog had been chasing his chickens. Investigators turned up no evidence that any chickens had been hurt. Maxwell, a workers compensation lawyer in Bellingham, declined to comment to The Associated Press on Thursday. The Johnsons said they had not had any previous dealings with Maxwell, and Joseph Johnson said a nephew even returned one of Maxwell's chickens unharmed after it came onto their property only days before the dog was shot. He said the couple is considering suing Maxwell. They also plan to host a 5K run for people with their dogs to raise awareness about animal cruelty. "We're pretty upset and hurt right now," Lona Johnson said. "It triggered a lot of PTSD for our family. We're still trying to deal with what happened in Las Vegas, and then this happened. Everybody who knows us knows how important Jax was to us." By Angus McDowall and Tulay Karadeniz BEIRUT/ANKARA (Reuters) - Russian and Syrian jets hammered a major rebel stronghold on Tuesday, a war monitor said, days before leaders of Russia, Iran and Turkey meet to discuss an expected Syrian government offensive that could spark a humanitarian disaster. The warplanes bombarded countryside around Jisr al-Shughour on the western edge of the rebel enclave of Idlib after weeks of lull, killing 13 civilians but no fighters, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a rebel source. For President Bashar al-Assad, the defeat of rebels in the northwestern province would mean breaking the last major stronghold of active military opposition to his rule, though other large areas also remain beyond his control. (GRAPHIC: Syrian army prepares assault on Idlib - https://tmsnrt.rs/2NHAqh3) Washington warned Assad against using chemical weapons, promising a swift response if he did. Since Russia's entry into the war on his side in 2015, Assad and his other allies, Iran and a group of regional Shi'ite militias, have forced the rebels from a succession of bastions including Aleppo, Eastern Ghouta and Deraa. A Syrian government minister said the siege of Idlib would probably be resolved by force. "Until now, military action is more likely than reconciliations," Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar told Russia's Sputnik news agency. Damascus uses the term "reconciliation" for the negotiated rebel surrenders that have taken place in some areas. "Idlib is different from other regions because of the large numbers of fighters," Haidar said. "However we cannot say there is no gateway to reconciliation." Half of Idlib's 3 million people have already fled there from their homes in other parts of Syria, according to the United Nations, and any offensive threatens new displacement and human misery. It could also spark a wider confrontation with Turkey, a supporter of the rebels, whose army has set up observation posts along the Idlib front lines to deter fighting. Turkey's Hurriyet daily reported that Turkish armed forces were reinforcing the Idlib border with M60 tanks, and Reuters television filmed a convoy heading toward the border. Tuesday's air strikes came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump warned Assad and his allies not to "recklessly attack" Idlib, saying that hundreds of thousands might die. Trump has twice ordered U.S.-led air strikes against targets in Syria in response to what Washington called the Assad government's use of chemical weapons against civilians. "If President Bashar al-Assad chooses to again use chemical weapons, the United States and its allies will respond swiftly and appropriately," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Tuesday. The U.N. Security Council will discuss Idlib on Friday, Washington's ambassador to the United Nations said. "HUMAN SHIELDS" The Kremlin dismissed his comments on Tuesday, describing Idlib, where jihadist insurgent factions dominate, as a "nest of terrorism". Spokesman Dmitry Peskov added: "We know that Syria's armed forces are preparing to resolve this problem." Iran echoed that theme. "Terrorist groups (in Idlib) have mixed with the people," said Abbas Araqchi, deputy foreign minister, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency. "They are using people as human shields." Idlib's dominant rebel faction is Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance spearheaded by al Qaeda's former official affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front, though other groups are also present. Last week the U.N. envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said the Nusra Front and al Qaeda, both of which the international body designates as terrorists, had an estimated 10,000 fighters in Idlib. On Tuesday de Mistura said talks between Russia and Turkey held the key to resolving the fate of Idlib without a bloodbath. He said he had heard reports that Damascus had set a Sept. 10 deadline for diplomacy to work before attacking. Turkey fears a major assault on Idlib could send a new wave of refugees toward its border, and wants to maintain a "de-escalation agreement" that it struck with Russia and Iran last year. It has staged two major incursions into Syria, creating a buffer zone along its border in an area north of Aleppo that adjoins Idlib, where it has set up a local administration alongside Syrian rebel groups. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey was discussing joint action with Russia to target terrorist groups in Idlib while avoiding a full-scale offensive. Ankara last week added Tahrir al-Sham to its list of designated terrorist groups. PRETEXT FOR ATTACK? Ankara has said the presence of radical groups in Idlib is being used a pretext for a military operation. When he was in Russia in late August, Cavusoglu said "we have to differentiate terrorists from other people", but added that it was also important to eliminate Russia's concerns. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, on a visit to Syria, told Iranian state television: "Our efforts are for ... the exit of terrorists from Idlib to be carried out with the least human cost." He and Peskov said Idlib would be a major subject of discussion at a Sept. 7 summit of Russia's Vladimir Putin, Turkey's Tayyip Erdogan and Iran's Hassan Rouhani. Last week a source close to Damascus said the government was preparing a phased assault that would initially target the areas in the south and west of the rebel enclave. Even a staggered offensive would involve fighting around Turkish observation posts, potentially triggering a new escalation in an already complex war. (Reporting by Angus McDowall and Lisa Barrington in Beirut, Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara, Babak Dehghanpisheh and Tom Miles in Geneva, Tom Balmforth in Moscow, Phil Stewart in Athens and Suleiman al-Khalidi in Amman; writing by Angus McDowall; editing by Andrew Roche and David Stamp) GENEVA (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday that the United States continually sends messages to Iran asking it to begin negotiations. Tensions between Iran and the United States soared after President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in May, and then reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic last month. Trump has said he would meet Iran's leaders. "From one side they try to pressure the people of Iran, on another side they send us messages every day through various methods that we should come and negotiate together," Rouhani said in a speech broadcast on Iranian state television. "(They say) we should negotiate here, we should negotiate there. We want to resolve the issues ... Should we see your message? ... Or should we see your brutish actions?" Washington aims to force Tehran to end its nuclear program and its support of militant groups in Syria and Iraq. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif took aim at U.S. criticism of Iran's regional policy in a Twitter post on Saturday. "Trump regime flip-flops are truly comical," he wrote. "One week, its talking point is that we are 'squandering' our resources abroad, the next week its that weve not financially supported the Palestinians enough." U.S. sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector are scheduled to be reimposed in November. Iran is facing an "economic, psychological and propaganda war", Rouhani said Saturday, pointing to the United States and Israel as the Islamic Republic's main enemies. (Reporting By Babak Dehghanpisheh; Editing by Robert Birsel and Kevin Liffey) Missing Altitude Air chopper found crashed in Nuwakot; 6 dead, one alive (Update) The missing Altitude Air helicopter with seven people onboard has been found crashed at a gorge in Mailung Pakha of Myagang Rural Municipality, Nuwakot. Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we are looking at in a different size. Today we look at the Cosecha 146 La Vega (Robusto Extra) size. This is a cigar we previously assessed back in January 2018 in the San Agustin (Torpedo) size. Wrapper: Honduran Binder: Nicaraguan Filler: Honduran, Nicaraguan Country of Origin: Nicaragua Factory: Plasencia Cigars SA La Vega: 5 1/4 x 52 The Plasencia Cosecha 146 is a vintage cigar release that first made its debut at the 2017 IPCPR by Plasencia Cigars. The word cosecha means harvest, and the name Plasencia 146 refers to the 146th harvest of crops from Plasencias many farms. The tobaccos for this crop were considered to be exceptional, so Plasencia put the tobaccos away for aging and they were incorporated into the Cosecha 146 project. Today, we take a look at the Plasencia Cosecha 146 in the La Vega (Robusto Extra) size. Since the Plasencia family own farms in many countries, the company decided to incorporate tobaccos from its top two countries where it harvests tobacco Honduras and Nicaragua. The Cosecha 146 consists of a Honduran wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and a combination of Nicaraguan and Honduran tobaccos in the filler. Production for the Cosecha 146 is handled at the companys Esteli, Nicaragua factory. The Cosecha 146 is available in five sizes each packaged in 20-count boxes. The La Vega is a parejo measuring 5 1/4 x 52. The Plasencia Cosecha 146 started out with notes of earth, citrus, and red and white pepper. It didnt take long for notes of cocoa and herb to emerge with both of these notes going primary. During the first third, the cocoa and earth notes alternated in intensity. By the second third, the earth and pepper notes increased in intensity. By the midway point, the earth notes joined the herb notes in the forefront. The last third saw the earth notes remain in the forefront. The pepper notes were close secondary notes along with the herb and cocoa and the citrus became a distant note. Overall, the flavors were medium bodied countered by medium strength. The strength and body increased slightly as the cigar experience progresses. OVERALL ASSESSMENT Final Thoughts A few months ago, I assessed the San Agustin (Torpedo) size and enjoyed it quite a bit. With the La Vega (Robusto Extra), I found this cigar offered a little more in the way of strength and body. There also was a little more in the way of spice on the La Vega compared to the San Agustin. While I found the flavors more nuanced with the San Agustin, I still liked the fact the La Vega had a little more kick. This is a cigar I would recommend to an experienced cigar enthusiast and its one I would not discourage a novice from trying. As for myself, its a cigar I would smoke again and purchase multiples of. Summary Key Flavors: Earth, Cocoa, Herb, Pepper, Citrus Burn: Excellent Draw: Excellent Complexity: Medium Plus Strength: Medium Body: Medium Finish: Very Good Rating Value: Buy Multiples Score: 91 References Previous Assessment: Plasencia Cosecha 146 San Agustin News: Plasencia Cosecha 146 Released into U.S. Market Price: $11.88 Source: Plasencia Cigars Brand Reference: Plasencia Photo Credits: Cigar Coop And then there are those companies that go into IPCPR and dont feel the pressure to release anything new. I refer to these companies as ones who hold the line. Many will argue how can you put the Spotlight on companies that didnt release anything. In a way, this article is a different type of story. It isnt so much what these companies are doing at IPCPR, its more about what these companies are doing throughout the year. There are five companies I will focus on here. Oliva Cigars Padron Cigars Ashton Cigars Perdomo Cigars Plasencia Cigars Oliva and Padron (and a little Arturo Fuente Mixed In) In a way, its hard to separate Oliva and Padron because while different companies, the stories are quite similar and its hard to ignore Arturo Fuente even though that company is not on the list of five. This past year, Cigar Aficionado did their annual Top 25 List. Its the most influential end of year cigar list, and it is also the most controversial. The top three spots on the Top 25 went to 1) Arturo Fuente Eye of the Shark; 2) Padron Serie 1926 Natural No. 2; and 3) Oliva Serie V Belicoso. Much was made that these three companies behind lost their patriarchs in the 18 months before the list came out (and in the case of Padron and Oliva, the month before). However I think there was a bigger story behind this namely Fuente, Padron, and Oliva have become the model of consistency. These cigars appear time and time again on the end of the year cigar lists and that is an honor anyone in the cigar industry would take in a heartbeat. What does the Cigar Aficionado Top 3 from 2017 have to do with IPCPR? These three companies also have a track record of never feeling the pressure to come out with something new. Yet, they go into the trade show and each and every year knock it out of the park in terms of traffic and orders. Ive been going to IPCPR since 2010 and multiple times Ive seen these companies go into the trade show with no new releases. We will take Arturo Fuente out of the equation this year because they did unveil some new offerings, but go back last year and they certainly held the line. However its hard to ignore Arturo Fuente since they often fall into this category. One other interesting observation each of these three companies pretty much has the same booth setup and design in 2018 as they did in 2010. Show specials often are a reason why a booth will have so much traffic. In particular, Oliva is known for offering retailers significant incentives for high volume purchases. At the same time, retailers are willing to take in larger inventory because of the incredible track record this company has. Ashton Cigars This year, Ashton Cigars joined the Hold the Line Club for 2018. Ashton is a distribution company based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They have built quite a large operation over the years. They have three main brands: Ashton, San Cristobal, and La Aroma de Cuba. The Ashton brand is made by Arturo Fuente in the Dominican Republic while San Cristobal and La Aroma de Cuba are made by the Garcia family at My Father Cigars in Esteli, Nicaragua. Like Oliva, Padron, and Fuente, Ashton has a great track record for brands on the Cigar Aficionado Top 25 list and this company is in the Top 10 year after year after year. Its a little different than the other three in that Ashton doesnt control its own production, but it also shows this is a company very concerned about making sure it gets a high quality produced product. While we mentioned Oliva, Padron, and Fuente have gone many years of holding the line, Ashton typically has not gone this route. They typically dont go overboard with new releases, but holding the line usually hasnt been the case. This year, they did so. Perhaps 2018 was a year of change for Ashton. They didnt release new product, but they did show up with a new booth design. Perdomo Cigars Perdomo Cigars doesnt have a track record with Cigar Aficionado, but that doesnt diminish the fact that this another company that has been a model of consistency in terms of delivering a high-quality product. It also has had what has become one of the more spectacular booths. For the most part, Perdomo has held the line the past couple of years. This year, the company did tweak the packaging of its most popular line, the Perdomo Champagne. One thing worth watching is that Perdomo is sitting on a large number or predicate (grandfathered from FDA exemption) products. Many companies have taken the approach of showcasing some of these products. Perdomo hasnt seemed rushed to do this as of yet. This made a lot of sense to me especially since the company offers a strong number of brands that are appealing to a wide range of consumers. Plasencia Cigars While they have been in business over 150 years, when it comes to selling, distributing, and marketing its own cigar brand, Plasencia is a relative newcomer. Last year, Plasencia came into IPCPR with a bang. They had one of the best brand launches I had seen in all of the years covering IPCPR. The company came into IPCPR with four lines. It proved to be very successful post-IPCPR as the company captured both Large Factory of the Year and Large Company of the Year honors in the Cigar Coop Prime Time Awards. Many would have expected Plasencia Cigars to go for an encore. Instead, they opted to hold the line. From recent history with many cigar companies, it is not a move one would expect from a second-year company. CEO Nestor Andres Plasencia told us at the trade show, he wanted to focus on continuing to grow the brands. Additional Thoughts Of the five companies, it seemed that online media mostly ignored four of the five at this years IPCPR. The one exception has been Plasencia Cigars, who reached out to media for a briefing with CEO Nestor Andres Plasencia and has, in general, maintained strong two-way communications with the media. Of the other four, these companies have not had strong relations with the online media. However, all of these companies have been always accessible to Cigar Coop. In particular, Nick Perdomo has always been great with his time with us. I am curious if there were stronger relations with online media, would we see online media at the booths holding the line. RoMa Craft Tobac is a company that has done so in previous years and they have always had online media present. One mistake I made in previous years is to assume there was no story because there wasnt a new product. I learned that is the wrong approach, and even briefly stopping at a booth is worthwhile. No, you dont have to do an elaborate photo shoot or in-depth interview. Sometimes the story lies beyond the walls of the booth. One final note. One could make the argument that Nat Sherman should be on the list. My feeling is Nat Sherman introduced a significant portfolio restructuring and while its not a new blend, in a way its a different product. EPILOGUE While there will be one more Spotlight piece on Nat Sherman and one additional sidebar feature story, this will bring closure to the IPCPR Coverage for 2018 on Cigar Coop. Yes, we missed several booths this year and that happens. Certainly, apologies need to go out to Chinnock Cellars Cigars, Leaf by Oscar Cigars, Colibri, Regius Cigars, DCrossier Cigars, La Sirena, United Cigars, and J.C. Newman Cigar Company. In particular, these companies have been very generous with their time with us. The goal next year will be to trim that list down to zero. Photo Credit: Cigar Coop India and France have signed implementation agreement on Mobilise Your City (MYC) to support three pilot cities Nagpur, Kochi and Ahmedabad for reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions related to urban transport. It was signed between Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Agence Francaise de Developpement (AfD). India and MYC MYC aims at supporting three pilot cities viz. Nagpur (Maharashtra), Kochi (Kerala) and Ahmedabad (Gujarat) in their efforts to reduce their Green House Gas (GHG) emissions related to urban transport by implementing urban mobility plans at local level and to help India at national level to improve their sustainable transport policy. The three pilot cities selected under programme as well as MoHUAwill benefit from technical assistance activities to be carried out under MYC. The main components of proposed assistance are to support planning and implementation of sustainable urban transport projects, support to strengthening institutional capacity for regulating, steering and planning urban mobility, and learn and exchange formats with other cities across India for exchanges on best practices. The details of the project activities will be worked out by AFD in consultation with MoHUA and three partner cities including institutions such as respective Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for Smart Cities, Municipal Corporations and any transport authority or transport related SPV. Mobilise Your City (MYC) MYC is global and inclusive network of cities and countries as well as umbrella brand of European development cooperation particularly related to field of sustainable urban transport. It aims at assisting beneficiary partners i.e. national and local governments in their preparation of National Urban Mobility Policies and Investment Programs (NUMPs) and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). It facilitates establishment of framework conditions for effective investment and sustainable development of urban transport infrastructure and services as well as regulatory soft measures. MYC is part of international initiative which is supported by French and German Governments. It was launched at 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) meeting in December, 2015. Boy dies of snakebite A three-year-old boy died of snakebite at Manakamana Tole in Bharatpur Metropolis-15 on Thursday. One elderly woman sat with us in her living room, wearing a pink nightgown. "I should have followed my conscience," she said, her hands shaking. "I hope he can forgive me." It's unclear if she's seeking forgiveness from the innocent man she sent to death row, or God himself. She believed the Bible's instruction: "Thou shalt not kill." Yet, as a juror decades earlier, she voted for a death sentence for Henry McCollum, an intellectually disabled teenager who was accused of raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl in Robeson County. The juror put the trial out of her mind until, four years ago this week, McCollum was exonerated. New DNA testing proved another man guilty, and McCollum blameless. After 30 years on death row, McCollum was free. At the time, I was relatively new to my job at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, whose lawyers represented McCollum. His story showed me just how high the stakes are in this world. North Carolina came close to executing an innocent man. FIND related content related content here I am still learning from his case. This spring and summer, a co-worker and I crisscrossed Robeson and Cumberland counties, finding jurors who unwittingly sentenced an innocent man to death. The jurors served at McCollum's original trial in 1983, and his retrial in 1991, held in Fayetteville. Both juries voted unanimously for death. We hoped they could shed light on how our system got it so terribly wrong. But as I knocked on strangers' doors, I worried they would be defensive or angry. Instead, they welcomed us into their homes. Some seemed relieved to finally talk through the trauma of the trial, though none would let us use their names. Many were ashamed of their role, afraid of what their neighbors would think. Some feared God's wrath, and wondered if they would go to hell for McCollum's wrongful conviction. Some shed tears at the mention of his name and said the experience was too painful to revisit. They remembered McCollum at the defense table, silent and unresponsive, like a confused and broken child. All were denied the information they needed to reach a fair verdict. They were shown gruesome crime photos and McCollum's confession, written by the police. Even McCollum's defense attorneys admitted his guilt, believing the jury would spare him if he accepted responsibility. No one told the jury that another, almost identical crime was committed just a month after the girl's murder - and that the culprit was not McCollum, but a man who lived by the field where her body was found. The jury didn't know fingerprints were found at the scene, and that none of them were McCollum's. They didn't know the case against McCollum started with a rumor from a teenage girl, who later admitted she made it up. One juror said his biggest regret is that he trusted prosecutors to tell the truth. If McCollum was on trial, he believed, he'd probably done it. Like everyone we talked to, his most vivid memories were the photos. At the time, he had a daughter the same age as the victim. When the verdict was announced in the courtroom, he looked at her father. The juror had done what the prosecutor said was right, and he hoped it would ease another father's pain. "I've been trying to figure out, where did we go wrong?" he said. "I feel like we got duped by the system." I was in the courtroom for McCollum's exoneration 4 years ago. I will never forget the sight of him standing in a cage - the court probably calls it a holding cell - during a break. He stared silently at the floor, powerless against a system that had chained and caged him for his entire adult life. Now, there is another image that stays with me. A woman sitting in the dim light of her living room, hardly strong enough to rise from her chair, wondering what those 30 years were like for Henry McCollum. Wondering whether God has heard her pleas for forgiveness. Source: newsobserver.com, Opinion; Kristin Collins, September 7, 2018. Kristin Collins is the associate director of public information at the Center for Death Penalty Litigation, a non-profit law firm that represents prisoners on death row. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! "One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed, but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde A divided three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday refused to hear the appeal of Charles Rhines a gay man on death row in South Dakota , who argued that he should be allowed to present new evidence showing that anti-gay bias may have motivated the jury to sentence him to death. Several jurors came forward saying that other jurors were making comments about Rhiness sexuality. One juror recalled that there was a lot of disgust during deliberations about how Rhines was gay. Another said that a juror said that Rhines wouldnt mind life in prison. It was not a joke, she said. juror recalled someone saying , if hes gay, wed be sending him where he wants to go, referring to life in prison. Six civil rights organizations , including the American Civil Liberties Union, American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota, Lambda Legal, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, National Center for Lesbian Rights, and National LGBT Bar Association, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in August following the discovery of comments from jurors suggesting that sentencing Rhines to life in prison with other men would be sending him where he wants to go. The brief provided information about the long and painful history of discrimination against lesbian, gay, and bisexual people in the United States and asked the court to issues a certificate of appealability to Rhines to allow him to present evidence of juror bias. There is compelling new evidence that some of the jurors who sentenced Charles Rhines to death in South Dakota were motivated by anti-gay bias. Statements from three jurors show that the jury sentenced Mr. Rhines to death because some thought that, as a gay man, he would enjoy life in prison with other men, Rhines attorney, Shawn Nolan, said. The U.S. Supreme Courts decision in 2017, Pena-Rodriguez v. Colorado, applies to Mr. Rhiness case and requires that a court review his evidence of anti-gay bias before his execution can proceed, Nolan added. Anti-gay stereotypes and animus should have no role in our criminal justice system and certainly should never be a reason to impose a death sentence. We are gratified that one of the judges on the panel, Judge Kelly, voted to review this important issue, he added. Our judicial system has safeguards to prevent bias based on sexual orientation, said Ria Tabacco Mar, senior staff attorney for the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project. Those safeguards failed for Mr. Rhines. Mar added, We appreciate that Judge Kelly voted to consider Mr. Rhiness petition for the opportunity to show whether his death sentence was the result of anti-gay bias. Ethan Rice, Lambda Legal Fair Courts Project attorney, said, Mr. Rhiness case represents one of the most extreme forms anti-LGBT bias can take. Evidence suggests that he has been on death row for the past 25 years because he is a gay man. Rice added, We are deeply disappointed that the court has chosen not to allow for review of this case when it is clear that Mr. Rhines may have been denied the constitutional right to a fair trial because the jury deliberations included bias. Today, the federal government and 28 states do not have laws that expressly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, leaving lesbian, gay, and bisexual people at risk for discrimination in jobs, housing, education, credit, health care, jury service, retail stores, and other aspects of public life. In 2017, 46 percent of LGBTQ employees reported remaining closeted at work and 2016 was the deadliest year on record for hate crimes against the LGBTQ community with more than 1,000 incidents of hate violence reported. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Several companies including Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Godrej said they welcomed the lifting of Section 377 that criminalised gay sex. New Delhi: When R. Balaji, a 30-year-old gay man from Indias IT hub Bengaluru, comes up for white-collar job interviews, recruiters are initially enthusiastic. Its only when they notice his resume includes work at an LGBT magazine they go cold, he said. His struggles to find a job show the difficulties LGBT Indians have faced for years, and many still expect to face, despite a landmark ruling by the Supreme Court that decriminalised homosexuality on Thursday. They would say well call you back or you dont have the right experience for this job, Balaji said. Many of my friends have also faced this issue. Its so difficult to survive in this country where people judge you based on your sexuality. Gay sex is considered taboo by many in socially conservative India, and while it no longer carries the previous punishment of up to 10 years in prison, other rights like gay marriage are likely to prove elusive. Indias government, a broadly right-wing, Hindu nationalist coalition led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, has indicated it will support the Supreme Court in its ruling, but will oppose any attempts by activists to push for further rights. Gay people in India are currently not allowed to marry, adopt children or inherit their partners wealth should they die. A senior government source said the country was deeply divided on gay marriage, and that the government would challenge any move to legalise it, The Week magazine reported, citing the Press Trust of India. Continuing battle LGBT employees say policies to prevent discrimination at work are patchy. Vyjayanti Vasanta Mogli, a longtime employee at a leading IT services firm, said she was forced out of her company after she felt emboldened to come out as a transgender woman to her bosses after a 2014 Supreme Court ruling that allowed trans people to identify as male, female or a third gender. They couldnt understand (it), nor were they willing to understand, she told Reuters before Thursdays judgement. For them it was some unproductive rubbish, some trash that they had to deal with. Mogli, who has been trying to find a job for months, says leading American and European companies based in India routinely invite her to deliver talks about diversity and inclusion, but always shy away from hiring her as a full-time employee. She declined to name the companies as it would affect her employment prospects. While several companies including Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Godrej told Reuters they welcomed the lifting of Section 377 that criminalised gay sex, others said they had no plans for better workplace rights. Avinash Kumar, the head of marketing at consumer goods company Patanjali - one of Indias largest private sector employers - told Reuters via text message the idea of rights for gay employees at the company was a nonsensical question. We have better things to ponder over, he said. Patanjali's founder, Baba Ramdev, a celebrity yoga tycoon with close ties to the BJP here, has previously said homosexuality can be "cured" by using yoga. His spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. Mumbai-based conglomerate Godrej has long offered partners of LGBT employees benefits like health insurance despite Section 377, said Parmesh Shahani, head of the Godrej India Culture Lab, that encourages Indian companies to adopt LGBT-friendly policies. So many companies have been using Section 377 as a figleaf to cover their own homophobia, he said. Now well see who really cares. Kerala women's panel chief MC Josephine made it clear that it cannot register a case on its own. (Photo: ANI) Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala State Women's Commission Chairperson MC Josephine seemed to speak in defence of Communist Party of India (Marxist) Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA), who faces allegation of sexual abuse of a woman. MLA from the Shornur constituency and leader of the ruling party in Kerala PK Sasi has been accused of sexually harassing a woman leader of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). "We are all human beings, mistakes do happen. People inside the party may also have committed such mistakes," Kerala State Womens Commission Chairperson MC Josephine said on Thursday. The state womens panel made it clear that it cannot register a case on its own despite the National Commission for Women taking note of the incident wrote to Kerala police to investigate the matter. "We have not got any complaint. Even for suo moto case, we need at least the basic details like the nature of complaint which could be revealed either by the media or the victim themselves, in this case that hasn't happened. Then how can we register a case," Josephine said. Apprising of the development, NCW had tweeted, "The Commission is deeply disturbed with such alleged conduct on part of the elected representative. NCW has written to the Director General of Police and State Police Chief, Kerala giving directions that the matter is investigated. NCW has also directed him to apprise the Commission about the action taken in the matter and ensure speedy delivery of justice to the victim." While denying receiving any complaint in this regard, she passed on the buck to the party and said, "That's up to the party to decide. The Marxist party will have their own system of dealing with these complaints; it's not a new thing. Since its inception party has handled such complaints. Party will have their own system of handling such complaints and they handle it in their way." The opposition BJP in Kerala accused the ruling CPI(M) of trying to hush up the matter. BJP MLA from Kerala V Muraleedharan said the women's commission had become a 'mute spectator'. The woman had sent the complaint to CPI(M) politburo member Brinda Karat on August 14 and e-mailed a copy of it to party general secretary Sitaram Yechury. On September 7, the CPI(M) issued a statement on the issue and said the party will take appropriate action in the matter. It further accused the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a section of the media of making baseless allegations in order to defame the party. The statement added that the CPM state committee received a complaint against party MLA on August 14 following which an enquiry was ordered into the matter. "CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has heard the statement of the lady. Later, P K Sasi, MLA whose name was mentioned in the complaint was called to AKG center and heard his version about the complaint. State secretary explained all this in the first state secretariat meeting held on August 31. The meeting unanimously decided to conduct detailed enquiry on the lady's complaint.. Soon after receiving their report, party will take appropriate action on this issue," the party said in the statement. The CPI(M) further said that it will take a decision according to the party constitution, dignity and moral values. "CPM have taken strong stand on ensuring women safety and preventing tag atrocities against women in all time. Party has taken stubborn stand on rare occasions when raised some complaints insulting women," it stressed. PK Sasi has described the complaint as a "well planned conspiracy" to malign his reputation. Saipov, a 30-year-old Uzbek national, was arrested in October immediately after police said he ploughed a truck down a bike lane on Manhattan's West Side. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. (Photo: AFP) New York: Lawyers for Sayfullo Saipov, the man accused of killing eight people by driving a truck into a New York City bike path in October, on Thursday asked a federal judge to bar prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, saying President Donald Trump's statements on Twitter have made a fair legal process impossible. In a motion filed in Manhattan federal court, Saipov's lawyers said that Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who must decide whether to pursue the death penalty, cannot be objective because Trump has pressured him to make decisions based on "nakedly political considerations" and has called for Saipov to be executed. The lawyers pointed to a Monday tweet in which the president criticized the "Jeff Sessions Justice Department" for indicting two Republican congressmen "just ahead" of the upcoming congressional elections. They also cited two tweets following Saipov's arrest calling for him to face the death penalty. Together, they said, Trump's tweets make it impossible for Sessions to "exercise independent discretion" on the matter. They asked that if the judge declines to bar the death penalty altogether, an independent prosecutor be appointed to make the decision in place of Sessions. A spokesman for US Attorney Geoffrey Berman, whose office is prosecuting Saipov, declined to comment. The US Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Saipov, a 30-year-old Uzbek national, was arrested in October immediately after police said he ploughed a truck down a bike lane on Manhattan's West Side. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, which was the deadliest assault on New York City since September 11, 2001. He was charged in an indictment with eight counts of murder and other crimes including attempted murder and providing material support to ISIS. He has pleaded not guilty. Following the attack, Saipov told investigators he was inspired by watching ISIS videos and began planning the attack a year earlier, according to a criminal complaint filed by prosecutors the day after the attack. Saipov made a public statement at a pre-trial hearing in June, speaking of a "war" led by ISIS to establish sharia, or Islamic law, on earth, and dismissing the court's judgement as "not important." Dashain advanced booking in limbo The talk between transport entrepreneurs and authorities in regards to the issue of advanced booking for Dashain travel on Friday remains inconclusive. The Federation of the Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs Association (FNNTEA) have refused to start advanced booking, demanding that the government lift the freeze on the transport committees bank accounts and also review the ticket prices. A Singaporean start-up will deliver e-scooters and other personal mobility devices to help Vietnamese cities resolve their traffic problems. A Techinasia report says Qiq Global plans to deploy over 5,000 rentable personal mobility devices (PMDs) to Vietnam over the next two years, starting with Hanoi, Da Nang and Hai Phong. The deployment will happen under a business agreement that the Singaporean start-up has signed with its Vietnamese partner, TPR Invest, an investment and property development firm. While the first PMDs will comprise e-scooters and pedal-assist electric bikes, Qiq plans to introduce electric rickshaws and jeeps in the future. The startups co-founders worked for years to fix charging glitches and have come up with a solution that will fully charge the PMDs in just seven minutes. The company is hoping that the PMDs and the docking stations they come with will form a transportation network that could seed a bigger change in Vietnam and the world, the Techinasia report said. Ben Lim, Qiqs co-founder and chief compliance officer, estimated that each 20-minute or eight-kilometer Qiq ride will cost an affordable VND15,000 (about $0.60). The introduction of PMDs in Hanoi might segue well with the capital citys decision to ban motorbikes from the city center from 2030 as a far-reaching measure to reduce traffic congestion. Authorities committed many violations in planning HCMCs Thu Thiem new urban area, and residents grievances and protests are justified. This is the implication of conclusions drawn by government inspectors after spending four months investigating the planning and establishment of the Thu Thiem new urban area. Thu Thiem is the citys new financial center on the Thu Thiem Peninsula in District 2, which lies across the city's center over the Saigon River. The inspectors said Friday that HCMC authorities, the Ministry of Construction, and the Government Office were all responsible for faults in planning the new urban area. The municipal Peoples Committee decided in 2002 to reclaim 930 hectares (2,300 acres) of the Thu Thiem Peninsula for a mega project, including 770 hectares for the new urban area and 160 hectares for resettlement, but it did not identifly clearly the land that would be revoked. The government later guided the city in retaking land and resettling locals in five wards on the peninsula. City authorities took 621.4 hectares from these wards without proper compensation plans, the inspectors said. They said there were many violations in the site clearance, compensation and resettlement process. It was not in line with the nations Land Law. Furthermore, those in charge did not prepare a specific plan for compensation and resettlement before clearing sites, leading to public outrage and repeated complaints from local residents. Inspectors found that the city did not follow the approved plan in retaking 4.3 hectares from a residential area in Binh An Ward, and failed to guarantee a specific area to resettle locals there. Even worse, the city approved the use of as much as 144.6 hectares for 51 projects including condo apartments, office buildings and recreation projects on the 160-hectare area that had been regulated for resettlement by the government. The Prime Minister had in 1996 approved the planning of the Thu Thiem new urban area, but the citys authorities, the Ministry of Construction and the Government Office executed the project without drawing up a specific, detailed planning map, the inspectors said. Inspectors find grave violations in HCMC urban planning A tale of Thu Thiem Peninsula The Thu Thiem new urban area is envisaged as one of the biggest international financial and commercial centers in Southeast Asia. To develop the megaproject, HCMC spent 10 years relocating 15,000 households, paying out nearly VND30 trillion ($1.32 billion) in compensation. However, the project has been caught up in a relocation scandal as more than 100 affected families said their houses were not included in the demolition list according to the original planning map drawn up in 1996 and approved by the Prime Minister. The map was earlier reported to be missing, and controversy has raged ever since. Some officials say the map never existed, but an architect claims to have a copy of it. Meanwhile, media reports have surfaced about many Thu Thiem residents spending years filing complaints with different government agencies about improper seizure of their properties as well as poor compensation. Many have traveled multiple times between Hanoi and Saigon seeking justice. In May, some residents lodged their complaints with tears and frustration at a meeting with the city's legislators, which lasted more than seven hours late into the night. The Government Inspectorate has suggested that the PM guides the construction ministry and HCMC authorities to redraw the map and deal appropriately with individuals or agencies that have committed violations in revoking land, site clearance, compensation and resettlement. The inspectors have also said that HCMC authorities should review each and every complaint lodged by District 2 residents and redress their grievances as soon as possible. 'A friend of mine committed suicide after I abandoned him for him confessing his homosexuality to me.' Shocking, poignant stories were narrated at an unusual event hosted recently by the U.S. Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City. The Storytelling Contest on LGBTQI issues, involving members of the community as well as their families and friends, was part of a series of mini events supporting Viet Pride. LGBTQI stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, and intersex. Viet Pride is an annual event that focuses "on celebrating the freedom of love and personal expression, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity." Most of the 23 contestants who participated in the event were 15-25 years old. Some sat alone, some surrounded by friends and families. Some looked cheerful, others looked nervous. But when the story telling began, people bared their souls and shared their anguish. Tran Duc Bao, who won the first prize at the contest, shared how his name was modified to mock him. His friends and classmates called him Bao Duc, the initials of which fit the pronunciation of "Be e". "Be e," originating from "Pe de," a French slang for homosexual, is a derogatory term widely used to attack gays in Vietnam. "I used to bite my pillows in tears," Bao said. Bao was a natural on stage, which was a winning element in his presentation, apart from his story. He demonstrated how he walks, according to his haters: pelvis out, shoulders back, a limp wrist, hips swishing from side to side. This was obviously a deliberate exaggeration, because Baos gait is nothing like the stereotype. The 17-year-old student questioned the modern day freedom that does not grant him the freedom to be himself. Tran Duc Bao, first prize winner at a Saigon storytelling contest on LGBT issues, shares his story of being discriminated for being gay. Photo courtesy of US Consulate General 'More normal' Another contestant, Vu Hoang Thanh Trang, did not suffer any discrimination. She was the discriminator. When her friend confessed that she liked her, Trang reacted in a shocking way that silenced her friend and drove her away. When Trang managed to apologize, her friend broke to tears and the two embraced each other. "I wish I was more normal," her friend said. Trang has since been accompanying her friend on her journey to find herself, providing her the mental support she needs. In the process, Trang has become a pillar of support for many other friends who face the thorny challenges faced by all LGBTQI individuals. She invited others around her, including the audience present, to expand their horizons on sexual orientation. "Society cannot change immediately. If we can only inspire 3-5 people, that is okay. We are here, we can fight the stigma. We will make a difference, one mindset at a time," the 18-year-old said. A made-up story Among many captivating stories, one by Ngo Thanh Triet stood out. A Vietnamese student in Finland who calls himself "a gay guy who likes make-up," Triets attempt to boost his self-esteem backfired quickly. "I felt judgmental eyes on me from everyone around me because of my make-up." And this was happening in Finland, a country far more progressive and empathetic towards LGBTQI appearances and rights than many countries, including Vietnam. Then, something else happened. "One time, when I was at a bar, there were two girls sitting not so far from me. "They were looking in my direction, with their hands covering their mouths as they spoke, and I realized they were talking about me." The women ended up approaching Triet, and asked him a question he did not expect: "What highlighter do you use?" It hit Triet then that he does not really know what people think of him his own negative thoughts were wreaking havoc. "So why do I stress myself about what others think of me?" Ngo Thanh Triet shares his story at the contest. Photo courtesy of the US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City Misunderstanding, cruelty Despite the upbeat nature of several stories, the pain caused by a society that discriminates against them was evident. At another LGBT event hosted by the U.S. Consulate General last month, Doctor Nguyen Tan Thu and psychologist Mia Nguyen addressed common misunderstandings and responses that causes more suffering. "To cure homosexuals, doctors injected hormones into them. If that does not work, they were subjected to electric shocks, either on top of their head, arms, or sexual organs," Thu said. There was one gruesome method the doctor mentioned that sent shivers down the audiences spine: corrective rape. The term was coined in South Africa after numerous rapes of lesbians. Perpetrators claimed that the act would transform the homosexual victim into heterosexual. Thu categorically stated that all the abovementioned conversion therapies do not change the sexual orientation of "patients." An openly gender queer person himself, Thu is an ardent activist for LGBTIQ rights. He is now a consultant for Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) where he provides counseling and HIV test referrals for men who have sex with men (MSM). Boi Nhi, a freelance actress and health consultant at My Home Clinic, a LGBTQI-friendly clinic that welcomes patients who are afraid to go to public and private hospitals, spoke openly about her predicament. She said that hormones used by transgender individuals are not regulated in Vietnam. "Transgenders like me who use these hormones are not protected by law," Nhi said. Homosexuals who want to become transgenders often look up to those who have already had sex reassignment surgery and seek their advice on hormone use, the actress said. "We have no idea what these pills contain. Because the Ministry of Health does not inspect and supervise these hormone pills, we as transgenders have to resort to advice from successfully transgendered people for medical advice and support so that we can eventually find ourselves just like they did," Nhi said. Mia Nguyen, a psychologist who has worked with the LGBTQI community for over a decade, told VnExpress International that sex reassignment surgery was not covered by health insurance in Vietnam. In contrast, in Australia, where she has worked since 2007, counselling and hormone therapy for people undergoing the surgery are covered by health insurance. She hoped that the operation will soon be covered by health insurance in Vietnam. Vietnam is regarded highly in the region when it comes to supporting LGBTQI rights. It scrapped the ban on same-sex marriage in 2014. However, the nations laws does not recognize nor protect gay couples. Harsh attitudes at home remain one of the toughest challenges facing Vietnams LGBT community. Ending it all "My friend committed suicide after I abandoned him for him confessing his homosexuality to me." When Bui Quang Nghias friend came out of the closet and confided in him, Nghia cut off contact. He did not answer texts or phone calls. And before he could realize how much hurt he had caused by shunning his friend, it was too late. The friend overdosed on sleeping pills. Nghia did not cry, but the pauses in his storytelling were pregnant with grief. Nguyen Khanh shared another dramatic story about a friend of his. He seemed to have everything anyone could want. He was intelligent, sociable, ambitious and had an excellent education funded by his family. But there was something inside that had been eating him up for a long time his unorthodox sexual orientation. As Khanh spoke, a picture of a railway track appeared on the screen. "He stood there, one step away from death. He wanted to end it all. Do you think he jumped?", he asked, and the audience tensed up. Nguyen then took a symbolic step back and said with a smile, "Fortunately, he did not. Because he is me." Vietnam and Russia have agreed to further strengthen their cooperation in hydrocarbon exploration, extraction and production, as also defense ties. The agreement was reached during the official visit to Russia by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Vietnam and Russia will continue to provide opportunities to expand businesses operations regarding hydrocarbon refining and petrochemistry on both countries territories, as well as to build new power stations running on natural gas, said a joint statement issued during the visit this week. The two countries also agreed to expand hydrocarbon exploration and extraction operations on Vietnams continental shelf in accordance with international law. It said the construction of two natural gas power stations in the central provinces of Quang Tri and Binh Thuan was also discussed. Vietnam and Russia have long-standing cooperation in hydrocarbon exploration and extraction, with firms like Vietsovpetro, Rusvietpetro, Vietgazprom and Gazpromviet at the forefront of projects in these fields. Trong and Russian President Vladimir Putin also agreed to boost cooperation on national security and defense. They affirmed that disputes within the Asia-Pacific region should be resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the 2002 Declaration on Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and the Code of Conduct on the South China Sea (COC). The COC is still being negotiated. The South China Sea is known in Vietnam as the East Sea. Both sides also agreed to boost dialogue within regional forums like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the East Asia Summit (EAS) and the ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM+), emphasizing ASEANs central role in the Asia-Pacific region. Bilateral trade ties between Vietnam and Russia has seen significant growth in recent years, especially after the Vietnam-Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) Free Trade Agreement took effect in 2016. Bilteral trade turnover reached $3.55 billion last year, a 30 percent increase over 2016. Currently, Russia has 117 investment projects in Vietnam with a registered capital of $931 million. Russia is currently ranked 23rd in the list of countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Vietnam has 13 investment projects in Russia with a registered capital of almost $3 billion. Among these is a milk processing factory by food firm TH in the Kaluga industrial complex in Kaluga District. The TH factory, with a daily capacity of 1,500 tons, broke ground last Friday. The factory is part of a $2.7 billion hi-tech dairy farming and milk-processing project being implemented by TH in Russia. Trongs four-day official visit to Russia concluded Saturday. Vietnamese-Canadian Kim Thuy, author of several acclaimed novels, has been shortlisted for the New Prize in Literature. This award is said to be a stand in for the Nobel Prize for 2018, which was postponed by the Swedish Academy after a sexual misconduct scandal. Canadian broadcaster CBC reported that Quebec-based author Kim Thuy, who has written several acclaimed novels like Man, Ru and Vi, has been shortlisted for the alternative prize. Thuy told the Canadian press that she was surprised by the news and lauded her fellow finalists - French author Maryse Conde, Japanese author Haruki Murakami and American author Neil Gaman. "I see them as cultural icons - veteran writers - while I'm just at the beginning of this adventure," she said. The winner will be announced on October 12 and a formal celebration event will be held on December 9, the prizes official website states. The New Prize of Literature, created by the non-profit New Academy, originally featured 47 authors from around the world. Four authors most voted for by the public are shortlisted for the grand prize, which will be decided by a jury panel. The New Academy, which has over a hundred writers, journalists, actors and many other cultural figures, was created following sexual assault allegations against Jean-Claude Arnault, a member of the Swedish Academy, which traditionally awards the annual Nobel Prize of Literature. The incident has prompted the Academy to postpone this years literature award. It will declare two winners for the literature award next year as compensation. An academy website statement says: The present decision [to postpone the award] was arrived at in view of the currently diminished Academy and the reduced public confidence in the Academy. We find it necessary to commit time to recovering public confidence in the Academy before the next laureate can be announced, said Anders Olsson, the Academys interim Permanent Secretary. The New Academy will be dissolved in December, making the New Prize of Literature a one-time affair. In a time when human values are increasingly being called into question, literature becomes the counterforce of oppression and a code of silence. It is now more important than ever that the worlds greatest literary prize should be awarded, says a New Academy statement on its website. A long-standing traditional festival that showcases Vietnams undeniable charm takes place when nature is at its breathtaking best. For thousands of years, the Mid-Autumn Festival has been an occasion for family reunions and a childrens night out. It dates back to the Wet Rice Civilization of the Red River Delta over 4,000 years ago. Back then, rice was harvested before the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. The festival falls on the full moon night of Lunar August, the most beautiful night of the year, when the moon is perfectly round and bright, and shines a magical golden hue. Traditionally, all members of a family would gather around a lavish tray of fruits along with moon cakes, and savor them together while admiring the full moon. Adults would tell kids the story of Hang Nga the beautiful daughter of the Jade Empire and Cuoi. Children would enjoy art performances including singing, plays and lion dances and then light up the night with colorful lanterns held in their little hands. While the Chinese perform the dragon dance during this festival, the Vietnamese go for the unique unicorn dance or lion dance, which symbolizes luck, wealth and prosperity. While children find joy playing under the full moon, adults enjoy a long-awaited family reunion, with loved ones who work far from home who take the trouble to get back for the festival. Despite it not being an official holiday in Vietnam, most people would spend time with their loved ones recalling events of bygone days. Above everything, the Mid-Autumn Festival has always been about one fundamental thing: love. Sincere gratitude In the old days, occupied with the harvesting season, parents did not have much time to take care of their children. Therefore, when the autumn approached, marking an abundant crop, they would make full use of the Mid-Autumn Festival to spend time with the kids. Children are the happiest ones at this time because parents prepare various types of lanterns, mooncakes as well as masks as presents. Moon cakes, sweet and flavorful, have been an inseparable part of the festival, and become a symbol of close family ties. It is a long-standing tradition that people gift moon cakes during this festival, especially to parents and grandparents. In modern times, gifting the moon cake to employees during the Mid-Autumn Festival carries great meaning. It embodies the bonds between the management cadre and their colleagues, a way for the former to express their gratitude to the latter. Most businesses, therefore, would select moon cakes made by a prestigious brand that represents high quality and attractive packaging. For many years now, the Kinh Do Mooncake has been a first choice for the majority of its customers. The company has never stopped trying to introduce captivating new products, elevating flavors and improving their packaging. At the same time, the company has consistently applied stringent measures to ensure that the products meet the highest standards of safety and quality. Trusted by many businesses throughout the years, a Kinh Do gift has come to symbolize gratitude, recognition and pride. Such a gift-giving tradition adds more value to the enterprises themselves. Phat Dat Of Ukraine's exports, over 15 percent were ferrous metals and 12.5 percent were electric machines. Ukrainian exports to Poland shot up by 30.5 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2017, according to a report. Read alsoUkraine joins efforts to create "Carpathian Strategy" Between January and June, Ukraine sold Poland goods worth USD 1.7 billion, public broadcaster Polish Radio's IAR news agency reported, according to Radio Poland. Of Ukraine's exports, over 15 percent were ferrous metals and 12.5 percent were electric machines. In the whole of last year, trade between the two countries totaled more than USD 6 billion. Polish exports to Ukraine were worth USD 700 million more than Ukraine's exports to Poland, according to IAR. Farmers in Dhading bemoan lack of fertiliser Farmers in Dhading district are bemoaning the difficulty in getting chemical fertiliser, with Agriculture Inputs Company (AIC) failing to supply adequate amount of the farm input. One killed, two wounded in 32 enemy attacks on Ukrainian positions over past day Militants have fired 32 times at the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces over the past 24 hours, killing one Ukrainian soldier and wounding two more, the press center of the headquarters of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) has said. "The enemy opened fire on the positions of our troops 32 times. At the same time, the enemy twice used weapons proscribed by the Minsk agreements [...] One Joint Forces serviceman was killed and two more were injured in fighting over the past day," the JFO HQ said in a report on Facebook on Saturday morning. "Over the past day, the enemy fired at our positions near the settlements of Malynove, Schastia, Krymske, Orikhove, Katerynivka, Luhanske, Svitlodarsk, Pivdenne, Novhorodske, Opytne, Avdiyivka, Pavlopil, Hnutove, Lebedynske and Vodiane," reads the report. In addition, in the Luhansk sector, illegal armed formations fired at the positions of the Joint Forces near the village of Krymske from 152mm artillery at night, and in the evening they opened fire at a Ukrainian strongpoint near the Svitlodarsk bulge from a 120mm mortar. According to Ukrainian intelligence, three militants were killed over the past day. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has expressed concern over a court's decision to grant the Prosecutor General's Office access to information from the phone of journalist Natalia Sedletska and urged the Ukrainian authorities to ensure compliance with her rights to the confidentiality of sources. "Investigative journalists play a fundamental watchdog role in our societies, as they look into corruption or the misuse of power. Their work is based on a variety of sources, and they have the right to keep these sources confidential," the Ukrayinska Pravda ezine quoted a statement by PACE General Rapporteur on Media Freedom and the Safety of Journalists George Foulkes. Foulkes recalled that keeping sources confidential "is a standard established by the European Court of Human Rights." "I call on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that journalist Natalia Sedletska's right to keep her sources confidential is respected," he said. As earlier reported, the editorial board of the Schemes TV program announced on September 4 that Ukraine's PGO had been granted access to information on the telephone belonging to the program's chief editor, Natalia Sedletska. The office said the step was tantamount to pressuring an independent journalist. "Kyiv's Pechersky District Court has granted the PGO access to telephone conversations, messages and information about the location of Natalia Sedletska's telephone in a case involving the likely leak of a state secret and information of a pretrial investigation by National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine Director Artem Sytnyk. [It's] not information about one certain day, but for 17 months," the Schemes office said on its Facebook page on September 4. On the same day, spokesman for the Prosecutor General's Office Andriy Lysenko said on his Facebook page that prosecutors' access to Sedletska's phone data did not cover the content of conversations, and the journalist appeared along with other citizens as a possible witness. "The [prosecutors] are authorized by the court to examine telecoms data for a period of 17 months, due to the need to establish the date, time and place of the likely leak of classified information by the director of NABU in criminal proceedings under Part 2 of Article 163, Part 1 of Article 182, Part 1 of Article 328, Part 2 of Article 387 of Ukraine's Criminal Code," Lysenko said, adding that Sedletska could be called as a witness in the case. On September 5, Sedletska said PGO chief Yuriy Lutsenko invited her to a meeting on the same day to explain the prosecutor's access to information from her phone. At the same time, she said RFE/RL was inviting Lutsenko "to give an open comment on the air, instead of having a behind-the-scenes, closed meeting." Sedletska later said Lutsenko refused to publicly answer questions about investigators' access to her phone. "Our proposal to him to appear on air remains open," she said. Lutsenko invited MPs Olha Chervakova and Viktoria Siumar for his meeting with her. "Schemes: Corruption in Detail" is a weekly television program investigating high-profile corruption cases. The program has aired since July 2014. It is a joint project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) and TV channel UA: First. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that the appointment of the new composition of the Central Election Commission (CEC) by the Verkhovna Rada is important not only for holding elections in merged territorial communities, but also for ensuring fair presidential and parliamentary elections in 2019. According to the press service of the head of state, Poroshenko, while visiting Zhytomyr on the occasion of the City Day, said in an interview with the SK1 television channel that the process of elections in merged territorial communities should be unblocked. According to him, if there are any inconsistencies in the legislation, the Verkhovna Rada should immediately take a decision to unblock the process. "If this requires the decision of the Central Election Commission, again, the Rada should consider a presidential motion, which has been in parliament for more than a year, and elect a new CEC composition. This is important not only for creating merged territorial communities, but also for ensuring free transparent fair elections of the president and the parliament next year," Poroshenko said. As reported, Poroshenko nominated 14 candidates for 13 seats in the Central Election Commission. On July 12, the Bloc of Petro Poroshenko faction in the Verkhovna Rada proposed not voting for Associate Professor of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law at Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University Olha Lotiuk as a CEC member. Verkhovna Rada Chairman Andriy Parubiy said on September 7 that a key issue for the Ukra IGP Khanal vows action against guilty Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sarbendra Khanal on Friday pledged action against the perpetrator(s) of the rape and murder of 13-year-old Nirmala Panta of Bhimdutta Municipal- ity-2, Kanchanpur. The head of Iran's Planning and Budget Organization, Vice-President Mohammad Baqer Nobakht says his organization will introduce five economic packages to tackle the impact of renewed US sanctions and to control drastic fluctuations of the exchange rate. Meanwhile, administration-owned daily newspaper Shahrvand on Saturday August 9 has quoted Anoshirvan Mohseni Bandpey, the caretaker of Iran's Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare as saying that the government is considering several plans including the introduction of "electronic coupons" to help the fair distribution of essential commodities; euphemism for "rationing." The Iranian government has allocated 13 billion dollars to providing 25 essential commodities to low-income people during the rest of the current Iranian year in till March, Nobakht told the Iranian Students News Agency on Friday. The amount would be spent on purchasing essential commodities from abroad based on a subsidized rate of exchange. However, he did not say whether the government is going to purchase the goods, in which case speaking of a rate of exchange would be meaningless, or private companies are going to get the subsidized foreign currency to import the goods. The latter case, would inevitably give rise to corruption and mishandling of funds in the same way well-connected profiteers benefitted from the foreign currency allocated for imports during May to July 2018, as reported by Iranian media. Rice, sugar, meat, bread and dairy products are the most important items on the list of essential commodities. Iranians have been complaining about the shortage and extremely high prices of everyday household necessities in recent weeks. Although Iran's controlled media say very little about the daunting impact of sanctions, Iranian on social media have been venting their frustration about shortages and high prices in numerous posts that found their way to foreign-based Farsi media, making everyone aware of the seriousness of economic and financial problems in Iran. Radio Farda receives dozens of messages daily from Iranian citizens via social media and telephone about the skyrocketing prices and lack of goods. According to Nobakht, the five packages will help low-income workers, government employees, contractors and producers to cope with the impact of sanctions. However, he did not elaborate on the nature of groups vaguely defined as "contractors" and those working for "institutions," probably meaning the armed forces and the religious bureaucracy. Two more packages are to help producers and government employees cope with fluctuations in the rate of exchange, he said. In the absence of further details this also seems to be a too broad target and can simply mean subsidizing everything while the oil money lasts. Just a week earlier, Irans central bank chief had announced that the oil income and the banks foreign reserves should not be spent on subsidizing the national currency. After that announcement, the rial took a further beating on the open market and prices of every-day goods went up. Nobakht added, "There is also going to be another package to help low-income individuals," adding that the details of this package have not been determined yet. What the caretaker labor minister revealed in Shahrvand newspaper, could be what Nobakht was talking about, although it could well be yet another plan that would add more ambiguity to the chaos surrounding the Rouhani administration's ad hoc attempts to counter the impact of US sanctions on the economy. The key to the Labor Ministry's plan is introducing electronic coupons which would enable everyone to buy their ration of essential goods. Last week the parliament ruled out a plan to introduce paper coupons probably fearing the psychological impact of reminding people of the coupons and rationing during Iran's eight-year-long war with Iraq in the 1980s. "It is on our agenda to issue electronic coupons to everyone in society to enable them to provide for their essential needs," the caretaker minister said. Earlier, other Iranian officials had talked about cards with microchips; a smarter way to introduce rationing while looking modern. Following the U.S. withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran in May, U.S. President Donald Trump re-imposed the sanctions against Iran that were lifted after the deal was signed in 2015. More sanctions are to come into effect after November 4, targeting Iran's oil and gas exports and banking transactions. It is not clear whether and how the sanctions would affect the banking operations that would be part of Tehran's effort to import essential commodities. An unprecedented rise in the rate of exchange of the U.S. dollar against the Iranian currency, the rial, during the past eight months has made life harder for many Iranians and has led to waves of protests that also had political undercurrents. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has been urged by other political leaders to resign over the outbreak of deadly unrest in the southern port city of Basra. "We demand the government apologize to the people and resign immediately," said Hassan al-Aquli, a spokesman for the political list of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, which won the most seats in the May elections. The Conquest Alliance list, the second-leading bloc in parliament, also called on Abadi to resign, shortly after an emergency meeting of the parliament to discuss the unrest in Basra, where 12 protesters were killed, the Iranian Consulate and other government buildings were torched, and the airport was hit by rockets. A curfew imposed the previous day was lifted on September 8 as the streets were quiet under a heavy security force presence. Organizers of the demonstrations in Basra had vowed to pause for one day. The Basra protests began when some 30,000 people fell ill from polluted drinking water. Abadi described the several days of unrest in Basra as "political sabotage" and said that the quality of "public services" was being exploited for political means. Abadi's government announced that extra funds would be provided to Basra. The Health Ministry said that 50 people -- 48 civilians and two police officers -- had been injured during the protests. News agencies quoted Basra residents and protesters as saying they have become angered by corruption, mismanagement, and a collapse of infrastructure that has led to a loss of electricity and safe drinking water in the blazing summer heat. Protesters had set the Iranian Consulate on fire to protest what they see as Iran's excessive influence in Iraqi domestic affairs. The Iranian government condemned the attack, in which there were no reported injuries. "We expect the immediate arrest and punishment of the attackers," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said. Iran and Iraq -- enemies in a brutal eight-year war that ended in 1988 -- have developed closer ties since Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003 by a U.S.-led invasion. Shi'a-led Iran has become heavily involved in Iraq's political affairs and sponsors powerful Shi'ite militia groups that played a role in defeating Islamic State (IS) extremists last year. Iraq's population is 60-65 percent Shi'ite, 15-20 percent Sunni Arab, and 17 percent Sunni Kurd, creating a tense balance of power in the country. Smaller protests have been reported in other cities, including the capital, Baghdad, and Karbala. With reporting by AFP, Reuters, and AP The United Nations has urged Iran to halt the executions of three Kurdish men. The Islamic Republic has vowed to execute cousins Zanyar and Loghman Moradi, and Ramin Hossein Panahi on Saturday, UN rapporteurs said in a statement on September 8. "We urge the Government of Iran to immediately halt their executions and to annul the death sentences against them in compliance with its international obligations," said Agnes Callamard and Javaid Rehman, Special Rapporteurs for the UN. Death row inmates, Loghman and Zanyar Moradi, have been transferred to the quarantine section of notorious prison, Rajaei Shahr, near Tehran, without any official explanation. According to the Office of the UN High Commissiponer for Human Rights (OHCHR), Zanyar and Loghman Moradi were arrested in August 2009 for the alleged murder of the son of an Imam in Marivan, Kurdistan province. They were subsequently held at an intelligence detention center for nine months without formal charges or the opportunity to challenge the legality of their incarceration. The rapporteurs have insisted, They were also severely beaten, tied up in restricted stress positions and threatened with rape, in order to force them to confess to the murder. In December 2010, they were brought before the revolutionary court in the capital Tehran where they were sentenced to death by public hanging in a trial that apparently lasted only 20 minutes. Furthermore, the rapporteurs have noted that the Iranian Supreme Court has upheld their convictions, and that the allegations of torture were not investigated. During the trial, they both denied the charges in court and explained that they had confessed to the crimes only due to torture following their initial arrest, said OHCHR in its statement. The news release also stated that fears of their imminent execution have been raised amid reports that they were transferred to solitary confinement on 5 September, their families asked to visit them, and their access to telephones restricted. The experts also reiterated their previous calls to halt Mr. Panahis execution reportedly due to occur at the same time and annul his death sentence in light of reports that he did not receive a fair trial and has been tortured in detention. Mr. Panahi was arrested last June for alleged membership in a separatist armed branch of Kurdish group Komala, was repeatedly beaten in detention, denied medical care and access to a lawyer, and held in solitary confinement until January. Meanwhile, Panahis brother, Amjad, has called for his brothers public trial, insisting that he is a political and civil rights activist. UN Special Rapporteurs and independent experts are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a specific human rights theme or a country situation. The positions are honorary and the experts are not UN staff, nor are they are paid for their work. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 7 By Ilkin Shafiyev Trend: On August 25, 2018 German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Azerbaijan as part of her South Caucasus tour. The agenda in Baku was saturated. The experts and officials assessed the results of the visit as fruitful. During the talks, Azerbaijani and German officials managed to outline vectors for further development of bilateral relations and strengthening of mutual ties. In an exclusive interview with Trend, Ramin Hasanov, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, spoke about the importance of the visit, its results, as well as the tasks set before Azerbaijani diplomats as a result of the visit. About importance of visit of Federal Chancellor of Germany to Azerbaijan Of course, the first visit of the head of the government of the country, which enjoys prestige in the EU, to Azerbaijan and is among the twenty first world economic powers, is an important, historic event. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has visited Berlin and Munich several times at the invitation of the chancellor of Germany to participate in the Munich Security Conference. From this point of view, the German chancellor's visit to Azerbaijan has become a logical continuation of the high-level political dialogue. On the other hand, as it is known, along with Azerbaijan, Merkel visited other countries of the South Caucasus. In this regard, the visit was also interesting from the point of view of objective assessment of the place and role of Azerbaijan in the foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany, based on comparative analysis of meetings and statements made in the countries of the region with completely different levels of socio-economic development and foreign policy. At the same time, the visit aroused great resonance among the German public representatives. As I have already stressed, this was the first visit of the German chancellor to Azerbaijan and Armenia. At the same time, Germany's relations with the three countries of the region that are members of the Eastern Partnership program are of great interest in the context of the EU policy in the South Caucasus region. Frankly speaking, some anti-Azerbaijani circles in Germany, spreading critical information about Azerbaijan, tried to cast a shadow on this visit. A vivid example is the artificial agiotage created in the media in connection with Albert Weiler, member of the Bundestag, included in the list of undesirable people for illegal visit to the occupied Azerbaijani lands. However, the successful visit, its productive results, showed the true importance of the Azerbaijan-Germany relations. Attention both in the media and in official, political, economic and scientific and cultural circles was focused on the substantive issues that were discussed during the visit. Merkel's visit to Azerbaijan was assessed as successful and productive both in Azerbaijan and Germany. Key factors that ensured successful outcome Of course, for Germany Azerbaijan is the most important country in the South Caucasus, both politically and economically. This is connected not only with the fact that Azerbaijan is the locomotive of the Southern Gas Corridor project, which is of strategic importance for the EU and has a 70-percent share in the trade turnover between Germany and the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan is also a country carrying out a completely independent policy. It is a country that opened the way for the region to the world markets through the oil strategy laid down by Azerbaijans National Leader Heydar Aliyev and since that period successfully cooperating with the world leading energy companies. Azerbaijan is a country that has gained confidence of the world community. It is an important player, which played a pivotal role in the creation of a regional infrastructure for international cooperation. Azerbaijanattaches great importance to the active political dialogue and equal cooperation with Germany. Germany is one of the first countries with which Azerbaijan established diplomatic relations. There is a sincere political dialogue at the high level between our countries. German government circles appreciated substantive discussions on various issues that took place during the meeting of the chancellor of Germany and the president of Azerbaijan within the chancellor's visit. German government circles stressed that these discussions are crucial from the point of view of the existing political cooperation between the two countries. Another significant point is that during the visit to the countries of the South Caucasus, Merkel was accompanied by a delegation consisting of experts in the field of economy and only in Baku a business meeting was held with the participation of the political leaders of Azerbaijan and Germany. While giving political assessment to the visit, German officials and experts point to the economic aspect, stressing that the visit created a good basis for diversifying and intensifying economic cooperation between our countries. Indeed, at the meeting with businessmen, ideas on the work on specific joint projects were discussed and the corresponding instructions were given. Of course, mutual contacts established as a result of this meeting will contribute to bilateral economic cooperation. One of the main issues on the agenda during Merkels visit to our country was the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Germany, as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as our important partner in the EU, is in favor of just settlement of the conflict. Berlinis always ready to contribute to the creation of a positive negotiating sphere between the conflicting parties. In Baku, Merkel stressed that the change of power in Armenia can improve the situation and give a push to the negotiation process. As it turned out, as opposed to Azerbaijan, which supports constructive negotiations, Armenia is ready to avoid or sabotage negotiations to preserve the existing status quo. Thus, Germany could use its political weight and economic capabilities for Armenia to sit at the negotiating table with the aim of resolving the conflict. Prospects for bilateral relations opened following Merkels visit to Azerbaijan The current level of relations between the two countries, the growing dynamics of relations, intensive contacts in various spheres, as well as fruitful conditions for the development of comprehensive relations between countries, being created following Merkels first visit to Azerbaijan, have set new tasks for Azerbaijani diplomats. I think that Germany's more active role in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the promotion of political cooperation to the level of strategic partnership, more active participation of German companies in the Azerbaijani economy, the expansion of existing contacts in the humanitarian sphere, Germanys closer acquaintance with culture and tourism opportunities of Azerbaijan are important tasks. The assessment of existing opportunities in these issues and their use will be key indicators of our activity over the next years. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @IlkinShafiyev Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 8 Trend: Direct flights between Pakistan and Azerbaijan should be launched, Senator, Deputy Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan Saleem Mandviwalla said. Mandivala made the remarks during a meeting with Azerbaijani Ambassador to Pakistan Ali Alizade, the Azerbaijani embassy in Pakistan said in a message. Gratification with the existing close ties between the parliaments of Azerbaijan and Pakistan and the important role of parliaments in the creation of friendly and fraternal relations between the two countries were stressed during the meeting. The resolution passed by the Senate of Pakistan, which supports the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and condemns Armenia was also appreciated. Mandviwalla said that Azerbaijan is a fraternal country for Pakistan. He stressed the need to further expand cooperation in the spheres of economy, trade, defense, energy, launch direct flights between the two countries and further intensify the ties between the interparliamentary friendship groups. During the meeting the sides also exchanged views on the implementation of joint projects, which will serve to further expansion of ties between the two countries. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 8 Trend: Azerbaijani MP, Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Azay Guliyev will visit Uzbekistan on September 10, the Azerbaijani Parliament's Office said Sept. 8. In Uzbekistans Dushanbe city, he will take part in a conference entitled "Role of Parliaments in Attracting Afghanistan for Cooperation in Central Asia through Preventive Diplomacy", which will take place through the UN. During the event, Guliyev will deliver a report on the OSCE PA's policy on Central Asia and Afghanistan, the projects being implemented in this direction, the role and prospects of parliamentary diplomacy in the field of cooperation and dialogue between the regional countries. During the visit, a meeting with the speaker of the parliament is planned to be held to discuss the further cooperation issues between the OSCE PA and Uzbekistan. The visit will end on September 13. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 8 Trend: President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Tajik counterpart Emomali Rahmon. `On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my sincerest congratulations to you and through you to all the people of your country on the occasion of the Independence Day of the Republic of Tajikistan,` President Aliyev said. `Tajikistan is today moving forward on the path of public and political stability, sustainable socio-economic development. Your countrys international influence, its role in regional issues is increasing day by day. Azerbaijan-Tajikistan relations have rich traditions. Your official visit to Azerbaijan last month is a clear manifestation of these traditions. I believe that our interstate relations and cooperation of mutual interest will further develop and expand,` he added. `On this remarkable day, I wish you the best of health, success in your endeavors, and the friendly people of Tajikistan everlasting peace and prosperity,` Ilham Aliyev said. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 8 By Vugar Imanov Trend: Azerbaijan will hold the Nasimi Festival of Poetry, Arts, and Spirituality for the first time on September 27-30. The festival, organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan, is dedicated to the work of Imadaddin Nasimi (1369-1417), one of the brilliant poets and thinkers of the East. The festival will be held under the slogans Beyond the limited self, reflecting the philosophical views of the poet, and I am a particle, I am the sun which are the poets lines. The program of the large-scale event covers various types of art and knowledge fields. During the festival, programs will be organized in various places in Baku, as well as in Shamakhi, the native city of the poet. One of the events will take place on September 29 at the Magsud Ibrahimbayov Creativity Center. The fragments of the immersion play "Immolatio" ("Sacrifice", the authors are poetess Leyla Begim, filmmaker and screenwriter Yefim Abramov) directed by People's Artist of Azerbaijan Vagif Asadov will be demonstrated to the audience in the Azerbaijani and Russian languages. The "Immolatio" ("Sacrifice") play is dedicated to two great thinkers - enlighteners born in one year, who lived during one period in different parts of the world - in the East and the West, in Azerbaijan and the Czech Republic. Imadeddin Nasimi (1369-1417) and Jan Hus (1369-1415) had identical views, ideas, attitude to the preservation and development of the native language. The play is written in Russian language and translated into the Azerbaijani and English languages. Presently, rehearsals of an extraordinary and very interesting performance are being conducted. The creative team, in which the actors of the Samad Vurgun Azerbaijan State Russian Drama Theatre are involved, shared their thoughts about the festival and the performance with Trend. This play is primarily a story about the unification of two cultures, views of representatives of the East and the West, director of the play Vagif Asadov said. "The Nasimi Festival on such a grand scale will be held for the first time in Azerbaijan, with the participation of famous actors, artists, philosophers from different countries. The "Sacrifice" play was created by our compatriots Leyla Begim and Yefim Abramov, who now live in the Czech Republic and Israel, Asadov added. Azerbaijani poet Nasimi and Czech poet Jan Hus have very similar and tragic fates, but the main thing that unites them is the struggle for the ideology of mankind, high moral principles, loyalty to the Creator! Although they did not know each other, but the dramatic space allows bringing together those historical periods, he said. We give the opportunity to our heroes to hear each other. The dialogs of Nasimi and Jan Hus are the search for the way of the East to the West, and the West to the East. First of all, this is a desire to hear each other. According to the plot of the play, this desire arises also among young people in the 21st century - students of the Prague University, Asadov said. Young people are also representatives of the East and the West. They are sure that both Nasimi and Jan Hus left some sort of a message to the future generations." "The festival is dedicated to great poet Nasimi and this is a significant cultural event in the life of Azerbaijan," Anna Ibrahimbayova, director of the Maqsud Ibrahimbayov Creativity Center, said. We are very pleased that the excerpts from the remarkable play "Immolatio", which tells about Nasimi and Jan Hus, the parallels between the cultures of the East and the West are shown, will be demonstrated at the Maqsud Ibrahimbayov Creativity Center." "A very interesting job allows me, as an actor, to disclose a very complex image of Nasimi, the great Azerbaijani poet and philosopher," said Oleg Amirbekov, who plays Nasimi. The performance will be presented for the first time in Azerbaijan and it will be demonstrated at all floors and rooms of the Maqsud Ibrahimbayov Creativity Center, which is a very surprising and unique spectacle. During the performance the audience will move together with the actors. This has not happened in Azerbaijan before!" "Nasimi's creativity is an inexhaustible bag of knowledge and high philosophical views for the sake of human perfection," said Honored Artist Fuad Osmanov, who plays the Angel and the Ruler. Nasimi was the first poet in the history of Azerbaijani literature, writing lyric love poems - ghazals in the Azerbaijani language. Thanks to the play, not only spectators but also the actors themselves make a kind of excursion into the past to find the truth of human existence." "My image of the Blind Angel is one of the unique images in the play as his blindness is superior over sighted people," said Honored Artist Maqsud Mammadov. Through his dark glasses he sees many things that others can not, or some people simply do not want to see. Since the time of the creation of mankind, the struggle between good and evil is so intertwined that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the truth. For example, there are a person and his shadow, and they are inseparable from each other. That is, to know the good, it is necessary to know what is evil. "In ancient Roman mythology, Janus was depicted with two faces turned in opposite directions, to the past and the future," says Teymur Rahimov, who plays Janus. One was the face of a young, beardless man looking to the future, the other - the face of a bearded old man turned to the past. The two-faced Janus is an insincere, hypocritical man. In this play he is a peculiar jester, a negative character who is trying to knock people out of the way." For the first time such a grandiose festival will be held for spectators through registration on the official www.nasimifestival.live website rather than via tickets and invitations. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept.8 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: It is planned to start the construction of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB), which envisages transportation of Azerbaijani gas to Bulgaria, by late 2018, said Bulgarias Energy Minister Temenuzhka Petkova. She made the remarks during the South-East Europe Energy Forum in Thessaloniki, Greece, said a message from Bulgarias Energy Ministry. Petkova pointed out that IGB is of geostrategic importance for Bulgaria and Southeastern and Central Europe in terms of the diversification of supplies. "Huge progress has been made thanks to the political commitment of the governments of Greece and Bulgaria, as well as the European Commission and the United States," she added. Petkova went on to add that the sources of financing for the project have already been defined. The project has already received a grant of 45 million euros under the European Energy Programme for Recovery (EEPR) and about 39 million euros from the European Structural and Investment Funds for Bulgaria, she said. "Currently, the project company is actively working to complete the procurement procedures, and we expect these activities to be completed successfully in the second half of the year." We plan to start the IGB construction by the end of this year and end it in 2020. IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to TAP via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets. The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Baku, Azerbaijan, Sep. 8 By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend: Turkish transport company Izulas in the Turkish province of Izmir has announced a tender for compulsory insurance of 393 vehicles of the company. Vehicles must be insured for a period of 365 days from the date of announcing the results of the tender. Both local and foreign companies can participate in the tender. The tender will be held at 14:00 (GMT +3) on October 26, 2018. Applications and proposals of interested parties are accepted at: Evka 3 Mahallesi 129 Sokak No:1/201 35050 Bornova Bornova/Izmir. E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (+90 232) 282 29 10 Fax: (+90 232) 282 29 55 The tender participation fee is 150 Turkish liras. (6.4807 TRY = 1 USD on Sept. 8) --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu International fair for investment and trade kicks off in Xiamen, China The 20th iteration of China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), the worlds largest international investment promotion event, kicked off in picturesque city of Xiamen in Fujian Province of China on Saturday. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 8 Trend: The agreements on the implementation of investment projects worth $470 million were signed following the business forum and the cooperation exchange between Uzbekistan and Egypt, the Ministry for Foreign Trade of Uzbekistan said Sept. 8. Moreover, loan agreements worth $60 million were signed with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Bank of Cairo. Export contracts worth $13 million for the supply of cotton yarn and copper pipes were also signed. The events took place on September 5 during the official visit of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi to Uzbekistan. During the business forum, Uzbek Foreign Trade Minister Jamshid Khodjaev emphasized that the level of current trade turnover absolutely does not correspond to the huge economic opportunities of Uzbekistan and Egypt. "Effective use of existing reserves and opportunities will significantly increase the potential of the economies of both countries," the minister said. A few hours before the business forum, the participants held talks on economic projects in the fields of tourism, pharmaceutics, electrical engineering, rare earth metals production, as well as the creation of a horticultural and logistics hub. Moreover, the Chambers of Commerce and Industry of the two countries signed an agreement on the creation of a business council. The first meeting of the council is planned to be organized within the forthcoming meeting of the intergovernmental commission until the end of the year. Tehran, Iran, Sept. 8 Trend: Iranian officials and Azerbaijani entrepreneurs held talks in Tehran to explore ways for enhanced trade ties between the two nations. Members of Iran-Azerbaijan Joint Chamber of Commerce held a specialized meeting in the Iranian capital on Friday and discussed ways to remove obstacles in a way for Tehran and Baku to promote economic ties, IRIB news agency reported on September 8. Offering new and efficient methods to boost bilateral ties between Iran and Azerbaijan was among the major topics discussed by Mohammad Reza Karbasi, international affairs deputy of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture, and Azerbaijani businessmen. During the meeting, both sides described Azerbaijan as Irans gateway to the nations of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). They discussed exports of agricultural products from Iran to Azerbaijan due to low costs in the Islamic Republic. Iran and Azerbaijan have ramped up efforts in recent years to forge a closer partnership in various areas. Tehran, Iran, Sept. 8 Trend: The head of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) said the country has reached new oil and banking agreements with Russia and Turkey. "We had constructive bilateral meetings with Russian and Turkish economic officials during the trilateral meeting of Iran, Russia, and Turkey in Tehran on Friday," Abdonnaser Hemmati wrote in a message on social media on September 8. Issues like oil sales, purchasing staple goods, expansion of banking ties, ditching the US dollar in trade between the three countries were among the main topics discussed and agreed upon during the meetings. The CBI governor added that he plans to pursue the implementation of the agreements in his upcoming meeting with the governor of the Central Bank of Russia in Moscow. The trilateral summit between Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, about the Syrian crisis was held in Tehran on Friday. Ahead of the summit, the three presidents had held separate bilateral meetings on issues of mutual interest. Tehran, Iran, Sept. 8 Trend: The unfair US sanctions are posing a major threat to Irans maritime industry, the Iranian minister of roads and urban development said. (Irans) maritime industry and activities play a key role in uprooting unemployment and are good sources of income for people from different walks of life, Abbas Akhoundi said on September 8, ILNA news agency reported. Iran owns 238 ships with the capacity of 19 million tons of goods, so "unfair and cruel" measures adopted by the US government over the past months have endangered international trade, he added. Strong management and proper planning are what Irans maritime industry needs. This industry could address social problems, including unemployment, to a large extent, the minister said. 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 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany). Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord. Trump on August 6 signed an executive order re-imposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. Tehran, Iran, Sept. 8 Trend: The Central Bank of Iran has given permission to licensed exchange offices across the country to start importing foreign currency banknotes in a bid to stop a rising dollar. Iran's currency has lost about two-thirds of its value this year, hitting a record low earlier this week of 150,000 rial to the US dollar. It recovered to trade at 130,000 per dollar Saturday in unofficial trade, according to reports coming out of Iran. The rial has been hit by the returning US sanctions, financial difficulties at local banks and strong demand for safe-haven dollars among Iranians. A set of US sanctions targeting Iran's oil industry is due to take effect in November. "Currency exchange offices have been given permission to import currency into the country and they can import currency in the form of bills," central bank governor Abdonaser Hemmati said, according to IRNA on September 8. Currency exchange offices will also be allowed to import gold, the head of the Iranian parliament's economic committee, Mohammad Reza Pour-Ebrahimi, said Saturday, ISNA reported. Imports of both gold and foreign currency by exchange offices were previously forbidden, Pour-Ebrahimi said. "In the past, this issue was forbidden and any kind of import would be considered contraband," he said. Hemmati, who was appointed central bank governor in July in an ongoing shakeup of senior economic officials, made no mention of the decision on gold imports during his comments. Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 8 Trend: The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) of Iran have announced that its forces killed six members of a terror team in the western province of Kurdistan on Sept. 7. An IRGC statement read that the killed were members of PJAK, an offshoot of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Sepahnews reported. According to the statement, the terrorist team attacked a border post in Irans western province of Kurdistan back in July. The statement said IRGC managed to trap the terrorists in a complex in a complex and accurate intelligence operation in Kamyaran region of Kurdistan Province, according to the report. IRGC said that some other members of the terrorist team got injured, but managed to escape, leaving weapons, ammo and communication equipment behind. Tehran, Iran, Sept. 8 Trend: President Hassan Rouhani said the Iranian nation would never buckle under the US economic pressure. History shows that the nation of Iran will never give in to pressure forced upon it by foreign countries, Rouhani said on September 8, Tasnim news agency reported. During the eight-year war imposed by the regime of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussain on the Islamic Republic of Iran in the 1980s, Iranians proved that they could overcome problems through resistance, he added. The president further slammed Washingtons double-standard policies by saying, From one side they try to pressure the people of Iran, on another side they send us messages every day through various methods that we should come and negotiate together. He added, [They say] we should negotiate here, we should negotiate there. We want to resolve the issues... should we see your message?.. or should we see your actions? 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 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany). Following the US exit, Iran and the remaining parties launched talks to save the accord. Trump on August 6 signed an executive order re-imposing many sanctions on Iran, three months after pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal. Basra airport was targeted by rocket fire on Saturday after a night of protests over perceived misrule by Iraqs political elite during which demonstrators torched the Iranian consulate and briefly took oilfield workers hostage, Reuters reports. Iraqi security sources said three Katyusha rockets fired by unknown assailants had hit the perimeter of the airport, although no damage or casualties had been reported. The U.S. Consulate is adjacent to Basras airport. An official at the Iraqi airport said there was no disruption to operations, and flights were taking off and landing as normal. The attack came shortly after a citywide curfew was lifted and hours after the reopening of Iraqs main seaport of Umm Qasr where protesters had blocked the ports entrance, forcing a halt to all operations. Basra, Iraqs second biggest city located in the countrys Shiite heartland, has been roiled by five days of deadly demonstrations, in which government buildings have been ransacked and set alight by protesters angry over political corruption. Protests first erupted in July over poor government services, but intensified this week. On Friday, protesters broke into the Iranian consulates offices, shouting condemnation of what many perceive as Irans sway over Iraqs political affairs, and set it alight. Iran and Iraq both strongly condemned the move, raising fears of possible retribution. Having previously supported his Italian colleague in his pre-election campaign in March, Bannon travelled to Italy again in order to officially welcome the countrys interior minister into his up-and-coming pan-European political group, Sputnik reported. Italian Interior Minister Matteo Salvini met Donald Trumps former campaign strategist Steve Bannon in Rome on Friday and shortly afterwards Salvini formally joined the Bannon-founded anti-European establishment group called the Movement, as follows from a tweet posted by Mischael Modrikamen, the Belgian politician and co-founder of the Peoples Party, who is also a member of Bannons Eurosceptic movement. Italian media reported that Bannon had suggested the upcoming European elections would usher in a new era, with populist movements gaining steam in their fight against German Chancellor Angela Merkels and French President Macrons policies. "Good news! Salvini is ready to work with Steve Bannon to "save Europe"!" Fridays meeting follows recent talks between Salvini, the head of the Italian League Party, which is included in the ruling coalition, and Hungarian right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who keeps to a firm anti-immigration stance in a bid to curb illegal migration across his country and beyond. After their meeting on August 28, they asserted that they were walking down the same path as they discussed the formation of a joint anti-migration front to counter Macrons policies. Nigel Farage, former British UKIP leader and Bannons close ally, earlier predicted sweeping advances for anti-EU parties in the foreseeable future, if aided by Bannons project. My view is that somewhere between a quarter and a third of seats in the European parliament are going to be Eurosceptic and Euro-critical, he said. Steve Bannon, the former head of Breitbart News, aims to establish a pan-European foundation to unite the right-wing efforts across the EU. Bannon said the new foundation would offer polling, think tank research, would provide tips on messaging and data targeting to right-wing groups, which have seen growth in support in recent years. Bannon notably travelled to Rome back in March to support Salvini in his pre-election campaign. Separately, on Wednesday, Bannon met another Italian right-winger in Venice Giorgia Meloni, founder of the party Brothers of Italy and close to Silvio Berlusconi and Salvini. A survey of national polls published by Reuters suggests that Eurosceptic parties could boost their strength in the EUs legislative body by over 60 percent in next Mays elections, with the number of Eurosceptic MEPs potentially rising to 122 seats. Bahrain's foreign ministry has urged all Bahraini citizens in Iraq to leave "due to the current developments" in the Republic of Iraq, Sputnik reported citing Bahrain News Agency. Earlier, protesters in Iraq's Basra, set the local Iranian consulate on fire after torching political party and militia buildings the day before. The city of Basra has been shaken by riots since the beginning of the week. At least one protester was killed and another 14 were injured on Thursday as a result of the escalating unrest, local media reported Friday. 10 members of the security forces were wounded as well, according to the reports. Meanwhile, explosions were which said to be caused by mortar shells reportedly hit an abandoned lot not far from the US and Egyptian embassies in Baghdad on Friday. The previous wave of protests in Basra broke out in June before spreading to other areas of southern Iraq. Discontent was sparked by problems with electricity and water supplies that were exacerbated by scorching heat this summer. The government had formed a special commission to deal with the demands, pledging to allocate some $17 million to fixing electricity and water supplies. The promise resulted in protests subsiding before reigniting on Monday. Migrants' problems will be resolved soon: Dahal Nepal Communist Party Co-chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has said that the problems faced by migrant Nepalis for decades in India would be resolved if the two governments worked together towards that end. There are no security threats for the personnel and contractors of Russias Lukoil Oil Company at the West Qurna 2 oil field in Iraq, a company source told TASS. "The situation in the Iraqi province of Basra is indeed precarious," the source said, adding that "there are no security threats to Lukoils personnel and contractors at the West Qurna 2 oil filed." "The situation there is under control," the source stressed. On Friday, more than 20,000 Basra residents participated in protest activities, which have been going on since September 4, demanding better social services. They stormed the Iranian consulate general and set its building on fire. Thousands of demonstrators tried to attack the US diplomatic mission but were driven back by security forces. Protesters also targeted state agencies and the offices of political parties. They also blocked a road leading to the West Qurna 2 oil field operated by Lukoil and even broke onto the facility's premises. However, a regional security source later rejected reports about a hostage taking incident at the facility. Turkey will not watch the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people in Syria to further the regimes interests, Turkeys president said Friday. In a Twitter message in Turkish, English, Russian and Arabic, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey would neither watch from the sidelines nor participate in such a game "if the world turns a blind eye to the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people [in Syria]. Erdogan's remarks came after his meeting Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in the Iranian capital Tehran to discuss joint efforts as part of the Astana peace process and political efforts for finding a lasting solution to the Syrian conflict. Erdogan said Turkey has been trying to stop the bloodshed in Syria since the crisis broke out. "Without discrimination, we rushed to the help of our Syrian brothers and sisters. Today, as in the past, we do not [want] any of our Syrian brothers or sisters to suffer even from a nosebleed," he said. Erdogan said the importance Turkey attaches to Fridays trilateral summit "reflects Turkeys care for the future of our Syrian brothers and sisters". Turkey clearly stated during the Tehran meeting that resorting to methods that disregard civilian lives "would only play into the hands of terrorists," Erdogan said. Erdogan said the Idlib issue must be resolved in line with the Astana process and without giving rise to pain, new tensions or more suffering. "Upholding the principles on which we agreed in Astana is key to finding a sustainable political solution to the Syrian crisis as well." Warning against any faits accomplis under the pretext of fighting terrorism, Erdogan said resisting separatist efforts that seek to undermine Syrias territorial integrity and the national security of neighboring countries was crucial. He emphasized that Turkey hosts more than 3.5 million Syrians and vowed that Turkey would continue to strive for the voluntary and safe repatriation of refugees and a lasting solution which will create a common ground for all parties to the Syrian dispute. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States seek to boost defense ties as the deputy supreme commander of the UAE Armed Forces met the U.S. secretary of defense, Xinhua reported citing UAE state news agency WAM. The meeting between Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis discussed ways of enhancing cooperation and friendship between the two countries, especially in defense and military spheres. The two sides also discussed the current regional developments, and "exchanged views on efforts being made to address and tackle these challenges," the report said. They also reviewed mechanisms of joint cooperation and coordination "to counter extremism and terrorism," it added. India and the United States signed a security pact at a bilateral dialogue which is said to be the highest engagement after the summit-level interaction between the two countries, Xinhua reported. At the India-U.S. 2+2 dialogue that took place Thursday in Delhi, the two countries signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), which would pave the way for the transfer of communication security equipment from the United States to India thereby facilitating the "interoperability" between their militaries. The two sides also decided to establish a hotline between the Indian external affairs minister and the U.S. secretary of state, and another between the Indian defence minister and the U.S. defence secretary. The two sides discussed cross-border terrorism, India's bid for membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the H1B visa issue and ways to deepen regional cooperation. The 2+2 dialogue, which India has had so far with Japan only, was held between Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on one side, and U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Secretary of Defense James Mattis on the other. Americas top general on Saturday said he was involved in routine dialogue with the White House about military options should Syria ignore U.S. warnings against using chemical weapons in an expected assault on the enclave of Idlib, Reuters reports. Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said no decision had been made by the United States to employ military force in response to a future chemical attack in Syria. But we are in a dialogue, a routine dialogue, with the president to make sure he knows where we are with regard to planning in the event that chemical weapons are used, he told a small group of reporters during a trip to India. Dunford later added: He expects us to have military options and we have provided updates to him on the development of those military options. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has massed his army and allied forces on the front lines in the northwest, and Russian planes have joined his bombardment of rebels there, in a prelude to a widely expected assault despite objections from Turkey. This week, a top U.S. envoy said there was lots of evidence that chemical weapons were being prepared by Syrian government forces in Idlib. The White House has warned that the United States and its allies would respond swiftly and vigorously if government forces used chemical weapons in Idlib. President Donald Trump has twice bombed Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons, in April 2017 and April 2018. Dunford did not say, one way or the other, what he expected Trump to do should Syria use chemical weapons again. Frances top military official also said last week his forces were prepared to carry out strikes on Syrian targets if chemical weapons were used in Idlib. Dunford declined to comment on U.S. intelligence about the possible Syrian preparations of chemical agents. I wouldnt comment on intelligence at all, in terms of what we have, what we dont have, he said. KYODO NEWS - Sep 8, 2018 - 20:01 | All, World Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to ask Chinese President Xi Jinping to ease Beijing's ban on importing some Japanese foods that followed the 2011 nuclear crisis in Japan, a government source said Saturday. The two leaders are expected to meet on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum starting next week in the Russian Far East city of Vladivostok. China has banned importing foods and feedstuff produced in 10 of Japan's 47 prefectures amid concerns about radiation following the Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by the March 2011 earthquake in northeastern Japan. Abe will likely ask Xi to lift the ban on foods that are scientifically confirmed to be safe, the source said. Abe is also expected to express his intention to discuss the issue in a more concrete manner during his potential visit to China next month. As some other countries have also imposed a similar ban, Tokyo hopes that if China moves to ease the regulation, it could affect others' decisions, the source said. KYODO NEWS - Sep 8, 2018 - 22:19 | World, Urgent, All A helicopter crashed Saturday outside the capital Kathmandu, killing six people including a Japanese man and injuring one, according to local police. The helicopter, carrying seven people including the pilot, was heading from the central district of Gorkha to Kathmandu when it clipped trees and crashed on a hilltop in a densely forested area between Dhading and Nuwakot districts, about 50 kilometers from the capital, the police said. Killed in the crash were Japanese national Hiromi Komatsu, pilot Nischal Chhetri and four other Nepali men, according to Deputy Superintendent of Police Bhim Lal Bhattarai, who was involved in the rescue effort. One woman survived the crash with serious injuries, he added. Komatsu, 67, was flying to Kathmandu for treatment after falling ill in the course of climbing Mt. Manaslu, the world's eighth-highest peak, in western Nepal. Although the cause of the crash is unclear, authorities suspect weather may have played a role, as cloudy and drizzling conditions in the area are not uncommon. KYODO NEWS - Sep 8, 2018 - 13:36 | All, World President Donald Trump suggested Friday that Japan would be in trouble if it failed to reach an agreement on trade with the United States. "If we don't make a deal with Japan, Japan knows it's a big problem for them," Trump said, effectively pressuring Japan to take measures to cut the U.S. deficit with the country as part of efforts to achieve what he calls "fair" and "reciprocal" trade. "Japan has already contacted us. They came last week," he told journalists aboard Air Force One en route to North Dakota, according to a pool report, without providing details. Trump said "the only reason" he did not want to put much pressure on Japan was that his administration has been tied up with efforts to address China's "unfair" trade practices. Trade is likely to be a major topic when the leaders of the two countries meet around Sept. 25 on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. [Getty/Kyodo] The Trump administration has pushed Japan to start negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement, while Tokyo has repeatedly urged Washington to rejoin the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an 11-member regional FTA from which Trump withdrew the United States last year. The administration has also accused Japan of maintaining nontariff barriers for its automobile market, while also criticizing high import tariffs for foreign farm products. Trump has threatened to impose additional tariffs of up to 25 percent on imported cars and parts. If he follows through, the new duties would significantly impact major car exporters such as Japan. Referring to simmering trade disputes with China, Trump said Friday a planned imposition of tariffs on an additional $200 billion of Chinese imports "could take place very soon." The administration has imposed duties on a total of $50 billion in Chinese goods, with Beijing retaliating with tariffs on an equal value of U.S. goods. Including the additional $200 billion worth of Chinese products, the United States would be taxing about half of the goods it imports from China each year. However, Trump suggested he could do more to push for changes in Beijing's alleged intellectual property and technology theft. "Now we've added another $200 billion. And I hate to say this, but behind that there's another $267 billion ready to go on short notice if I want," he said. "That totally changes the equation." Trump has demanded that China improve market access and intellectual property protection for American companies, remove industrial subsidies and cut its massive trade surplus with the United States. KYODO NEWS - Sep 9, 2018 - 01:59 | World, All Many foreign officials have arrived in Pyongyang from abroad on the eve of North Korea's 70th founding anniversary, Kyodo News confirmed Saturday, amid a deadlock in denuclearization negotiations with the United States. On the anniversary on Sunday, North Korea is expected to hold its first military parade since leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump held their historic summit meeting in June in Singapore. All eyes are on whether Kim will make a public speech at the parade, and if so, what kind of message he will send as denuclearization talks have reached an impasse after the first-ever U.S.-North Korea summit. On Saturday, Li Zhanshu, the third-highest ranking official in the ruling Communist Party of China, flew into Pyongyang, while Valentina Matvienko, chairwoman of the Russian Federation Council, arrived in the capital on Friday. At Pyongyang International Airport, Li was greeted by North Korean senior officials including Kim Yo Jong, Kim's sister and close aide, and Choe Ryong Hae, the nation's de facto No. 2 figure who is regarded as leader Kim's right-hand man. (Kim Yo Jong, center L, and Li Zhanshu shake hands) Li and Matvienko are set to attend events related to the 70th founding anniversary, as some foreign affairs experts say North Korea is willing to promote talks with the United States with the backing of the two neighboring friendly countries. On Saturday night, Li and Matvienko, the No. 3 politician in Russia, participated in a music festival in Pyongyang to celebrate the anniversary, along with North Korea's ceremonial head of state Kim Yong Nam. Earlier in the day, Matvienko held talks with Kim Jong Un, Russian media reported. (Ryugyong Hotel) From Japan, wrestler-turned-lawmaker Antonio Inoki is visiting Pyongyang. He met with Ri Su Yong, a vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, on Saturday, Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency reported. Meanwhile, North Korea has put the final touches on preparations for Sunday's anniversary, with some high school and university students apparently practicing for torchlight marches and mass games. The 300-meter-tall, pyramid-shaped 105-story Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, which has been long dormant, was lit up from top to bottom at night to celebrate the anniversary. Although Kim promised Trump in June to achieve "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in return for security guarantees from Washington, skepticism has been lingering about North Korea's intention to take concrete steps toward it. (Li Zhanshu) But in his talks with special envoys of South Korean President Moon Jae In on Wednesday in Pyongyang, Kim voiced hope that denuclearization of the peninsula will take place during Trump's current term in office through January 2021, according to Seoul. Trump has welcomed Kim's latest commitment, sparking expectations that negotiations between the United States and North Korea will move forward. North Korea has agreed to hold a summit meeting between Moon and Kim in Pyongyang on Sept. 18-20, Seoul said. Around 140 foreign journalists will cover envisioned events in Pyongyang, including a military parade in the heart of the capital and a mass games display at the city's May Day Stadium. The military parade will be North Korea's first since Feb. 8 this year, when the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army. At the February parade, Pyongyang displayed what appeared to be intercontinental ballistic missiles like the Hwasong-15 missile, capable of delivering a nuclear weapon to any city on the U.S. mainland, in a thinly veiled threat to Washington. Mishra to face parliamentary hearing panel The Parliamentary Hearing Committee (PHC) is set to grill Chief Justice nominee Om Prakash Mishra on Monday. The PHC has three complaints filed against Mishra. By Tomoyuki Tachikawa, KYODO NEWS - Sep 8, 2018 - 22:03 | World, All North Korea has allowed foreign media to visit its cutting-edge facilities and historical sites, as leader Kim Jong Un has pledged to boost the country's economy instead of developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. North Korea, which many analysts say has been suffering from the impact of international economic sanctions, appears to be seeing this occasion as a window of opportunity to attract foreign investment and tourists to earn hard currency. Slogans and signs emphasizing the nation's "state nuclear force" have disappeared from major sites in Pyongyang, suggesting North Korea is eager to continue denuclearization talks with the United States. At the Pyongyang Cosmetics Factory on Saturday, many reporters, who are visiting Pyongyang to cover North Korea's 70th founding anniversary on Sunday, were excited to learn about the country's beauty and health businesses. The factory, established in the 1960s, has been renovated in recent years, bolstering its productivity. It has generated various goods, including soap, shampoo and perfume, as well as makeup, skincare, men's cosmetics and anti-aging projects. (At Pyongyang Teacher Training College) These products, bearing the brand name "Unhasu," have become popular abroad, being exported to five countries including Russia, China and Iran, a female worker at the factory said. "We are ready to complete with overseas cosmetic companies," she said, voicing confidence in the quality of the factory's goods. On Friday, foreign reporters and photographers were permitted to visit the Pyongyang Teacher Training College, which uses state-of-the-art technologies for the training of future schoolteachers in a possible world first. The mostly female students were studying how to educate kindergartners and primary school children with the aid of virtual reality and 3D display devices. The college students were utilizing projection mapping, in which images are mapped onto 3D objects, and augmented reality, a technology that overlays digital images onto the real world. Meanwhile, when only a group of Kyodo News reporters was granted access to the college in April, a panel saying, "The historic feat of completing the state nuclear force," was on display in the college. This time, however, it had been removed. Although colorful signs with the words "Cerebrating the 70th anniversary of founding" have been put up along Pyongyang's main roads, slogans or signs criticizing its adversary the United States have not appeared in the capital. On Thursday, foreign media were also shown King Tongmyong's tomb in a Pyongyang suburb, a part of the Complex of Koguryo Tombs -- North Korea's first world heritage site. King Tongmyong was the founder of the ancient Koguryo dynasty. The Koguryo dynasty, which ruled from B.C. 37 to A.D. 668, was the largest of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, located in the northeastern Chinese region of Manchuria and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. The tomb and mural complex have gained popularity since they were designated a world heritage site in 2004 by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, locals say. (At Pyongyang Teacher Training College) Last year, an anime series featuring King Tongmyong, one of the legends of Korean history, enjoyed popularity across North Korea. "We want more people to visit this historic site," a female guide at the tomb said. A person familiar with the situation on the Korean Peninsula said, "By showing its cultural legacy and advanced technologies to foreign media, North Korea may be trying to invite tourists and investment from other countries." "This will help North Korea obtain foreign currencies, which would contribute to the nation's economic growth," the source added. North Korea is aiming to attract 2 million foreign visitors in 2020, as some political experts say it has struggled to acquire foreign currency amid international economic sanctions aimed at stopping Pyongyang's development of nuclear weapons and missiles. In April, the ruling Workers' Party of Korea said, "We will concentrate all efforts on building a powerful socialist economy and markedly improving the standard of people's living through the mobilization of all human and material resources of the country." In his first public speech as North Korea's leader in April 2012, Kim promised to ensure that "the people will never have to tighten their belts again," expressing his intention to tackle poverty through adequate food provision. The Minister was defending the Left government's decision to keep the fuel tax unchanged in Kerala after the Centre cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 10 respectively. Muglan melancholia Ram Krishna Sarki, of Sangam Tole in Changu Narayan municipality-4, left for Saudi Arabia in February 2010. His family was thrilled, for Ram Krishna would now be able to provide for them in a way he might not have been able to in Nepal. For nearly two years, he worked in the Middle East as a cobbler, his familys hereditary profession. He was happy because he was in our own profession in a foreign land, and he was making good money, says Chature Sarki, Ram Krishnas father. In an outing last night, Arbaaz Khan was accompanied by his girlfriend Georgia. They both were seen holding each other's hand. Georgia Adriani appeared in a very hot gown at this event. Arbaz and Georgia's relationship seems to be growing deeper with time as she accompanies him to such outings frequently. Arbaaz appeared in the casual look in this event. The couple has often been spotted on lunch dates. They had also dined with Arbaaz's son Arhaan Khan earlier. Bollywood actor Arbaaz Khan often comes to discuss his relationship with his alleged girlfriend Georgia Andriani. Significantly, Arbaaz often appears to spend quality time together with his Georgia on the streets of Mumbai. However, Arbaaz has kept quiet about this new relationship. But media reports suggest that Arbaaz Khan, after divorcing Malaika Arora, is planning to move forward in his life. Malaika always had a different identity but Arbaaz always kept being known as the brother of Salman Khan and had no identity. Reports suggest that because of this Malaika left Arbaaz. Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora were married in 1998 and after nearly 18 years of marriage, both were divorced in 2016. However, Malaika still seems to spend time with Arbaaz's family. They are often seen celebrating various occasions like Birthdays and festivals together. Binod Ghimire covers parliamentary affairs and human rights for The Kathmandu Post. Since joining the Post in 2010, he has reported primarily on social issues, focusing on education and transitional justice. Every year 8 September is celebrated as International Literacy Day to enhance the awareness about the education. Nelson Mandela has very well said that Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. It is crucial for an each and every citizen of a nation to be literate as it affects significantly to the growth and development of a nation. Terrorists trapped in J&K's Anantnag, encounter underway The whole world understands the importance of education, therefore, on November 7, 1965, UNESCO had announced September 8 will be celebrated as the International Literacy Day. This day was celebrated in 1966 for the first time and since then it is celebrated on 8th September every year as International Literacy Day. According to the report of the World Education Monitoring Board, one in five out of every five people is illiterate, and two-thirds of the world's women are also illiterate. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger are the countries where literacy rates are the lowest. Inspirational! Homeless deaf & dumb elderly woman adopted by a homeless couple literacy rate in India is much lower than the literacy rate of the world. According to census 2011, the literacy rate of India was 74.04 in 2011. The Indian government is focusing on this area still it needs to take more steps to achieve 100 percent literacy. No deal for BIMSTEC military drill: Gyawali Less than three days before the first joint military exercise of the armies of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) member countries starts in Pune, India, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Pradeep Gyawali said there has been no deal on the drill because other member states, including Nepal, opposed it. Our civil servants! Our Prime Monster Oli Dai tells our civil servants to provide quality service at the doorstep of common citizens while wishing them the best on the occasion of the 15th Civil Service Day. I think our man in Baluwatar has never been to our sarkari offices except for Baluwatar and Singha Durbar. And everybody is busy kissing the Prime Monsters ass and Oli doesnt know what is really happening in our government offices at all. Over the past 10 years Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) has returned an average of 4.0% per year from dividend payouts. The company currently pays out a dividend yield of 3.8% to shareholders, making it a relatively attractive dividend stock. Does Chevron tick all the boxes of a great dividend stock? Below, Ill take you through my analysis. See our latest analysis for Chevron 5 checks you should do on a dividend stock When researching a dividend stock, I always follow the following screening criteria: Is its annual yield among the top 25% of dividend-paying companies? Has its dividend been stable over the past (i.e. no missed payments or significant payout cuts)? Has dividend per share amount increased over the past? Can it afford to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings? Will it have the ability to keep paying its dividends going forward? NYSE:CVX Historical Dividend Yield September 7th 18 How does Chevron fare? The current trailing twelve-month payout ratio for the stock is 68.7%, which means that the dividend is covered by earnings. In the near future, analysts are predicting lower payout ratio of 55.1%, leading to a dividend yield of around 3.9%. However, EPS should increase to $8.39, meaning that the lower payout ratio does not necessarily implicate a lower dividend payment. When thinking about whether a dividend is sustainable, another factor to consider is the cash flow. Companies with strong cash flow can sustain a higher payout ratio, while companies with weaker cash flow generally cannot. If theres one type of stock you want to be reliable, its dividend stocks and their stable income-generating ability. CVX has increased its DPS from $2.6 to $4.48 in the past 10 years. It has also been paying out dividend consistently during this time, as youd expect for a company increasing its dividend levels. These are all positive signs of a great, reliable dividend stock. Relative to peers, Chevron has a yield of 3.8%, which is on the low-side for Oil and Gas stocks. Story continues Next Steps: Considering the dividend attributes we analyzed above, Chevron is definitely worth keeping an eye on for someone looking to build a dedicated income portfolio. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, you should always research extensively before deciding whether or not a stock is an appropriate investment for you. I always recommend analysing the companys fundamentals and underlying business before making an investment decision. There are three fundamental factors you should further research: Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for CVXs future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for CVXs outlook. Valuation: What is CVX worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, its not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether CVX is currently mispriced by the market. Other Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here. To help readers see past the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements. The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned. For errors that warrant correction please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. As President Trump continues to try to discredit Bob Woodwards new book, CNN is taking a different approach. On Thursday, the broadcaster published a letter that was reportedly stolen from Trumps desk last September. CNN reports that they received an advance copy of Woodwards book, which included a reproduction of the letter. Earlier excerpts of the book suggested that top Trump administration officials have actively sought to prevent the president from making decisions that could hurt the country. According to the network, Woodward writes that in one such instance then-National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn stole a letter from Trumps desk that would have led to the termination of the free trade agreement between the U.S. and South Korea. The letter, which CNN printed in full, is addressed to the South Korean president and trade minister. It reads: The United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (Agreement), in its current form, is not in the overall bests interests of the United States Economy. Thus, in accordance with Article 24.5 of the Agreement, the United States hereby provide notice that it wishes to terminate the Agreement. Woodward wrote in his book that Cohn was appalled that Trump might sign the letter, and reportedly said, I stole it off his desk. I wouldnt let him see it. Hes never going to see that document. Got to protect the country. Cohn and other staffers reportedly worried that ending the trade agreement could jeopardize a program that is used to detect North Korean missile launches. For his part, Trump has continued to refute the content of the book. He took to Twitter on Friday morning, writing, The Woodward book is a scam. I dont talk the way I am quoted. If I did I would not have been elected President. These quotes were made up. The author uses every trick in the book to demean and belittle. I wish the people could see the real facts and our country is doing GREAT! Related Video: President Trump Is Using His Anti-Mueller Playbook on Woodward President Donald Trump said Friday he could be the ruination of Canada if he imposed tariffs on automobile imports. If I tax cars coming in from Canada, it would be devastating, he said, according to a pool reporter accompanying Trump en route to North Dakota for a Republican fundraiser. Trump said that hed prefer not to impose tariffs in imported Canadian-made cars. However, he accuses Canada of taking advantage of America for decades. We cannot continue to get ripped off like weve been ripped off before, he said. Trumps rhetoric is aimed at forcing Canada to accept new terms in a re-negotiated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), after the Trump administration extracted concessions from Mexico, the third country in the arrangement. The changes include an increase in the percentage of a cars value made in North America (75% up from 62.5%) to bypass import tariffs, slightly more local parts and refined metals, and nearly half of the car has to made by workers earning $16 an hour or more. Among elements the Trump administration wanted changed is an automatic end to NAFTA every five years unless terms are renegotiateda so-called sunset clause. Mexico agreed to changes that would put rules in place for 16 years, at which point renegotiations would be required and every six years thereafter. Canada exports CDN$71 billion to the U.S. in cars and car parts, and economists expect a noticeable hit on jobs, with a loss of over 160,000 forecast, according to an estimate by TD Bank, representing a loss of just under 1% of all jobs in Canada. Losses would center in Ontario. Ontario recently elected Doug Ford, a politician who employed Trump-like campaign and leadership tactics, as its premier. Aluminum and steel tariffs imposed on Mexico and Canada, among other nations, also remain a contentious issue. The outgoing administration of Enrique Pena Nieto has to sign the revised deal before the incoming President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador takes office on Dec. 1. Mexico has signaled it might sign the NAFTA revision without Canadas participation, but Republicans in the U.S. Congress have said that without Canada on board, they are unlikely to allow a Mexico-only agreement to proceed. Story continues The president, not one to play his cards close to his vest, said that threats of car tariffs cause negotiators for other countries to capitulate to his terms. Well do it! Well do it! Well agree! Well agree! he said, imitating trade representatives. Canadas foreign minister, leading NAFTA negotiations for the country, said today that good progress has been made towards hammering out Canadas signing the revised agreement, according to Reuters. A Canadian dairy quota system designed to protect production within the country remains a sticking point, as well as the Canadian content law, which specifies a percentage of broadcast media had contributions from Canadians. Bitcoin Over the past few years, Bitcoin has experienced a huge number of attacks and external criticism, getting a reputation of Antifragile. This term was coined by Nassim Nicholas Taleb and describes the phenomenon when something becomes popular under unfavorable conditions. Some things benefit from shocks; they thrive and grow when exposed to volatility, randomness, disorder, and stressors and love adventure, risk, and uncertainty. Yet, in spite of the ubiquity of the phenomenon, there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile. Let us call it antifragile.- says Taleb. From this point of view, probably, in order to kill Bitcoin, you just have to stop criticizing it. However, in the world of constantly competing currencies and precious metals, this is very unlikely to happen. Attacks on Bitcoin: Past, Present, and Future Several months ago, the user of the Reddit network, under the nickname themetalfriend, compiled a list of all attacks that can be aimed at killing Bitcoin. In his opinion: there are three most common types of attacks on Bitcoin: Attacks to slowdown the Bitcoin development Attacks to slowdown the Bitcoin adoption Attacks to reduce the efficiency of the Bitcoin infrastructure From all the above it follows that all three types of attacks are interrelated. At the very least, they lead to the same result. Lets consider each of them in more detail. To Kill Bitcoin Legal attacks By imposing bans on using Bitcoin, governments can cause some inconvenience to the owners of the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin was banned in many countries, particularly in Ecuador, Afghanistan, Morocco, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Bolivia, but these bans did not bring any results. At the same time, such countries like the United States and the European Union countries, do not even plan to prohibit cryptocurrencies. In China and South Korea, even banal rumors about the possible prohibition of Bitcoin were immediately reflected on its exchange rate. But even at the times of general public fear, Bitcoin continued and continues to exist. Story continues Despite the fact that many countries are trying in every possible way to prohibit the use of this cryptocurrency, they simply cannot stop the interaction of this citizens with the network. Today, services like Blockstream Satellite broadcast real-time blockchain data from satellites to almost all countries including Africa. Satellites enable everyone on the planet to connect to the Bitcoin blockchain even without access to the Internet. As for transactions, there are several anonymous ways to send Bitcoins, including Tor browser, top VPN services, SMS messages, encrypted messages or even stenography and ordinary postal services. It is useless to prohibit Bitcoin or any specific cryptocurrency since its code may change very quickly, much faster than the next legislative ban is ready. Even a well-coordinated legal attack from the UN and the WTO is likely to lead only to the fact that Bitcoin will go underground. There is a high probability that Bitcoin can become a subject of contraband, as it happened with drugs. If we talk about the persecution of those who are engaged in mining and owns big sums in crypto, then this has already happened. For example, Charlie Shrem was sentenced for aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Despite such cases, underground black markets continue to gain momentum, so we can conclude that even the most severe punishments and bans do not stop users, but only fuel their interest in the cryptocurrency. Because of the fight against money laundering, various governments constantly increase their pressure on cryptocurrencies. Authorities dictate their own rules and require that exchanges and wallets share their users personal data under the guise of KYC and AML rules. It is possible that tax authorities will soon become interested in data of Bitcoin traders, as it already happened with Coinbase. It is necessary to take into account the fact that, one way or another, anonymous trade takes place anyway. Cyber warfare Cyberwarfare includes hacking and various kinds of illegal manipulations in social networks. Bitcoin, in spite of multiple hacking attempts, demonstrated its excellent resistance to such attacks. Bitcoin owes its high level of protection to its Proof-of-Work system. If even cyber crooks manage to change the Bitcoin code or alter transaction records, the network will immediately reject such actions. The more decentralized are the nodes in the network, the less likely such attacks succeed. At the moment, more than 12,000 such attacks have been recorded. It should be noted that Bitcoin owners and various services related to it (like exchanges and wallets) are exposed to attacks much more often than the cryptocurrency itself. Companies serving the cryptocurrency industry often get compromised, and data leakage occur. For example, large Bitcoin exchanges, such as Mt.Gox and Bitfinex, have been repeatedly attacked, resulting in more than 1,000,000 Bitcoins being stolen. Such hacking certainly prevents the adoption of Bitcoin, and the owners who suffered from these attacks and lost their money often stop using it. PR attacks For many people Bitcoin in associated with crime. Popular media and even politicians often say about it. But few people understand that gold is much more likely to appear in criminal cases. The media often exaggerate the extent of damage from data breaches. Journalists create more doubts and fear without taking into account the fact that breaching companies that serve Bitcoin and hacking Bitcoin itself are two different things. As a result, such reports of hacking give rise to unjustified doubts about the safety of Bitcoin. National Cryptocurrencies When Venezuela introduced its cryptocurrency Petro, it did not become so popular. All because the state did not have the resources to develop it. If a more developed and powerful country follows the same path, creates its own cryptocurrency, and in every possible way engages in its promotion, then, most likely, the result will be different. It is possible that such a coin will exceed the share of the Bitcoin market. Using similar names As for similar names, this is done in order to confuse users. Striking examples include Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond, Bitcoin Private. Attempts to rise at the expense of a well-known brand can be called an attack too. As a rule, such an attack is characterized by good funding and includes the following components: Buying huge amounts of cryptocurrency that is a competitor. Increased mining activities. Spreading rumors about Bitcoin. There are a lot of articles against original Bitcoin. Many of them are ordered by competitors. The creation of an opposition insisting that for example, Bitcoin Cash is real Bitcoin, although this is certainly not the case. Separation of bigger communities. For example, r/btc on Reddit separated from the r/bitcoin. Despite the fact that many newcomers were deceived by the bitter counterparts of Bitcoin, I would like to hope that the technical and economic merits of Bitcoin will become so obvious that in the near future, it would be impossible to cheat even those people who have never heard anything about cryptocurrencies. Attacks aimed at the cryptocurrency infrastructure Intentionally creating a big flow of transactions to slow their processing helps other cryptocurrencies to get popular. In this case, the increase of commissions for Bitcoin transactions helped alternative coins to justify their existence. The very well-known 51% attack is very unlikely to happen with Bitcoin but still many people fear such an attack carried out by state-sponsored player like China and its biggest market player Bitmain that produce ASICs. It can also happen that the dominance of the US dollar will soon come to an end. Some financiers suggest that in the near future Bitcoin will be able to outshine the US dollar. By the way, this turn of events would be of interest to the Chinese authorities. In this situation, they could force their miners to work towards Chinese political goals, scarifying immediate monetary gains. However, now the National Bank of China, on the contrary, reduces the energy supply of mining farms forcing miners to seek safe havens in other countries. High-level cyberattacks The so-called zero-day bug is an attack associated with unknown vulnerability for the correction of which the developers have 0 days. Because of such an attack in 2010, 184 billion Bitcoins were created. The problem was resolved within 5 hours, and the blockchain got forked. The incident did not cause serious troubles, because at that time Bitcoin was not used by so many people. But if this happens today, then it will cause real chaos, many users will suffer heavy losses and Bitcoin would get very bad PR. Network attacks can also be carried out by intelligence agencies, such as NSA. They can force operating system and CPU vendors to introduce special exploits in their products. It has long been known that most of the major companies in Silicon Valley cooperate closely with intelligence agencies. These include all major IT-giants like Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Facebook. Some security experts say that in 10 years quantum computing will be able to decipher Bitcoin crypto system. But even if this becomes possible, Bitcoin will most likely immediately switch to an attack-resistant algorithm. Conclusion it should be noted that if you take into account the total number of Bitcoin users, then really killer attack would require a lot of effort. Only a well-funded agency can inflict significant damage to the Bitcoin system. Ultimately it is possible to kill anything, even Bitcoin. Fortunately, Bitcoin already experienced many unpleasant moments and still remains very reliable. Probably, the next test Bitcoin will have to go through will happen during the next financial crisis. In the meantime, I do not worry much about its future. About the author: The author, David Balaban, is a computer security researcher with over 15 years of experience in malware analysis and antivirus software evaluation. Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article are solely that of the author and do not represent those of, nor should they be attributed to CCN. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post Guest Spot: Who or What Can Put an End to Bitcoin? appeared first on CCN. (Adds comments by Ecuador's AG, details on next steps) By Karan Nagarkatti and Gary McWilliams Sept 7 (Reuters) - Chevron Corp said on Friday an international tribunal ruled in its favor in an environmental dispute with Ecuador, finding the South American nation had violated its obligations under international treaties. The tribunal unanimously held that a $9.5 billion pollution judgment by Ecuador's Supreme Court against Chevron "was procured through fraud, bribery and corruption and was based on claims that had been already settled and released by the Republic of Ecuador years earlier." The decision adds to several court victories that Chevron has won against the plaintiffs and its legal team in the 2011 case. Texaco, which Chevron acquired in 2001, was released from liability through a settlement with Ecuador years earlier, the tribunal found. Ecuador plans to appeal the tribunal's ruling, challenging the decision in part on its findings of judicial fraud in the case, Inigo Salvador, Ecuador's attorney general, said at a news conference on Friday. "It worries us that the tribunal is asking a country to lift a sentence of one of its courts that was issued as part of a dispute between private parties," said Salvador. The tribunal, administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, will next conduct a trial to determine the damages suffered by Chevron, a process that could take months. Chevron estimated its damages and legal costs would run "hundreds of millions of dollars," said spokesman Sean Comey. "Ecuador had multiple opportunities to put an end to this liability," said Comey, who said a failure to now accept the decision "will continue to accrue further damages." American lawyer Steven Donziger won an $18 billion judgment in 2011, representing villagers who blamed environmental contamination between 1964 and 1992 on Texaco, which Chevron bought in 2001. The award was later reduced to $9.5 billion and in July Donziger was suspended from practicing law in New York by a state appeals court. Chevron, which has said it never had any assets in Ecuador, has successfully fought efforts to enforce the judgment in Argentina, Brazil, Canada and the United States. (Reporting by Karan Nagarkatti in Bengaluru, Gary McWilliams in Houston and Alexandra Valencia in Quito; Editing by David Gregorio) PM Oli rules out possibility of Cabinet reshuffle Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has ruled out the possibility of reshuffle in the Council of Ministers immediately. By Tetsushi Kajimoto TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan would consider the need for an extra budget in the current fiscal year to support areas devastated by a recent chain of natural disasters, Finance Minister Taro Aso said on Friday, which could complicate efforts to restore tattered public finances. "We will respond appropriately by examining the full picture of damages from a recent series of disasters and how the budget has been used," Aso told reporters after a cabinet meeting. Aso's comment comes as a powerful quake struck the northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday, the second disaster to hit Japan this week after a summer in which the country has been battered by deadly typhoons, flooding and a record heat wave. The minister made no mention of the size of the extra spending. Kyodo news agency reported that a supplementary budget could exceed 1 trillion yen ($9.05 billion) including subsidies for local governments, the cost of reinforcing levees and other infrastructure as well as support for small firms and farmers The spectre of bigger spending raises worries about Japan's public debt - the industrial world's heaviest at more than double the size of its economy, although the Bank of Japan's massive debt purchases have helped lower borrowing costs. Already, budget requests from Japan's government offices have hit a record 102.7658 trillion yen for the next fiscal year starting in April, the finance ministry announced on Friday. The spending requests increased sharply due to bulging welfare costs to support the ageing population and rising military outlay in the face of threats from North Korea and China. Story continues The finance ministry will scrutinise the budget requests and trim the size of spending in December when it drafts an annual budget for fiscal 2019. The government plans stimulus measures to ease the pain from a planned sales tax hike in Oct. 2019. That would come on top of the budget requests, making it likely that the size of the fiscal 2019 initial budget will exceed 100 trillion yen for the first time ever, analysts say. The initial budget for the current fiscal year amounts to 97.71 trillion yen, with social security and debt-servicing accounting for more than half the overall spending plan. The government plans to raise the nationwide sales tax to 10 percent from 8 percent in October 2019 to pay for the cost of social welfare in a step towards Japan's elusive budget balancing goal in fiscal 2025. ($1 = 110.5300 yen) (Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Additional reporting by Takaya Yamaguchi; Editing by Shri Navaratnam) There are three possible outcomes in the upcoming midterm elections: Republicans retain control of both houses of Congress, Democrats take control of one chamber, or Democrats win big and seize control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. A split Congress is the most likely outcome, with Democrats winning the House but not the Senate. Democrats need a net gain of 23 seats to take the House, a margin of victory well within the norm for midterms, when the presidents party typically loses ground. In the 2010 midterms, President Obamas Democrats lost 63 seats. In the 2006 midterms, President Bushs Republicans lost 27 seats. In both cases, the presidents party lost control of the House. On the eve of the elections, the University of Virginias Center for Politics rates 212 House seats as likely Democratic wins, with 21 toss-up elections. Since it takes 218 seats to control the House, Democrats would only need to win one-third of the toss-ups to take the House. Stats site FiveThirtyEight gives Dems an 87% chance of winning the House, but just a 16% chance of taking the Senate. Even if Democrats win both houses, President Trump would be able to veto Democratic legislation, and theres no chance Democrats will have a veto-proof majority. So there arent likely to be major policy changes emanating from Congress for the next two years. The Trump tax cuts and other GOP measures affecting business and markets will stay in place. Democrat Beto ORourke hopes to unseat Republican Ted Cruz in a Texas Senate race. (Photo by Tom Fox-Pool/Getty Images) Story continues But the outcome in November could still trigger changes that will affect workers and investors. Heres the outlook for six pocketbook issues, plus the controversial investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller: The overall direction of stocks. Markets have probably priced in a Democratic victory in the House, and split control of Congress. If so, there might be a traditional relief rally once the election is over. Stocks typically struggle in the weeks before a midterm which has certainly been the case this yearthen rise once the voting is over. If Republicans surprise by keeping control of Congress, that opens the door to further tax cuts and other business-friendly measures, which would probably give stocks an added boost. But if Democrats sweep both houses, markets could take it as a sign voters want a rollback of the Trump tax cuts, more regulation and more costly social programs. That could ding stocks. [See why a Democratic sweep in November could hurt stocks] Taxes. Republicans say theyre not done cutting taxes. They still want to make permanent some of the temporary tax cuts that went into effect this year, while also perhaps cutting the capital gains tax. And President Trump has now floated an additional 10% tax cut for middle-class families, as a last-minute sop to voters. If Republicans keep both houses of Congress, more tax cuts are plausible. And if tax cuts are limited to the middle class, some Democrats might get on board. In a split Congress, however, Dems would block any further tax cuts for businesses or the wealthy. What Democrats wont be able to do is roll back the Trump tax cuts, since Trump would enthusiastically wield his veto. Trade. Trump is waging his protectionist trade wars with little input from Congress, but he will need a Congressional vote of approval to enact the newly negotiated United States Mexico Canada Act, which modestly updated the old North American Free Trade Agreement. Getting Congressional approval might be harder if Democrats control one or both houses, but Dems will probably go along eventually, since theres not much to gain by imperiling trade with Canada and Mexico. Trumps trade war with China is a different matter. That has been intensifying, with Trump expanding the list of Chinese imports subject to new tariffs. By early next year, Trump may impose new tariffs on substantially all imports from China, and theres little Congress could do to stop him. Health care. Theres a slim chance a split Congress could pass a bipartisan health care law, along the lines of one introduced last year, that would shore up the Affordable Care Act and provide a few additional options for people struggling with high out-of-pocket costs. But that would require Republicans and Democrats to get along, in what could be an even more toxic political environment than weve seen this year. If Republicans control Congress, they may try again to repeal the ACA, even though the move was unpopular with voters and Republicans lacked a backup plan. If Democrats control both houses, they could start pushing elements of Bernie Sanders Medicare for all plan, which Trump would veto if anything passed. But Dems are trying out Medicare for all as a 2020 offering, so you could hear a lot more about it. Nancy Pelosi will become Speaker of the Houseagainif Democrats retake the Senate. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) Drug prices. Many Democrats favor new laws to cap or reduce prescription drug pricessomething Trump has advocated. But Trumps moves, so far, have had minimal impact, and he has avoided calling for a new law allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with drugmakers, a priority for many Democrats. The drug industry is a formidable lobbying power, and has held off efforts to give Medicare more negotiating muscle, and lower prices in other ways. With a split Congress, Republicans would probably kill any new drug-pricing legislation. But a fully Democratic Congress could pass legislation to lower drug prices, and dare Trump to sign it. Infrastructure. Many Democrats support new infrastructure spending, as Trump does. So this is one area where a split Congress might be able to agree on legislation. The problem is, theres no money, and Congress may be unwilling to add even more to annual deficits that are approaching $1 trillion per year. So meaningful action is unlikely, under any election scenario. The Mueller probe. The outcome of the 2018 midterms could have momentous implications for special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, and other things. If Republicans pull a surprise upset and hold onto both houses of Congress, that could embolden Trump to fire Mueller, as he has tacitly threatened to do for months, since a Republican Congress would be less inclined to hold hearings or further investigate. But if Democrats take at least one house, they seem likely to launch investigations into nearly every Trump controversy. Trump might be less likely to fire Mueller if he knew Democrats with subpoena power would pounce. That suggests a modest Democratic win in November may be the best path to an orderly conclusion to the Mueller investigation, and whatever comes next. But 2019 looks uproarious, no matter who wins. Editors note: This is an updated version of a story originally published on Sept. 7, 2018. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com. Click here to get Ricks stories by email. Read more: Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman A top Trump administration economist told Yahoo Finance that the anonymous op-ed by a senior official in the Trump administration and published by the New York Times might be a fraud. Calling the letter inconsistent with the White House I know,Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers Kevin Hassett denied writing the op-ed himself and continued to doubt its legitimacy. In fact, one of the things that I even think, just looking at that piece, because its so inconsistent with the White House that I know, is that Im just not sure that its a genuine piece, Hassett said on Friday morning, later adding: I think the letter might be a fraud. I dont know, but it just does not look like the White House that I know. White House Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Kevin Hassett addresses reporters during the daily briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S. February 22, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst The op-ed, titled I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration, appeared on the Times opinion page Wednesday and was written by an anonymous senior official in the Trump administration. The essay gives details of a White House apparently in distress. While crediting the few successes Trumps White House has seen, the essay adds that these successes have come despite not because of the presidents leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective. Who wrote the op-ed? In a note attached to the top of the op-ed, the Times explained its decision for keeping the author anonymous. Story continues The Times today is taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous Op-Ed essay. We have done so at the request of the author, a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure. We believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers. We invite you to submit a question about the essay or our vetting process here. Since its publication, the piece has caused many to question who this senior official is, and the speculation has prompted countless officials, now including Hassett, to deny having authored the piece. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Make America Great Again rally in Billings, Montana U.S., September 6, 2018. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque President Trump took to Twitter to question whether there even was an scribe at all. Does the so-called Senior Administration Official really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? he tweeted. Trump has gone as far as to call the letter treasonous in his first tweet critical of the piece. TREASON? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018 He said the anonymous person, if they do indeed exist, is GUTLESS, and requested that the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once! Hassett seemed to be echoing Trumps suggestion that the essay was fraudulent. READ MORE: Who wrote the Times op-ed? Not me, top White House officials say uzbekistan bitcoin cryptocurrency exchange In efforts to boost its market-based economy, the government of Uzbekistan has decided to take initiatives favorable to the growing cryptocurrency industry. Uzbekistan Goes Fishing for Bitcoin Exchanges The former Soviet nation confirmed that it is legalizing cryptocurrency exchanges and will allow blockchain companies to set up their offices in the state. The legalization came in the wake of a presidential decree that was signed to encourage the use of cryptocurrency and blockchain in Uzbekistan. A document published at the behest of the president of the Republic of Uzbekistan, titled On measures to organize the activities of crypto-exchanges in Uzbekistan, revealed a set of official definitions for bitcoin-like cryptocurrencies. The state has confirmed that it will not treat cryptocurrencies like securities. Therefore, the laws that are common to security exchanges will not bother cryptocurrency exchanges. Instead, the crypto trading businesses will come under a new set of rules, referred to as special normative acts. Only foreign legal entities which already have a subsidiary or other enterprises in Uzbekistan will be able to open cryptocurrency exchanges. These entities will not be liable to pay taxes on their cryptocurrency turnovers. That said, any revenue derived in cryptocurrency will be untaxable, considering Uzbekistan will define cryptoassets as a set of data records on blockchain which they indeed are that has value and owner, according to the text. Terms and Conditions Applied The free perks wont be precisely free because the Uzbekistani government has also imposed special conditions to setup crypto exchanges. Firstly, the foreign entities must have an authorized capital to support as much as 30,000 minimum wages on the day they apply. Moreover, an equivalent of 20,000 minimum wages will have to be reserved in a state-backed commercial bank. The minimum monthly salary in Uzbekistan was close to $185 in FY2017. Story continues Secondly, the state requires the crypto-exchanges to base their servers in Uzbekistan. Thirdly, Uzbekistan willrequire the exchanges to adhere to rules for trading and publishing exchanges rates based on a demand-and-supply ratio. Finally, the exchanges must store information on transactions, users identification, and other KYC/AML-based data for five years. Crypto Mining Industry Also Gets a Share The presidential decree also legalizes cryptocurrency mining in Uzbekistan and has ordered state-controlled energy companies to allocate lands for mining operations. The bitcoin mining companies will be utilizing over 100 KW/h of electricity on locations designated by the National Project Management Agency, a body governed by the Presidents office itself. Featured Image from Shutterstock The post Uzbekistan Opens Door to Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Offers Tax Benefits appeared first on CCN. Lots of Trump administration officials were quick on Thursday to scratch their names off the list of potential authors of an unsigned New York Times opinion piece by a member of the so-called resistance working to thwart "reckless decisions" by President Donald Trump. Among the officials who have spoken out: "The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds. The @nytimes should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed. Our office is above such amateur acts." tweet from Jarrod Agen, communications director for Vice President Mike Pence. ___ "@stevenmnuchin1 is honored to serve @POTUS & the American people. He feels it was irresponsible for @nytimes to print this anonymous piece. Now, dignified public servants are forced to deny being the source. It is laughable to think this could come from the Secretary." tweet from Tony Sayegh, spokesman for Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. ___ "It's not mine." Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaking at a news conference in India. __ "No." U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, responding to a shouted question on whether she was the anonymous author. ___ "Speculation that The New York Times op-ed was written by me or my Principal Deputy is patently false. We did not. From the beginning of our tenure, we have insisted that the entire IC remain focused on our mission to provide the President and policymakers with the best intelligence possible." statement by Dan Coats, director of national intelligence. ___ "I did not write and am thoroughly appalled by this op-ed. I couldn't be prouder of our work at Commerce and of @POTUS." tweet by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. Story continues ___ "I am not the author of the New York Times OpEd, nor do I agree with its characterizations. Hiding behind anonymity and smearing the President of the United States does not make you an 'unsung hero', it makes you a coward, unworthy of serving this Nation." tweet by Energy Secretary Rick Perry. ___ "It was not his op-ed." Thomas Crosson, spokesman for Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. ___ "Secretary Nielsen is focused on leading the men and women of DHS and protecting the homeland - not writing anonymous and false opinion pieces for the New York Times. These types of political attacks are beneath the Secretary and the Department's mission." Tyler Houlton, press secretary for Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. ___ "It was not him." Caitlin Oakley, spokeswoman for Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. ___ "He didn't write it. ... Acting Administrator Wheeler supports President Trump 100% and is honored to serve in his cabinet, he also believes whoever wrote the op-ed should resign." John Konkus, spokesman for Andrew Wheeler, the acting administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. ___ "Secretary DeVos is not a Washington insider and does not play Washington insider games. She has the courage of her convictions and signs her opinions. She is not the author." Liz Hill, spokeswoman for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. ___ "Neither Secretary Wilkie nor anyone else at VA wrote the op-ed." Curt Cashour, spokesman for Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie. ___ "The Secretary didn't write the op-ed." Raffi Williams, spokesman for Housing Secretary Ben Carson. ___ "No to all of your questions." Michawn Rich, spokeswoman for Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, when asked whether Perdue had any role in the column or knew who wrote it. ___ When asked if the op-ed writer was Attorney General Jeff Sessions, a Justice Department spokesman referred The Associated Press to White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders' Thursday statement in which she calls the writer an "anonymous coward" and "gutless loser" and says the people who work for the president "stand united together and fully support" him. ___ "No." White House counsel Don McGahn, when asked outside the Supreme Court confirmation hearing for Brett Kavanaugh if he wrote the op-ed. ___ "For those who have inquired, this is to confirm that Secretary Chao is not the author of the op-ed." Department of Transportation communications office on Secretary Elaine Chao. ___ "Amb Huntsman: Come to find, when you're serving as the U.S. envoy in Moscow, you're an easy target on all sides. Anything sent out by me would have carried my name. An early political lesson I learned: never send an anonymous op-ed." tweet from Andrea Kalan, spokeswoman at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, quoting U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman. ___ "I am not author of the anonymous @nytimes op-ed. @realDonaldTrump has a clear governing vision for the country and his record of results is remarkable. I am proud to serve as a member of President Trump's @Cabinet to advocate on behalf of America's 30 million small businesses." tweet from Linda McMahon, administrator of the Small Business Administration. The New York Attorney General subpoenaed all eight of the states Roman Catholic dioceses Thursday, CNN reports, as the office launches an investigation into their efforts to cover up allegations of the sexual abuse of children. The move comes just weeks after a Pennsylvania Grand Jury report stated more than 1,000 children were abused by more than 300 priests in recent decades. The Pennsylvania grand jury report shined a light on incredibly disturbing and depraved acts by Catholic clergy, assisted by a culture of secrecy and cover ups in the dioceses, said New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood in a statement. Victims in New York deserve to be heard as welland we are going to do everything in our power to bring them the justice they deserve. The civil investigation is being led by the offices Charities Bureau, which focuses on nonprofit institutions. The dioceses and related church entities in question are within this umbrella. We look forward to receiving the subpoena and working with the attorney general, Joseph Zwilling, the New York archdioceses director of communications, told CNN in a statement. Since 2002, the archdiocese has shared with its 10 District Attorneys all information they have sought concerning allegations of sexual abuse of minors, and has established excellent working relationships with each of them. The AGs office also created a clergy abuse hotline and an online complaint form for victims to provide information for the investigation. Underwood encouraged any victim of abuse by Catholic clergy to call or submit a form, even if their case may now be outside the statute of limitations. All victim information will be helpful to understanding and reforming the institutional approach of the Church, regardless of whether an individual case can be prosecuted, reads the office statement. Thanks for visiting ! The use of software that blocks ads hinders our ability to serve you the content you came here to enjoy. We ask that you consider turning off your ad blocker so we can deliver you the best experience possible while you are here. Thank you for your support! Let the masses take the shuttles to Aspens Maroon Bells, the crown jewel of Colorado autumn. Look elsewhere this gilded season, taking trails and rugged roads where the aspen leaves glow for smaller audiences. Its a brief moment when the states landscape shows off even more, typically from the middle of this month to the start of the next. Now is the time to set your course. Whether you prefer to venture by foot or on the wheels of a bike or vehicle, and whether you prefer to stay close or go far, we offer this guide. But dont wait to plan: Word is spreading about early changes in some areas. Keep it local The go-to drive is Colorado 67, particularly the stretch weaving south toward Cripple Creek. Good luck finding a spot to pull over for photos. Youre better off driving onward to the trailheads for the Crags or Pancake Rocks, both very popular, challenging and always extraordinary. Or keep it closer to Woodland Park and take the lesser-traveled Lovell Gulch Trail, a 5-mile loop among glowing stands. Another option, especially for families, is Catamount Ranch Open Space. Its an under-appreciated slice of paradise at the end of Edlowe Road, the left turn going west on U.S. 24. But what gold-seeking hikers of the Pikes Peak region should be most excited about this season is the new Dixon Trail. Itll be a long, hard journey from Cheyenne Mountain State Park, and a fair warning to those who get lost easily: The trail is still a bit under construction. But finally, the famous summit is yours to discover. The Top of the Mountain Trail, the figure-eight circuit after Dixon, is ready to shine with its bountiful groves. Eye 70 The displays are superb through the Interstate 70 corridor beyond the metro, but the traffic, not so much. Attempt an escape via Guanella Pass, which might not seem an escape as Denvirites flock to this dirt stretch above Georgetown on weekends. But its long enough and has enough foot paths for aficionados to find their own swaths. The Booth Creek Trail, found off exit 180 toward Vail East, will take your breath along with the aspens. However short, its an uphill endeavor. Creek crossings and the cascading destination will refresh. Go farther west on the interstate to Edwards for the moderate East Lake Creek Trail, with tall glades spotting the 4-mile round trip. A more family-friendly excursion is at Sylvan Lake State Park, with yellow hills framing the water. Or, go the other way on 70, east to Breckenridge, pulling off the pavement for the aspen-covered Boreas Pass, scenic by car and bike. Riders also prize the French Gulch area, with singletrack braiding the place known as the Golden Horseshoe. The name is for the mining days but applies more now to the foliage here. The other side of the Bells After the Maroon Bells, Colorados next-most famous scene is the Crystal Mill. Its the 125-year-old wooden edifice perched above blue water, surrounded by enchanting woods, and its far more difficult to reach than the view of those twin peaks. To get there, youll need a high-clearance, four-wheel drive or the grit to endure a 6-mile hike or bike ride via rocky road. Otherwise, consult an outfitter in nearby Marble for a Jeep or ATV. The hidden hamlet that produced the material for the Lincoln Memorial is well worth a visit in the fall. An easier drive from town is the road toward the quarry, ending at a magnificent overlook of high peaks and hillsides awash with color. Its understandable if you cant resist Aspen, less than 60 miles west. But rather than the Bells, how about opting for another Colorado rite of passage? That would be the 11-mile trip on the West Maroon Trail, spanning one postcard town to the next, Crested Butte. If basing your leaf watch in CB, then Kebler Pass is the way to go. You might also look the other direction for a rugged, gorgeous drive on Tincup Pass, also requiring a four-wheeler. The road reaches above 12,000 feet, connecting with one of the states most photogenic ghost towns, St. Elmo. Rush west Front Range dwellers are wise to carve out staycation time around now, bound for the Western Slope. Theyll need time, all right, for the splendor amid the Centennial States most dramatic peaks. The aspens are wall-to-wall on Owl Creek Pass, the maintained gravel road boasting the epic scenery from the original True Grit. Chimney Rock and Courthouse Mountain are among the delights backdropping the painted forest. East of Ridgway, a locals favorite is the multi-use Lou Creek Trail. The 9-mile round trip will net you classic vistas of alpine lakes and San Juan Mountain glory accented by the aspens. A steeper trek with more rewards is through the glacial basin on the Blue Lakes Trail, topping out near 11,700 feet. From Ouray, Red Mountain Pass is a fine way to see the grandeur surrounding the town and the mining history above. Get that plus the fresh air on the Perimeter Trail, the 6.5-mile ring in the woods overlooking town. Last Dollar Road is stunning and, yes, typically busy. Consider the roads less traveled by taking four-wheeling tours from Telluride to Tomboy Basin and Imogene Pass, realizing the dream above treeline. Adventure starts here. Thats the tagline for RackStarz, a rack and hitch store that opened last spring in Colorado Springs and adds to the areas outdoor recreation industry an industry gaining attention on the national, state and local stages. The question for RackStarz owner Nick Bullion was: Where would his adventure begin? He had spent 18 years in California in the rack and hitch business before returning to his native Colorado to start his business. While he plans multiple locations for RackStarz, he had to choose his launch pad. Colorado Springs was the logical place to start, says Jackson Thom, marketing manager for RackStarz. For one thing, he says, Colorado Springs did not have a dedicated rack and hitch business. But more importantly, he says, RackStarz is all about getting people and their gear out into the great outdoors and the Colorado Springs area is an outdoor mecca. Bikes, skis, kayaks, paddleboards, none of those things are fun sitting in your driveway, Thom says. The only way they get to a trailhead, the only way they get to their destination, is through a roof rack, a hitch product, one of those things. That image of the Pikes Peak region as an outdoor wonderland is key as Colorado cements its reputation as a leader, if not THE leader, in the outdoor recreation industry. That reputation got an immense boost last year when Outdoor Retailer, the largest outdoor recreation expo and conference in the country, announced it was moving from Salt Lake City to Denver with three events a year. The Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show made its Colorado debut in January, the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market was in July and the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market is coming in November. This years events are expected to generate an economic impact of $110 million. Last month, another big get was announced. VF Corp., the parent company of such major outdoor brands as The North Face, JanSport and Smartwool, announced it would be moving its global headquarters from Greensboro, N.C., to the metro Denver area. Becky Leinweber, executive director of the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance, expected a ripple effect from Outdoor Retailers move to Denver and she sees VFs decision as proof. The fact that Outdoor Retailer moved here is definitely a catalyst for all sorts of things, she says. We saw it in Salt Lake City what it brought not only economically, but just the brands that moved to Salt Lake City over the years because of the location of Outdoor Retailer. Were hoping to see some of that migration here, and VF is definitely the first, and a pretty big one. Luis Benitez, director of Colorados Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, agrees that Outdoor Retailers move played a role in VFs decision. I dont think it was the deciding factor, but it was definitely a factor, he says. You cant have 30,000 people come to a town three times a year who are focused on thought leadership and innovation for your industry and not be interested in locating close to that. VF also was wooed by up to $27 million in tax incentives. It also helped, Benitez said, that a component of the company, Smartwool, was already in Colorado, with offices in Steamboat Springs and Boulder. Organizers of Outdoor Retailer, meanwhile, were influenced by Colorados commitment to public lands when they were looking for a new home. Our industry is an interesting one, Benitez says. We focus deeply on conservation and stewardship because our natural resources, and the utilization of those resources, really drive our economic engine. Outdoor Retailer wanted a new home in a state that was philosophically aligned on that devotion to natural resources. Benitez expects that ripple effect from Outdoor Retailers move and now from VFs upcoming move to continue. And that impact shouldnt be limited to just the Denver area. You dont just come here for a trade show and then go home. I think over the next two or three years that theres going to be a lot of discovery by folks attending the show who just happen to be industry CEOs and thought leaders of our economy who are going to be exploring our state and checking out all of what we have to offer, Benitez says. So how does the Pikes Peak region get some of that attention? Benitez points to the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance, founded by Beckys husband, David. (The two also own Anglers Covey.) The alliance is touted as a collaborative of businesses and individuals who recognize the value of our regions incredible natural and recreation assets to our community, both as an economic driver and for our health and well-being. What they (David and Becky) have done with the Pikes Peak Outdoor Recreation Alliance is really what we are looking for across the state, Benitez says. This is an important economy to your region. These moves arent going to be made magically; you have to focus on them and you have to create sort of that nexus for telling that story of why an organization would want to move to your region. The Outdoor Recreation Alliance has done a tremendous job of shaping that story, telling that story, pulling in the political leaders, the business leaders, the nonprofit leaders. In pursuing outdoor recreation companies with a particular focus on manufacturing the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC teams with the Outdoor Recreation Alliance, the Colorado Springs Convention & Visitors Bureau and those types of partners that are a little more dedicated to the space, says Tammy Fields, chief economic development officer for the Chamber & EDC. Economic development is truly around relationships that you build, Fields says and the Leinwebers networks are deep and wide. We have to, as a community, coalesce together and take advantage of those resources and those relationships that we have, so were working hard to do that with them, Fields says. I think certainly having the Outdoor Retailer show in Denver is paying dividends already, with the announcement of VF Corp. coming to Colorado. So I think its continuing to build that awareness, that hey, its not only Denver, here are these other communities in Colorado, particularly for us, the Pikes Peak region. We want to get some of that action, and were a great location. In working to get some of that action, Fields and Becky Leinweber plan to meet this month with Rebecca Gillis of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade for a brainstorming session. What can we do to help elevate ourselves, Fields says, and how can we use some of the state tools and resources to make sure we have a robust offering? Nows the time to act, Leinweber says. Nationally, the U.S. government this year tallied for the first time outdoor recreations contribution to the economy $374 billion in 2016, adding up to 2 percent of GDP. (In Colorado, outdoor recreation generates $28 billion in consumer spending annually and 229,000 direct jobs, according to the Outdoor Industry Association.) In 2015, Colorado became the second state to have a state office devoted to the outdoor recreation industry; since then, it has been leading the way, Leinweber says. In July, Colorado was one of eight states to sign the Confluence Accords, which outline shared, best-practice principles in growing the outdoor recreation economy. Theres just a lot of focus on Colorado right now, and we have a lot to offer in this region, Leinweber says. Its easy for residents to forget that, she says. We take it for granted yeah, theres Pikes Peak, isnt it beautiful and we dont really think about what that means to our community, the economic impact of being where we are. More and more, thats changing. TIA welcomes 2.15million passengers in first half Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) saw double-digit growth in terms of international passenger traffic in the first half of 2018, setting the stage for yet another record year. 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. Even as the missile alarms shrilled in the background, leaders from U.S. Northern Command and the federal Department of Homeland Security were focused on bigger threats swirling above the Atlantic. Hurricane Florence, the first big, threatening hurricane of 2018, brings flashbacks to this time last year when the Colorado Springs command and Homeland Securitys Federal Emergency Management Agency scrambled to combat a string of hurricanes that battered the landscape from Houston to Puerto Rico. The difference this year, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says, is that agencies are getting ready earlier. This hurricane is many days away, she said of Hurricane Florence, spinning away on a massive screen in the command center for Northern Command at Peterson Air Force Base, but we are preparing now. The military and FEMA faced a storm of criticism last year after Hurricanes Harvey, Maria and Irma stretched the nations disaster resources to the breaking point. Homeland Security handles the civilian side of federal disaster response, and the Defense Departments assistance in hurricanes comes from U.S. Northern Command. The Government Accountability Office in a report released last week found that the federal response to the hurricanes was hampered by logistical problems and the far-flung incidents that happened in quick succession left FEMA with too few workers to handle the load, the agency said in the report. The 2017 hurricanes and wildfires highlighted some longstanding issues and revealed other emerging response and recovery challenges, the report said. Northern Command boss Gen. Terrence OShaughnessy said strengthened relationships with Homeland Security should also help both agencies move with greater speed if hurricanes hit this year. The level of collaboration between our teams has gotten even stronger, he said. The two leaders didnt address apparent friction between the agencies revealed in the Government Accountability Office report, which showed the Pentagons worry that civilian agencies are growing more likely to call for military help when disaster strikes. The increased reliance may create vulnerability, if in the future,(military) capabilities are needed to conduct (the militarys) primary mission to defend the nation from threats concurrent with a domestic disaster response, the report found. Instead, they highlighted a recent joint visit they made to Puerto Rico to assess the federal response and plan for the storms of 2018. Homeland Security and Northern Command have been joined at the hip since birth. Both were conceived by Congress after the 9/11 attacks to better protect America from terrorism and to build stronger systems for the government to respond to disaster. We share a common lineage, OShaughnessy said. Nielsen came to Colorado Springs to see how the agencies work together. And the bonds are evident. Northern Command is loaded with civilians from FEMA and other Homeland Security agencies, including Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration. Northern Command also hosts a significant contingent from Homeland Securitys sole armed service, the Coast Guard. OShaughnessy said the two agencies share responsibilities to fight terror, control Americas air space and police the seas. The homeland is no longer a sanctuary, he said. The two agencies also have new bosses. OShaughnessy took over the top job at Northern Command in May after leading Air Force efforts in the Pacific. Nielsen got the Homeland Security job in December, replacing John Kelly who became President Donald Trumps chief of staff. The two have collaborated in a number of venues, including an August incident in Seattle that saw an airline employee steal a twin-engine commuter plane and crash it into an island. When it is a really bad day or when we even think its going to be a really bad day, Northern Command comes through, Nielsen said. The agencies also share intelligence on cyber threats. Nielsen highlighted her agencies efforts to secure the fall elections from hacking, including what she described as nation-state threats. I will never be the person who tells you we are 100 percent prepared, Nielsen said. We are substantially better prepared. Nielsen also put in a plug for more Coast Guard ice-breakers ships used to patrol northern sea lanes the Navy cannot reach. That has also been a priority for Northern Command, which is keeping a wary eye on increased Russian military activity in the Arctic. Congress has threatened to cut the Coast Guard shipbuilding budget to finance other priorities, including the border wall pushed by President Donald Trump. Nielsen wants the new polar cutters for the Coast Guard fleet. The importance of them cannot be overstated, she said. As the secretary and the general answered questions, the missile alarm wailed to life. Northern Command troops sprang to phones to figure out what was launched and where it was aimed. With American military satellites sensitive enough to pick up the smallest rocket launch around the globe, OShaughnessy didnt flinch. It was just another Thursday in the command center. The missile, location undisclosed, wasnt a threat. About two times a day, were getting a missile alert, he said. Contact Tom Roeder: 636-0240 Twitter: @xroederx This map from Pew Charitable Trusts shows how many days each state could run on rainy-day funds alone during a major recession. A straight dose of truth Once again the homeless issue is getting media coverage with the free shower trailer, similar to units used by our troops overseas. This is almost always followed by a proposed solution to the issue by calling out the lack of affordable housing. HUD defines affordable housing as costing no more than 30 percent of your income. Think about that for a minute. You have no skills above basic labor so that even if you could catch 40-hour a week job at $15/hour that is $31,200 and 30 percent is $9,360 divided by 12 months that is $780 each month. And that has to cover rent and doesnt include utilities! That situation probably doesnt exist, at least in our town. The 40-hour minimum wage job total didnt account for taxes. The leftover money has to pay for transportation and food as well. Locally, that cant be accomplished because we dont have enough 40 hour minimum wage jobs to cover the 1,500-plus homeless and we sure dont have apartments for under $800 a month that dont require some up front damage and rent deposits. Perhaps it is time to admit that one cannot come to the Springs and hope to work their way out of being homeless. The homeless that I see on the streets are not being served by offering false hope that things will be better if they just sign up with one of the many agencies involved. A straight dose of truth would be more honest. If we keep giving them stuff and false hope people will continue to arrive, the truth is a little harsher. Colorado Springs has grown so much from a village to one of the best destinations in the West that basic poverty cant be cured here. Michael S. Welsh Colorado Springs Fifty-three gallons of water I recently had a billboard on my street emblazoned with a picture of an egg and the caption stating that it wastes 53 gallons of water when you throw away one egg. Now I dont doubt that someone went to the trouble to figure this out. I looked up on the internet and found out the voluminous amounts of water it takes when you waste a pound of meat, a head of lettuce, and numerous other sundry items all listed with incredible amounts of potable water going down the drain. This was all done to help us conserve our potable water of course. It makes one wonder why nobody bothered to look up how much water is wasted when a baby is aborted. Steven Rauch Colorado Springs Concerns about Kavanaugh Having the opportunity to watch the Senate hearing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, I am very concerned about his nomination for the Supreme Court. My first concern is his views on a sitting president being investigated or indicted for crimes. Given the legal troubles of the president, I am concerned by a nominee who has been picked by the president who has views like his. No one is above the law, including the president, and he should not be able to pick his judge. It is unethical and endangers our very democracy. My second concern is Judge Kavanaughs views and actions on abortion and a womans right to choose. This was decided long ago, but the precedent appears to be at risk. My third concern is about the lack of transparency in this nomination process. The lack of information and the rush to push this nominee through is concerning. I would like to be on the record stating that we should not be nominating Judge Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court. Sen. Cory Gardner, Sen. Michael Bennet and Rep. Doug Lamborn must reject the presidents (who has been named as a unindicted conspirator) nominee who may ultimately rule on his charges. These are perilous time, and our members of Congress must honor their oath to uphold the Constitution and not put our country at risk because theyre not willing to buck their party or this administration. Our elected representatives must do what is right for our country. Kim Chatterley Colorado Springs Judges snub contradicts his words On the first day of the Senate hearing regarding Judge Brett Kavanaughs nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, Fred Guttenberg, father of murdered Parkland student Jaime Guttenberg, approached Judge Kavanaugh. He extended his hand to introduce himself. Silently, the judge turned his back on Mr. Guttenberg and walked away. Was this behavior a response to Guttenbergs position on gun control, which directly opposes the judges? Would it have been too much for the judge to put aside his views and extend his hand in sympathy, a gesture of father to father? Or would it have been a betrayal to the beneficence of the NRA that supports the judge? On the second day of the hearing, Judge Kavanaugh said he doesnt decide cases based on personal policy or preference, maintaining hes open-minded, neutral, and impartial. He cited his many charitable activities involving schools, church, and community. He said that standing in anothers shoes can make a difference in peoples lives, referring to a lesson he learned from reading To Kill a Mockingbird. But the judges snub contradicts his words. His conduct toward Guttenberg was very personal and not very neutral. Words matter. Actions do, too. A man speaking in defense of his character cant hide the condemnation of his own behavior. Judge Kavanaughs treatment of Guttenberg was shabby. Such behavior is not seemly for a judge or a Supreme Court justice. Denise F. Ludwig Colorado Springs TORONTO, Sept. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rio2 Limited (Rio2) (TSX-V:RIO; BVL:RIO) ("Rio2"or the Company") announces that the Company's common shares have been listed for trading on the Bolsa de Valores de Lima ("BVL") as of the opening of trading on September 7, 2018 under the ticker symbol RIO. Kallpa Securities S.A.B. in Lima, Peru acted as Rio2s sponsoring broker for the BVL listing. Alex Black, President and CEO of Rio2 comments, We are pleased to list our shares on the Lima Stock Exchange as we advance the development of our Cerro Maricunga Project in Chile. Listing on the Lima Stock Exchange is part of the Companys strategy of providing Latin American investors with the possibility to invest within Latin America and participate in the Companys growth with projects in the region. The BVL listing follows the CAD 10 million bought deal financing that Rio2 completed on May 31, 2018. A portion of the financing was placed with sophisticated investors in Peru by Kallpa Securities S.A.B. The BVL was founded in 1860 and has nearly 280 listed companies that represent approximately a market capitalization of US $165 billion. The BVL is the most active mining stock exchange in Latin America. In addition to the Peruvian and international mining companies listed on the BVL, there are 5 dual-listed TSX/BVL mining companies and 10 dual-listed TSX-V/BVL mining companies. The BVL is also a participant of the Mercado Integrado Latinoamericano (MILA). Through MILA, the companies listed on the BVL have a higher international exposure, due to the integration with equity markets in Colombia, Chile and Mexico. ABOUT RIO2 LIMITED Rio2 Limited is building a multi-asset, multi-jurisdiction, precious metals company focused in the Americas. With the Cerro Maricunga Gold Project in development in Chile and exploration platforms in Peru and Central America, Rio2 Limited will continue pursuing additional strategic acquisitions to compile an attractive portfolio of precious metals assets where it can deploy its operational excellence and responsible mining practices to create value for its shareholders. Rio2 Limited has assembled a highly experienced executive team to generate significant shareholder value, with proven technical skills in the development and operations of mines and capital markets experience. Through the strategy of acquiring precious metals assets at exploration, development, and operating stages, the executive team will grow Rio2 Limited and create long-term shareholder value through the development of high-margin, strong free-cash-flowing mining operations. For more information about Rio2 Limited, please contact: Alex Black President and Chief Executive Officer alex.black@rio2.com Canada: (416) 570 3155 Peru: (51) 992 794 655 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. Youths organise semi-naked rally in Bhadrapur Local youths staged a semi-naked rally in Bhadrapur Municipality of Jhapa on Thursday in protest of the Teej programme celebrated by the peoples representatives the same day. eyunni wrote: A majority taken collectively may be regarded as a being whose opinions and, most frequently, whose interests are opposed to those of another being, which is styled a minority. If it is admitted that a man possessing absolute power may misuse that power by wronging his adversaries, why should a majority not be liable to the same reproach? Men are not apt to change their characters by agglomeration; nor does their patience in the presence of obstacles increase with the consciousness of their strength. For these reasons we should not willingly invest any group of our fellows with that unlimited authority which we should refuse to any individual. One social power must always predominate over others, but liberty is endangered when this power is checked by no obstacles which may retard its course and force it to moderate its own vehemence. Unlimited power is in itself a bad and dangerous thing, and no power on earth is so worthy of honor for itself or of reverential obedience to the rights which it represents that we should admit its uncontrolled and all-predominant authority. When the right and means of absolute command are conferred on a people or a king, on an aristocracy or a democracy, a monarchy or a republic, there has been implanted the germ of tyranny. The main evil of the present democratic institutions of the United States does not arise, as is often asserted in Europe, from their weakness, but from their overpowering strength; the excessive liberty which reigns in that country is not so alarming as is the very inadequate security which exists against tyranny. When an individual or a party is wronged in the United States, to whom can he apply for redress? If to the public opinion, public opinion constitutes the majority; if to the legislature, it represents the majority and implicitly obeys its injunctions; if to the executive power, it is appointed by the majority and remains a passive tool in its hands; the public troops consist of the majority under arms; the jury is the majority invested with the right of hearing judicial cases, and in certain states even the judges are elected by the majority. However iniquitous or absurd the evil complained about, no sure barrier is established to defend against it. 1. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the passage? (A) The Tyranny of the Majority (B) Democracy: Triumph of the People (C) Abuses of Power (D) The Failure of Democracy in the United States (E) Minority Rights 2. Which of the following best paraphrases the authors statement in the third sentence of paragraph 1 (lines 7-11)? (A) Individuals do not change their behavior when they act in concert with others who are likeminded, and, knowing they are acting as part of the group, they are not likely to show greater restraint when opposed than they would if they were acting individually. (B) Groups are not different from one another, they all show strong impatience when thwarted. (C) The character of men is formed by the accumulation of their traits, and patience is not a common trait among men of strength. (D) The leopard does not change its spots no matter how long it lives, and it is, and remains, patient in the presence of obstacles. (E) Men change their behavior when they act in groups; they are more patient when they are in the company of their fellows than they are when they are alone. 3. With which of the following statements would the author of the passage be most likely to agree? (A) Democracy is no greater defense against tyranny than is monarchy or aristocracy. (B) Minority rule would probably be more responsive to the needs of all people than majority rule. (C) No government should be trusted since all governments are equally tyrannical. (D) Since one social power must always predominate over others, it is futile to provide checks and balances in government. (E) To render itself immune to the germ of tyranny, the United States should strengthen its political institutions. 4. Which of the following, assuming that each is true, would most weaken the point that the author is making in the last two paragraphs of the passage? (A) The framers of the U.S. Constitution deliberately separated the three branches of the government to prevent tyranny. (B) There is not a single majority in the United States; there are many majorities, each composed of a different collection of individuals and each acting as a restraint on the others. (C) The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution specifically guarantees the right of each citizen to petition the government for redress of grievances. (D) Even though the United States is not a direct democracy, all U.S. citizens have an equal opportunity to participate in political life and to hold public office. (E) The framers of the U.S. Constitution had two primary concerns: to prevent the government from exercising tyranny over the people and to prevent the majority from exercising tyranny over the minority. 5. The authors treatment of the topic of the passage can best be described as (A) ironic (B) neutral (C) logical (D) irreverent (E) diffident 6. In the passage, the author is primarily concerned with (A) challenging a commonly held belief (B) contrasting two opposing views (C) advocating a course of action (D) reconciling an apparent conflict (E) proposing a solution to an unrecognized problem Explanations more than welcome. 1.AThis is def. the main topic2.AIf u read the first paragraph I think this best mirrors what the author was said.3.APOE here, all the rest were not good answers.B: this is too extreme and is not suggested in the passage.C: too extremeD: goes against the passage. author agrees one social power must dominate, but not that it is futile to have checks and balances. quite the opposite.E: not suggested.4.E or B not sureI think its probably B, but my answer during my timing was E.A: doesnt really support, not strong enoughC: out of scopeD: so? passage says basically this doesnt matterE and B. I said E b/c if the makers made the US to prevent against majority tyranny then I guess this supports the author. B im still not sure about.5.CA: he/she is not ironicB: contendor choice, but I think neutral is not accurate here. The author has a tone towards the material.D:irrevent means "rude" this isnt itE:diffident means "shy" this isnt it.6.AB: no two views are presentedC: no course of action is proposedD:no conflict is presentedE: no solution is presented Passage analysis In an experiment, each volunteer was allowed to choose between an easy task and a hard task In an experiment each volunteer was given the option of choosing between an easy task and a difficult one. and was told that another volunteer would do the other task. The task that these volunteers did not choose would be done by another volunteer Each volunteer could also choose to have a computer assign the two tasks randomly. Another option was that each volunteer could also get a computer to assign the two tasks randomly to two volunteers Most volunteers chose the easy task for themselves Fact: It was observed that most (>50%, a clear majority) volunteers did not opt for the computers choice but chose to take up the easy task for themselves. and under questioning later said they had acted fairly Fact: When these volunteers were questioned whether they had acted fairly by taking up the easy task, they said they had been fair. But when the scenario was described to another group of volunteers, almost all said choosing the easy task would be unfair. Fact: When this case was put before another group of volunteers, almost all said that choosing the easy task had been unfair. This shows that most people apply weaker moral standards to themselves than to others. Conclusion pre-thinking Falsification Question Thought process Falsification condition#1 Assumption#1 Falsification Condition#2 Assumption#2 Answer Choice Analysis Option A Option B Option C Option D Option E : The author believes that most people apply weaker moral standards to themselves than to the others based on the results of an experiment where Group 1, when given the choice picked the easy task and called this choice fair, and Group 2 called group 1s action unfair.In what scenario will most people not apply weaker moral standards to themselves than to the others?Given that -> The volunteers could have got the computer to assign the tasks to themBut they chose the easier task for themselves and left the hard one for another volunteer.When questioned, another group of volunteers called the previous groupunfair for having chosen the easier task for themselves.Let us look at the authors point of view. Based on the outcome of an experiment the author makes a claim. In the experiment, most volunteers finally end up choosing the easy task for themselves. When another group of volunteers is asked to comment on this, they call the first group unfair. So, this second group that did not have to choose any tasks was judging the other group. Now because of all this, the author concludes that people apply weaker moral standards to themselves than to others. Or in other words, when it comes to judging themselves, people go easy as compared to when judging others.What if the group of volunteers calling the other group that had chosen easy tasks unfair, chosen difficult tasks themselves when asked to do so?In that case, with the belief that they had acted fairly, they would have been right in calling the others unfair. In that case they would have been applying the same moral standards to others that they were applying to themselves. They would be calling themselves fair and the others unfair. And our conclusion would break down.The group of volunteers calling the other group that had chosen easy tasks unfair, would have themselves chosen easy tasks and believed themselves to have been fair.What if the group of volunteers who had chosen easy tasks and called it fair, would have also called it fair if someone else had done the same?In that case, with the belief that they had acted fairly, they would have said the others were being fair too when they chose easy tasks. they would have been applying the same moral standards to others that they were applying to themselves. And our conclusion would break down.The group that had chosen the easy task and believed they had been fair, would have called the others who had done the same, unfair.This option means that some volunteers believed that when they had chosen the easy task themselves, they had been fair. But they called it unfair if someone else did so.This is in line with our pre-thinking assumption#2 which says that some of the ones who had chosen the easy task themselves, were calling the others who had done the same, unfair. Had they chosen the hard task, they would have been right in judging the others unfairly. They would then be applying the same standards to others that they were to themselves. In that case, our conclusion would break down.Hence, this is the correct answer.This option means the best moral choice for volunteers would have been not to choose the tasks themselves but to let the computer do so randomly.Does this have to be true for my conclusion to be true? Let us say the volunteers do not choose the tasks themselves. They let the computer do so. In that case, the morality factor does not come into play at all. Does that prove or disprove the claim? No. The computer assigning the task is actually irrelevant to a discussion because we are talking about a scenario where one assigns moral standards when making the choice oneself.Hence, this is not the answer.This option means there was at least one volunteer who was assigned to do the hard task and felt that this was unfair to him.Once again, we are looking at an irrelevant scenario. If one is assigned the hard task, either because somebody else took the easy one or because the computer did so, then the claim does not apply to them at all. They are not the ones who are being considered in the argument. We are only concerned with the ones who made the easy task choice themselves. And called the others who did the same unfair.Hence, this is not the correct answer.This option talks about the accuracy of moral judgments made by the group of volunteers (the second group of volunteers) to whom the scenario was described. It says they were more accurate in their judgment than the others.Does this break my conclusion if it is not true? No. Whether they were more accurate or less accurate in the judgment does not change the claim that they were being judgmental they were applying one judgment to themselves and another to the others. The level of accuracy hardly matters.Hence, this is not the correct option.The option means that at least one volunteer, who was asked to choose between assigning the task himself and getting the task assigned by the computer, felt that he had made the only fair choice that was available to him.The conclusion does not require us to consider about the volunteers themselves feeling that they had only one fair choice available to them by choosing the task themselves. It is what the others think about the choice that is being considered here.Hence, this is not the correct option._________________ conmisdosmanos wrote: 2. Minorities were five times as likely as non-minorities to be stopped by the police in 1992. Once stopped, however, they were no more likely to actually be arrested. The police have compounded the problem by loading information on these people into its permanent database, which is one of the first stops for investigating actual crimes. Innocent individuals become a permanent focus of the police because of their ethnic background. Which of the following, if true, most strongly undermines the argument above? (a) Policed stopped nine times more total people in 1992 than in previous years. >>> Doesn't discuss the issue of minority Vs. Non-minority (b) Innocent people listed on the database are highly unlikely to be arrested for actual crimes.>>> Already discussed in the question and it also doesn't help the issue of "Innocent individuals become a permanent focus of the police because of their ethnic background." (c) The database has been instrumental in the capture of several important criminals. >>> This fact doesn't permit to bother/not bother minorities/non-minorities.. (d) The minority population is much larger than the non-minority population .>>> Correct >>> In this case the minority actually becomes MAJORITY...and it's not partial to keep the records for majority..!! (e) Not everyone stopped by police is entered into the database. >>> Doesn't discuss the issue of minority Vs. Non-minority The police have compounded the problem AND Innocent individuals become a permanent focus of the police because of their ethnic background. Conclusion is:it's D. sondenso wrote: 74. Thirteen states from all regions of the country announced a plan to impose new controls on pollution from truck and bus engines in that they will jointly adopt emission limits that would be far stricter than the federal rules. (A) to impose new controls on pollution from truck and bus engines in that they will jointly adopt (B) to impose new controls on truck and bus engines' pollution by the joint adoption of (C) to impose new controls on pollution from truck and bus engines by jointly adopting (D) for imposing new controls on pollution from truck and bus engines, and jointly adopting (E) for imposing new controls on truck and bus engine pollution in the joint adoption of As ugly as it is, I'm going with D.This is tricky because the use of "jointly adopting" indicates that there are TWO separate things being adopted here.A. "in that they will jointly" is wordy/awkward. Also, "they" has an unclear referent - could be states, controls, or engines.B. "to impose...by the joint adoption of..." is unclear. The use of "joint adoption" in here isn't clear as to what TWO things are being adopted. If it were just adopting new emission limits (ONE thing), then no need to add "joint adoption".C. Same as B. Why add "jointly" here? In this example, the states are only adopting stricter emission limits.D. This clearly separates TWO issues: imposing new controls on truck/bus engines AND adopting stricter emission limits. "imposing...adopting..." is also parallel.E. "in the joint adoption of stricter emission limits" -- again, where is the JOINT? Where is the other thing?I don't personally like "a plan for imposing...." but in this case it works. 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 IceViking strongly condemns physical attacks and harassment directed towards them. They are also often victims of the Islamic idea. This is true when it comes to the cruel and tragic treatment of Muslim women and children when it is in accord with the Koran, the example of Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia, which may be applied regardless of where a Muslim male may find himself in the world, whether in a Muslim or non-Muslim country. However, in no way, shape or form should one judge all Muslim men because of what is in Islamic scripture and what constitutes the Islamic law, Sharia. "Race", ethnicity or basically anything that you are "merely" born with should never be a basis for bigotry and discrimination. Apostates from Islam have been executed for 1400 years in accord with the Koran and the words and actions of the Islamic prophet Mohammed and Islamic law, Sharia. They should be lovingly helped. Furthermore, approximately as many as 11,000,000 Muslims may have been killed by other Muslims since 1948. To quote the website The Religion of Peace (TROP), edited by Glen Roberts: While it may be safe to say that a true Muslim would not intentionally kill another true Muslim ( 4:92-93 ), the Quran places no such value on the life of a Muslim who is not true. Consider verse 9:73 : Strive hard against the disbelievers and the hypocrites, and be harsh against them, their abode is Hell. The Arabic for strive hard uses the same root as Jihad - and the context in this sura is holy war (see v. 86 and 91). Thus, there are two distinct classes of people that a true Muslim is to target with harshness: disbelievers and hypocrites. A disbeliever obviously refers to a non-Muslim, so a "hypocrite" must be a Muslim of some sort. In fact, hypocrites are those who say they believe, but do not act as they should. In other words, they are "Muslims", but not true Muslims. They will go to hell just as unbelievers do, and so, according to the verse, their lives matter for naught. The same sura says that a hypocrite can be recognized not just by lack of piety (reluctance to follow Sharia), but by fear of death ( 9:56 ), reluctance to fight ( 9:44-45 ) and even friendliness toward non-believers ( 9:67 ). A true Muslim would thus be a pious person who relishes martyrdom, is eager to fight, and shuns non-believers. Even the Quranic passage that warns against killing "believers" ( 4:88-94 ) is more complicated than it first appears. It never says that a true Muslim is incapable of killing another Muslim, just that it should not be done. In fact, it makes exceptions for the unintentional killing of "believers" in war and mandates the killing of "hypocrites." Verse 17:33 says, "Do not kill anyone which Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause" . The greatest cause of all is that Islam be superior ( 9:33 ), which is exactly what Islamic terrorists say is their goal. Thus believing Muslims are allowed to be collateral damage in the war on unbelievers. There is sadly a phenomena that I`ve noticed in Sweden and elsewhere of people using true facts about Islamic doctrine and history as a cover for all sorts of irrational targeting of Muslims, ranging from xenophobia and racism to verbal abuse and physical attacks. This is strongly condemned by this website and does not in any way serve serious criticism of orthodox Islam and other important work. It`s also important that one tries to express oneself in a civilized way. Words matter. In this bloggers humble opinion the root cause of the problem is the ancient doctrine of orthodox Islam. In simple terms a non-Muslim is a Kafir. " The Koran defines the kafir and kafir is not a neutral word. A kafir is not merely someone who does not agree with Islam, but a kafir is evil, disgusting, the lowest form of life." An exact quote, as stated in the writings of Dr. Bill Warner in the article "Kafir" at http://www.politicalislam.com/kafir . In the perfect Koran (Allah`s direct and literal word as revealed to Mohammed through the angel Jibril), Muslims are told 89 times to emulate Mohammed in all ways (see Koran 33:21 for instance). Mohammed`s example, the Sunna, is found in the Hadith (stories of what Mohammed said and did) and the Sira (biographies of Mohammed). Islamic law, Sharia , is directly derived from these unchanging scriptures. It is based on the Koran`s numerous commands to obey Allah and obey the Messenger, that is Mohammed (see Koran 4:59 for instance). Islam is Sharia. Sharia is Islam. It is a capital crime for Muslims to deny Sharia in any way. A Muslim is someone who submits to Islam and submitting to Islam means obeying the Sharia of Allah. Sharia law includes pronouncements for both Muslims and non-Muslims (Kafirs). Islam is a "complete way of life", a "complete code of life", a "complete system of life". Islam is not just a religion but also a comprehensive ideology. Islam is a supremacist ideology. Islam is a totalitarian and imperialistic ideology akin to Communism and Nazism. Islam is a civilization. Islamic law, Sharia, is a manual for a civilization. Islamic law, Sharia, governs every aspect of life. It has a say about every conceivable human act . Non-Muslims are morally and legally inferior in Islam. Women are morally and legally inferior in Islam. The History of Jihad: From Muhammad to ISIS by Robert Spencer is the first one-volume history of jihad in the English language and a great book on the topic. Allah guarantees Paradise to those who "kill and are killed" for him (Koran 9:111). A hadith depicts a Muslim asking Muhammad: "Instruct me as to such a deed as equals Jihad (in reward)." Muhammad replied, "I do not find such a deed." (Bukhari 4.52.44) Muhammad himself said: I have been commanded to fight against people so long as they do not declare that there is no god but Allah, and he who professed it was guaranteed the protection of his property and life on my behalf except for the right affairs rest with Allah. (Sahih Muslim 30) Freedom of speech, human rights, democracy, science and human lives are all at stake in the fight against the Islamic Jihad. Vice President Mike Pences Call with President Mario Abdo Benitez of Paraguay Washington, DC - Vice President Mike Pence spoke yesterday with President Mario Abdo Benitez of Paraguay to discuss Asuncions recent announcement to delay the official move of its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. The Vice President strongly encouraged President Abdo Benitez to follow through with Paraguays previous commitment to move the embassy as a sign of the historic relationship the country has maintained with both Israel and the United States. President Abdo Benitez underscored Paraguays lasting partnership with Israel and the leaders agreed to work towards achieving a compressive and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Vice President Pence also congratulated President Abdo Benitez on his inauguration in August and welcomed the opportunity for more dialogue between the two countries. 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 A former Pennsylvania Roman Catholic bishop who now serves in Indiana has denied an allegation of misconduct. The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend told PennLive.com in a statement Thursday that former Harrisburg bishop Kevin Rhoades "adamantly denies" the accusation and that he "did nothing wrong." Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo received the report last month. Rhoades hasn't been charged. According to Chardo, the male victim was around 18-years-old when the incident happened. Chardo says the victim died in 1996. Rhoades announced last month that the diocese would soon release the names of all those credibly accused of sexual abuse within the Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese. The Diocese of Gary recently released the names of 10 former priests deemed by the diocese as guilty of sexually abusing children. And the Indianapolis archbishop plans to release the names of all priests in his diocese who've faced substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse. Rhoades began with the Harrisburg Diocese in 1983. He served as bishop from 2004 to 2009. Rhoades was named bishop of the Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese in Jan. 2010. The accusation follows a landmark Pennsylvania grand jury report that claimed over 1,000 children in six Catholic dioceses have been abused since the 1940s. That report named Rhoades as handling two cases of alleged priest sexual abuse. It says he notified his superiors and authorities about the accusations but also warned of "scandal" if they became public. Coming up on Indiana Newsdesk: Police seized millions of dollars last year they say was tied to criminal activity. But what happens to that money is a source of major controversy. Ahead in part two of our series on civil forfeiture, well explain where the money goes and why some say that needs to change. The governor says the I-69 project will be finished ahead of schedule thanks to an infusion of $600 million. Plus a new type of scholarship is inspiring students to think about college and the expense of college much sooner. Those stories plus the latest news headlines from across the state right now on Indiana Newsdesk! WTIU-TV | Friday 6 p.m. and Saturday 4 p.m. WFYI-TV 3 | Friday 10:30 p.m. WFYI-TV | Sunday 1 p.m. The UN Dispatch added that the overlap between the General Assembly and the Security Council meeting could result in a face-to-face confrontation between US President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, as both men are expected to be in New York for the event. Such a meeting could serve as a proving ground for the war of words between the two countries, which has certainly escalated in the wake of the Trump administrations withdrawal from the Security Council-enforced Iran nuclear deal or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in May. Since that withdrawal, various White House officials including the president himself have reaffirmed that the aim of their Iran strategy is to secure a comprehensive change in the regimes behavior and a shift away from the malign activities that will presumably be the focus of this months Security Council discussion, such as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps interventions into the Syrian and Yemeni civil wars. These sorts of statements have elicited particular defiance from the allegedly moderate Rouhani, bringing him more publicly in line with the anti-Western rhetoric that is typical of the alternative, hardline political faction associated with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The Rouhani administration accordingly seized upon the White House announcement to repeat criticisms of the US. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, for instance, wrote on Twitter that the US plans to abuse the presidency of the Security Council, and he went on to name-check the Israeli Palestinian conflict, in the latest repeat of regime officials trend of using the Palestinian cause as a rallying cry for anti-Americanism among Muslim majority nations. Al Jazeera reported upon Zarifs comments but also noted that the announcement ot which he was replying had highlighted Irans violations of international law and the general instability Iran sows throughout the entire Middle East region. US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley declared that these issues would be addressed by the Security Council meeting, but it remains an open question as to whether the other four council members and various observer states listen more closely to American or Iranian perspectives in the days and weeks to come. The permanent members of the UNSC the US, UK, France, Russia, and China make up five of the six world powers that negotiated the JCPOA with Iran, the sixth being Germany. So far, all but the US have elected to stand by the nuclear deal and have made efforts to negotiate with Iran in order to provide incentives for its preservation in absence of American participation. This decision arguably reflects a more general lack of receptiveness to American talking points about Irans malign behaviors, although not all world powers are willing to defy the US to the same extent. The UK and France have naturally been critical of the Islamic Republic in other areas, even as they attempt to defend the JCPOA. For instance, the UK continues to lobby for the release of Iranian-British charity worker and political prisoner Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, while France has at times shown even more commitment than the US to undercutting the Iranian presence in Syria. By contrast, Russia and China both appear to be expanding upon their alliances with Iran, and Russia in particular is defying Western attitudes about such matters as the Security Council meeting. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty reported on Wednesday that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov had quickly joined Tehran in condemning the latest American appeal for multilateral action to confront an Iranian threat. They are mistaken if they think that they can use the UN rostrum as a forum for starting again to rally and, so to speak, organize everyone under their banners, he said of US officials. But by contrast, Israels ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, said on Thursday that the focus of the forthcoming Security Council meeting could be expected to have an impact on the General Assembly and to make Irans aggressive policy a major focus of the international gathering. Notwithstanding the efforts by Russia and a few other countries to undermine the American led efforts, Danon argued that other countries in the world are expected to increase their pressure against Iran, and that the recent American announcement will have significant implications for this trend. But as well as quoting Danon on this matter, the Algemeiner affirmed that Iran is looking to both Russia and China for stop gap measures that might lessen the impact of US sanctions. Accordingly, Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami traveled to Beijing on Thursday for talks with Chinese officials. Furthermore, RFE/RL reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin was scheduled to hold talks with both Irans president and its supreme leader, on topics including the nuclear deal and the two countries mutual defense of the Assad dictatorship in Syria. This speaks to the fact that unless Russias foreign policy calculations change in the near future, it can be expected to go on defying the US over more than just the future of the JCPOA. Indeed, Bloomberg reported on Thursday that Putin had apparently rejected appeals by the Trump administration to help facilitate the removal of Iranian troops and Iran-backed militias from Syrian territory. The White House reportedly floated the idea of a pullout of US troops as an incentive, stating that it would only take place once all Iranian personnel and weapons were gone. But Russia now seems poised to support Iranian forces in an assault on Idlib, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria and a region that the Iranian Foreign Minister called for cleaning out during a visit to Damascus this week. Such language is chilling to many opponents of the Iranian regime, and it arguably helps to support the sort of argument presented in an editorial published by the Algemeiner on Thursday: that the Islamic Republic is committed to preserving its familiar, explosive policies in the region, and also to building still further upon those policies with actions that have not yet been widely reported. The editorial in question declared that Iran is the source of evil in the region and comprehensive action is required to stop it. Such comprehensive action is, of course, what the US will strive to encourage when it leads the Security Council meeting against the backdrop of the UN General Assembly later this month. That effort may make some inroads with traditional European partners of the US, but it remains to be seen whether other world powers, particularly Russia, can be swayed from their defense of the Iranian regime. They cannot go home again. For many Hondurans forced to return to their place of birth, home means a return to the violence that sent them fleeing the country in the first place. In the neighborhoods where they grew up, bodies are left unceremoniously in areas where workers are putting up buildings. Human remains are often carried away as if they were a load of food. Heavily armed police watch from the back of pickup trucks. They stop to search passersby for weapons, drugs or signs they have ties to criminals. At home, a crying woman tries to wash blood from the walkway where her relative was killed. For those returning to Honduras, home is a neighborhood ruled by murderous gangs who want money and demand that young men become gang members. They kill those who refuse to obey. These Hondurans cannot go back home. So many seek protection at a shelter for troubled youth in the capital, Tegucigalpa. At the shelter, the young men tell their stories. Alexis, 18, arrived at the shelter two years ago after being sent home from Mexico. He says gang members threatened him many times because he would not join them. His mother told him he had to run. Salm, 14, left home after gang members threatened to kill him for refusing to join. He was staying at a shelter in Nicaragua, but that country sent him back. Jus, 15, fled Honduras after his father was murdered. He went to Guatemala, which sent him back. I cant go back to where I was born, Jus says. In any case, I dont have any family there any longer. The Associated Press is not publishing the full names of the young men or the shelter where they are staying for safety reasons. Many deported families no longer have a home. They sold everything to pay for a trip north. Now they have nowhere to go, and in many cases, they still owe money for the trip. A woman named Larissa, her husband and their two children left home after the Mara Salvatrucha gang tried to force her 14-year-old son to join. Years earlier, gang members shot her husband 14 times when he refused to give them money. He survived. Three of her cousins joined the gangs and all died young. If you join, you get killed, she said, adding Thats what happened to them. She and her family reached Mexico, but were sent back to Honduras. They lived with relatives in Honduras countryside. Her husband found work to save for another trip north. She said she could not move back to her hometown, El Progreso. But she did make a visit to get a copy of the police report she had made about the gang. She hoped it will help the family get asylum in the United States. She said they will try when things are calm. Days later, the family left Honduras to try to reach the United States again. In Tegucigalpa, many children remain at home as long as they can. On a recent day, smiling boys with toy guns make-believe they are police and gangsters. When asked who they would like to be, they say the police. Today it is a game. One day, those boys may have to make a decision: whether to join a gang, or to flee their homes. I'm Susan Shand. The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted the AP report for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story deport v. to send out of the country someone who is not a citizen gang n.a group of criminals who are loyal to each other toy n.a thing that children play with Learning how to avoid being watched is a new skill for Andy Chan, founder of the Hong Kong National Party. In July, Chan discovered that he was being followed by unidentified individuals. He noted that they would suddenly disappear, only to reappear later or be replaced by other individuals. Chan did not fully know it at the time, but he was being watched by members of Hong Kong's Security Bureau. The surveillance campaign against Chan was part of a two year investigation into the Hong Kong National Party. It supports Hong Kongs independence from China. In the past, bureau officials have said that freedom of association and freedom of speech are "not without restrictions." Chan's party may become the first to be banned by police since Britain returned control of Hong Kong to China in 1997. But his story is not uncommon in a city with a long history of political surveillance. Historians say surveillance of politically suspect citizens has been a part of life in Hong Kong for much of the past 100 years. In the 1920s, agents working for the colonial government forced some newspapers to close and observed strikes. Such political surveillance continued into the 1970s. Observers say surveillance appears to be on the rise again in Hong Kong. They say the increase began after the pro-democracy Umbrella Movement protests in 2014. Law Yuk-kai is the director of the Hong Kong Human Rights Monitor. Law said his group has noted an increase in activity by Chinese spy agencies in Hong Kong during important political events. The work of these agencies is hard to prove. But some have succeeded in exposing it. The Reuters news agency investigated one such example. In 2014, Hong Kong democratic legislator James To stopped an operation by several Chinese agents who were following him. He had them arrested by local police. Activists also say they suspect Chinese intelligence agents were responsible for the 2015 disappearance of five booksellers who traded in banned books. The booksellers later reappeared in a Chinese prison. Hong Kongs Interceptions of Communications and Surveillance Ordinance requires a judge or law officer to approve of surveillance in the home or the use of electronic monitoring. Under the measure, the work of Hong Kong police is monitored. But Law said it is unclear how it relates to private citizens. He noted that following people in public is legal because individuals are not protected by privacy laws. Experts say that leaves most Hong Kong citizens with few choices. Chan is still not sure who was watching him. But like many Hong Kong activists, he appears to accept it as a new part of life. Im Jonathan Evans. Erin Hale reported this story for VOA News. Jonathan Evans adapted her report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in this Story monitor v. to watch, observe, listen to, or check something for a special purpose over a period of time surveillance n. the act of carefully watching someone or something especially in order to prevent or identify a crime association n. an organization or group expose v. to make known Our story today is, "The Devil and Tom Walker. " It was written by Washington Irving. Here is Shep O'Neal with our story. Before we begin our story, let us go back 300 years to the late 1600s. In those years, one of the most famous men in the world was Captain William Kidd. Captain Kidd was a pirate. He sailed the seas, capturing any ships he found. He and his men took money from these ships. Captain Kidd hid this money in different places. Captain Kidd was captured by the English in Boston, Massachusetts and executed in the year 1701. From that time on, people all over the world searched in many places for Captain Kidd's stolen money. The people who lived in Massachusetts in the seventeen hundreds believed Captain Kidd buried some of his treasure near Boston. Not far from Boston was a small river which ran into the Atlantic Ocean. An old story said that Captain Kidd had come up this river from the ocean. Then he buried his gold and silver and jewels under a big tree. The story said that this treasure was protected by the devil himself, who was a good friend of Captain Kidd. In the year seventeen twenty-seven, a man named Tom Walker lived near this place. Tom Walker was not a pleasant man. He loved only one thing -- money. There was only one person worse than Tom. That was his wife. She also loved money. These two were so hungry for money that they even stole things from each other. One day, Tom Walker was returning home through a dark forest. He walked slowly and carefully, so that he would not fall into a pool of mud. At last, he reached a piece of dry ground. Tom sat down on a tree that had fallen. As he rested, he dug into the earth with a stick. He knew the story that Indians had killed prisoners here as sacrifices to the Devil. But this did not trouble him. The only devil Tom was afraid of was his wife. Tom's stick hit something hard. He dug it out of the earth. It was a human skull. In the skull was an Indian ax. Suddenly, Tom Walker heard an angry voice: "Don't touch that skull!" Tom looked up. He saw a giant sitting on a broken tree. Tom had never seen such a man. He wore the clothes of an Indian. His skin was almost black and covered with ashes. His eyes were big and red. His black hair stood up from his head. He carried a large ax. The giant asked, "What are you doing on my land?" But Tom Walker was not afraid. He answered, "What do you mean? This land belongs to Mister Peabody." The strange man laughed and pointed to the tall trees. Tom saw that one of the trees had been cut by an ax. He looked more closely and saw that the name Peabody had been cut into the tree. Mr. Peabody was a man who got rich by stealing from Indians. Tom looked at the other trees. Every one had the name of some rich, important man from Massachusetts. Tom looked at the tree on which he was sitting. It also had a name cut into it -- the name of Absalom Crowninshield. Tom remembered that Mister Crowninshield was a very rich man. People said he got his money as Captain Kidd did -- by stealing ships. Suddenly, the giant shouted: "Crowninshield is ready to be burned! I'm going to burn many trees this winter!" Tom told the man that he had no right to cut Mister Peabody's trees. The stranger laughed and said, "I have every right to cut these trees. This land belonged to me a long time before Englishmen came to Massachusetts. The Indians were here. Then you Englishmen killed the Indians. Now I show Englishmen how to buy and sell slaves. And I teach their women how to be witches." Tom Walker now knew that the giant was the Devil himself. But Tom Walker was still not afraid. The giant said Captain Kidd had buried great treasures under the trees, but nobody could have them unless the giant permitted it. He said Tom could have these treasures. But Tom had to agree to give the giant what he demanded. Tom Walker loved money as much as he loved life. But he asked for time to think. Tom went home. He told his wife what had happened. She wanted Captain Kidd's treasure. She urged him to give the Devil what he wanted. Tom said no. At last, Misses Walker decided to do what Tom refused to do. She put all her silver in a large piece of cloth and went to see the dark giant. Two days passed. She did not return home. She was never seen again. People said later that Tom went to the place where he had met the giant. He saw his wife's cloth hanging in a tree. He was happy, because he wanted to get her silver. But when he opened the cloth, there was no silver in it -- only a human heart. Tom was sorry he lost the silver, but not sorry he lost his wife. He wanted to thank the giant for this. And so, every day he looked for the giant. Tom finally decided that he would give the giant what he wanted in exchange for Captain Kidd's treasure. One night, Tom Walker met the giant and offered his soul in exchange for Captain Kidd's treasure. The Devil now wanted more than that. He said that Tom would have to use the treasure to do the Devil's work. He wanted Tom to buy a ship and bring slaves to America. As we have said, Tom Walker was a hard man who loved nothing but money. But even he could not agree to buy and sell human beings as slaves. He refused to do this. The Devil then said that his second most important work was lending money. The men who did this work for the Devil forced poor people who borrowed money to pay back much more than they had received. Tom said he would like this kind of work. So the Devil gave him Captain Kidd's treasure. A few days later, Tom Walker was a lender of money in Boston. Everyone who needed help -- and there were many who did -- came to him. Tom Walker became the richest man in Boston. When people were not able to pay him, he took away their farms, their horses, and their houses. As he got older and richer, Tom began to worry. What would happen when he died? He had promised his soul to the Devil. Maybe. . .maybe. . . he could break that promise. Tom then became very religious. He went to church every week. He thought that if he prayed enough, he could escape from the Devil. One day, Tom took the land of a man who had borrowed money. The poor man asked for more time to pay. "Please do not destroy me!" he said. "You have already taken all my money!" Tom got angry and started to shout, "Let the Devil take me if I have taken any money from you!" That was the end of Tom Walker. For just then, he heard a noise. He opened the door. There was the black giant, holding a black horse. The giant said, "Tom, I have come for you." He picked up Tom and put him on the horse. Then he hit the horse, which ran off, carrying Tom. Nobody ever saw Tom Walker again. A farmer said that he saw the black horse, with a man on it, running wildly into the forest. After Tom Walker disappeared, the government decided to take Tom's property. But there was nothing to take. All the papers which showed that Tom owned land and houses were burned to ashes. His boxes of gold and silver had nothing in them but small pieces of wood. The wood came from newly cut trees. Tom's horses died, and his house suddenly burned to ashes. You have heard the story, "The Devil and Tom Walker." It was written by Washington Irving. Our storyteller was Shep O'Neal. Now it's your turn. Are there any folk tales or traditional stories in your country about a person making a deal with the devil? Write to us in the comments section or on our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Quiz Quiz - The Devil and Tom Walker Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz For Teachers This lesson plan, based on the CALLA Approach, teaches the learning strategy, 'summarize' to help students understand the story, _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story treasure n. a large collection of money, jewels or other things of great value devil - n. the Devil the most powerful spirit of evil in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam who is often represented as the ruler of hell skull - n. the structure of bones that form the head and face of a person or animal ax - n. a tool that has a heavy metal blade and a long handle and that is used for chopping wood giant - n. a legendary creature usually thought of as being an extremely large and powerful person witch - n. a woman who is thought to have magic powers lend - v. to give (something) to (someone) to be used for a period of time and then returned slave - n. someone who is legally owned by another person and is forced to work for that person without pay Clinical practice guidelines play a critical role in promoting quality care for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). A new set of guidelines for rehabilitation of patients with moderate to severe TBIincorporating insights from the rehabilitation professionals responsible for providing care from initial assessment through long-term follow-upis introduced in the September issue of the The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation (JHTR), official journal of the Brain Injury Association of America. "The novel approach of consulting and working with end users to develop a clinical practice guideline for moderate to severe TBI should influence knowledge uptake for clinicians wanting to provide evidence-based care," according to an introductory article by Bonnie Swaine, Ph.D., of Universite de Montreal and the Center for Interdisciplinary Rehabilitation Research (CRIR) and colleagues. Unique Focus on Responding to Needs of Professionals Caring for TBI The guidelines were developed by a collaborative effort of researchers, clinicians, and policymakers from Ontario and Quebec. The complete, bilingual (English and French) guidelines can be accessed at http://braininjuryguidelines.org. The guidelines were sponsored by the Quebec Institut national d'excellence en sante et en services sociaux (INESSS) and the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation (ONF). Several sets of guidelines for TBI have been developed in recent yearsso why develop a new clinical practice guideline now? "Because clinicians told us that they need specific features and tools," Dr. Swaine and coauthors write. Updated guidelines are also needed to reflect the trend toward community-based rehabilitation, as well as the context of the Canadian healthcare system. From the outset, the guideline development process assessed the needs and expectations of "end users": the clinicians and managers providing rehabilitation care for patients with moderate to severe TBI. A study by Marie-Eve Lamontagne, Ph.D., of Universite Laval, Quebec City, and colleagues found that rehabilitation professionals expressed positive perceptions of clinical practice guidelineshowever, only a small proportion of respondents used them in everyday practice. The professionals identified several key topics to be covered in guidelines, including the intensity and frequency of rehabilitation services, managing behavioral disorders and cognitive function impairment, and social participation and community life. A separate survey asked professionals their views on how well guideline recommendations were implemented into the care of patients with TBI. While a high percentage of recommendations were considered "fully or mostly implemented," several gaps in implementation were recognized, both in acute care and rehabilitation settings. An article by Dr. Mark Bayley, MD, of University of Toronto and colleagues highlights the unique features of the INESSS/ONF guideline development process that address user's needs, including providing prioritization of recommendations for implementation, implementation tools, indicators to measure uptake, system implications and background rationale and evidence supporting the recommendation. The final clinical practice guideline includes 71 recommendations related to the components of the optimal TBI rehabilitation system, including the intensity/frequency of interventions, rehabilitation mechanisms, duration of interventions, and mechanisms for promoting continuity of care; and 195 recommendations pertaining to assessment and rehabilitation of the sequelae of brain injury, including behavioral disorders, cognitive dysfunction, fatigue and sleep disturbance, and mental health. The vision behind the guidelines encompasses the whole "knowledge to action cycle," including measures to define and support implementation of the recommendations across Ontario and Quebec. Drs. Swaine, Bayley, and Lamontagne and colleagues conclude: "Only time will tell whether our attention to user needs and expectations will positively influence the uptake of knowledge using the clinical practice guideline and, ultimately, patient outcomes following moderate to severe TBI. " Explore further Experts address loss of the national guideline clearinghouse Newsletter Subscribe now to get updates from armenian media & videos... In May 1971 as the school year ended at Newbold College near Bracknell in Berkshire, England, a group of mostly American students gathered to say goodbye. One of them was St. Helena resident Ric Henry, who spent his sophomore year at Newbold College. Today he recalls that time, After a year of overcast and drizzling rain, the sun comes out for the close of the school year. We were giddy with excitement about being released and going on summer adventures on the Continent. We felt sorry for students who were merely returning home. Amongst all this excitement, we said our goodbyes to our new lifelong friends and to friends that we knew wed never see again. Thats how these pictures came about. As we backslapped, hugged and reassured each other that wed meet again, somewhere in the world, somebody walked by with a camera. As a joke, we said, Hey, take a picture of us on that car. So we did. And another photo with the six of them on Roger Cerfantynes Morris Minor and then on Henrys Triumph 500 motorcycle, which had spent the year, apart, in Henrys dorm room. Then, as Henry writes, We went our separate ways. Besides Henry and Cerfantyne, who lives in Birmingham, England, the group includes David Goodgame of Crescent City; Dave Jamieson of Modesto; Larry Rolands of Portland and Roger Handysides of San Diego. Earlier this year, Cerfantyne announced he was coming to the states for a visit. It was then that Jamieson decided to try to get the gang back together for a reunion photo. He tracked down Handysides, who is still an English citizen, although he has lived here most of his adult life. Henry said he has remained friends with Goodgame and the two shared a room for the last half of the year in 1971. He has also kept in touch with Jamieson. I ran into him at registration for my junior year spring quarter back at PUC. I was planning to live at my parents house in Santa Rosa and commute every day to PUC. Dave convinced me to room with him in a shack of a house in Angwin, Henry writes. That summer, we also roomed together in Beirut as Jamieson couldnt stand to be away from his girlfriend for the summer. We visited Roger Cerfantyne in Birmingham, England, as we returned home. At that time, the photo staged was the three of them, along with Jamiesons girlfriend and later wife, Gingie Cowles, crossing Abbey Road. In the photo, Henry was running to grab his camera, because it was on a tripod in the road, in the middle of traffic. Although Henry said he ran into Larry Rolands at a Taco Bell in Riverside in 1974, he hadnt seen him since. Rolands turned out to be the hardest to find, although he has been living in Portland for the past 30 years. Henry writes, Jamieson kept the reunion a surprise to Cerfantyne. It slowly became apparent to him as we gathered at Jamiesons home in Modesto. We took the reunion picture (with Henrys 1936 Buick) about two hours later. Henry writes, We mostly reminisced about the good times and the pranks that we were all involved in. Our sophomore year was truly a time for sophomoric pranks. One night, we took all the legs off the tables in the cafeteria. During our enforced chapel temperance meeting, about a dozen of us stood up, publicly resigned, and stormed out of chapel. Our same English history teacher, witnessed this demonstration from the chapel lobby. He followed us to my room and yelled at us for a bit. Then there was the night of the great panty raid. After midnight, we climbed through a second-story window in the girls dorm, which was a gigantic old manor house. We then went our separate ways, connecting the next morning. As one would suspect, word of our adventure spread. We ended up around two weeks later, singly or with a co-conspirator, knocking on the deans door and confessing to our transgression. We were lucky to have a mild-mannered South African as our dorm dean. Attending college in England As he dropped off these photos, Henry also shared what he wrote his memories from 47 years ago including why he had to attend Newbold College for his sophomore year. He writes he wasnt allowed to return to Pacific Union College because apparently I had exceeded the number of times that the Dean of Students had written letters to me, directing me to talk to the dorm dean about getting another haircut and doubling my worship attendance. He continues, I was reading my last and final letter from the Dean, in late August, as my older brother, Bryan, walked into the house after his year abroad at Newbold. He told me to not worry about the Dean and PUC as he had asked the Principal of Newbold that morning if I could attend there. I left within two weeks on my first commercial airplane ride from Oakland to Gatwick. Newbold College served as the Adventists primary college in Europe. Students from 27 countries attended. The United Kingdom and the United States represented just over 70 of the 220 students. Best of times, worst of times Our year abroad was like a Dickensian draftees two years hitch in the army. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Some of the best experiences of our lives were interspersed with periods of loneliness and longing to be back home. A few students did return home. But like the army life, our enforced time together created a sense of camaraderie and shared feeling that we were all in this together. Like the draftees experience, we made some of our best buddies that went with us throughout life. None of the Americans were financially able to return home during the fall, Christmas, or spring breaks. So we hitchhiked in groups around the UK, Ireland, and the Continent. Theres nothing like sleeping in parks, forests, and under bridges to help strengthen ones bonds of camaraderie. Our year abroad also forced us to confront the conflicting aspects of what it meant to be an American. It was hard for us not to be the ugly Americans. We were loud and fairly disrespectful of the older traditions and cultures. We met with disapproval when we did a sketch comedy scene spoofing the Queen on All Nations Night. It was hard for us to comprehend peoples reverence and deference to a class of society that was just born into it. It was especially hard to be an American abroad during the height of the Vietnam War. The other students couldnt understand what a big country like America was doing beating up on such a little country. Many late night dorm bull sessions had us stating that we didnt vote for the war and were against it. All the foreign students studying in Europe hitchhiked with the flag of their country sewn onto their backpacks. Many Americans hitched with Canadian flags. A Belgian student friend of mine took me across the channel for Christmas break. I stayed a few nights at his house and then he took me to a bridge leading out of town so I could hitch to Nuremburg, where my oldest brother, Weiland, was stationed in the army. The graffiti on the bridge read, Yankee go home. Thanksgiving celebration These experiences contrasted greatly with our Thanksgiving celebration. Thats one holiday that is solely American. We invited our English history teacher to join us for our Thanksgiving candlelit dinner. There wasnt a dry eye in the room as we sang God Bless America. The history teacher said that never before had he ever experienced such patriotism. We went to college during a time of cultural and generational conflict and change. We wanted to change the world for the better. We sought social justice and equality. We wanted to help those more disadvantaged than ourselves. Even though our college majors at the time were as disparate as religion, history, English, and music, all six of us ended up with careers in some type of counseling. I returned to Pacific Union College for my senior year and met the daughter of my former dean of students who caused me to attend Newbold. Had he told me about his daughter, I might have been more receptive to cutting my hair and attending more worship services. Im the only person I know of who has received more letters from his future father-in-law than from his future wife. Editors Note: Ric Henry grew up in Northern California during the 1950s and 60s, started college at Pacific Union College in 1969 and met Cheryl in October 1972. They were married 14 months later and after graduate school, residencies and jobs, they moved to Deer Park and then Angwin in 1990. They moved to St. Helena in 2002. Cheryl, who had lived in Angwin with her family since 1965, retired Jan. 31, 2017. Leidy Tovar Almanza of St. Helena has been placed on the Gettysburg College dean's honor list for outstanding academic achievement in the Spring 2018 semester. It seems some people in the White House think President Donald Trump is ignorant, dangerous and unhinged. They told author Bob Woodward that, though they wouldn't allow him to use their names. One of them wrote an op-ed about Trump's deranged reign for the New York Times -- but wouldn't allow his or her name to be used. And, of course, White House reporters have been quoting anonymous White House sources about the Trump wreckage since Trump began his erratic run for president. Basically, everyone in the political business, including lots of people who collect taxpayer-funded salaries to pretend otherwise, know that Trump is a malicious, incompetent buffoon. But who's going to tell Trump's voters? After all, 63 million people voted for Trump. Some of those millions voted for him knowing full well that Trump is malicious. That's what they like about him; he operationalizes their resentments and rationalizes their insecurities. Other voters in 2016 soothed their doubts by hoping that Trump, upon taking the oath of office, would magically rise from the ethical sewer in which he had spent a lifetime. Nothing in the op-ed in the New York Times, or in the voluminous comments to Woodward about an unhinged executive, alters the political dynamics of the GOP or its red-capped, mutant offspring, MAGA. What these Republican insiders tell one another is that Trump is an abomination doing an abysmal job. What they tell their voters is something else. Out in the great wide electorate beyond the Potomac, eight in 10 -- sometimes as many as nine in 10 -- Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing. And because Republican leaders have spent years telling their voters to distrust legitimate news media and to believe only loyal partisans such as Fox News, there is no reason to expect the op-ed or the Woodward book or any other manifestation of truth to penetrate the veil of carefully constructed unreality. Six years ago, political scientists Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann wrote, prematurely, the Republican Party's epitaph. The Republican Party has become an insurgent outlier -- ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. In the ensuing six years, the party has intensified those failings while adding others. It has embraced Trump's rampant personal corruption and grown comfortable with his attacks on blacks and Hispanics and women. The party has escalated bad-faith attacks on news media that accurately chronicle Trump lies, and on liberal institutions that resist the almost daily assaults on the rule of law and public ethics. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., has devoted the last two years of his speakership to deploying the House Intelligence Committee as a fog machine, the better to obscure any Trump connections to Russian subterfuge or other illegality. Senate leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., floods the judiciary with conservative white male judges devoted to preserving and extending the racial and sexual hierarchies of the 20th century. It's not nothing that a nuclear holocaust has thus far been averted -- thanks for that, Anonymous. But other acts of aggression, from the Muslim ban to voter suppression, continue undeterred. The Trump administration planned and executed a policy of seizing infants from their parents at the U.S. border. It did so with such grotesque callousness that it is thus far unable to reunite hundreds of literally kidnapped children with their parents. Not one Republican in Congress has held a hearing to find out how this crime occurred, and who is responsible. The corruption of the party is endemic. Anyone who thinks they escape the moral and political taint of this administration by murmuring anonymous misgivings about Trump is a fool as well as a coward. Francis Wilkinson writes editorials on politics and U.S. domestic policy for Bloomberg Opinion. He was executive editor of the Week. He was previously a writer for Rolling Stone, a communications consultant and a political media strategist. Do we learn anything from history? Recently, a grand jury in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania found that over 300 Catholic priests had sexually abused thousands of minors since 1947. This hardly is the first time for the Church and it leads to the obvious question: has the Catholic Church finally and irrevocably lost its way? History may well provide the answer with a true story about someone we now would label a whistleblower. More than any other prophet in Biblical history, Jeremiah (approx. 650 BCE 570 BCE) saw the dangers, inadequacies, and the weakness of the superficial formalism in religion. Jeremiah, the suffering servant in the Book of Isaiah (53: 1 12) and the author of the Books of Kings and the Book of Lamentations, knew that the clergy and congregations of his day regarded themselves with smug satisfaction from what they viewed as their achievements and their relationship with God, as long as temple ceremonies were conducted as scheduled. Jeremiah also knew the difference between the husks and the corn and between the shell and the kernel. He knew that, along with a ceremonial framework, there must exist substance, namely, a genuine commitment on the part of clergy and worshipers, to be true to the Abrahamic Covenant (Gen. 15: 18-21) and to maintain a personal relationship with God. Over time, Jeremiah became disillusioned with the Kingdom of Judah where he preached. The Lord had told him to find an honest man in Judah, but Jeremiah was unable to do so (Jer. 5: 1). Jeremiah then charged the Kingdom with crimes against the Lord: worshiping idols, child sacrifice, lies, false prophets, rulers who did not seek justice, adultery, theft, murder, and exploitation of the poor. He warned that Judah was in moral decline and, unless it changed its ways, it would be demolished as was Shiloh in 1050 BCE. Jeremiah preached for 40 years warning that the nations evil behavior, lies, betrayals, and rejection of God would lead to disaster. His efforts resulted in his being barred from ever entering the temple, and being beaten, tortured, imprisoned, thrown into a pit, and having his hand-written scrolls burned by the king. In 605 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded the Kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem, imprisoning Judahs King, capturing its residents, and marching them to Babylon. Those captured remained in exile for 70 years. Jeremiahs prophecies had come true. He compared the destruction of his nation to the undoing of creation. (Jer. 4: 131). Once again, I ask the question whether we learn anything from history. When it comes to the Catholic Church and its record of sexual abuse of children, an analysis of the evidence would sadly conclude the answer is no. The abuse itself is horrific. The fact that the Church hushes up patterns of criminal sexual abuse for years in order to let the statutes of limitations run, conceals evidence, falsifies reports, declines to report clergy crimes to law enforcement agencies, and plays shell games with personnel, is a declaration of moral bankruptcy. A study conducted by the John Jay College of Criminal Justice reported that 11,000 allegations of sexual abuse were made against 4,392 priests in the United States between 1950 and 2002. 2,411 priests were named in a single allegation, but 149 priests had 10 or more allegations against them. In 2014, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) issued a report calling upon the Vatican to remove all child abusers from the Church and accused the Church of not acknowledging the extent of the crimes committed. The CRC also urged the Church to report all abusers to law enforcement, to open its archives so those involved in sexual abuse could be held accountable, and to stop imposing confidentiality agreements on child victims as a condition of financial compensation. In response, the Vatican stonewalled. Tragically, many members of the Church today talk about rape and other abuse of minors in schools and seminaries as ancient history. It is not. It lives on today. Pedophiles are still in the priesthood. Children victimized decades ago still suffer. Due to court judgments, the Church continues to pay billions of dollars to victims and their families. The Church still adheres to omerta, the Mafia Code of Silence. Church policy places the welfare and reputation of the Church above all else. The welfare of the victims automatically becomes of secondary importance to the Church, although they actually are the ones most in need of Church protection. What we all need today is another Jeremiah. If the Church does not adequately punish abusers and does not adequately shepherd its flock, it, like the Kingdom of Judah, will be destroyed. Michael D. OReilley, a life-long Catholic, is a former deputy district attorney for Napa County. He attended Catholic schools from grade school through law school, including two years as a graduate student at the Jesuit School of Theology. A twelve-day-old elephant calf was rescued from dense jungle of Phulbari area near Sapongaon Forest Office under Dhansiri Forest Division in Udalguri district on Friday morning. It has been reported that the villagers after spotting the jumbo informed the forest officials. On being informed, a team forest personnel rescued the elephant calf with aid of troops of 37 Bn Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) from the jungle along the Indo-Bhutan border. The jungle falls under the territorial division of Bhutan province as per the claims of forest officials of the kingdom. The calf has been handed over to the forest officials of Bhutan following all departmental procedures, informed a forest official of Sapongaon Forest office. It may be mentioned that herds of wild elephants which come down to plain areas in Udalguri continue to create panic by damaging crops and houses in the villages. Efforts are also being made in the district by NGOs and wildlife lovers to mitigate the man-elephant conflict in the district. Local youths like Mithu Sarkar, Dibakar Nayak and Ankit Tanti have been voluntarily associating themselves with tackling the menace of man-elephant conflict in the district. They have planted 2000 number of banana saplings in an area under Khalingduar Reserve Forest this year, besides constructed a number of watch-towers in the conflict zone villages. The rescue of the elephant calf and handing over the same to Bhutan forest officials has been hailed by wildlife lovers of the area. YEREVAN. It is relatively calm on the border of Nakhichevan; improvements are made every day, Artsrun Hovhannisyan, spokesperson for the Republic of Armenia Ministry of Defense (RA MOD), told Armenian News-NEWS.am. Positional improvements at the borders are a constant process, Hovhannisyan said, in particular, when asked about the situation regarding the shifts at military positions. And if in some sense there is no interest in the press in those processes, [that] doesnt mean [that] () they dont move their positions forward. Reflecting on reports that Turkey plans to set up a military base in Nakhichevan, Artsrun Hovhannisyan said the Armenian domain is interested in this topic, but there is nothing specific yet. Since the RA Prime Minister has stated about that, naturally its already a plan-program, the MOD spokesperson said with respect to an unprecedented Armenian-Russian humanitarian cooperation. It will be a yet another mission to us. The tension on the border has reduced, Hovhannisyan said regarding the present-day situation on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border. But that says nothing from the perspective of long-term predictions because you cant make long-term predictions (). Everything is relatively calm at this point, or a short while ago. Soldier dies during military exercises in Azerbaijan 1,835 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia finance ministry: About $1.2B will be allocated from 2022 state budget to resolve social issues Iran FM: Tehran-Baku ties continue on positive neighborly course 15, including 2 children, with intestinal infection initial diagnosis hospitalized in Yerevan Newspaper: Noteworthy situation created in criminal case against Armenia arrested ex-defense minister Newspaper: PACE co-rapporteurs astonished by Armenia authorities decision on press Pope Francis appoints woman to Vatican administrative office for first time Armenia MFA: Yerevan-Minsk trade turnover has grown significantly Iran FM tests positive for COVID-19 Ukraine's ex-internal affairs minister Arsen Avakov states reasons for resignation Armenia FM highlights need for repatriation of Armenian POWs during meeting with PACE co-rapporteurs Armenia opposition 'With Honor' faction members meet with PACE co-rapporteurs Armenia minister: Yerevan and Moscow considering export of Sputnik Light vaccine and its use in Armenian market US Senators introduce several amendments on holding Azerbaijan and Turkey liable Armenia government decides to grant trespassers the right to apply for shelter within 24 hours Powers of CSTO Secretary General may be terminated early, Armenia has no objections Armenia justice minister presents facts about Armenian captives' tortures in Azerbaijan to PACE co-rapporteurs Azerbaijani FM explains why Iranian drivers were 'punished' Azerbaijan FM says he is 'open' for meeting with Armenian side Armenia Parliament Speaker discusses with PACE co-rapporteurs the work of journalists in parliament Hikmet Cetin: Nikol Pashinyan needs to move forward with his statements in the general sense Armenian MFA: Representatives of Iran and Eurasian Economic Union to discuss new agreement in Armenia Armenia economy minister: Yerevan and Tehran are considering liberalization of bilateral transit and transportation Armenia economy minister: There are still problems with export to Iran Armenia PM attends Requiem Service for father of ruling party MP Davit Danielyan in Kapan Turkish FM: Turkey doesn't and won't recognize 'unlawful annexation' of Crimea Armenian Deputy FM: Armenia-Russia relations strictly intensified in 2021, in spite of coronavirus restrictions Ukrainian MP shows Zelenskyy the middle finger NEWS.am daily digest: 04.11.21 Armenia opposition: Nationwide resistance is beginning Jeyhun Bayramov admits that Azerbaijan committed act of aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh Japan, Germany launch joint military exercises in Pacific Ocean Saakashvili says he doesn't want high-ranking position in Georgia Turkey, U.S. to set up task force to discuss their disagreements Davutoglu says when Osman Kavala will be released Opposition 'Armenia' faction leader meets with German MP of European Parliament Artur Vanetsyan: Opposition 'With Honor' Alliance will participate in Nov. 8 rally Deputies to PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia: Criminal cases against opposition MPs are inadmissible Armenia finance minister: 11 programs planned to be implemented in 2022 within framework of EU collaboration Ruling faction MPs meet with PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia Armenia Deputy FM: This year EU has taken concrete steps to intensify dialogue with countries of the region Turkey ex-PM speaks about Zangezur corridor House burns in community of Karabakh's Martuni region, landlord dies ECHR: Baku violated right of Armenian captives to life OSCE Minsk Group has new French Co-Chair Deputy FM: Armenian Genocide recognition is matter of security of Armenia, Armenians Armenia and Georgia Constitutional Courts' presidents hold personal talks Baku says it is discussing '3+3' regional cooperation platform through diplomatic channels Premier: Investors are amazed by knowledge of engineers in Armenia Vardges Samsonyan officially assumes office of Gyumri mayor PM on coronavirus situation in Armenia: No space in hospitals, people are dying State minister, US Congress members discuss Artsakh international engagement 2 more persons die of coronavirus in Karabakh Biden announces Covid-19 vaccination for children aged 5-11 Azerbaijan president complains about absence of Armenia response to border delimitation matter Armenia official: Armenian, Azerbaijani FMs may meet in near future MFA official: Armenia will be consistent in restoring, protecting rights of people of Artsakh The Need for a War Inquiry Committee: Post-War Recovery panel discussion being held in Yerevan Provincial governor of Armenias Shirak is dismissed Armenia has new representative at Georgia border section precinct 'Armenian Genocide Recognition Bill' to be debated in UK Parliament on November 9 2,330 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia Armenia MFA to be allocated around $35M from 2022 state budget 9 on board cargo plane that crashed in Russia US man kills teenage daughters boyfriend who sold her to sex traffickers Newspaper: Armenia Judicial Department officials make deal with State Supervision Service, law enforcement Newspaper: Who did CoE co-rapporteurs on Armenia meet with? Russian government gives consent to signing of interregional cooperation plan with Armenian government China records new outbreak of COVID-19 Prominent physicist Yuri Hovhannisyan becomes recipient of UNESCO-Russia International Prize 30 probed in Turkey for Twitter posts suggesting Erdogan died Armenia FM states how likely it is to cooperate with Russia in terms of military and 'open itself towards Europe' Case of sale of child forwarded to Armenian court, an advocate is among the culprits Afghan man sells 9-month-old daughter for $2,000 to maintain his family International Committee of the Red Cross reps visit Armenian captives and hostages in Azerbaijan Russia MFA on '3+3' regional advisory mechanism Armenian political scientist: '3+3' format is only Turkey's attempt to enter region in field of diplomacy Armenia FM: Ankara's rhetoric is having a negative impact on stability in the region Armenian FM: Over 100 captives have been returned to Armenia after cessation of fire Armenia PM discusses Karabakh conflict and regional issues with US Deputy Assistant Secretary Relatives of missing soldiers and captives to meet with Armenia PM on Saturday Armenia State Revenue Committee chairman meets with Head of EU Delegation FM: Armenia hopes talks over nuclear program are successful and allow to lift sanctions against Iran Armenia Ombudsman touches upon problems that arise during conscription Opposition 'Armenia' Alliance inviting everyone to rally at Freedom Square on Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. Armenia Anti-Corruption Committee chairman: Nearly 2,000 crimes will be investigated in 2022 Armenia Human Rights Defender's Office to receive more funding next year Several political parties in Armenia will receive government funding Dmitry Shugayev: Russia not violating international commitment with regard to supplies to Armenia and Azerbaijan Aram Sargsyan's Republic Party and Samvel Babayan's Liberal Party sign coalition memorandum in Meghri Armenia MOD ex-spokesperson to join parliamentary standing committee on defense and security as expert NEWS.am daily digest: 03.11.21 National Hero of Armenia Tatul Krpeyan's daughter Aspram Krpeyan to become MP of opposition faction Armenian FM: Armenia stands for full resumption of Nagorno-Karabakh peace process Armenia justice minister: New penitentiary institutions to be built in 2022 Ombudsman: Some Armenia villages do not have water at all because of Azerbaijan Armenia ombudsman: Do officials realize accountability for their statements about road sections? Premier, IMF Mission Chief to Armenia confer on cooperation agenda Dollar drops in Armenia YEREVAN. Transitional justice is one of the options, it is not an illegal tool, but can be implemented only according to the law and within the Constitution, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan said during a meeting with Armenian entrepreneurs in Moscow. He said it could have no impact on business and property, but corruption. Pashinyan recalled that during the last rally in Yerevan he told about a person having $30 million on his account, and this person is not a businessman. Pashinyan said the existing legislation makes it difficult to ask how this person got 30 million. Here comes the transitional justice that will allow asking where a person who has no business links could get this money. He assured that there will be no redistribution of property. But I do not rule out the possibility of a corruption case when a high-ranking official may have assets of tens of millions, and the assets will be returned to Armenia in the manner prescribed by law. We will have to go this way, because it can be seen that a large part of our national wealth is in offshore zones. Transitional justice is that we can cooperate with international institutions to find and bring back these assets. But as long as we have not discussed with our society that this should be done, I assure you that we will not make such a move, he said. Church attendance has edged down in recent years. Gallup's latest yearly update from its daily tracking survey shows that in 2017, 38% of adults said they attended religious services weekly or almost every week. When Gallup began asking this question in 2008, that figure was 42%. Gallup has asked a different question in its polls going back to the 1950s: "Did you, yourself, happen to attend church, synagogue or mosque in the last seven days, or not?" That number, too, has been edging down over the years. It was as high as 49% in the mid-1950s, but has been in the mid-30% range in recent years. A lot of attention has been paid to reasons for the decline in participation in formal religious services. One potential explanation that doesn't receive as much attention as others is the impact of the quality of religious leaders at the church level. Much of our Gallup research for business and industry focuses on the importance of managers for employee engagement -- summed up by the statement, "Workers don't quit companies; they quit managers." It's certainly possible that churchgoers don't quit churches, but instead quit ministers, priests and rabbis. We don't have much data that speaks to the possible declining quality of church ministers as a reason for declining church attendance. In particular, we don't have trend data collected over time that would be most useful in documenting such a trend. We also have a challenge in doing research on local church leaders because of the ease by which church members can drift away if they don't like a pastor or priest or rabbi. It's often complex and risky to change jobs and companies; it's easier in most situations to change churches. Thus, when an interviewer asks church members about their minister, there may be built-in bias resulting from the fact that those who are more negative have already left the church -- either moving to another congregation or just quitting the church. This brings to mind some research we conducted a number of years ago, where we asked married Americans to grade their marriages. Given the high rate of divorce in the U.S., we were a bit surprised to find that two-thirds of married individuals graded their marriage as an A, and that most of the rest gave it a B. Nobody gave their marriage an F, and only 1% a D. We concluded that anyone who was in a bad marriage most likely had voted with their feet and left the marriage by the time we called them. Accepting these challenges, we gathered some preliminary data among a random sample of U.S. church members in May. We asked all those who said that they were a member of a church or synagogue to rate their pastor, priest or rabbi across three major dimensions of congregational leadership: delivering sermons, having caring interactions with members and managing church operations. Since we only surveyed church members, we hoped that an analysis of the differences between those who attend frequently and those who don't attend frequently (but who are still members) would provide useful insights. The results show a significant gap in leader ratings between members who attended church in the past seven days and those who did not. Rating Ministers, Priests and Rabbis % Outstanding, among church and synagogue members only Member, attended past seven days Member, did not attend past seven days % % Delivering sermons 63 41 Having caring personal interactions with members 63 40 Managing operations 56 36 Gallup, May 1-10, 2018 Frequent attenders are much more likely to rate their pastor, priest or rabbi as "outstanding" across the three pastoral dimensions than are those who didn't attend in the past seven days. (The other rating options were "good," "average," "below average" and "poor.") In other words, frequent attenders have a higher level of engagement with their church leaders than those who don't attend as frequently. The lower "outstanding" ratings given by church members who don't attend frequently is not simply because they don't offer an opinion. There is little difference between those who attended in the past week and those who didn't in terms of having no opinion on their church leaders. Less-frequent attenders do have an opinion; it's just less positive. Less-frequent attenders are not highly negative, to be sure. The main differences between the two groups are in the "outstanding" and "good" categories. Frequent attenders are more likely to rate their minister as outstanding; less-frequent attenders are more likely to rate their minister as good. There are a number of possible explanations for this relationship between church leader ratings and attendance. It could be that those who attend less frequently simply haven't gotten to know their ministers well, and that this lack of propinquity results in their being less likely to use the label "outstanding." There could be a factor at play that causes certain people to be less charitable in rating leaders and also causes them to be less likely to participate in church services. But the correlational data do raise the possibility that those who are staying away from church may be doing so precisely because they are less engaged by their church leaders than are those who attend more frequently. I should note that the data certainly show room for improvement on the part of the nation's pastors, priests and rabbis. Among all church members, 54% rate their minister's sermons as outstanding, 53% rate their minister's interpersonal interaction as outstanding and 48% rate their minister's church management as outstanding. If being viewed as an outstanding church leader stands as a reasonable objective, then almost half of all leaders have fallen short of that goal. A separate Gallup study from 2017 provided further information on the importance of the functions of church leaders as reasons for church attendance. Americans who attended services at least monthly were asked to rate the importance of seven factors as reasons for their attendance. The headline from that study summarizes the results as follows: "Sermon Content Is What Appeals Most to Churchgoers." More specifically, "sermons or talks that teach you more about Scripture" and "sermons or lectures that help you connect religion to your own life" were rated as the top two factors for attendance, each by about three-quarters of all churchgoers interviewed. Reasons for Attending Church or Other Place of Worship Is each of the following a major factor, a minor factor or not a factor in why you attend church or a place of worship? Major factor Minor factor Not a factor % % % Sermons or talks that teach you more about Scripture 76 16 8 Sermons or lectures that help you connect religion to your own life 75 16 8 Spiritual programs geared toward children and teenagers 64 21 15 Lots of community outreach and volunteer opportunities 59 27 13 Dynamic religious leaders who are interesting and inspiring 54 28 17 Social activities that allow you to get to know people in your community 49 36 14 A good choir, praise band, cantors or other spiritual music 38 36 25 Based on adults who attend church, synagogue or mosque monthly or more often (% "No opinion" not shown) Gallup, March 9-29, 2017 A recent study conducted by Pew Research Center provides additional interesting information on this topic. Pew researchers gave a sample of those who go to church at least once or twice a month a long list of potential reasons for attending. Pew's list combined tangible factors like sermons with intangible benefits such as getting closer to God. The results show that churchgoers rate three intangibles (to become closer to God, to become a better person, and for comfort in times of trouble and sorrow) at the top of the list, along with providing a moral foundation for children. Hearing valuable sermons comes in just below, in fifth place. My interpretation of these results underscores the importance of church leaders. It is not surprising that church attenders say they go to church to obtain personal and spiritual benefits and surcease from sorrow in troubled times. The key question is: Who or what delivers these benefits? Some personal and spiritual dividends certainly arise from the basic experience of simply being in a house of worship and experiencing all that happens during a church service. But there is little doubt that outstanding church leadership can be a powerful factor in facilitating the degree to which members feel closer to God, learn how to become better people, and get comfort in times of trouble and sorrow. Plus, the sermon as delivered by the church leader is the most important way in which these values are expressed at church, helping account for its relatively high ranking in the Pew study and its top ranking in the Gallup data. As the late Haddon Robinson, a preaching professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, once said: "The parish concept is dead. People join a church because of the pastor." Those who find church leaders unsatisfactory can easily drift away from active participation, often not bothering to seek out a new church. This is particularly easy to do in the unique United States religious structure, which makes it possible to switch churches or even Protestant denominations with little effort. Another part of the Pew study showed that 37% of those who attend religious services only a few times a year or less say that it is because of what Pew calls a "dislike for congregation or religious services," including those who haven't found a church they like and those who dislike the sermons. These factors are directly related to church leadership. Another 37% say they don't attend because they practice their faith in other ways, which makes them susceptible to picking up church attendance if they come across, or are introduced to, a church and church leader they deem outstanding. The research I've reviewed here does not demonstrate conclusively that church leaders are an important factor in the decline in church attendance. There are many ongoing social and cultural changes that are affecting all aspects of Americans' lives, including religious attitudes and behaviors. But there can be little doubt that outstanding ministers who deliver powerful sermons, who have a warm and caring attitude toward their congregants, and who can manage the church well are critical factors in maintaining and increasing attendance at their places of worship. Many ministers may dislike the conclusion that they are personally responsible for attendance, and many may feel that expanding church attendance is not their primary ministerial goal. But, like it or not, pastors, priests and rabbis have accepted the mantle of responsibility for their church, and without engaged members, any church can wither away and literally be forced to close its doors. Friday, September 7, 2018 New Mexico The pertinent portion of New Mexico's postconviction DNA testing statute, N.M. Stat. Ann. 31-1A-2(C)(5), states that a defendant seeking postconviction DNA testing must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that identity was an issue in his case or that if the DNA testing he is requesting had been performed prior to his conviction and the results had been exculpatory, there is a reasonable probability that the petitioner would not have pled guilty or been found guilty. So, where does that leave pleading defendants? New Mexico's postconviction DNA testing statute is one of the few that addresses pleading defendants. It makes clear that pleading defendants can seek postconviction DNA testing if they can prove by a preponderance of the evidence that exculpatory DNA testing would have led them not to plead guilty. -CM https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/evidenceprof/2018/09/new-mexico-the-pertinent-portion-of-new-mexicos-postconviction-dna-testing-statute-nm-stat-ann-31-1a-2c5states-t.html Home | News | General | 45m forms for Buhari: NCAN says funds were raised by members, not Governor Bello - Nigeria Consolidation Ambassador Network says it did not violate any law by buying expression of interest and nomination forms for President Muhammadu Buhari - The group bought the forms for the president ahead of the All Progressives Congress primaries - According to the group, the funds were raised by its members, not Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi state Following its gesture of buying expression of interest and nomination forms for President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigeria Consolidation Ambassador Network (NCAN) has said its action did not violate any law in the country. This was stated by the group's national coordinator, Barrister Sanusi Musa, on Friday, September 7, while addressing journalists in Abuja, Daily Trust reports. READ ALSO: 2019: Sultan urges religious leaders to preach against violence NAIJ.com gathers that Musa dismissed the insinuation that the group got the money from the governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello. Musa, who said the group took time to study the legal provisions, said the funds were raised by members from their hard earned resources. He said he had never met Governor Bello not to talk of receiving funds from him. The coordinator said the group was ready to formally present the forms to President Buhari. NAIJ.com previously reported that the Nigerian Consolidation Ambassadors Network bought expression of interest and nomination forms for President Muhammadu Buhari to enable him participate in the All Progressives Congress primaries. The personal assistant to the president on new media, Bashir Ahmad, said the group bought the forms for President Buhari on Wednesday, September 5. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Also reported by NAIJ.com was that Igbo in the country were urged by the Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum to support President Muhammadu Buharis re-election bid. The group made the comment in a statement signed by its secretary general, Akin Malaolu. It said the southeast would fare better with the All Progressives Congress (APC) in power; and further opined that the president deserved the support of Ndigbo, because of his integrity. Nigeria News: President Buhari's Return Will Teach Nigerians Sense | on NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | BREAKING: Shekarau finally defects from PDP to APC (photos) A former governor of Kano state, Ibrahim Shekarau, has defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Shekarau announced his decision to join the ruling party after a closed-door meeting with the national chairman of the APC, Adams Oshiomhole, Channels TV reports. NAIJ.com gathers that the closed-door meeting was held on Friday, September 7, in Kano state. Governor Abdullahi Ganduje and other top party officials were also at the meeting. Governor Ganduje of Kano state, APC national chairman Adams Oshiomhole in attendance as Shekarau finally abandons PDP for APC. Source: Channels TV Source: UGC READ ALSO: PDP lists its presidential aspirants, contemplates reduction of number Shekarau while announcing his defection said he believes that given by the current state of the political situation in Nigeria, it is important he moves to the APC. He added that his decision follows due consultation with members of his constituency, stakeholders and supporters. Cheerful moment as Shekarau dumps the PDP for the ruling party. Source: Channels TV Source: UGC The more the merrier: Ganduje, Oshiomhole celebrate the return of Shekarau. Source: Twitter/APC Source: UGC Meanwhile, Channel TV mentioned that Shekarau earlier on Friday, September 7 during an interview on its Breakfast Programme, Sunrise Daily, said he was still a member of PDP but based on certain conditions. The conditions he noted was reportedly in relation to the members of the APC who recently defected to the PDP including the former governor of Kano state, Rabiu Kwankwaso. PAY ATTENTION: Get the Latest Nigerian News Anywhere 24/7. Spend less on the Internet! Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had previously reported that an oil magnate in Kwara state, Abdulrazaq Abdulrahaman, on Thursday, September 6, led thousands of his supporters to join the APC from the PDP. Abdulrahaman who contested with Senate president Bukola Saraki in the last senatorial election in Kwara Central on the platform of the CPC said all his supporters joined him to the APC. The oil magnate while speaking with journalists after his registration with the ruling party at his Idi-igba ancestral home in Ilorin said the APC had given him the assurance that it would accomodate all the defectors. Senators, lawmakers defect from APC - on NAIJ.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Police vow to arrest, prosecute killers of ASP, others in Taraba The Police Command in Taraba has vowed to arrest and prosecute the gunmen who killed three police officers and two members of the local vigilante in Bujum Kasuwa village, Lau Local Government Area, on Thursday. The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP David Misal, stated this in an interview with newsmen in Jalingo on Friday. Newsmen report that a team of five policemen led by an ASP was on its way in response to a distress call following a report of sporadic shooting in the area when they were attacked. police Misal explained that three of the five police officers and two members of the vigilante group were killed, while two guns and ammunition were carted away by the assailants. He gave the name of the ASP who led the team as Kilobas Iliya. Iliya was also a Divisional Crime Officer (DCO) of the force. While on their way, the team came under an ambush by gunmen, leading to the death of the DCO, two other officers and two members of the vigilante group. The assailants also made away with one AK47 Rifle and a service pistol. The Commissioner of Police, Mr David Akinremi, has now ordered the deployment of a strong team led by the DCP in charge of investigation and intelligence, DCP Musa Baba, to the area. The team is to investigate the incident and ensure that the culprits are apprehended and brought to justice. The commissioner wishes to extend his heartfelt condolences to the families of the fallen heroes and warned all criminal elements with the guts to attack Police officers to brace up for a battle that they have never had, Misal said. He said the commissioner had also called on the public to avail the force with any useful information that would lead to the apprehension of those that perpetrated the killings. NAN CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Saturday, September 8, 2018 A criminal conviction for threatening a judge has been affirmed by the Connecticut Supreme Court, which rejected a First Amendment defense to the charges In the spring of 2014, Judge Bozzuto, who was responsible for managing the docket of the family court in Hartford, became involved in the defendants dissolution proceeding. Judge Bozzuto assumed sole responsibility for the management of the case in order to ensure that it would be adjudicated in a timely manner. During the contentious divorce and custody matter the defendant in response to e-mails that he had received from Stevenson, Nowacki, and Jennifer Verraneault regarding the court motions, the defendant sent an e-mail containing threatening statements toward Judge Bozzuto to Stevenson, Nowacki, Susan Skipp, Sunny Kelley, Paul Boyne, and Verraneault, all of whom had been engaged with the defendant for some time in efforts to reform the family court system. Specifically, the defendants e-mail contained the following statements: (1) [t]hey can steal my kids from my cold dead bleeding cordite filled fists . . . as my [sixty] round [magazine] falls to the floor and [Im] dying as I change out to the next [thirty rounds]; (2) [Bo]zzuto lives in [W]atertown with her boys and [n]anny . . . there [are] 245 [yards] between her master bedroom and a cemetery that provides cover and concealment; and (3) a [.308 caliber rifle] at 250 [yards] with a double pane drops [one-half inch] per foot beyond the glass and loses [7 percent] of [foot pounds] of force [at] 250 [yards]nonarmor piercing ball ammunition. In response to the defendants e-mail, on the morning of August 23, 2014, Nowacki sent an e-mail to the defendant stating: Ted, [t]here are disturbing comments made in this [e-mail]. You will be well served to NOT send such communications to anyone. The defendant then sent another e-mail to Nowacki and Boyne in which he again suggested that he was contemplating violence against Judge Bozzuto and her family. Then Verraneault sent a screenshot of the contents of the e-mail to an acquaintance who was an attorney, Linda Allard. After discussing the matter with Verraneault, Allard informed Judicial Branch officials and the state police about the e-mail and they, in turn, informed Judge Bozzuto. Victim impact on the judge, who was recently profiled in the Connecticut Law Tribune. Judge Bozzuto testified at trial that, after she learned about the e-mail, every night when I [got] home . . . as soon as . . . I pull[ed] up to the driveway and pull[ed] in . . . every time I [got] out of that car I look[ed] up on the hill in the back where all the brush and trees are and [thought] of only [the defendant]. . . . [T]hose bumps in the night, its when the dogs start[ed] barking in the middle of the night and the first thing that [came] to my mind [was the defendant]. As a result of the e-mail, she did a massive upgrade of security at the house, installing cameras and lights. Judge Bozzuto also provided her childrens school with a mug shot of the defendant and put school officials on alert. State police surveilled her house for a week or two after Judge Bozzuto learned about the e-mail, and judicial marshals escorted her from her office to her car in the evening. Judge Bozzuto also contacted a sister whose daughter was taking care of Judge Bozzutos dogs, and told her not to let her daughter go to Judge Bozzutos residence without a police escort. He was arrested and sought dismissal of the threats in the first degree charges that ensued The trial court found the defendant guilty of threatening in the first degree, two counts of disorderly conduct, and breach of the peace in the second degree. In its memorandum of decision, the trial court considered separately the questions of whether (1) the language of the defendants e-mail constituted a true threat that constitutionally could be punished, and (2) the defendant had knowingly disregarded the risk that the e-mail would cause Judge Bozzuto to be terrorized. The court here rejected a contention that his subjective intent was dispositive and affirmed We conclude...that 53a-61aa (a) (3) is constitutional under the first amendment as applied to threatening speech directed at a private individual. ...we conclude that 53a-61aa (a) (3) does not violate the free speech provisions of the state constitution because those provisions protect a broader range of threatening speech than does the first amendment. No special speech protection for threats against a judge or other public official We next address the defendants claim that threatening speech that is directed at a public official is subject to a higher standard than speech directed at a private individual under the free speech provisions of both the federal and state constitutions. We disagree with both claims. ...we conclude that the constitutional framers did not intend to protect the right to seek redress from a public official by way of a remonstrance when the speaker was aware that there was a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the public official would interpret the remonstrance as a serious threat of violence. We conclude, therefore, that 53a-61aa (a) (3) is constitutional under the state constitution as it is applied to threatening speech directed at public officials. The court also rejected evidentiary and sufficiency of evidence claims. The defendant has defenders as reflected by this blog post and several posts linked here. The Hartford Courant reported on the conviction and on more recent charges According to the arrest warrant affidavit for Taupier's arrest, alarming posts to Facebook were brought to the attention of staff at the Middletown courthouse in January. State police were notified and obtained information from Facebook about what Taupier allegedly posted. The post that prompted the investigation concerned a court appearance in Middletown. "I just got notice of contempt from the state web site without getting official service," Taupier wrote, according to the affidavit. "I guess the Jews that run the Middletown clerks office ... don't need to get official service to schedule a hearing. This is why we need to start killing with love those that violate the civil rights of society that are judges who happen to practice the Jewish faith." Another post read, "Kill court employees and save the country," and others threatened police and threatened the judge who Taupier was convicted of threatening at his 2015 trial, according to the affidavit. A Facebook page promotes his candidacy for Governor of Connecticut. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2018/09/a-criminal-conviction-for-threatening-a-judge-has-been-affirmed-by-the-connecticut-supreme-court-which-rejected-a-first-amen.html Home | News | General | Eminem claims UK album chart record in Kamikaze strike Eminem overtook ABBA and Led Zeppelin on Friday to claim the record for the most consecutive chart topping albums in Britain , with the release of Kamikaze .It is the US rapper s ninth straight album release to hit number one , said the UK Official Charts Company . Does this mean I get to call myself Sir Eminem?, asked the 45 year -old , real name Marshall Mathers III . Alas , the Detroit rapper would have to receive a knighthood and become one of Queen Elizabeth II s subjects to get the honorific sir prefix . He shared the previous UK record of eight straight number one albums with Swedish pop quartet ABBA and Led Zeppelin. The British rockers achieved the landmark in 1979 , ABBA equalled the feat in 1982 and Eminem joined them in December last year . His last album was panned by critics and snubbed by some fans , though it topped the British charts nonetheless . Eminem caught the entertainment world off guard with the surprise release of Kamikaze , his 10 th solo album , produced less than nine months after his last effort . In it , he lashes out at his favourite targets : the critics , rappers who have shunned him and US President Donald Trump . Eminem is the international act with the most number one albums in Britain this century . British singer Robbie Williams is the only artist to have more , with 10 . Martin Talbot , the Official Charts Company s chief executive , paid tribute to Eminem s run. To release nine successful albums is an achievement in itself , but to reach the UK s official albums chart summit with each of them , consecutively , without a break , across 18 years , is quite remarkable . Kamikaze dethroned the movie cast recording of Mamma Mia ! Here We Go Again from the album chart top spot. ( AFP ) CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Arms search: Clark demands full investigation, says sacking of officers not enough The convener of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, Chief Edwin Kiagbodo Clark has called for full investigation into the invasion of his Abuja home by police operatives saying that the sacking of the officers who were carrying out their superior s directive was not enough .Clark also appealed to Niger Delta youths who had threatened to disrupt peace in the region to remain calm while the police investigate the incident fully and bring all those concerned to book . The Ijaw National leader in a statement he personally signed and made available to PUNCH on Friday noted that he has accepted police apology . Police operatives had on Tuesday invaded and searched the Abuja home of the 91 -year old South South leader over an allegation of stockpiling arms in his home . Recounting the incident in the statement , Clark said , I have considered it necessary , at this point , to personally issue this Statement following the events which have happened in the past few days beginning with the most disturbing and embarrassing entry and search of my Abuja house by some operatives of the Nigeria Police Force . Let me recapitulate that , on that day , that is , Tuesday , 4 th September 2018 , at 12 : 30 pm , the Police Officers in question , from the IGP Special Tactical Squad , under the command of one Deputy Commissioner of Police , Kolo Yusuf , arrived my residence in two vehicles , one 18 -seater Toyota Hiace Bus and a Toyota Hilux with registration number EU 979 ABC . Some of them were outside the gate armed, while three of them came inside and presented to me a Warrant for Search duly issued by a Court of competent jurisdiction. As a law abiding Citizen , a father of this Country , and a Lawyer of more than 53 years in practice , I dutifully cooperated and permitted them to carry out their official duties . I , however , left them in no doubt of who I am , and questioned if they still wanted to proceed with their official assignment of searching my entire residence for so- called stock pile of weapons and ammunition from the Niger Delta . The elder statesman while thanking Nigeria and members of the international community insisted that the incident must be investigated to ascertain if a report by a taxi driver was enough for the policemen s action . He said , My profound gratitude to all , from far and wide , both national and international over the great show of empathy since the news came to the public domain . Merely sacking the officers concerned, when they were indeed carrying out official instructions , is not enough , if we are to avert such occurrences in future . The incident , must , therefore , be fully investigated and all those involved brought to book . In this respect , it is important to ascertain if a mere Report by a Taxi driver was enough to act on , how was the Warrant of search obtained from the Court same day ? Why did the very senior Police Officer , whose attention was called , unable to stop the action while it was on going? CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | We owe it to ourselves, future generations to do the right thing Saraki Umuahia The Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, on Friday in Umuahia urged Nigerians to make informed decisions during the election season, to ensure that Nigeria is put in the right direction. Saraki Saraki spoke when he paid Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia a visit to seek the support of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwarts in the state towards his political aspiration. He said that decisions on whom to vote for ought to be based on merit. We are in a time when we owe it to ourselves and the future generations that we do the right thing. Let us elect a leader that has capacity, knows issues and knows how to make Nigeria better. A president that represents all Nigeria; in whom everybody will feel a sense of belonging, because today, we know the country is very divided, Saraki said. He said that Nigeria required a youthful leader with capacity and vision, who would be able to harness the potential of the nation and attract socioeconomic development. Responding, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia said that the nations fledgling democracy required one who had experience on all flanks in the business of governance. We will queue behind Nigeria to ensure that all of us will grow together; Abia is not going to be left behind in any way. We share in your aspirations and pray that we will get to the point where we would be among comity of respectable nations in the world, he said.(NAN) CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | How I used witchcraft to win elections, lure women to bed politician [embedded content] Lawrence Kilabo, who was the Sokoni Ward Member of the County Assembly from 2013 to 2017, exposed diabolical details of his quest for political power in the clip uploaded to popular Nigerian channel Emmanuel TV. The politician revealed that he squandered KSh 50 million (approx. $500,000) on Tanzanian witchdoctors in his pursuit to win the parliamentary seat in Kilifi North, although his ambitions were thwarted as he lost the election. Kilabo further revealed that he used witchcraft to lure women to bed, admitting that he would sleep with over 10 women daily when he worked as a tour guide before entering politics. I have over 20 children with more than 10 different women,he stated during his confession at The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations (SCOAN), where Kilabo sought deliverance from his demonic entanglements. The wicked seem to prosper now and live without a care but they will spend eternity in terror and despair, the clips description quotes Pastor T.B. Joshua as saying, in response to Kilabos sordid revelations. Kenyans commented in their droves on the video, most condemning the East African nations political elite for their alleged involvement in witchcraft. Really, the Kenyan government needs to run to God because most of them use the power of darkness to win elections, opined Margy Nyarks. T.B. Joshuas church is known for attracting prominent members of Africas political elite and is regarded as the most popular religious tourist destination in West Africa. By Ihechukwu Njoku is a freelance journalist CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | News Insight: Buharis $10billion harvest from China Heads of State, Governments and delegations from 52 African countries, including Nigeria and the Peoples, Republic of China met in Beijing, under the auspices of the Forum on China and Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The tri-annual summit was held with the theme: China and Africa: Towards an Even Stronger Community with a Shared Future through Win-Win Cooperation. President Buhari with President of Ruyi group in China President Muhammadu Buhari led a strong delegation from the public and private sector that included senators, state governors and the Ministers of Finance, Transportation, Power, Works and Housing, Budget and National Planning, Petroleum and Industry, Trade and Investment, and Minister of State, Aviation. The gains for Nigeria from the recent FOCAC, which alternates its meetings between China and Africa every three years, can be summed up in three ways: Nigeria as a member of FOCAC; Nigeria-China bilateral engagement and Nigerian GovernmentChinese business partnerships. At the summit, which attracted multiple benefits for Nigeria, members agreed to bind themselves to the Belt and Road Initiative of the Chinese government, which essentially seeks to promote collectively, among one another, extensive consultation, cooperation and ensure shared gains. Essentially, this translates into closer connection in policy, infrastructure, trade, finance and people-to-people ties. All members will share development opportunities and promote cultural exchanges. Going forward, Africa and China will form a stronger synergy in world bodies such as the UN, World Trade Organisation and G77+China. They will align themselves in pursuit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, Agenda 2063 of the African Union and support individual national development strategies. Overall, this should generate more resources for everyone, expand markets and create space for African development and broaden its economic prospects. To realise this, African countries have agreed to participate in November this year in Chinas first-ever International ImportExport Expo in Shanghai. It is important to note that China has categorically stated their commitment to non-interference in the internal affairs of members, as well as pledged to support development efforts without political strings attached. This should answer mostly Western critics who doubt the sincerity of China. In line with the general principles of the accord, Nigeria, with few African countries, were preferentially treated to bilateral meetings. The Chinese and Nigerian government met exclusively to discuss matters of mutual benefits. The leaders of both countries witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by their foreign ministers, captured as One Belt, One Road (OBOR). There was the signing of USD 328 million financing agreement for the National Information and Communication Technology Infrastructure Backbone by the Nigerian Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun and Wang Xiaotoa, Director-General, China International Development Cooperation Agency. As for more specific takeaways from the bilateral meetings, Nigeria received blessings of the President of the Peoples Republic of China, Xi Jinping for the building of the countrys largest hydroelectric power plant in Mambila. Work on the power project will commence on the site in early 2019. When President Xi announced a USD 60 billion to finance aid and infrastructure projects in Africa at the FOCAC Summit in Johannesburg in 2015, Nigeria joined other countries to draw from the funds for critical infrastructure that included railways, roads and power. In the last 24 months, China has given Nigeria support in scholarships, military trainings and security assistance, agriculture and concessionary loans to fund infrastructure. Nigeria has attracted more than USD 5 billion finance and more is still under discussion with the government of China. With a further USD 60 billion announced for the next three years by President Xi, Nigeria should hope to make more progress in closing its infrastructure deficit. At the Johannesburg summit, President Xi announced RMB 100 million in humanitarian and military assistance to Nigeria in the fight against terrorism. At this summit, he promised a further sum of RMB 50 million for the same purpose. President Xi promised to open Chinas market for agricultural products from Nigeria and widen cooperation between the two nations in media, sports and culture. He noted that several Nigerian footballers in China were idolised by fans. The Chinese leader also promised to step up cooperation in intelligence and military training. While commending President Buhari for taking measures to fight terrorism and insecurity, President Xi said the Nigerian leader was decisive in dealing with terrorism. You are resolutethe same attitude as China, he said. President Xi told President Buhari that he would support the reform of the UN to increase the voice of developing countries in Africa. He equally promised continued support for Nigerias infrastructure projects, citing the countrys railway modernisation project; Lekki Deep Sea Pot; Zungeru Power Project; Abuja Light Rail; ICT and infrastructure backbone and Abuja Water supply as laudable developmental projects. The Chinese leader announced the establishment of a manufacturing section so that Nigeria can gain from Chinas leading role in the world. In some we lead, in others we need to catch up, he added. On a parting note, President Xi told President Buhari that he was fully cognisant of the status and influence of Nigeria in Africa, saying, We will step up cooperation and will provide assistance. The relationship between China and Nigeria is as best as ever, given the deeper mutual trust. China will continue to stand with Nigeria. President Buhari was also accorded the honour of a state banquet by the Chinese Premier Li, who assured the Nigerian leader that China was ready to press ahead with infrastructure, including the Mambila hydroelectric power project. He, like President Xi, requested for thorough feasibility and sustainability studies. Among the several outcomes of the engagements of President Buhari and his delegation at the FOCAC Beijing summit were the many agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) signed between the Nigerian Government and Chinese businesses, and between Nigerian businesses and their Chinese counterparts. The Nigerian delegation was able to sign thirteen agreements during the summit out of 25, with more to be signed by the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice of the Federation. In all, more than USD 10 billion agreements were signed. Others, still under discussion will be quantified upon the conclusion of discussions by various parties. Among those that have been signed, in agreements or MOUs include the agreement between the China National Petroleum Corporation and the NNPC. CNPC has agreed to secure funding for the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Ajaokuta Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline to cost USD 2.8 billion. There was also the agreement between the Ministry of Industries, Trade and Investment with Shandong Ruyi International Fashion Industry for USD 2 billion, for a first-ever cotton value chain; that is from cotton growing to ginning, spinning, textile manufacture and garment with Katsina, Kano, Abia and Lagos States as the chosen locations. Another Chinese conglomerate, Capegate Integrated signed an MOU worth USD 1.5 billion for energy and organic fertilizer that will cover Abuja, Niger, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Kano to generate 300 MW of electricity, 500,000 tonnes of organic fertilizer, 60 million litres of oil from pyrolysis and create up to 10,000 jobs. The company will bring 400 garbage collection trucks and various types of city sanitation equipment, with One million waste bins deployed. The NNPC entered another agreement with Nanni Good Fortune Heavy Industries Group and Capegate Group for a USD 400 million investments across six states to allow for production of ethanol, a 64 MW of power plant, 72,000 tonnes of sugar per annum, 10,000 tonnes of animal farm per annum and 5,500 direct employment The Nanni Industries and Capegate Group submitted an MOU to the NIPC for an investment in 15,000 hectares of Cassava Ethanol in the South-west, and another project of the same value and scale in the South-east. Among other agreements that the NNPC signed was one with Obax-Complant Consortium and another with Capegate-Nanning Consortium that targets 10 biofuel complexes nationwide. NNPCs Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru said through these ventures, Nigeria is giving effect to her aspiration for the exploitation of renewable fuel sources. Edo State Government, as reported widely, had signed for the construction of the Benin River Port; the Benin Industrial Park and a 550 Barrels per day modular refinery. A funding MOU between Huawei technologies and the Federal Government of Nigeria, represented by Galaxy Backbone for the training of 1,000 Nigerian government officials to acquire basic ICT knowledge and skills has been forwarded to the Ministry of Justice. Huawei also plans the annual training of 10,000 Nigerians in ICT, with a wider and deeper training of 5,000 out of this number who, upon certification by Huawei will be employable anywhere in the world. Another attractive MOU signed was that by KhromeMonkey Nigeria Limited, behind whom is Leadership newspapers owner, Sam Nda-Isaiah and Shenzen Right Net Technology Limited. This partnership will lead to setting up of Amanbo Nigeria, a business-to-business-consumer (B2B2C) platform and portal that would enable Nigerian exporters to trade with Chinese importers and vice-versa. This partnership holds tremendous opportunities for Nigeria in terms of creating thousands jobs, if not millions as core and support services to the platforms such as warehousing all over the country, logistics, distributorships, customer services, shipping services, credit facilities for small businesses etc. The estimated trade potential of the platform within the first three years given the current trade relationship with China is USD 500 million. This is expected to continue to grow, creating millions of jobs for Nigerians. From addressing the FOCAC as FCOWAS Chairman, and doing so as President of Nigeria, to having 30 minutes discussions with President Xi Jinping and another 60 minutes with Premier Li, to addressing a room filled with influential Chinese businessmen and women, President Buharis six-day engagement in China had turned out to be really eventful, successful and highly rewarding. * Garba Shehu is the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Media and Publicity. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General WALKING THE BEAT. Supporters of self-assertive Senator Antonio Trillanes IV continue their vigil out of the Senate building on Saturday where President Rodrigo Dutertes vocal critic has sought refuge since the Chief Executive voided the formers amnesty, prompting security authorities to prepare for his arrest. Ey Acasio President Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday Senator Antonio Trillanes IV was conniving with the Communist Party of the Philippines to depose him from office, warning the public to keep an eye on the opposition senator, the communists, and even the Liberal Party of the Philippines, as the three pray for his ouster.Those three, watch them closely. The yellow Liberals, Trillanes, and the [communist] politburo Watch them closely, those three. They are all connected, warned Duterte in a speech during his arrival from a week-long visit to Israel and Jordan. Duterte said Trillanes, who recently made headlines following the sudden revocation of his amnesty, was currently collaborating [and] sleeping with the enemy. We will show it to you. To the soldiers, before you jump into conclusion, ask your Intelligence [Service] first and they will show you. It [the information] is not for public consumption, but when the right time comes, and if Im compelled by the Supreme Court to say, Now state your case, I will expose everything. But it will be detrimental as they will know where we get [the information], said Duterte. Now, they dont know [our sources]. I even said, Its being supplied by a foreign power, not here. But if you really want [to know], to the military who have strong ideals, just ask your Intelligence community, said the President, stressing that Trillanes, the Liberals, and the communists were plotting his ouster. Coup detat, coup detat, its nonsense. The word does not even appeal to me at all. If youre an idealist or a man with principles, watch those three. They are the ones who will oust me and it will go into a higher [level next] October, he added. The President made the remarks when asked if there was a need to do a loyalty check among the military and the police forces. Duterte, however, stressed he did not need loyalties, sharing he frankly told the military ranks to focus their loyalty to the flag of the Philippines, and the Constitution. I was elected as President and I intend to serve. But if somehow there is anything that is really demanded of the moment, then there is no problem, Duterte said, implying the possibility of a movement to overthrow him. Do not bring me the armor or anything. Just tell me. We can have coffee, Ill invite you and I willwell, anybody who is interested, I will administer the oath. Now, what will follow is not my problem, said Duterte. So, there are many ways: impeachment, mutiny, coup detat, everything. Well, I only work. If the Filipino people does (sic) not want my service then I will step down. That should not be a problem, he added, pointing out he would not let the armed forces and the police to wage war against each other. For me to order [them] to shoot at each other, I will not do it. Find another president. I will not do it, he said. On the declaration to nullify Trillanes amnesty, Duterte admitted he could not refuse Solicitor General Jose Calidas request to investigate the conditions of the amnesty granted to the senator. Duterte said it was Calidas initiative to review the amnesty given to Trillanes, triggering its revocation through a presidential proclamation. Duterte signed Proclamation 572 on Aug. 31 that revoked Trillanes amnesty given by former President Benigno Aquino III in 2010. In the proclamation, Duterte said Trillaneswho urged Filipinos Saturday not to vote for candidates on Dutertes slatedid not file an Official Amnesty Application Form as per certification dated Aug. 30, 2018, issued by Lt. Col. Thea Joan Andrade, stating there is no copy of his application for amnesty in the records. The President admitted that Calida, whom Trillanes accused of cornering government contracts to the security agency owned by Calidas family, had initiated the research on the circumstances of the granting of amnesty to Trillanes. I cannot refuse because I have no power. I have to enforce the law, Duterte said.It was Calida who did all the research on Trillanes amnesty just like what he did to Sereno. You know, Calida is bright, Duterte said, denying there was any politics behind it. If the solicitor general said theres a mistake and it has to be corrected, I cannot refuse, the President said. Duterte, a former Davao prosecutor, explained the power to pardon and the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of Congress was a presidential power and it could not be delegated to anybody else. The President also insisted that the amnesty allowing the senators release was void. Therefore his getting out of custody was also void because there was no basis. The amnesty was defective [and] fatally flawed, Duterte said. Trillanes accused Duterte of ordering his arrest because he was the most vocal and prominent critic of his administration. The senator described the executive order as stupid and vowed to resist the order. Duterte has said Calida is a government lawyer. As a President, he said he could not insist on another view since the proclamation was already recorded as a public paper. So, whatever he put down in that, I will believe it. If I doubted him in the first place, I [would] already have him disposed somewhere else, said Duterte. He added: The power to pardon and the power to grant amnesty with the concurrence of Congress is a presidential power. It cannot be delegated to anybody else. Thats a constitutional mandate. In the first place, the amnesty allowing his [Trillanes] release was void. Therefore, his getting out of custody was also void because there was no basis. The amnesty was defective [and] fatally flawed. Duterte said he would leave the execution of arresting Trillanes in the hands of the Judiciary department. Its already at the Supreme Court. We leave it at that. If the Supreme Court would say my proclamation was null and void, then let it fall. But if Im affirmed or sustained, then its [up to] the military now, Duterte said Duterte said it was the Presidents prerogative to have the power to pardon and grant amnesty with the concurrence and the agreement with Congress. Now, what is the lesson there? Why did I target him? Well, I only have one word: Do not do unto others, what you would not want them to do unto you. On Aug. 31, Duterte signed Proclamation No. 572, declaring the amnesty given to Trillanes as void from the very beginning for failing to comply with the minimum requirements to qualify. In 2011, the opposition senator was granted amnesty by then President Benigno Aquino III after he applied for the program following his involvement to destabilize the government under the term of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Home | News | General | 47 aspirants revolt against Katsina APC, reject indirect primaries - 47 APC aspirants insist direct primaries remain the most transparent and credible process of electing popular candidates for the party - They say they are not part of those who adopted indirect primaries in katsina state - A former governor of Kano state, Ibrahim Shekarau, accuses the PDP national leadership of meting out injustice against the Kano chapter of the party A total of 47 aspirants under the All Progressive Congress (APC) have unanimously opposed the adoption of indirect primaries by the party in Katsina state in electing the partys candidates for the 2019 general elections. This is contained in a communique signed by Alhaji Abubakar Samaila, on behalf of the aspirants, and made available to newsmen on Saturday, September 8, in Katsina, The News Agency of Nigeria reports. READ ALSO: I leave Governor Fayose and his regime to God - Kayode Fayemi 47 aspirants opposed the use of indirect primaries in the state in electing the party flag bearers for various positions during the elections. Direct primaries remained the most transparent and credible process of electing popular candidates for the party. We are not part of those who adopted indirect primaries in the state, we have unanimously rejected any process other than direct primaries in electing those that will represent the party in 2019 elections, he said. The party had adopted indirect primaries during its stakeholders meeting held on Thursday, September 6, and said that the decision was binding on every member of the party in the state. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The APC chairman, Alhaji Shitu Shitu, also said that the stakeholders have unanimously adopted both President Muhammadu Buhari and Governor Aminu Masari as sole candidates for president and governor respectively in 2019. Meanwhile, a former governor of Kano state, Ibrahim Shekarau, has blamed alleged injustice committed by the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the reason why he defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Shekarau made the statement at a defection meeting with thousands of his supporters from 44 local government areas of the Kano state at his Mundubawa avenue residence on Saturday, September 8, Premium Times reports. The ex-governor accused the PDP national leadership of meting out injustice against the Kano chapter of the party. Election 2019: I represent the future - 36-year old APC presidential aspirant says | Naij.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | It's worrisome and disturbing - Police raises alarm over disappearance of children in Adamawa - Police has raised alarm over the increased disappearance of children in Adamawa state - The police command in the state urged parents monitor the movement of their children and those they related with The police command in Adamawa has expressed concern over frequent disappearance of children in the state and urged parents to be more vigilant. The command in a statement issued on Saturday in Yola by its spokesman, Habibu Musa said parents monitor the movement of their children and those they related with. The statement described the situation as worrisome and disturbing, but said it has deployed its personnel to track and apprehend the perpetrators. "The Adamawa Police command wishes to inform members of the general public that, incessant stealing of children by unknown persons is on the increase in the state. READ ALSO: Ibrahim Shekarau meets thousands of supporters in Kano, reveals why he defected from PDP to APC The Command, therefore, advise parents to be security conscious and be watchful of the movement of their children and whom they relate with. Also those that convey your children to schools to and fro should be equally identified by the school authorities the statement read. The command further advised parents to warn their children against taking free rides and receiving gift from unknown persons. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously that on Wednesday, September 5, some members of the Boko Haram terrorists group reportedly hijacked a commercial bus. The group also kidnapped about 20 passengers on board the bus which was heading to Maiduguri, Borno state capital city. Lagos Police Commissioner Parades Suspected Criminals (Nigeria News) | Naij.com TV [embedded content] Subscribe to watch new videos Source: Naija.ng CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | Flood washes away N25m fruits in Kebbi Kebbi chapter of Nigerian Fruit Sellers Association, says its members have lost N25 million worth of fruits due to recurring flood at its main market in Birnin Kebbi. The associations Chairman, Alhaji Aminu Abubakar, told newsmen in Birnin Kebbi on Saturday that the absence of proper drainage had led to recurring flooding of the market annually. We have no where else to go, its the only market we have, we just watch in agony as flood destroy our fruits and the loss has reached as much as N25 million. You can see water all over the market yourself as if human beings are not living in the market, he said. Abubakar appealed to the state government to re-build the market to make it safer and conducive for business, and earn more in revenue generation. The chairman also urged the state government to provide support to members of the association to cushion their losses. We are appealing to the government to support us with soft loan to boost our business. Farmers, traders, and different types of business associations have been getting support from the state government, but we were never considered to benefit from such support, he stressed. According to Abubakar, the association has over 20,000 members in all the 21 Local Government Areas in the state. We also employ over 3,000 unemployed youths who are helping to transport our goods and sell in major towns across the state. Imagine the burden of the numbers of unemployed youths we can help government to reduce, if we have support and empowerment, he said. NAN CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General Home | News | General | We are committed towards making Calabar port vibrant Usman Hadiza Bala Usman, the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), says the executive management of the organisation is committed to making the Calabar Port vibrant. Usman gave the assurance in her remarks during the Calabar Port Management Retreat in Uyo, Akwa Ibom, on Saturday. She said the NPA had demonstrated its commitment by approving and supporting the retreat which was intended to re-invent Calabar Port for greater efficiency and increased patronage. We are committed to the growth of Calabar Port. The critical issue about Calabar Port has to do with the dredging of the channels; the draft needs to be deeper to ensure we attract more vessels. We need to jointly work to bring commercial activities into the state, Usman said. Mrs Olufunmilayo Olotu, the Port Manager, Calabar Port, in her comments, said that steps had been taken to ensure the port serves the maritime and logistics needs of the 16 northern states of the country, commercial hubs of Onitsha and Aba as well as neighbouring landlocked countries such as Niger and Chad. She said the essence of the retreat was to come together as critical stakeholders to rub minds and share ideas on happenings in Calabar Port. Olotu said in spite of the draft limitations, the port had gone into trade initiatives that had attracted vessels which had sailed in from Greece. She said that the port also recorded the export of cement, which contributed in the establishment of a cement plant in Ghana. According to her, the port has also been a hub for the supply of crude oil to the north eastern part of the country. The Port Manager reiterated the commitment of the management of the NPA to bringing alive the eastern ports, especially the Calabar Port, in a bid to decongest the Lagos port. She expressed hope that the port would soon be dredged to allow bigger vessels use its facilities. Presenting a paper, Mr Gerald Akporade, the General Manager of ECM terminals, a terminal operator at the port, called on the Federal Government to reintroduce the 30 per cent rebate on ship dues to encourage shippers patronage of the port. According to him, this will also give room for the evacuation of agro products such as cocoa. Me Charles Obi, the Deputy Comptroller of Customs, said his agency and all other organisations at Calabar port were working to ensure that the port was vibrant and unique in its services and operations. He appealed to the State and Federal Government to intensify efforts at the provision of adequate and modern ports facilities to meet global standards. Newsmen report that the theme of the retreat was Promoting Purposeful Partnership for Excellent Service Delivery and Increased Port Patronage. CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General A US pilot died Thursday after a helicopter belonging to the Saudi aviation brigade of the National Guard crashed outside capital, Riyadh, near an airfield. The pilot has been identified as Paul Reedy. Reedy, according to the national guard, died in the crash while his student, lieutenant Hisham bin Abdulaziz Al Al-Sheikh sustained injuries and has been admitted to hospital. Reports say Hisham is responding to treatment. The pair was on board a Boeing AH-6i, a light attack and reconnaissance helicopter. The National Guard did not say whether the American citizen was a soldier or not. The US is one the kingdoms leading arm and training supplier. Ties between the two countries have been strengthened under President Donald Trump who chose the kingdom for his first foreign visit, May last year. The US is also assisting the kingdom in Yemen alongside the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and several other countries, in their drive to shore up the authority of President Mansour Hadi who has been flashed out of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. Home | News | General | Islamic calendar: Sultan directs Muslims to watch out for new moon The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa ad Abubakar III , has directed Muslims to watch out for the new moon of Muharram , the first month of the Islamic calendar , 1440 AH as from Sunday , September 9 .Professor Sambo Junaidu , Chairman , Advisory Committee on Religious Affairs , Sultanate Council , Sokoto, disclosed this in a statement he signed in Sokoto on Saturday . Junaidu said , This is to inform the Muslim community that Sunday , September 9 , 2018 , equivalent to 29 th day of Zulhajji 1439 AH , shall be the day to watch out for the new moon of Muharram 1440 AH . Muslims are , therefore , requested to start looking for the new moon and report its sighting to the nearest District or village Head for onward communication to the Sultan . The Sultan , he said , wished Muslims guidance in the discharge of their religious obligations. The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Muharram is the first month in the Islamic calendar . ( NAN ) CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General 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 Bahrain FinTech Bahrain Minister of Electricity and Water Affairs, Dr. Abdulhussain Mirza has called blockchain technology a true mark of progress as he urges companies to take full advantage of its benefits. Speaking at the SmartSec Cyber Security and Blockchain Conference 2018, Mirza said the blockchain technology is an important advancement that helps us find a secure way to facilitate transactions, News of Bahrain reports. Technologies such as blockchain take us a huge step forward in finding a secure way to facilitate transactions. Blockchains ability to protect users data is a true mark of progress, because it can be applied in different companies from different industries including cybersecurity. The Minister also urged Bahraini companies to embrace the initiative as it has the power to promote innovation among the great minds of the community. He also spoke on cybersecurity and its threat to the global community. According to Mirza, cyber-security is an essential part of our lives, and the threat of cyber attacks should not be taken lightly. These global cyber-attacks affected more than 60 countries including Bahrain last year, and the Central Bank of Bahrain recently issued a warning to banks and financial institutions of orchestrated attacks planned at ATMs around the world, he added. Bahrain has remained silent on where it stands with blockchain and cryptocurrencies, while Dubai has continued to revolutionize the region with giant strides made in the use of blockchain, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. Mirzas words is an unexpected voice of reason in an area that is not known for taking bold steps. Nonetheless, the country issued a regulatory sandbox license to Palmex, a digital asset exchange funded by ArabianChain Technology, allowing it to trail it services as regulators set the stage and consider necessary controls for trading digital assets. Story continues ArabianChain founder and CEO Mohammed Alsehli had said at the time, As the only regional digital asset exchange with a Sandbox license, we expect to see a significant rise in awareness and adoption, driving a huge spike in the number of trades and token-based fundraising across the region while maintaining the safety of the financial system. Featured image from Shutterstock. The post A Huge Step Forward: Bahrain Minister Hails Blockchain Technology, Urges Adoption appeared first on CCN. Tens of hundreds of Iraqis in the southern city of Basra Friday stormed and set ablaze the Iranian consulate amid public anger against government over corruption and poor public services. Basra, with a 2 million-strong population, has been witnessing, since the beginning of the week, deadly demonstrations as protesters clash with security forces. The protests, denouncing the local and central governments for corruption and poor public services delivery, began after 30,000 people were hospitalized for drinking polluted water. The political unrest Friday became critical after demonstrators who marched to the Iranian consulate in the city, broke into the compound, set the facility ablaze and damaged the offices. The storming came hours after Iraqs most revered Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali Sistani, called for a political shakeup in Baghdad and a halt to violence against the protesters, Reuters reports. The angry demonstrators accuse Iran of holding a sway over politicians in the province and in the country at the time parties are in talks to form a cabinet following May 12 elections. A dozen people have been killed so far since the beginning of the unrest. Also Friday, some demonstrators fired live rounds into the air as clash with security forces continue. The government of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has announced a citywide curfew on Friday, threatening to arrest anyone who is seen in the streets. Abadi has pleged to release funds to help meet the needs of the population. I told my friend as soon as I heard because she was the one to play "Clarity" for me at the very beginning of our friendship and we were both like weirdly emotional and we just knew this was fucking coming re: people blaming AG. Reply Thread Link I love clarity omg Reply Parent Thread Link Wow people are shitty. Reply Thread Link Terrible thing all around Reply Thread Link We all saw this coming. Disgusting. Reply Thread Link Their breakup was probably detrimental to his mental health but hes dealt with drug addiction for like six years Reply Thread Link More like the addiction caused the breakup Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah. Addiction caused the breakup and addiction caused his death. He had nearly two years with her to get sober. It's really fucked up to blame her for his death, because he didn't/couldn't love her enough to get/stay clean to save the relationship, but he did love her enough to OD over his heartbreak... so blame her. Some people have more hate than logic. I feel bad for her, even without the comments, I'm sure she blames herself, it's a human thing to do. Reply Parent Thread Link She's with another addict who is high 24/7. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i mean it can be both Reply Parent Thread Link I think what is most frustrating is that Mac himself said he and Ari were good so I doubt he'd want his fans to treat her this way. No, the most frustrating thing is people blaming her for leaving him in the pursuit of her own needs? Putting this on her takes away from his own personhood and belittles how serious mental health and addiction are to manage as well. This is a tragedy but it isn't one she's responsible for. Reply Thread Link That's part of why this annoys me (as a non-stan/fan of either of them). In the few posts we had on here, he never blamed her. Yet these assholes have taken it upon themselves to speak for him, to treat her like shit in his name. Reply Parent Thread Link Perfectly said. Reply Parent Thread Link IA Reply Parent Thread Link Yep. Mac was super classy about it all and had nothing bad to say about her. Stan wars are never actually about the artists. It's all about the stans projecting their own shitty opinions on the artists. Reply Parent Thread Link Everything is always a womans fault. Reply Thread Link This is so fucking on point and now I'm depressed. Reply Parent Thread Link I hate how accurate this is. Reply Parent Thread Link So true, sadly. :( Reply Parent Thread Link People can be fucking awful. It's not Ariana's fault that Mac Miller had substance use issues. Reply Thread Link STOP BLAMING WOMEN FOR THE DECISIONS MEN MADE FOR THEMSELVES Reply Thread Link PREACH Reply Parent Thread Link My heart hurts for her I can't imagine what she's going through rn <3 :( Reply Thread Link and if shed stayed with him she would be being called an enabler they always find a way to blame the woman Reply Thread Link Yep. We can't win. Reply Parent Thread Link Boy the responses to Mac Miller overdosing and the responses to Demi Lovato overdosing are NIGHT. AND. DAY. The Creole Khaleesi (@NotGeauxGabby) September 7, 2018 Nobody is looking for the males in Demis life to blame for her addiction. Nobody is mocking Mac Miller for being a drug addict. Nobody is tweeting jokes about his condition. Whether he lived or died is irrelevant. Men are afforded a humanity women are not. Scram The Creole Khaleesi (@NotGeauxGabby) September 7, 2018 Your comment made me think of these tweets I just saw: Reply Parent Thread Link Meanwhile a man literally would have been to blame had Demi died not just because he supplied the drugs but because he essentially left her alone to die. If she hadn't had friends there? If the friend that found her hadn't known what to do? That night could have been very different. Reply Parent Thread Link Wow, these are really good points. That dude who sold Demi the drugs (or claimed to) was basically treated like a minor celeb with some ~hot goss~ to share with TMZ; he wasn't shamed for very knowingly doing a shitty thing. And yet Ariana, who had nothing to do with this, "literally killed him," according to trolls. Incredible. Reply Parent Thread Link Exactly. People would be like she's a role model for little girls, she should know better and stay away from him smh Reply Parent Thread Link humans are the worst. Reply Thread Link As soon as I read the line Mac Miller dead my first thought was Ariana is about to be blamed for this. People are disappointing. Reply Thread Link MTE, my first thought was legit "OH, yikes, here they go." Reply Parent Thread Link exact same Reply Parent Thread Link same. and given all that she's been through this past year, to now lose a friend AND get disgustingly blamed by these assholes? i can't even imagine how you handle that. Reply Parent Thread Link ugh same Reply Parent Thread Link Mte. I legit said oh shit son when I heard the news at work and thought of her. Damn Reply Parent Thread Link looks like she did the Wrong thing Reply Thread Link Heyoooooooo Reply Parent Thread Link lmao Reply Parent Thread Link fuck lol Reply Parent Thread Link There is so much going on in that cover. Reply Thread Link Holy shit. This is insane. That message is crazy Reply Thread Link Okay I just saw the cover. Now I know why I've never heard of her. That cover is atrocious. Reply Parent Thread Link Wait wth. How old is this article? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link that cover omg Reply Thread Link why is there a stuffed animal on it Reply Parent Thread Link I read the blurb on Amazon... I think it's supposed to represent the cop's baby daughter who's battling leukemia. Reply Parent Thread Link That is high art. Reply Parent Thread Link God lmao Reply Parent Thread Link wat lmaooooooo Reply Parent Thread Link That cover is fucking hilarious. The death is awful. Killers who post/talk about their victims is so fucking creepy. Like, not only did you kill someone, but now you're messing with their loved ones? Burn. Reply Thread Link It seems really callous and cold, but I guess if you were in her position you'd have no other choice but to make a statement like that to try and save face? Reply Parent Thread Link I think sometimes they repress the knowledge of what they did and convince themselves they really don't know what happened. then again, psychopaths. Reply Parent Thread Link He was probably trying to get away with murder. A lot of murdered go to their victim's vigil or even pretend to search for them with the family. It's really fucked up Reply Parent Thread Link And then after it all came out, trying to blame his wife for killing the daughters, so he killed her. That's straight-up sociopath stuff. Reply Parent Thread Link yeah, men who kill their families say this shit on the regular. It's fucked Reply Parent Thread Link I feel like she kind of has to talk about him. It would be kind of weird if she just pretended like it didn't happen and she didn't notice that she no longer had a husband. Anyway, the message she wrote was actually vague enough to apply to the real situation. Like she probably was overwhelmed that day after becoming a murderer and wanted some time to herself to start functioning normally. Reply Parent Thread Link This video is crazy how she can't help smiling Reply Parent Thread Expand Link There was a murder here where the husband killed his wife and pretended to be her on facebook for like a month Reply Parent Thread Link Theres a case in Bethesda where a guy murdered his pregnant girlfriend and was at all the press conferences acting all bereaved. All the while, the cops and the parents of the murdered woman knew he had something to do with it, but to not rouse his suspicions they acted along with him. At one of the press conferences, the father was patting the guys back to pretend to comfort him. Then he was finally arrested and he was supposed to have his first court hearing a couple of days ago, but he hung himself instead. Welp. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link damn wtf Reply Thread Link What the...what is actually going on with this lady's face? I feel like I'm being mindfucked right now because there's so much going on, like so much actual face, but everything is just smack-dab in the center like one of those Woll Smoth memes? How does that even happen? Well, whatever the answer may be, this woman is sociopathic TRASH and needs to be locked away for life. Reply Thread Link She looks like a frond 4 sho but no one wants to be her frond. Reply Parent Thread Link Too much head, not enough face Reply Parent Thread Link a more bloated 45 Reply Parent Thread Link My first thought was thank god its not Lisa Kleypas and Im definitely ashamed of it Reply Thread Link Lol same. Reply Parent Thread Link i had the same thought but for tessa dare lmfao i'm new to reading romance i need to check out lisa kleypas Reply Parent Thread Link that expression is my cat's face when she has to poop Reply Thread Link Reading this... https://www.koin.com/news/crime/one-person-shot-to-death-at-oregon-culinary-institute/1214548933 ...he sounded like a good person who truly loved and cared for his students/community. Leaving him there to be found by his students? JFC. So much to unpack. Reading this......he sounded like a good person who truly loved and cared for his students/community. Leaving him there to be found by his students? JFC. Reply Thread Link LMAOOOOO there is absolutely nothing RIGHT about that cover. Fuck. Is she gonna write a book based on this in prison? Reply Thread Link She did the right thing, and fuck the rest of the actors for doing this to her during the PR tour. Reply Thread Link She's super awesome for bringing this to the studio's attention, especially considering that Hollywood is always looking for an excuse not to hire an actress over 35. I hope it doesn't hurt her career (and how fucked is it that that's a legitimate worry?) Reply Thread Link In a Vanity Fair article, she said that she'd be fine moving away from Hollywood and making movies if this is what happens. That she can do more good in the world outside films. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm glad she's made her peace with whatever's going to happen but it would still suck for her to get blacklisted out of the industry for being "difficult" (aka doing the right thing.) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Says she feels by some people that she was the one who went to jail or hired the guy. Honestly that's so fucked up. Good for her for speaking up. Reply Thread Link idk why this clip is making me emotional rn, but... bless her. damn, has the rest of the cast not said ANYTHING? i'm so disappointed right now :/ Reply Thread Link The fuck does that mean, he's not disappointed in Shane? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Wow, they are the worst. And poor Olivia, can you imagine sitting there listening to that from your own cast? Reply Parent Thread Link The rest of the cast backed out?? Thats so shitty fuck them Reply Thread Link Shane Black is an asshole. His reasoning for hiring this dude OVER AND OVER AGAIN is ridiculous. Reply Thread Link I love her for being brave enough to say shit and for standing on her own when the rest of the cowards on the cast backed out. Reply Thread Link being a woman in Hollywood but especially one who speaks up like this must feel so lonely. the rest of the cast backing out is so damn lame too. idk much about her tbh but I did like her a lot in The Newsroom Reply Thread Link I liked her in The Newsroom, too! That's really the only thing I have ever seen her in aside from X-Men. Reply Parent Thread Link her big break was co-hosting a show about nerd culture, tech and gaming. she's gotten shit like this from dudes from the minute she started on camera :/ Reply Parent Thread Link I won't forget how they degradingly made her eat a hot dog on camera. So fucking gross. Reply Parent Thread Link vintage_boom Edited at 2018-09-09 12:35 am (UTC) She was on Attack of the Show on G4, likementioned. She was the pretty kinda ditzy girl to Kevin whatshisface's goofy looking ass gater type guy. Reply Parent Thread Link She's had to deal with a lot of sexism in her career. The website Jezebel created controversy over her being hired on the Daily Show, basically because she's hot. She was always accused of not being an authentic geek too, and just pretending to be into nerdy stuff for male attention. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Its reminiscent of how actors ignored @RealDylanFarrow and kept working with Woody Allen. If you get one big actor to sign on, the rest will follow with the hope that the fans/public/social media wont call them out for choosing a career move over the morally right move. https://t.co/TLd13O1TWy om (@oliviamunn) August 10, 2018 Props for her calling out Quentin and actors who still work with predators. Props for her calling out Quentin and actors who still work with predators. Reply Parent Thread Link I loved Sloan, fave. Reply Parent Thread Link Queen. Fuck her cast and especially Shane Trash. Edited at 2018-09-08 10:40 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link This is bullshit how she's being treated about this. Munn was interviewed today by THR about it. The interview was originally meant to be all-ensemble, but beside from Jacob Tremblay, the rest of the cast backed out at the last minute. Hmmm Reply Thread Link It's really disappointing because I like quite a few of the actors in the cast and this just makes it look like they're rallying behind their dumbass director and/or don't want to handle "tough" questions. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link She did well. The rest of the cast aint fucking shit. we aint asking for yall to reverse what that scum did but when u stay silent u prove her point. Reply Thread Link I have so much respect for her. Also fuck the interviewer for his "it's hard on everyone" uhhhh not really, Shane Black chose to put everyone in a fucking awkward position by supporting a child predator and then acting like a petulant child by running and hiding during promo. I appreciate that Olivia stressed that she's not a victim and also emphasized that she wasn't given a choice about whether to work with that guy or not (also I was reading reports and apparently the only scene they have together is him hitting on her which is just... ugh). Reply Thread Link wow fuck the rest of the cast and good on her for standing for what she believes in. i wonder if Jacob has any idea of what's happening lol Reply Thread Link he's a child, i doubt it. Reply Parent Thread Link He might. Kids act like they don't know shit, but know every damn thing going on in the room. Reply Parent Thread Link IDK he's 11, he should be allowed to know. Reply Parent Thread Link He probably does. His parents may also feel upset that a sex offender was in a film with him. Reply Parent Thread Link His dad is a police detective Reply Parent Thread Expand Link If he's got a phone I'm sure he's figured it out tbh. Reply Parent Thread Link i'm sure he does but his parents could have easily pulled him out of these interviews but he's still doing them so i'm choosing to see it as support Reply Parent Thread Link wtf why was the child there like jacob? Reply Thread Link jacob is there promoting the film, just not with her in this interview obviously since it would not be appropriate. Reply Parent Thread Link Western Europe will need more flexibility in natural gas supplies in the coming winter season. The European market has been tight amid higher demand in the summers heat wave, while natural gas stockpiles are lower than usual after one of the coldest winters in the past decade. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is more profitable to send out to other (Asian) destinations. So some additional flexibility will be needed in the near term as the northern hemisphere is preparing for the winter. This additional flexibility in natural gas supplies to Northwest Europe, the Netherlands in particular, is likely to come from Russia, S&P Global Platts said in an analysis this week. The prime source of Russian supplies will be pipeline gas from gas giant Gazprom, which holds more than a third of the European gas market. The Yamal LNG facility in Russia, which started operations last winter, could also provide more flexibility in winter supplies, traders tell S&P Global Platts. Russian pipeline volumes via the Velke Kapusany point on the Ukraine-Slovakia border bound for further west in Europe have been somewhat depressed over the past week. Traders are not sure what the cause is, telling Platts that the Russian flows remain a sort of a wild card. Yet, pipeline supply from Russias Gazprom is likely to be Northwest Europes key flexibility source this wintera role that Gazprom would only be too happy to play. LNG is out of the picture. Storage is not that great. Solution: LNG from Yamal and the wildcard: the Russians, a European gas trader told Platts. Related: Why Algerias Oil Sector Isnt Booming After touching their highest levels for a summer season, natural gas futures prices in Northwest Europe have continued to rise in anticipation of tightening supply as winter is approaching. Natural gas prices in the UK surged to the highest for a summer season, with Europes natural gas market the most bullish in years, as higher-than-expected summer demand and a tighter market drove natural gas price futures to levels last seen during this past winters supply crunch. The cold spell in Europe at the end of February and early March led to record withdrawals in the first quarter of 2018, and storage levels dropped to 18 percent of capacitywell below the five-year range, the European Commission (EC) said in its Q1 Quarterly Report on European gas markets. By the end of the winter season, natural gas stock levels dropped below 10 percent of capacity in countries such as Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, where high gas demand from the UK contributed to strong withdrawals this winter, the report said. Related: Platts Survey: OPEC Production Jumps To 10-Month High Earlier this month, unplanned outages in Norway reduced gas outflows to other countries and are expected to continue to do so for at least another three weeks, which, according to traders, will further boost natural gas prices in Europe. UK wholesale gas prices are rising as a result of the Norwegian outages and another outage in Scotland. The futures contract prices in the Dutch and UK hubs are also rising as winter approaches in a tighter-than-usual market. Russian supplies could provide the flexibility that could help balance the market, and Gazprom will be happy to oblige. Gazprom estimates that its deliveries to Europe and Turkey in January-August 2018 rose by 5.6 percent compared to the same period last year, the Chairman of the Management Committee, Alexey Miller, said last week, noting that Europes demand for Gazproms gas has been remarkably high for three years in a row. Gazprom also launched in mid-August an Electronic Sales Platform (ESP) for physical natural gas sales to European consumers, in addition to supplies under existing contracts. The Russian firm expects the platform to become an additional mean to optimize supplies of gas, Elena Burmistrova, Director General of Gazprom Export, said. As Europe is heading to a tight winter gas market, Russia could further boost its gas sales and market share in its capacity of a key flexibility supplier. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: On Thursday, Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed al-Sada said he expected Chinas demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to spike by between 20 percent to 25 percent this year despite heightened trade tensions between the U.S. and China. Al-Sada, in comments made to Reuters ahead of a conference to be held in Berlin on Friday, said LNG demand from China was expected to show strong growth again this year after rising about 46 percent last year. Overall global demand for LNG this year was expected to match the 11 percent jump seen in 2017, al-Sada said. He said he hoped the U.S. and China would resolve their differences over trade and avert a trade war. I think and hope that logic and rationalism will prevail, he added. It is in the interest not only of the two countries, but also the rest of the world. Both Chinas gas and its LNG demand increases are being driven by Beijings drive to have gas make up at least 10% of the countrys energy mix by 2020 to offset record air pollution levels in its major urban centers. That earmark will also increase by 2030. However, as reported extensively by OilPrice.com already, Beijing has threatened to levy a 25 percent retaliatory tariff against U.S. LNG imports. The move, if implemented, will cause pain for not only China but for new and proposed LNG projects in the U.S. that need both Chinese funding and long-term off-take agreements with Chinese to firms if they are to ever come to fruition and reach the all-important final investment decision (FID) needed to be constructed. Related: Platts Survey: OPEC Production Jumps To 10-Month High If China does indeed push through with its LNG retaliatory tariff threat it will put in jeopardy the so-called second wave of the U.S. LNG sector that should start production around 2022 or later. A knock-on effect will be that the U.S. LNG sector will lose potential market share to both Australia, which will bypass current LNG export leader Qatar sometime next year, as well as Qatar itself. By the time this second wave of U.S. LNG projects were scheduled to come on-stream, global LNG markets are projected to pivot from a current over supply scenario to one of under supply. Qatars pivot Al-Sadas comments also comes Qatar is trying to position itself to regain the top LNG export spot after losing it next year. In mid-2017, facing political backlash and an economic boycott from many of its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia, over terrorism funding allegations, the tiny gas rich nation fought back, announcing that it would increase its LNG liquefaction capacity from an already robust 77 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) by 100 mtpa 2020 or 2021. It was a disclosure that not only shocked global energy markets but one that will have both systemic and fundamental changes for the sector. The new additional volumes will be secured by doubling the size of the countrys new gas project in the southern sector of the North Field, which Qatar Petroleum announced in April 2017. China to become global gas import leader China passed South Korea late last year to become the worlds second largest LNG importer after Japan, with projections that by or before the mid part of the next decade it will pass Japan to take the top spot. Related: Why Algerias Oil Sector Isnt Booming In June, the Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its Gas 2018 annual report that China will become the worlds top natural gas importer by next year. According to the IEA report, Chinese demand for natural gas will rise by almost 60 percent between 2017 and 2023 to 376 billion cubic meters (bcm). This includes a rise in its LNG imports to 93 bcm by 2023 from 51 bcm in 2017. Global LNG imports will rise to 505 bcm by 2023 from 391 bcm in 2017, an increase of some 114 bcm. The Asia-Pacific region, which accounts nearly two-thirds of all global LNG demand, will hold that lead going forward. When all of Asia is taken into account, according to the IEA, LNG sales in Asia will rise to 75 percent of all LNG sold globally from 72 percent last year. By Tim Daiss for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: UN-backed talks between Yemen's warring parties ended Saturday before properly getting off the ground, with the UN envoy acknowledging it had not been possible to convince the rebels to come to Geneva. "We didn't manage to get... the delegation from Sanaa to come here... We just didn't make it," Martin Griffiths told reporters in Geneva. He said it was "too early to say when the next round of consultations will take place." His comments came after the Huthis, powerful armed tribes locked in a war with Yemen's Saudi-backed government, have refused to take off from the rebel-held capital of Sanaa unless the United Nations meets a list of conditions, which includes securing a safe return from Geneva to Sanaa for their delegation. The talks had been scheduled to formally open Thursday but were put on hold, leaving Griffiths scrambling to save them. Griffiths hosted a number of meetings with the government delegation, which arrived in Geneva on Wednesday, and diplomats from countries with influence in Yemen's bloody conflict. Griffiths said the meetings were "fruitful consultations", insisting that "we made some good progress... (on) confidence-building measures". A day earlier, the Huthis' Supreme Revolutionary Council said they were becoming "increasingly suspicious that the coalition intended to insult" the rebels. It accused the Saudi-led alliance of planning to strand the rebel delegation in Djibouti, where their plane was to make a stop en route to Geneva. The Huthis hinted they feared a repeat of 2016, when 108 days of talks in Kuwait broke down and a rebel delegation was stranded in Oman for three months due to an air blockade, the council said in a statement on Telegram. The Saudi-led military coalition controls the country's airspace and Sanaa international airport has been largely disused for years. The Iran-backed Huthis also demand the evacuation of their wounded fighters from Sanaa to Oman. Saudi Arabia and its allies have meanwhile said they have already granted the Huthis clearance to fly, accusing the rebels of intransigence. Griffiths, who said earlier this week he believed the Geneva talks would offer a "flickering signal of hope" to the Yemeni people, has been up against difficult odds from the start. He is the UN's third Yemen envoy since 2014, when Huthis overran the capital and drove Hadi's government into exile. All previous attempts to resolve the conflict have failed. Nearly 10,000 people have been killed since Saudi Arabia and its allies intervened on behalf of the government in 2015, triggering what the UN calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis. As the ber months roll in, the Philippines is once again ready for one of the longest Christmas celebrations in the world. Total (Philippines) Corporation and Suzuki Philippines are one in sharing the excitement of Filipinos during this giving season, and have teamed up in giving customers an early Christmas experience. Through the Gas Up and Win a Ride! promo, loyal patrons can get a chance to drive home one of six 2018 Suzuki Raider R150 Fi and one of two brand-new 2018 Suzuki Vitara 1.6 GL SUV, starting this September 1. Total is one with Suzuki Philippines in celebrating one of the happiest seasons of the year. As partners for five years, we want to continuously extend our appreciation to our loyal customers. We are jumpstarting this years seasonal celebrations with our newest promo, says Raymond Decena, Total Philippines Vice President for Retail. Running until October 31, every PHP1,000 single or accumulated purchase of Total Premiere or Total Diesel fuels earn customers one raffle entry for the grand draw in November 14. Total Excellium customers can double their chances of winning as they get two raffle entries for every PHP1,000 purchase. Total App users can simply present their apps to the station attendants and earn an additional entry for even more chances of winning. Fuel gift certificates worth PHP1,000 will also be up for grabs at every TOTAL station which will be drawn on October 12, so start filling up on TOTAL quality fuels now! With the Gas Up and Win a Ride! promo, we continue providing our customers with exciting experiences alongside our diverse portfolio of products and services that cater to the energy needs of the Philippines and its communities, continues Decena. To learn more about the Gas Up and Win a Ride! promo, visit TOTALoil.com.ph or like Totals official Facebook page at facebook.com/TOTALinthephilippines. Story continues Total The post Total PH, Suzuki PH Team Up in Gas up and Win a Ride! Promo appeared first on Carmudi Philippines. A new approach that distills deluges of genetic data and patient health records has identified a set of telltale patterns that can predict a persons risk for a common, and often fatal, cardiovascular disease, according to a new study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. Although the method, which uses a form of artificial intelligence called machine learning, has so far only been used to predict the likelihood of this particular condition called abdominal aortic aneurysm, or AAA its proof that such an approach could decipher the molecular nuances that put people at risk for just about any complex genetic disease. Right now, genome sequencing is starting to make its mark, said Michael Snyder, PhD, professor and chair of genetics at Stanford. Its being used a lot in cancer, or to solve mystery diseases. But theres still a big open question: How much can we use it for predicting disease risk? It turns out, quite a bit. Typically, researchers and health care providers use genetic testing to look for DNA sequences that may correspond to an increased risk for a particular illness. Mutations in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, for instance, may signal an increased risk of breast cancer. But the method that Snyder and his colleagues developed doesnt work like that. Its not looking for one standout gene or mutation; its looking for a slew of complex mutational patterns, and how those genetic errors play into a persons health and risk for disease. The method seeks to identify any likely disease-causing culprits in an agnostic manner, meaning that it combs through an onslaught of genetic information from patients with AAA, looking for commonalities. This, Snyder said, is the key to unraveling any number of genetic diseases. Its not often the case that one, two or even a handful of genes take sole responsibility for a condition. Far more likely is that its a whole bunch of them. The idea is that it takes a village to cause a disease, and by using this new method, those villagers can be identified. The study was published Sept. 6 in Cell. Snyder and Philip Tsao, PhD, professor of medicine, share senior authorship. Instructor Jingjing Li, PhD; research manager Cuiping Pan, PhD; and postdoctoral scholar Sai Zhang, PhD, are the lead authors. Often diagnosed at death AAA afflicts upward of 3 million people every year and is the 10th-leading killer in the United States. Patients with AAA have an enlarged aorta, the main artery of the body, which slowly balloons over time until, in the worst of cases, it ruptures. To make matters worse, these types of aneurysms rarely show symptoms. So in many cases, the condition silently escalates, which is in part what makes it so dangerous. Yet AAA is pretty amenable to behavioral change. Things like smoking and high blood pressure intensify the condition, while higher levels of HDL, or good cholesterol, help decrease the risk. So, if people know they are at risk early on, they can ideally adjust their lifestyle to avoid exacerbation or onset altogether. We let machine learning figure it out, and thats something that, to our knowledge, has never been done before. Whats important to note about AAA is that its irreversible, so once your aorta starts enlarging, its not like you can un-enlarge it. And typically, the disease is discovered when the aorta bursts, and by that time its 90 percent lethal, said Snyder, the Stanford W. Ascherman, MD, FACS, Professor in Genetics. So heres this irreversible disease, no way to predict it. No one has ever set up a predictive test for it and, just from a genome sequence, we found that we could actually predict with about 70 percent accuracy who is at high risk for AAA. When other details from electronic patient records were added, like whether a patient smoked and his or her cholesterol levels, accuracy increased to 80 percent, Snyder said. The method Snyder and his team devised relies on an algorithm they call the Hierarchical Estimate From Agnostic Learning, or HEAL, which analyzed genomic data from 268 patients with AAA and scanned the mass of information for any genes that were found to be mutated across the population. The algorithm identified 60 genes that were hypermutated in the AAA patients. Some genes played roles in blood-vessel function and aneurysm development a nod to HEALs accuracy but others, more surprisingly, were associated with regulation of immune function, revealing that the mutational landscape of this disease is complex, involving niches of physiology that werent necessarily expected. The team further confirmed their findings using HEAL in a control group, double-checking that the AAA-related mutational patterns were not seen among 133 healthy individuals. And indeed, there was no significant overlap. HEAL could, therefore, uncover new research directions and potential therapeutic targets for devastating diseases such as AAA, said Tsao, who is also the director of the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Epidemiology Research and Information Center for Genomics. For other diseases with a genetic component The key, Snyder said, is that the findings were entirely unbiased. The researchers didnt say, We think gene X, Y and Z might play a role in AAA. They fed the genetic information into HEAL and asked if there were genes or sets of genes that were enriched for mutation. We let machine learning figure it out, and thats something that, to our knowledge, has never been done before, Snyder said. Even for diseases that have these big red flag genomic markers, HEAL could offer a leg up, Snyder said. For example, in familiar cases like breast cancer, for which we know of specific culprit genes, you have to remember that these genes BRCA1, BRCA2 and a couple others only explain about 30 percent of the genetics of the disease, Snyder said. That means 70 percent is still unexplained. There are probably multiple genes and mutations involved, and thats where we think HEAL may kick in big time. In their next phase of work, Snyder and his group are looking into using HEAL to detect the elusive genetic underpinnings of preterm birth and autism. I see a future in which everyone will be born with their genome sequenced, or shortly thereafter, Snyder said. Both your single-gene and your complex disease risk will be used to predict your overall disease risk, and then you can take action based on that information. The work is an example of Stanford Medicines focus on precision health, the goal of which is to anticipate and prevent disease in the healthy and precisely diagnose and treat disease in the ill. Other Stanford authors of the study are Joshua Spin, MD, PhD, clinical assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine; life science research assistant Alicia Deng; professor of medicine Lawrence Leung, MD; and Ronald Dalman, MD, professor of vascular surgery. Snyder and Tsao are members of Stanford Bio-X and the Stanford Child Health Research Center. Snyder is also a member of the Stanford Cancer Institute and the Stanford Neurosciences Institute. Snyder and Tsao are members of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute. The research was funded by National Institutes of Health (grants CEGS 5P50HG00773504, 1P50HL083800, 1R01HL101388, 1R01HL122939 and S10OD020141), the University of California and the Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development. Stanfords Department of Genetics also supported the work. Health Minister Confirms Investigation on Expired Hepatitis C Drugs By Gvantsa Gabekhadze Georgian Health Minister David Sergeenko has confirmed that the investigation is underway regarding the Hepatitis C Drugs which were expired in April.Sergeenko stated that the hepatitis C elimination program is a large-scale project and Georgia receives medicines for free [from the US] and investigative and supervisory bodies always control such projects."No specific offense has been revealed yet, but the investigation is underway to conduct a triad - prevention, detection, reaction. This is a function of controlling bodies, and we do not interfere in the process", said Sergeenko.Sergeenko stated that international partners, the Georgian National Center for Disease Control and the pharmacological company that donates this medicine participate in the project, there is also an International Advisory Board, which meets twice a year and provides Georgia with recommendations.One of the first recommendations in 2016, when we overcame the first wave of treatment of the patients with the most severe forms, was that we had to treat minimum 3, 500 patients per month to ensure that the planned elimination was implemented within the set terms. Our target was 3,500 patients per month. So we have calculations based on the number, recommended by the International Advisory Board and are taking steps to be completed. Despite the monthly average target was 3,500 - we had only 1, 000 [patients], Sergeenko said.The order for the medicines is agreed with the International Advisory Board. In April, a certain amount of medicines was ordered for 3,500 patients per month, and the flow was 1, 000 patients and the drugs were expired. It is bad, but the state did not suffer losses, because it is a donation and they give it to us free, said Davit Sergeenko.The Hepatitis C Elimination Program launched in 2015, has admitted almost 50, 000 patients. 98.2% of them have been cured, Health Minister says.The program was launched in partnership with the American company Gilead, with the goal to make Georgia a Hepatitis C-free country by 2020.The treatment, as well as Hepatitis C test, is free of charge for the citizens of Georgia.Georgia had one of the highest estimated virus prevalence rates in the world, affecting 6.7 percent of the population.Typically the Hepatitis C treatment costs 110,000 per person, which is unaffordable for the majority of Georgians. 2 hours ago What's in, and what's out, as House nears vote on Biden bill WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Biden's now- $1.85 trillion plan to boost social and education programs as well as protect against global warming continues to be fine-tuned by Democrats in Congress with a new goal of completing work before Thanksgiving. Read Article Latvian Foreign Minister About Georgias EU Integration By Vladimer Napetvaridze On September 4, at the economic forum, held in Poland Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevich spoke about the issue of Georgia's accession to the European Union."Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia have chosen the European path. They are trying to join the EU, and the EU should respond to their aspirations. The EU should recognize the prospects of membership of these countries and announce a deadline for their membership, Rinkevich said.Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova are post-Soviet states, with the problem of the occupied territories provoked by Russia. In 2014, Moldova along with Ukraine and Georgia signed an Association Agreement (AA) with the EU (Came into force in 2016), thus committing to the path of European integration. The agreement was an important milestone since despite the Russian pressure not to sign the document and instead remain in Moscows orbit, signing the Association Agreement at the same time was the message about countries commitment to European course. Nowadays Russia uses all its leverages to hinder the EU integration process in these countries, among them, are cultural, religious, historical, economic aspects. Thus, it is essential to accelerate the integration process, but on the other hand, to become the EU member states, Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova must take reforms in several directions.The process of joining the EU (accession) broadly consists of 3 stages:1. A country officially becomes a candidate for membership. This does not necessarily mean that formal negotiations have been opened.2. Formal membership negotiations stage, a process that involves the adoption of established EU regulations, preparations to be in a position to properly apply and enforce it and implementation of judicial, administrative, economic and other reforms necessary for the country to meet the conditions for joining, known as accession criteria.3. When the negotiations and accompanying reforms have been completed to the satisfaction of both sides, the country can join the EU.Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova are at the second stage when candidate states are trying to implement EU regulations, to meet European Union standards. After 2000 there were 3 waves of EU enlargement- in 2004, 2007 and 2017;According to the Treaty of Accession 2003, Czech Republic ( Signed Association agreement - AA in 1995), Estonia (AA1998), Cyprus (AA 1973), Latvia (AA 1998), Lithuania (AA 1998), Hungary (AA 1994), Malta (AA 1971), Poland (AA 1994) Slovenia (AA 1999), Slovakia (AA 1995)became EU members in 2004; The treaty was signed on 16 April 2003 in Athens, Greece and it entered into force on 1 May 2004, resulting in enlargement of the European Union with 10 states.According to the Treaty of Accession 2005, Bulgaria (AA 1995) and Romania (AA 1995) became members of EU on 1 January 2007.And the last enlargement based on the Treaty of Accession 2011, on 1 July 2013, made Croatia (AA 2005) the 28th Member state of the European Union.As we can see, the period from the signing of an association agreement until the becoming the EU member is different for different countries. For example, for Malta it took 32 years from signing the association agreement, to become EU member, on the other hand, for Slovenia, it took only four years.Its been four years since Georgia signed the association agreement and two years since it came into force. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Commuters hang from the back of a jeepney traveling along a road in Manila, the Philippines. (Photo: Getty Images) By Cecilia Yap Philippine companies can fund President Rodrigo Dutertes $170 billion infrastructure push while Chinas pledges are taking time, Ayala Corp. executive Jose Rene Almendras said. The private sector has enough resources. Theres enough liquidity in the Philippine market to fund these, Almendras, president and CEO of Ayalas AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., told Bloomberg Televisions Rishaad Salamat and Haidi Lun in an interview. The government then has to make a choice do you want lower cost funding from China that will take a bit longer or to fast track and let the private sector in? Ayala is part of a consortium of seven conglomerates thats proposing to modernize and operate the capital overcrowded and rickety airport over a 15-year period, rivaling San Miguel Corp.s proposed $14 billion project, which aims to build an airport in a province close to Manila. Almendras, who was cabinet secretary under Dutertes predecessor Benigno Aquino, said inadequate infrastructure remains to be the Philippines biggest challenge and risks stifling economic growth if not addressed. If were allowed to take over some of these projects as weve done through unsolicited route we would be able to do it faster and we intend to prove that it can be done faster, he said on the sidelines of the Bloomberg Sooner Than You Think technology summit in Singapore on Thursday. A Xiamen Airlines plane accident which shut the Philippine capitals airport for 36 hours in mid-August and stranded thousands of passengers highlights the need to immediately upgrade and expand the 70-year-old terminal, Almendras said. Theres growing impatience as far as timing is concerned, Almendras said. Lifes getting more difficult, we need to move on. 2018 Bloomberg L.P Colombia is waiting until the last minute to see if ELN Marxist rebels release their remaining hostages before deciding whether or not to restart stalled peace talks, President Ivan Duque said on Friday. Right-winger Duque gave the ELN a one-month deadline after his inauguration on August 7 to convince him it is serious about laying down arms and reentering civilian life. That cut-off point expires on Friday. "Today, I want us to wait for the liberation of hostages," said Duque in a press conference in which he was expected to announce his final decision. The government estimates that the guerrillas, the last recognized armed rebel group operating in Colombia, are holding at least 17 people. "I want to progress towards demobilization, disarmament and reinsertion of the ELN, but let's not deceive ourselves, we need the total suspension of criminal activities," added Duque. Colombia's ombudsman revealed on Wednesday that three kidnapped soldiers had walked free from ELN captivity. They were amongst nine people, mostly government forces, captured last month. "If these acts of good faith take place, if they liberate the hostages and suspend criminal activities, the government is ready to proceed," said Duque. "But what we can't do is keep validating violence." Duque had previously insisted that the liberation of hostages was a prerequisite to restarting peace talks put on hold a month ago when his predecessor Juan Manuel Santos left office. Santos won the Nobel Peace Prize for signing the historic accord with Marxist FARC rebels in 2016, turning that armed group into a political party after more than 50 years of violent insurrection. Speaking from Cuba, which hosted peace talks, the ELN's chief negotiator Pablo Beltran said his group is prepared to restart the peace process. He told Colombian radio station Kapital Stereo that the ELN wants to release its hostages but said it wouldn't be possible before the end of the government's deadline. "I would say it could happen at the end of this week or beginning of the next one," he said, blaming military operations against his group for the delay. First steps the first sun bear cub born in the UK has emerged from its den for the first time (Picture: PA) A little ones first steps are always special but possibly even more so when theyre a cute little sun bear. The first sun bear cub ever to be born in the UK emerged from its den for the first time and was captured on camera. The so-far-unnamed cub was caught on video taking a stroll with mum Milli at Chester Zoo. Just 12 weeks old, she took a few tumbles as she explored her surroundings before heading back to the den. Wobbly the 12-week-old was a bit unsteady on her feet but managed a wander with mum Milli (Picture: PA) Tim Rowlands, curator of mammals at Chester Zoo, said: The new cub has plenty of enthusiasm but, at just 12 weeks old, shes still somewhat wobbly on her legs. Shell soon find her feet though and it wont be long until mum Milli really has her paws full. Her little one will quickly gain in confidence, become more and more excitable and look to explore. Thats when her parenting skills will be given a new test. READ MORE ON YAHOO NEWS UK: Boris Johnson surges forward as Conservative members favourite to lead party Everything you need to know about the British Airways data breach Operation Yellowhammer: Leaked document reveals details of Governments no-deal Brexit plans Up to three million British households at risk from Wi-Fi hackers, expert warns Uber brings in minimum ratings for riders (so be polite to your driver) The cubs parents Milli and Toni came to the zoo in 2013 after being rescued from illegal wildlife traders in Cambodia who had killed their mothers and kept them as pets. Mike Jordan, collections director at the zoo, said: These bears had a really tough start to life and so to now see Milli thriving with a cub is ever so special. No name the cub hasnt yet been given a name (Picture: PA) Exploring she took a few steps around her indoor enclosure before going back to her den (Picture: PA) He added: Its the wonderful culmination of an awful lot of hard work by numerous conservationists here and in Cambodia who have fought to give her a brighter future. The cub is the shining beacon of light at the end of what, at one stage, was a very dark tunnel. Sun bears are the smallest of the worlds eight species of bear but are highly threatened in their native south-east Asia and thought to be extinct in Singapore, where they once existed in large numbers. Thai fishermen and labourers whose livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels kicked off an international day of protests in Bangkok Saturday, where key UN talks are attempting to breathe life into the Paris Agreement on climate change. As global warming races ahead of efforts to contain it, the discussions are deadlocked over a number of contentious issues, with activists demanding immediate action to prevent irreparable damage to the planet. The "Rise for Climate" protest movement -- which has organised events in dozens of countries on Saturday -- wants governments to end their reliance on fossil fuels and transition fully into renewable energy. Beginning in Australia, a tall ship moved through Sydney Harbour in front of the Opera House as activists on board held up protest signs. Its billowing sails featured banners that read "Rise for Climate; Action with 350" -- referring to environment advocacy group 350 which spearheaded the global protest. Blair Palese, CEO of 350 Australia, said that the country -- heavily reliant on coal mining for its economy -- has long suffered the effects of climate change. "We are fighting bushfires in winter, suffering a crippling drought, and scientists fear back-to-back bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef this summer," he said. In the Thai capital, some 200 protesters assembled in front of the UN regional headquarters, where delegates were discussing how to implement measures agreed by world powers under the 2015 Paris Accord on climate change. The talks aim to create a draft legal framework for limiting global temperature rises that can be presented to ministers and heads of state at a final round of discussions in Poland in December. The delegates have been meeting since Tuesday, but have made little progress, according to multiple sources close to the negotiations. "The negotiators are not taking any action," Ruchi Tripathi, head of climate justice at charity ActionAid, told AFP. Dozens of labourers and fishermen from the Gulf of Thailand, whose livelihoods are threatened by rising sea levels and coastal erosion caused by climate change, joined Saturday's protest. Many brought examples of their produce, including crabs and shrimp, and held banners demanding that delegates take action. "I came here today to ask the government to put coastal erosion on the national agenda," 58-year-old fisherwoman Aree Kongklad told AFP. She said that the mangrove forests near her coastal home had been destroyed, jeopardising the supply of crabs which are her livelihood. In Manila, more than 800 people, including one dressed as a T-Rex holding a "Go Fossil Free" sign, marched through the streets protesting the country's heavy reliance on coal. Along with Bangkok, the Philippine capital is projected to be among the world's hardest hit urban areas by climate change impacts. "We are among the most vulnerable and we are among those still stuck in an energy system that is backwards," campaigner Chuck Baclavon told AFP, adding that the government is out of excuses. Around 10,000 school students and their teachers in northern India tied red ribbons to trees in a call to end deforestation. "We came out in support of this global initiative because it draws attention to a very urgent and important issue," said Red Tape Movement founder Prabhat Misra. In a separate initiative, the New Delhi local government launched a drive to plant half a million trees around the Indian capital on Saturday. burs-dhc-pg/gle/rma Longchamp decamped across the Atlantic on Saturday to make their New York Fashion Week debut and celebrate their 70th anniversary by looking to the future, fronted by new brand ambassador Kendall Jenner. Guests were invited to the World Trade Center, where a dazzling view of the Manhattan skyline provided the backdrop to a collection summed up as 1970s glamor, California spirit and Parisian elegance. The French staple, best known by millions around the world for the iconic Pliage bag, is building on its leather goods heritage by highlighting its ready-to-wear, sunglasses and footwear lines. Their first fashion-week runway show comes hot on the heels of opening a new boutique on New York's legendary Fifth Avenue in May, and the selection of supermodel Jenner as their new ambassador. In two weeks' time, they are opening a new boutique in Beverly Hills -- hence the California spirit, which Jenner herself evokes, as does model-of-the-moment Kaia Gerber, 17, who walked the runway. Jenner's dazzling looks and fame as one fifth of the Kardashian-Jenner sisters, is likely to raise Longchamp's profile among the new Instagram generation. She sat front row, sporting the Longchamp Gladiators on her slender pins, next to Kate Moss, who was the face of Longchamp for eight years and in turn sat next to Priyanka Chopra. "It's a way of expressing the international development of the brand," Longchamp CEO Jean Cassegrain, 53, told AFP by telephone of the decision to come to New York, showing on the third day of fashion week. "A way of showing the cosmopolitan side of the brand," he added. Longchamp at heart is still a private, family firm. - 'Vote Cynthia!' - Cassegrain is the grandson of the founder. Sister Sophie Delafontaine is creative director, brother Olivier heads up operations in America and their 81-year-old father is still company president. Delafontaine sought to evoke "dreamy desert drives" and late nights in Los Angeles with animal print dresses, leather bikinis and lots of fringed tops, shorts and mini-skirts in suede. There were gladiator sandals in black, beige, orange, red and green, as well as the new Amazone bag. Ikat-style prints adorned blouses, long skirts and dresses. The 40 looks emphasized Longchamp's leather roots while looking to the future, reflecting the wider industry trends of clothing empires moving to accessories and leather goods embracing fashion. "Twenty-five years ago, fashion and leather goods were separate sectors," Cassegrain said. "The bag is now a fashion items, and labels also have to be fashion labels." Longchamp has around 1,500 stockists around the world, mostly in Europe, which makes up 60 percent of sales. Only 300 of them are operated directly by the brand. While the non-leather goods side of the business is growing, ready to wear, shoes and glasses still only make up 10 percent of business and only 50 of the stockists sell clothes or footwear. Overt politics have taken something of a backseat at New York Fashion Week since the early days of the Donald Trump presidency, with the fashion industry doing everything in their power to signal unhappiness. But Saturday, Christian Siriano brought it back to the fore by using his runway show to endorse Cynthia Nixon, the former "Sex and the City" actress campaigning to become New York's first woman governor. Nixon, whose effort to oust two-term incumbent Andrew Cuomo will do or die in Thursday's Democratic primary, sat in the front row. Each guest was given a Vote for Cynthia leaflet, there were special thanks to her in the notes for "all you are doing for New York" and Siriano came out for a bow at the end in a Nixon T-shirt. Hundreds of trucks carrying thousands of troops lined a Pyongyang riverbank in the pale light of dawn early Sunday, as nuclear-armed North Korea prepared to celebrate its birthday with a huge show of military strength. Sunday is the 70th anniversary of the 1948 foundation of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, as the North is officially known, three years after Moscow and Washington divided the peninsula between them in the closing days of the Second World War. Such set-piece dates are a mainstay of the North's political calendar, particularly when round numbers are involved, and have traditionally been occasions for showing off its latest hardware. "Anniversaries are important in the DPRK, and this one is particularly so," said Evans Revere of the Brookings Institution think-tank in Washington. "These celebrations are also occasions for the leader to demonstrate accomplishments and national power, and to take credit for them." The displays -- overseen by leader Kim Jong Un, the third member of his family to rule the country -- are crucial to Korea-watchers, who observe them closely for clues about its latest advances. First, companies of soldiers goose-step through Kim Il Sung Square, then the material becomes steadily more intimidating, with tanks rolling past and aircraft flying overhead, until the programme culminates with intercontinental ballistic missiles. But the rockets may not be on show this time, analysts say. Too militaristic a display could risk upsetting the diplomatic dalliance on the peninsula, after Kim's Singapore meeting with US President Donald Trump in June and his third summit with the South's President Moon Jae-in due in Pyongyang later this month. - 'Slap in the face' - "If they show off ICBMs it will be a massive provocation and it will be a slap in the face for the United States," said Andrei Lankov of Korea Risk Group. He did not expect the North to do so, particularly as it would put the visiting Chinese delegation in the difficult position of appearing to endorse the weapons programmes that have seen Pyongyang subjected to multiple international sanctions. Beijing is its neighbour's key diplomatic protector and trade partner, and after years in the deep freeze over the North's missile and nuclear tests their ties have warmed rapidly this year, with Kim visiting China three times to meet President Xi Jinping. There was speculation that Xi might reciprocate for the anniversary -- Hu Jintao was the last Chinese president to visit in 2005, and the then premier Wen Jiabao followed suit in 2009. But instead Xi will be represented by Li Zhanshu, the head of China's parliament and a member of the Communist Party's politburo standing committee, the most powerful body in the country. Xi's decision not to go, but still send a senior envoy, may be calculated to show backing for Pyongyang while not antagonising Trump as China and the US are embroiled in a trade dispute. At the same time it could indicate that Beijing wants to see Kim do more to reduce tensions before a presidential visit. Diplomatic invitations for the anniversary have gone out around the world, but the only head of state known to be attending is Mauritanian president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. And French actor Gerard Depardieu is also in Pyongyang. At a concert on Saturday evening that kicked off the celebrations, the imagery on display focused heavily on the economy, with only a few short military segments, none of them showing missiles. The content of the parade would be key, John Delury of Yonsei University in Seoul told AFP. In April Kim declared that the North's development of nuclear weapons had been completed and "socialist economic construction" would be the new strategic priority. "It'll be interesting to see if Kim Jong Un does try to change the symbolism, change the message to essentially diminish the militaristic message and enhance the economic message," Delury said. "That's what I'm watching for anyway." Russian air strikes killed five people in Syria's Idlib Friday, a monitor said, even as the brutal war's top three power brokers discussed "stabilising" the last rebel-held province. Later in the day, shelling by hardline rebels killed 10 civilians in a neighbouring province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Government forces have been massing around Idlib for weeks ahead of an expected offensive on the province, which is held by jihadists led by Al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate and rival Turkish-backed rebels. On Friday morning, Russian air raids targeted positions in Idlib's southwest held by the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) alliance, as well as of the hardline Ahrar al-Sham group, the Britain-based Observatory said. They destroyed one Ahrar al-Sham post, killing four of its fighters and wounding 14 others in the area of Hobait, it said. An AFP stringer saw rescue workers working with their bare hands to retrieve a victim from rubble blocking the entrance of what appeared to be a cave inside a sandstone rock face. They carried away the limp body of a man covered in pale dust, as diggers worked nearby to clear the debris. A shepherd was also killed and four other people wounded in the bombardment, the Observatory said, although it was not immediately clear if they were fighters or civilians. "The aim was to destroy rebel fortifications," said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. On Friday evening, hardline rebels fired shells at the town of Mahrada, which lies in the adjacent province of Hama about 15 kilometres (10 miles) south of the administrative border with Idlib. "The bombardment was in retaliation for the earlier strikes and killed 10 civilians, including six women, three children and one man," Abdel Rahman told AFP. - Fears of humanitarian disaster - HTS controls more than half of Idlib province, while other rebels, including Ahrar al-Sham, hold most of the rest. Regime troops are present in a southeastern chunk of the province, but observers say a planned offensive could target other peripheral areas of the rebel-held zone. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who backs Syria's government, met the leaders of fellow regime ally Iran and rebel supporter Turkey to determine the fate of the northwestern zone on the Turkish border. On Friday, Putin said that he, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan "discussed concrete measures regarding a phased stabilisation" for Idlib. But a joint statement released after the talks gave few details. Aid groups have warned that any military offensive in Idlib could spark one of the worst humanitarian disasters of Syria's seven-year civil war. Almost three million people live in Idlib and adjacent rebel-held areas, half of whom have already been displaced from other parts of the country, the United Nations says. More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since the war erupted in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests. Grid girls before the start of the race of the Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix on 21 September 2014. (PHOTO: Getty Images) Singapore Airlines (SIA) will continue to feature its iconic cabin crew as grid girls in this years edition of the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix, despite the global race organiser saying that the practice is outdated. SIA said on Thursday (6 September) in response to queries from Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore, Our cabin crew are brand ambassadors for Singapore Airlines and will continue to play an integral role in the upcoming Formula 1 2018 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix. Formula 1s iconic grid girls were models deployed to mark out each racers spot on the grid at the beginning of each race. The decision to stop the practice came after American company Liberty Media bought ownership of F1 in 2017 and instituted a review of the sport. Formula One managing director of commercial operations, Sean Bratches, said in January, While the practice of employing grid girls has been a staple of Formula 1 Grands Prix for decades, we feel this custom does not resonate with our brand values and clearly is at odds with modern-day societal norms. We dont believe the practice is appropriate or relevant to Formula 1 and its fans, old and new, across the world. Communications and branding professionals told Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore that the Singapore Girl remains a prestigious brand. Dean Shams, a communication strategist at public relations agency KinetiqBuzz, said Liberty Media sees the grid girl as a form of sexism since they typically exude a sexual persona with their scantily clad outfits. Rightfully, they want to be seen as a progressive brand. SIA, and Singapore, on the other hand, see Singapore Girls as a local icon. In that respect, they seem like a good fit to represent Singapores brand of uniqueness and hospitality. Emeric Lau, a consultant with branding agency Immortal Singapore, said that there was no harm in SIA continuing to feature their cabin crew at the races for now, but the Singapore Girl as an icon may need review through an updated, contemporary lens. Story continues One possibility is to have both grid boys and girls, Lau added. Separately, organisers of a sugar babies themed party during the Singapore Grand Prix have pulled the event from a line-up of Formula One events due to the controversial nature of the sponsor Sugarbook, a dating platform catering to sugar daddies. Follow Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore on Facebook. UN envoy Griffiths arrives for a news conference on Yemen talks in Geneva UN envoy Martin Griffiths arrives for a news conference on Yemen talks at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland September 8, 2018. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - An attempt to hold peace talks for Yemen was abandoned on Saturday after three days of waiting for the Houthi movement's delegation, but the United Nations envoy vowed to press ahead with diplomacy. The U.N. is renewing efforts to end Yemens war under a peace plan that calls on the Iranian-aligned Houthis and the internationally recognised government, backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to work on a peace deal under a transitional governing body. U.N. Special Envoy Martin Griffiths said the Houthis' failure to come to Geneva for the first talks in three years did not signify that the peace process was deadlocked. Griffiths, who held three days of talks with a Yemeni government delegation, said he would meet in coming days with the Houthi leadership in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and in Muscat, Oman. "They would have liked to get here, we didn't make conditions sufficiently correct to get them here," Griffiths told a news conference, declining to elaborate. Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, whose forces control northern Yemen and the capital Sanaa, accused the Saudi-led coalition of blocking his movement's delegation from travelling to the peace talks. "We all know that the talks collapsed because of the obstruction of the national delegation from leaving and travelling to Geneva by the coalition forces," he said in a speech broadcast on the group's al-Masirah TV. A Saudi-led military coalition intervened in Yemen's war against the Houthis in 2015 with the aim of restoring the government of Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The humanitarian situation has worsened sharply since, putting 8.4 million people on the brink of starvation and ravaging the already weak economy. GUARANTEES SOUGHT The Houthi group said they had wanted guarantees from the United Nations that their plane, supplied by Oman, would not have to stop in Djibouti for inspection by the Saudi-led coalition, after being "sequestrated" there last time for months by the Saudi-led military coalition. They also wanted the plane to evacuate some of their wounded to Oman or Europe. Story continues The coalition have controlled Yemen's airspace since 2015. Griffiths said on Saturday that the restart of a peace process was "a very delicate, fragile moment". "People are coming at a time when perhaps all of their constituencies are not fully engaged and don't see ahead of time results that will come out of talks," he said. "So I don't take this as a fundamental blockage in the process." Confidence-building measures such as prisoner releases, increasing humanitarian access, especially to the city of Taiz, and reopening Sanaa airport were discussed with the government, he said. Agreement has been reached for medical evacuations from Sanaa, to start in a week with a flight to Cairo, he said, calling it an "early achievement". Yemeni Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani, who led the government delegation, accused the Houthis of being "totally irresponsible" and of "trying to sabotage the negotiations". "If they were sincere in reaching peace, they should have come, even if we were meeting in separate rooms," he told a separate news conference before leaving the Swiss city. Yamani also strongly criticised Griffiths, who took over as mediator in February. "We want the U.N. to be firmer in bringing the other party to the negotiations," he said. Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs for the United Arab Emirates, a key member of the Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Arab states, tweeted: "Despite the serious setback in Geneva the way forward is still a political solution. What is perhaps clearer now to the international community is the unwillingness of the Houthis to engage in good faith with such a process." (additional reporting by Aziz El Yaakoubi and Hadeel Al Sayegh in Dubai; Editing by Catherine Evans) More than any other recent American fascist strongman, Donald Trump has prompted lots of hand-wringing among the people who didnt vote for him, and virtually none among the people who did. This is great news for me, because I voted for him and dont like thinking too hard about what Ive done or why I did it, but its also great news for the left wing, because they need to realize that they are responsible for everything the right wing does, and this seems like a teachable moment. Look closely at the rise of Donald Trump and you will see that there is no reason to play the blame game, unless you are blaming people other than me, in which case, there is every reason, so play away! Conventional wisdom might say that the people who voted for a political candidate have something to do with his or her election, but isnt it more eloquent and counterintuitive to say that its somehow somebody elses fault? I dont know or care, but its certainly a lot more convenient for me. So lets look at the facts. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I remember very clearly the earliest indication that Donald Trump would one day rise to the presidency, because, as it happens, it fell on my birthday. I was out for my usual morning walk, when I ran into my neighbora well-meaning liberal with whom I enjoy the occasional political debateout polishing his bright red bicycle. I explained to him that it was my birthday and that my father said I could have anything I wanted for my birthday, and what I wanted was his bicycle. I thought Id encountered liberal smugness before, but when my neighbor performatively fell onto the sidewalk laughing as though the very idea that I would purchase his bike was too funny for words, I knew I had to act fast, before I was forced to support a white supremacist candidate for the presidency of the United States. Quickly, I riffled a thick stack of cash and told my neighbor, My father says everythings negotiable, Pee-Wee, but he responded with a boilerplate liberal talking point: Advertisement I wouldnt sell my bike for all the money in the world. Not for a hundred billion million trillion dollars! That kind of bewilderingly complicated math talk might work on the D.C. cocktail circuit, but it fails to resonate with heartland voters, which means my embrace of open white supremacy is really, really, really not my fault, and also its okay if I just keep on embracing it, going forward. When I challenged my neighbor to debate his point about not selling me his bike, ideally on a college campus, he engaged in typical liberal name-calling, yelling I know you are but what am I? over and over again. I calmly, politely answered him with the simple truth (I know you are, but what am I?) until, faced with facts that didnt care about his feelings, my neighbor fled into the kind of airy abstractions that keep forcing good-hearted conservatives like me to enthusiastically support racists. I know you are, but what am I infinity, my neighbors final talking point, is the kind of smug statement that forecloses all further debate, which is why liberals love to invoke it when theyre refusing to sell me their bike. In that moment, Donald Trumps rise to power became all but inevitable. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The second factor the mainstream media fails to consider when judgmentally saying it was bad that I voted for a man who announced his candidacy by claiming that Mexican immigrants were rapists, is the time my liberal neighbor tried to drown me in my own bathtub. I was peacefully playing war with my toy boats when my neighbor burst in, leapt into my tub and accused me of stealing his bike! It was true, of course, that I had stolen his bike, but when I heard the scorn and disapproval in his voice, I felt bad about myself, and knew I was going to have to devote my life to the cause of white supremacy. Only the timely intervention of my butler prevented me from donning a hood right then and thereand indeed, who would have blamed me, besides my neighbor and my butler and anyone else who heard about it? Advertisement Fortunately, it didnt come to that: My father, Mr. Buxton, was able to counter my neighbors stale talking points with logic and reason and money and institutional power, and my neighbor quickly saw the error of his ways and apologized. He even gave us both a stick of gum, although it later turned out to be prank gum, which is yet another reason that theres nothing wrong with me supporting a racist moron and I shouldnt feel the slightest bit bad about having done it. When liberals lecture, disdain, and correctly deduce that I have stolen their bicycle, they only drive more people into an opposing coalition, which I will refer to as an opposing coalition because when people correctly call my political movement a pack of racist goons, it only draws more people into my political movement, somehow. Advertisement Advertisement Liberals, Im trying to help you here. The United States works best when we have two strong political parties, one of which is composed of people who go out of their way to never point out that the other party is pursuing white supremacy as a matter of policy. When Hollywood tells their version of the Donald Trump story, theyll flatten all the fascinating complexity, turning the rich tapestry that is memy motivations, my thoughts, particularly my thoughts about how Im actually a good person despite the things I dointo a caricature. This will make me feel bad, and that, to me, is bad. After all, its easy to say that youd never sign on for a political program of torture, kidnapping, and murder, right up to the moment you see that another boy has a bicycle you want. So spare us all the sanctimonious talk about how Trump supporters have betrayed our countrys highest ideals. If the left wing is so in love with the idea of America, maybe they should marry it. Or take a pictureitll last longer. George Papadopoulos, the young foreign policy aide whose drunken boast that the Russian government had dirt on Hillary Clinton kicked off the FBIs Trump-Russia investigation, will serve two weeks of prison time. He had pleaded guilty last year to lying to investigators but until Friday had not been sentenced. Prosecutors said Papadopoulos had lied to the government during a January 2017 interview about his meetings with Russians and that [his] lies undermined investigators ability to challenge or potentially detain or arrest Joseph Mifsud, the Maltese professor who may have been a go-between for Papadopoulos and the Russian government. Advertisement Between his arrest and his sentencing, his wife, Simona Mangiante Papadopoulos (they married in March), had become a constant media presence in defense of her husband, and even directly appealed to Donald Trump for a pardon. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Papadopoulos told CNN that he cant guarantee that he didnt tell other campaign officials about the emails he had heard the Russian government had. I might have, but I have no recollection of doing so. I cant guarantee. All I can say is, my memory is telling me that I never shared it with anyone on the campaign, he told CNN. Three other former Trump aidesPaul Manafort, Rick Gates, and Michael Flynnhave either been convicted or pleaded guilty to a variety of crimes brought under the special counsels investigation. Papadopoulos is the first to be sentenced. The Trump administration held several meetings with a group of dissident military officers in Venezuela who claimed they were planning a coup to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro, according to the New York Times. The paper cites 11 current and former U.S. officials and one former Venezuelan commander who was involved in the talks that amounted to at least three meetings with a career diplomat. One of the Venezuelan military commanders involved in the talks is on a U.S. government list of corrupt officials and has been accused of several serious crimes, including torture and jailing political prisoners. Although the Trump administration ended up deciding not to assist the plotters, the news is bound to backfire considering Maduro has long said Washington is trying to oust him from power. Plus, regional leaders arent likely to be happy with the way in which the White House seemed at the very least willing to consider the idea of backing a military coup. Although many in the region have expressed opposition to Maduro at a time when the collapse of the Venezuelan economy has sparked a mass migration out of the country, the mere talk of U.S. involvement in military coups brings back memories of Cold War-era human rights abuses. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement In July, the Associated Press reported that President Donald Trump had brought up the possibility of military intervention in Venezuela at a meeting in the Oval Office in August of last year. That was the same month that Trump publicly declared there was a military option for Venezuela. That public bravado is in part what encouraged the Venezuela military officers to reach out to Washington for assistance. It was the commander in chief saying this now, the former Venezuelan commander told the Times. Im not going to doubt it when this was the messenger. In the meetings, the Venezuelan officers said they represented several hundred members of the armed forces and requested encrypted radios from the United States so they could communicate securely. In the end, the White House declined to participate in the effort and a recent crackdown on alleged coup plotters appears to have unraveled any coup plans. President Donald Trump said he has an easy solution to Apples concerns about rising prices as a result of his trade war with China. The company should simply switch its manufacturing the United States, according to the president. Apple prices may increase because of the massive Tariffs we may be imposing on Chinabut there is an easy solution where there would be ZERO tax, and indeed a tax incentive, Trump wrote on Twitter Saturday. Make your products in the United States instead of China. Start building new plants now. Advertisement The presidents tweet came shortly after Apple sent a letter to the U.S. Trade Representative saying the proposed tariffs on Chinese goods would affect numerous Apple products, including its watch and charging cables. Our concern with these tariffs is that the U.S. will be hardest hit, and that will result in lower U.S. growth and competitiveness and higher prices for U.S. consumers, the company said. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Trump warned on Friday he was ready to step up the trade war with China by slapping tariffs on an additional $267 billion in goods, which would be in addition to the $200 billion in imports his administration is already considering. The $200 billion were talking about could take place very soon, Trump said. To a certain extent, its going to be up to China. That was seen as a sign that there could also be the possibility of a negotiated solution to the trade war. I hate to say that, but behind that, theres another $267 billion ready to go on short notice if I want. That totally changes the equation, Trump told reporters on Air Force One. Advertisement The latest talk on tariffs comes as Chinas trade surplus with the United States rose to a record in August. The surplus hit $31.05 billion in August, an increase from the $28.09 billion in July, according to official data. That is bound to raise tensions considering Trump frequently points to the surplus as evidence that China is beating the United States on trade. Analysts, however, say that one of the reasons why the surplus has increased is because U.S. importers are rushing their orders to avoid being affected by tariffs later. Over the first seven months of the year, weve been seeing many people front-load their orders to avoid the tariffs, one analyst explained. Donald Trump wants Jeff Sessions to launch an investigation of a political enemy again. Trump wants to maybe take some kind of action against the New York Times again. While talking to reporters on Air Force One, Trumpin response to a question about whether the Justice Department should investigate the author of the anonymous op-edsaid, Jeff should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe its national security. In response to reporters asking if he had thought about taking action against the New York Times for publishing the op-ed and hiding the authors identity, Trump saidas he frequently doesIm looking at that right now. Advertisement It would be easy to hyperventilate about this: Trump is siccing his Justice Department on his political opponents and the media! He wants to muzzle the free press! This is worse than Nixon! Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement But for much of his professional life, and especially as a politician, Trump and his staff have periodically leaked and issued completely empty threats against news organizations especially the Timesthat see little or no follow-through. He also regularly directs the Justice Department to go after his political opponents, especially Hillary Clinton, and then, taking a complementary tack, lamented that the DOJ charged two Republican allies with crimes before their November elections. While Trump fails to understand the tradition of Justice Department independence, there is no indication that Sessions takes these complaints particularly seriously or acts on them. Advertisement And for all Trumps fulminating against leakers, the two prosecutions the DOJ has managed to scare up are an indictment of a Senate Intelligence Committee staffer for allegedly lying to investigators and the conviction of former National Security Agency contractor Reality Winner for sending documents about election interference to the Intercept. While there are legitimate questions around the wisdom or harshness of these cases, neither of them address Trumps core complaint of people in the government leaking embarrassing or damaging information about him personally. When outside organizations and individuals publicize things about him he doesnt like, Trump cant unleash the DOJ, so instead his lawyers say theyre going to file lawsuits that never appear. Advertisement After the Times published a story about two women who accused Trump of touching them inappropriately, Trumps lawyers wrote a letter to the paper, and it was reported that they were drafting a lawsuit, which of course never came to fruition. That wasnt the first time during the campaign that Trumps lawyers issued an empty threat against the Times: After the paper published a portion of Trumps tax return, Corey Lewandowski, his former campaign manager, said, The New York Times should be held accountable and I hope that he sues them into oblivion for doing this, while a Trump lawyer threatened prompt initiation of appropriate legal action. There was none. Advertisement Advertisement Trumps crusade against news organizations that make him mad has been even broader than his and his lawyers specific, empty threats: Theres his campaign to open or take a strong look at libel laws (which are done at the state level, not federal). And his pledge to do something to Amazon because hes mad at Jeff Bezos for also owning the Washington Post. But never fear. Even if Trump did want more followthrough on these spur-of-the-moment ideas, his staff would likely ignore or distract him until he moved on to ranting about something else. After all, theres an op-ed and a whole book saying this happens all the time. On Thursday night, Elon Musk sat for a freewheeling two-and-a-half-hour podcast interview with Joe Rogan, a comedian who has used his growing platform to discuss everything from UFC to psychedelics, as well as to elevate Intellectual Dark Web personalities like Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris. It was a fitting venue: Musk, known to troll and thumb his nose at his critics, is exactly the sort of figure that Rogans podcast lionizes. The podcast episode, which was live-streamed on YouTube, has drawn the most attention for the moment when Musk smoked marijuana on air. At around the two-hour mark, Rogan casually pulled out a blunt as Musk was fiddling around with a jar hed found in the studio. When the host asked if Musk had ever smoked a blunt, the CEO replied, I think I tried one once. Then, like a school kid trying to figure out if his new friend is down to break the rules, Rogan teased, Come on man. You probably cant because of stockholders right? Thats when Musk noted that marijuana is legalat least in California, where they were tapingand took a drag. Tesla stock plunged in after-hours trading and is currently down by about 7 percent, which some commentators attributed to the drag, along with the (undoubtedly more consequential) news that two executives are leaving the company. Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement Even before Rogan lit up, though, the interview sounded an awful lot like two stoners shooting the breezenot necessarily a bad thing. As with his other interviews, Rogan was game to indulge tangents and jump erratically from topic to topic. At one moment theyd be discussing human-machine symbiosis, and then Rogans recurring dream in which a million Nikola Teslas roamed the earth, and then the fact that Musk doesnt have a protective case for his phone. Musk himself drifted in and out of the conversation, often abruptly training his attention to random items on Rogans desk. Rogan was happy to show off his souvenirs, handing Musk a samurai sword from the 1500s and promising to buy Musk a clock just like his. Advertisement Rogans tone toward Musk was both gushing and, at times, oddly avuncular. The host again and again marveled at Musks capacity for ingenuity, throwing around terms like super genius and Batman. Yet Rogan also seemed almost concerned for Musks wellbeing, bewildered by how he budgets his time for off-the-cuff projects like the Boring Companys novelty flamethrower and handles his overactive mind. Perhaps inspired by Musks previous admissions that hes sleeping far less than seven hours a night and becoming dependent on Ambien, Rogan pushed the CEO to take up meditation or invest in a sensory deprivation tank to enhance his biological recovery time. Musk seemed somewhat skeptical, as he was when Ariana Huffington suggested that he would be more productive if he committed to getting more rest. Advertisement In the end, Musk didnt reveal too much that we didnt already know. He did hint that his secretive A.I. start up Neuralink will make a major announcement in a month or so and walked through his preliminary plans to build an electric plane. For the most part, though, this mainly just seemed like an opportunity for Musk to take a break to chill, smoke some kush, and play with some sick samurai swords. Advertisement You can watch the full interview here: International Yemen peace talks uncertain as rebels fail to attend SANAA, Sep 7 (Agencies): | Publish Date: 9/7/2018 12:17:27 PM IST The United Nations-mediated peace talks on Yemen have stalled pending the arrival of the Shiite rebels who said they didnt attend because they were not guaranteed safe return after the discussions, Fox News reported. The talks, meant to be the first between Yemens warring parties in two years, were scheduled for Thursday in Geneva. A delegation from Yemens internationally recognized government headed by Foreign Minister Khaled al-Yamani arrived but the rebels, known as the Houthis, have not. The Houthis insist on traveling to Geneva on an Omani flight, saying it would ensure their safe return to Yemen. We want guarantees on our return to Yemen, senior Houthi official Deif Allah al-Shami said Friday. On Thursday, senior rebel official Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said on Twitter that the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemens internationally recognized government refused to grant the Omani flight authorization to transfer their delegation to Geneva. He said the refusal raises the risk of being prevented from returning to Yemen as happened in 2016 after a failed round of talks. The coalition, which has imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Yemen since 2016, denied the allegation. The official SABA news agency carried a Yemeni government statement on Friday blaming the Houthis for hindering the talks and saying their failure to attend shows their intention to thwart any steps taken by the U.N. envoy to bring peace and alleviate the suffering of the Yemeni people. The U.N. special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, held consultations with Yemens government delegation on confidence-building measures including the issue of prisoners, humanitarian access, the reopening of Sanaa airport in addition to economic issues, U.N. spokeswoman Alessandra Vellucci said Friday. The special envoy for Yemen also met with diplomats and is still working on getting the Ansar Allah delegation (Houthis) to Geneva, she said. Yemen has been embroiled in a war pitting the Saudi-led coalition backing the government of Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi against the Iran-aligned rebels since March 2015. Saudi-led airstrikes have hit schools, hospitals and wedding parties and killed thousands of Yemeni civilians. The Houthis have fired long-range missiles into Saudi Arabia and targeted vessels in the Red Sea. An estimated 10,000 people have been killed in Yemens conflict, which has spawned what the U.N. calls the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. That damn op-ed! Two days later and people are still chewing over the New York Times opinion-section column from an anonymous senior Trump administration official who claimed to be part of an effort to thwart Trumps worst inclinations from within. Its such big news that people are even talking about it off of the internet. The old people and parents and late adopters who usually stay either fully offline or confine themselves to the relative safety of Facebook are coming out of the woodwork to try to unmask the op-ed authors identity. To do so, theyre resorting to some interesting methods. Like contacting their children who are journalists to demand answers, which the journalists are then dutifully tweeting about. Advertisement Whoever wrote the op-Ed - could you please let my mom know? pic.twitter.com/Y7sZgHiP7S Emily Tamkin (@emilyctamkin) September 6, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement I told my mom who I think it is, and told her she could not tell anybody. https://t.co/XPHl7wnPNw Laura Rozen (@lrozen) September 6, 2018 Advertisement Text from my mom: "WTF who wrote that Op-Ed? You can tell me." Michael S. Schmidt (@nytmike) September 5, 2018 Same. Also please include my dad, brother, 2 friends from kindergarten & my college roommate who is rightfully annoyed that everyone thinks the author is definitively male. https://t.co/ogyP9CJlcR sarah margon (@sarahmargon) September 6, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement Rather than tweeting, Jon Favreau podcasted about it instead, sharing with his Pod Save America listeners the story of a cyclist who asked him who wrote the op-ed while stopped at a red light. In instances when inquiring minds dont have a connection to a reporter or member of the media to exploit, theyve taken to calling the New York Times directly. This is after White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders directed a few of them this way, of course. So the NYT switchboard is routing calls for Opinion to...me. And you can guess what people are calling about. Caller 1: "Thank you!" 2: "Oh, well if you're a reporter, can you explain this anonymous sources stuff to me?" [a nice 5-min convo about journalism ensues] 3: just a rant https://t.co/jL2yRmrQd0 Vivian Yee (@VivianHYee) September 6, 2018 Advertisement Advertisement andddd it's starting. just got my first call at my landline: "hello, i'm looking for the opinion desk?" was tempted to tell the woman (who sounded very nice!) that it was don jr and get it over with Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 6, 2018 Advertisement Now for something different. Just got a call on my work line. "Hello, I'm looking for the opinion section. Sarah Huckabee Sanders told us to angrily call you. I am not angry. The New York Times is doing a great job." I paused. Made me sad to tell her I wasn't the right number. Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) September 7, 2018 Advertisement Just got a ring from a lovely woman calling from Wisconsin. Told her I was born in Madison and still go back to see my grandfather in Eau Claire. She and her family are heading there tomorrow! Small world. Hope it's a great trip. Don't know who wrote the op ed though! Amanda Hess (@amandahess) September 6, 2018 When all else fails, people have also proved happy to speculate with the closest available strangers. Advertisement Zuzana Limovas documentary Before I Met You examines the state of maternity wards in Slovakia. The documentary film 'Before I Met You' explores what its like to give birth in Slovakia I completed the documentary as part of my diploma project. Since its release, it has caused a huge media uproar. Human rights organizations have started to screen it internationally Seeing the problem on film is very different from reading about it in a report. The film has become a tool for many activists. However, what we presented is nothing new. The problem in Slovakia has been flagged by many international watchdogs. The Ministry of Health will be releasing new guidelines for obstetricians Slovak doctors will now have to follow a new medical protocol, one which is based on evidence instead of out-of-date procedures and habits. Is this institutional change a result of our film? We cant say for sure, but it is nice to see change happen. Read Also: Read Also: Slovak migrant shares the stories of other migrants to understand her own Read more That is the power of the moving picture I studied documentary filmmaking in Italy during a three year program. From the very start, I worked with an international team, which gave the project more credibility. The film is also based on my personal experience; my daughter was born in Slovakia When I gave birth, I was really confused by the very weird and very strict regime that operated in the state wards. It seemed like not much had changed from the past. Sure, the hospitals had better equipment. But the thinking had not changed at all. People are angry because it is difficult to look in the mirror We received numerous threats before the film was released. Some people were very upset that we exposed the topic. I thought the public debate would take a different direction, more towards a discussion of the mothers. But the stakeholders seemed to be focused on a completely different topic. They wanted to analyse whether the film was objective or not? For generations, thousands upon thousands of women have been complaining. They knew that something was not right in the birth wards of Slovakia yet our society has denied their pain. We have normalized obstetric violence. Its the same excuse every time, this is how we have always done it Well, things have to change, like separating mothers from their children after birth. The medical community knows that this practice is wrong and even harmful. We still have a long way to go Perhaps we are still not grown up enough as a society to talk about certain things. A major part of our population was raised in a different regime. If I did not live abroad, maybe I would think what is happening in Slovakia is normal too I was lucky to experience something different. I cannot even compare the maternity wards in Northern Italy to those at home. The doctors and staff take a very different approach with the mothers-to-be. This film made me a human rights activist This was not my goal, but because of the uproar the project needed a spokesperson. I became its voice and in doing so, the voice of the topic as well. Lets not shoot the messenger We cannot expect a society that has been traumatized for many years to all of a sudden clap its hands and cheer at being exposed to its own shadow. We need to end the silence This testimony was originally published in Zuzana Palovics book, The Great Return. You can learn more about the book as well as Palovics own journey as a Slovak migrant that later returned to Slovakia at http://thegreatreturn.eu/. 8. Sep 2018 at 10:00 | Zuzana Palovic Tauranga residents can expect a change to postal services around the city. In a statement released earlier this week, New Zealand Post has announced the closures of both its Bayfair and Greerton branches. As a way to continue to provide postal services to the community that up to now have been provided by Bayfair Mall NZ Post and Kiwibank, the organisation is also partnering with Girven Road Pharmacy in Bayfair from October 4. To cover services in Greerton, a partnership has also been formed with Unichem Greerton Pharmacy at 221 Chadwick Road, who will take over postal services from October 8. NZ Post Head of Retail Mark Yagmich says in each location the PO Box lobby will remain unchanged. Bayfair customers will be able to collect oversize and signature required items from Girven Road Pharmacy rather than the existing Bayfair Mall branch. Similarly oversized items, postal services and bill payments will also be handled from Unichem Greerton Pharmacy. Until these dates there will be no changes to postal products and services and the box lobby offered at Bayfair Mall NZ Post & Kiwibank, and Greerton NZ Post and Kiwibank, says Mark. The postal services currently available at Tauranga NZ Post and Kiwibank in Cameron Rd, Tauranga, will be moved to nearby agencies, including Paper Plus Tauranga, Cherrywood Variety Store, Paper Plus Bethlehem and Unichem Brookfield Pharmacy. While we understand this is a change in how people will access postal services, which we recognize are essential to the community, we are having to make these changes in order to operate a commercially sustainable business. This model of working with local agents is more financially sustainable for NZ Post, in an ever-changing mix of postal services usage - the decline of mail, versus the increase in parcel services. Its also good for the local businesses we work with as it provides additional business for them and more customers coming through their doors to pick up a parcel or send a postcard. NZ Post provides postal services through local businesses in this way in many of our over 880 postal outlets throughout New Zealand, as a way of being financially sustainable in the face of letter decline. The announcement has been met with much strife from those within affected communities. Meanwhile, one Greerton businessman shared his disapproval to SunLive about the changes earlier this week. He says he's frustrated over the changes and believes it will be a sore loss, particularly to the elderly community of Greerton. Walney Extension Offshore Wind Farm. Credit: Walney Extension The world's largest offshore windfarm has officially opened. The project commanding the Numero Uno status is the Walney Extension. An official inauguration was marked as September 6, and it now means that the Walney Extension overtakes the London Array as the world's largest offshore wind farm. How large? Stats say the farm, located in the Irish Sea off the Walney Island coast in Cumbria, covers an area of around 145 sq km (55 square miles). Project watchers are talking electricity for nearly 600,000 UK homes. It's especially being touted as having been built on time and on budget. It's also being described as a "659-megawatt project." The Danish company Orsted, PKA and PFA are the names behind this project. According to Reuters, "Walney Extension is a shared-ownership project between Orsted (50 percent) and two Danish pension funds - PFA and PKA (25 percent each)." Reports referred to the installation of 87 wind turbines from two different manufacturers. The Engineer walked readers through those behind the 87 turbines 40 MHI Vestas 8MW turbines and 47 Siemens Gamesa 7MW turbines, with blades manufactured in Hull and the Isle of Wight. Large and powerful turbines are project highlights. The Guardian said "The project is a sign of how dramatically wind technology has progressed in the past five years since the previous biggest, the London Array, was finished. The new windfarm uses less than half the number of turbines but is more powerful." Adam Vaughan in The Guardian quoted Matthew Wright, the UK managing director of Danish energy firm rsted, who said, " bigger turbines, with fewer positions and a bit further out is really the shape of projects going forward." Life span? Power Technology said the wind farm will have a life span of approximately 25 years. The Walney Extension promotional video cited the UK as "the global leader in offshore wind." A Reuters report similarly stated that "Britain is the world's largest offshore wind market, hosting 36 percent of globally installed offshore wind capacity, data from the Global Wind Energy Council showed." Actually, global offshore rankings looked like this, from The Global Wind Energy Council, which is the international trade association for the wind power industry: "At the end of 2017, nearly 84% (15,780MW) of all offshore installations were located in the waters off the coast of eleven European countries. The remaining 16% is located largely in China, followed by Vietnam, Japan, South Korea, the United States and Taiwan. "The UK is the world's largest offshore wind market and accounts for just over 36% of installed capacity, followed by Germany in the second spot with 28.5%. China comes third in the global offshore rankings with just under 15%. Denmark now accounts for 6.8%, the Netherlands 5.9%, Belgium 4.7% and Sweden 1.1%. Other markets including Vietnam, Finland, Japan, South Korea, the US, Ireland, Taiwan, Spain, Norway and France make up the balance of the market." Talking to Reuters in an interview, Matthew Wright, Orsted UK managing director, offered his reasons for why the UK is prominent for offshore success. He said it was a combination "of strong wind speeds and shallow waters in the North Sea and Irish Sea as well as continued support from the government." This marks Orsted's 11th offshore wind farm in the UK. 2018 Tech Xplore Dedicated to the Restoration of Progressive Democracy Mountain Shadows in Wayanad is just the place for a dreamy vacation True crime documentary Exposed: The Case of Keli Lane, sees , Caro Meldrum-Hanna delve into a crime that began 22 years ago and uncovers new information. This airs across three Tuesday nights from late September. A missing baby. Her mother behind bars. Award-winning journalist Caro Meldrum-Hanna in her most gripping investigation yet. In this ground-breaking three-part television event, Exposed: The Case of Keli Lane, Caro Meldrum-Hanna investigates one of Australias most notorious crimes: the disappearance of two-day old Tegan Lane and the conviction of her mother Keli Lane of her murder. Will Keli finally break her silence? What happened to baby Tegan? In December 2010 Keli Lane was found guilty of murdering her newborn daughter Tegan. During the entirely circumstantial case, the prosecution argued Keli killed Tegan because having a child would interfere with her goal to play water polo for Australia at the 2000 Olympic Games. Over the years Keli has steadfastly maintained her innocence, sticking to her story that after concealing her pregnancy from everybody, she had given Tegan to the babys father a man named Andrew Norris, who has never been found. Now, 22 years after Tegan vanished, Keli has asked Caro to investigate her story. Assisted by investigative journalist Elise Worthington, Caro sets out to shed new light on the mystery of Tegans disappearance. What dark secrets is Keli keeping? Is Tegan dead or could she be alive? Was Kelis trial a miscarriage of justice? Caro and Elise revisit key people in Kelis life and track down new witnesses, revealing information and material that has never been found. As the journalists piece together the puzzle of Keli Lanes life, a different picture of her begins to emerge. As the series hurtles towards its suspenseful conclusion, Caro becomes a character in her own search for the truth. 8.30pm 25 September on ABC. Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchucks latest TV dance-card is Pose, a rather fabulous retro indulgence set in 1987 New York. The world of Madonnas Vogue was ripped straight from the House Balls of New Yorks queer and predominantly African-American community. At a time when HIV-AIDS was rife and American wealth was symbolised by Wall Street & Trump Tower, many of societys outcasts formed community clusters who would compete in fashion-offs amongst their own kind. Balls were a gathering of people who are not welcome anywhere else, Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista (Mj Rodriguez) explains. Its a moment to become a star. Being able to fit into the straight white world to embody the American dream. But we dont have access to that dream she continues, dance your way into a world of acceptability. Blanca is a defiant young transgender who discovers she is HIV positive and compelled to break free from the House of Abundance. She has a dream to form her own House to make her mark on the world. Pose sees her assemble her young flock of outcasts. Amongst them is Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain), a 17 year old gay dancer who is banished from his home because of his sexual orientation. He wants to enrol at the New School of Dance, but there are more immediate priorities such as a roof over his head, which Blanca offers. Then there is Angel (Indya Moore) a transgender prostitute, yet to have enough money for a life-changing operation. She meets Stan (Evan Peters), a rising executive who works at Trump Tower. Stan represents all that is the American Dream, including with his own young family, yet he is attracted to the alternative, ribald world of Angel in backstreets and hotel rooms. Pose also explodes with flamboyant supporting characters including balls emcee Pray Tell (Billy Porter), rival house mother Elektra (Dominique Jackson) as well as James Van Der Beek and Kate Mara as Stans boss and wife, respectively. The soundtrack of Donna Summer, 10CC, Kate Bush bursts from ghetto blasters and cassettes all adding to Ryan Murphys trademark theatricality. There were times I was reminded of Fame, especially those in the dance school. Whats also remarkable is that Pose is built from a large cast of transgender actors (the largest for a TV drama), who all deliver vibrant and authentic performances. Mj Rodriguez and Ryan Jamaal Swain are the cast stand-outs -call me crazy but Ive never really understood Murphys obsession with putting Evan Peters in everything he does -I guess hes loyal. As this struts its way through fashion categories of Royalty, Evening Wear and Business, Pose is as brash as they come and you cant help but feel this is going to get even better the more it goes on. Pose airs 8:30pm Tuesday on Showcase. Sunday newspapers have today confirmed TV Tonights exclusive that Grant Denyer & Amanda Keller will host Dancing with the Stars. The show is revived by TEN early next year, produced by Warner Bros. Studios Australia. They have also confirmed Julia Morris and Dr. Chris Brown as hosts of a local version of Saturday Night Take Away as reported exclusively by TV Tonight back in May. They will front Sunday Night Take Away produced by ITV Studios Australia. The studio-audience show includes musical numbers, hidden camera pranks and prize giveaways. Its not like anything else weve seen in this country, Julia Morris tells Fairfax. Its feel-good stuff. I think we just want to sit down with family and friends and not watch nastiness any more. A planned attempt to stage the variety series by Seven in 2016 did not eventuate. Grant Denyer will also host Celebrity Name Game, first reported last month. In case youve lost track of TENs dance card heres where we are at: 2018: Game of Games Grant Denyer Blind Date Julia Morris 2019: Im a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here Julia Morris & Chris Brown Sunday Night Take Away Julia Morris & Chris Brown Dancing with the Stars Grant Denyer & Amanda Keller Celebrity Name Game Grant Denyer Updated: Network Ten Chief Content Officer, Beverley McGarvey, said: Chris & Julias Sunday Night Takeaway with Chris Brown and Julia Morris will be an exciting addition to our Sunday night line-up. There is nothing like Chris & Julias Sunday Night Takeaway on Australian television. It is live and dangerously shiny family entertainment at its best. Julia Morris said: I absolutely love Ant & Decs Saturday Night Takeaway and cant believe my luck that I get to stand alongside my beloved Docteur and host our very own local version of the show. Takeaway is the ultimate combination of hilarious, exciting, heartwarming and completely nuts. The Docteur and I are a natural fit! Chris Brown added: This is such an exciting and dynamic show to be a part of. But best of all, its got a massive heart that will deliver such a huge hit of warmth into Australian lounge rooms. Just like Takeaway should. Julia and I have forged such a delightfully unique and fun friendship in our jungle treehouse so the thought of bringing that to an Australian studio that isnt a major lightning hazard is incredibly exciting. Chris & Julias Sunday Night Takeaway is an ITV Studios Global Entertainment format from the UK based on Ant & Decs Saturday Night Takeaway which was created by hosts, Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly. It has been airing on ITV since 2002, as well as being made locally in a further 10 countries including the US and Germany. ITV Studios Australia CEO, David Mott, said: Takeaway is simply the biggest global entertainment format around. The perfect marriage of Julia and Chris incredible talent, along with the format will be the ultimate variety show. Chris & Julias Sunday Night Takeaway is going to be the most fun night in youve ever had. Big fun, live and dangerous television is back. - Amanda Keller said: I cant wait to be part of the spangley madness that is Dancing With The Stars. Having been a terrified, uncoordinated contestant, it will be fun to lend a sympathetic ear and a spare sequin or two, to a new batch of amateur hoofers. My own brand of dancing failed to the impress all those years ago. Hopefully Ill have more success this time around off the dance floor. Im so excited. And lets face it, this is the only way Im guaranteed to get to the grand finale. Grant Denyer said: The worldwide success of Dancing With The Stars is simply phenomenal and the show has never been stronger, including a stunning 26 seasons in the US and now 15 in the UK. Its such a much-loved show and its incredible to be part of its triumphant return here in Australia. This series will be much bigger, more glamourous and dazzling than ever. Australia has never seen dancing this spectacular. Get ready for something truly outstanding. Im so happy Im crying sequins down my fake tanned cheeks. Network Ten Chief Content Officer, Beverley McGarvey, said: Dancing With The Stars is feel-good family fun and we are thrilled to have such an iconic series on TEN early next year. Amanda and Grant are firm favourites with viewers so we are delighted to have them together as co-hosts for the first time. They will bring all the glitz, glamour and fancy dance moves that viewers will expect with a few laughs thrown in too. Warner Bros. Managing Director, Michael Brooks, said: We are incredibly excited to partner with TEN and BBC Studios in what will be the most ambitious series of Dancing With The Stars to ever hit Australian TV screens. Weve assembled a star-studded creative team with experience across the US, UK and Australian series of Dancing With The Stars. This will be a spectacular, must-see TV event in 2019. BBC Studios ANZ Managing Director, Jon Penn, said: Australia was the first country to launch Dancing With The Stars outside the UK in 2004 and were delighted that TEN and Warner Bros. will be reinventing it for a fresh generation of fans. FILE PHOTO: Agents of the Technical Criminal Investigation Agency (ATIC) escort Kentucky attorney Eric Christopher Conn, 57, wanted by the FBI over his role in a disability fraud scheme, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras December 5, 2017. REUTERS/Jorge Cabrera Thomson Reuters (Reuters) - A disbarred Kentucky lawyer who was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in a record $550 million disability fraud scheme on Friday was ordered to serve an additional 15 years after he fled to Honduras to avoid incarceration. Eric Conn, who ran one of the largest disability practices in the United States, was sentenced to the additional prison term by U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves in Lexington, Kentucky, the U.S. Justice Department said. The sentencing came after Conn, who called himself Mr. Social Security," pleaded guilty in June to three counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to escape. He had pleaded guilty in March 2017 to charges stemming from the fraud scheme, but he fled that June before his sentencing. Reeves subsequently sentenced him in absentia to 12 years in prison. Conn, 58, was ultimately arrested in December at a Pizza Hut restaurant in the coastal city of La Ceiba, Honduras, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Reeves also ordered Conn to pay $72.6 million in restitution. A lawyer for Conn, who lived in Pikeville, Kentucky, did not respond to a request for comment. Prosecutors said that from 2004 to 2016, Conn participated in a scheme that involved submitting falsified medical documents to the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) to obtain disability benefits for thousands of people. Prosecutors said that from 2004 through 2011, Conn paid a now-retired SSA administrative law judge about $10,000 a month to award benefits to his clients for whom Conn submitted falsified medical documents. As a result, the administrative judge issued decisions granting benefits in well over 1,700 of Conn's clients' cases, prosecutors said. Conn also paid medical professionals to sign fabricated medical forms before evaluations of his clients took place, prosecutors said. (Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler) See Also: Donald Trump President of the United State negotiates NAFTA deal with Mexico and Canada trade tariffs The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took a back seat for the first half of 2018 as testy relations between the US and China dominated trade talks. However, the issue is now firmly front and centre for politicians, and stock markets. While on the Presidential election trail two years ago, Donald Trump called NAFTA the single worst trade deal ever approved in US history. In August 2017, he repeated that claim on Twitter as he began re-negotiation talks with Mexico and Canada. A year later following many threats to pull out of the deal entirely and there has been progress. Last week, it was confirmed that the US and Mexico had agreed, in principle, to new terms. Now, the onus is very much on the US to bring on board Canada, but that may well prove tricky. The two parties have had preliminary talks and, after a break over the long Labor Day weekend, negotiations resumed in earnest on Wednesday. It appears Mexico has ceded to some of Trumps demands; Canada arent guaranteed to do similar. Trump continues his abrasive approach on the issue, tweeting there is no political necessity to keep Canada in the new NAFTA deal. However, this does not seem to faze his North American neighbours, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau seemingly taking a page out of Theresa Mays Brexit playbook, countering: No NAFTA is better than a bad BAFTA deal for Canadians, and thats what we are going to stay with." The New NAFTA The main changes are around automobiles. In the current agreement, companies must manufacture at least 62.5% of a passenger car or light trucks value in North America. That threshold will rise to 75%. Further, a new rule stipulates that at least 40-45% of a car must be made by workers earning at least $16 an hour. Thats more than five times the amount Mexican auto sector workers currently earn. On this point, economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch note comments by Mexican authorities that state 70% of vehicles produced in the region already satisfy the new requirements. For the other 30%, a two-year period will be given to comply and an interim Most Favourable Nation tariff of just 2.5% will be applied. Story continues Other areas the agreement updated were regarding agriculture and intellectual property. Alejo Czerwonko, director of emerging markets investment strategy at UBS Wealth Management, sees the development as a step in the right direction towards modernising an agreement that is 24 years old. The US has already allayed Canadian fears around the sunset termination clause. Trumps administration had initially wanted the agreement negotiated every five years, but has agreed a 16-year clause, which BAMLs economists reckon Canada will find acceptable. The US also wants to eliminate Chapter 19 of the agreement, an important resolution mechanism. This is the current main sticking point for Canada, but BAML also thinks this will be resolved acceptably for all parties. Mexico managed to preserve Chapter 20 and Chapter 11 and part of Chapter 19, the economists note. If the US shows flexibility in Chapter 19, Canada would have no big reason to remain outside the agreement. Timeframes are tight for bringing Canada back into the fold. The US and Mexico both want President Trump and Enrique Pena Nieto to sign the deal by 1 December, which is when Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, known as AMLO, takes over as President of Mexico. This will ensure AMLO can focus on putting through the populist policies upon which he campaigned. Czerwonko expects the countries to eventually reach a trilateral deal. Still, any three-way agreement, or bilateral deal between the US and Mexico, will need to be agreed by Congress before it can come into force. Clearly, Canada being part of the deal will help on that front. How Will a New NAFTA Impact All Parties? For the US, this year has largely been about its trade skirmish with China. However, NAFTA is of great importance to the States, Edward Park, says investment director at Brooks Macdonald, as Canada and Mexico are its largest single country export markets. Its also more balanced than other relationships the US has, he adds. Canada, for example, represents $282.3 billion of exports and $299.3 billion of imports for the US. US exports to China, on the other hand, are just $129.9 billion; its imports from China, meanwhile, total $505.5 billion. This means if a trade deal does not materialise with Canada, there could be a more significant impact on US exporters and supply chains than negotiations with other trade partners, Park continues. There is, of course, still a worry that the US will dump NAFTA altogether as a worst-case scenario. This would not be good for Mexicos economy in the long run, says Verena Wachnitz, portfolio manager of the T. Rowe Price Latin American Equity fund. While that is true, counters Park, the impact of no deal would be largely sector specific, as in many areas NAFTA trading terms are relatively close to WTO rules. Some areas would bear the brunt of no deal much more than others. Mexican light-trucks, for instance, can currently enter the US tariff-free; under WTO rules this would rise to 25%. But should a deal eventually be signed, first and foremost it will reduce uncertainty and remove a key tail risk for the Mexican economy, says Douglas Reed, global strategist and economist at Newton Investment Management. A good deal would benefit Canada, too, with the obvious positive being a reduction of uncertainty in US-Canada trade relations. Current uncertainty will likely keep Canadian asset prices volatile for the time being, says BAML. Will a NAFTA Deal Impact US-China Trade Relations? The next question is whether any deal between the North American countries will have a spill-over into trade talks between the US and China, which dont look like improving any time soon. One suggestion is it proves Trump is willing to be flexible around trade. BAML thinks the US-Mexico deal reduces the risk of escalation of global trade wars, as it provides a path for an eventual US-China agreement, even if in principle. But Czerwonko is more cautious, warning clients against extrapolating NAFTA optimism to the realm of US-China bilateral relationships. Trump administration documents demonstrate that current concerns about China reach beyond the narrow issue of trade, suggesting they are not going to dissipate easily. Lafferty sees little movement on the China front until President Xi Jinping visits the US in late autumn. The likelihood is trump will place tariffs on a further $200 billion of Chinese goods, possibly as soon as this week, with $60 billion in retaliation from China. Park also points out the US has far less to lose by embarking on a protectionist trade war, as the amount of imports China can levy tariffs on is more limited. Should Donald Trump start to gain traction in signing US friendly trade deals it is likely to solidify the harder line that the administration is adopting with China. Investor Positioning Wachnitz says Mexican assets performed modestly, but positively, last week the peso strengthened by less than 1% after the announcement and maintains an AMLO risk premium, which she doesnt expect to disappear anytime soon. This suggests the market was already discounting a high probability of a trade agreement. On a more global view, Janet Johnston, portfolio manager at active ETF provider TrimTabs Asset Management, says her firms TrimTabs All Cap US Free Cash Flow ETF (TTAC) recently took out a couple of semiconductor names where the supply chain is really complicated, to reduce exposure to the US-China trade war. Czerwonko says UBS recently reduced its overweight position in global equities, bringing its overall tactical asset allocation stance to broadly neutral. A key reason for our risk reduction was our view that the market was not pricing in the increased risk of the US-China tariff issue. UK Ambassador to the UN, Karen Pierce, speaks to the UN Security Council during a meeting about a chemical attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter using a military-grade nerve agent, at the U.N. headquarters in New York City UK Ambassador to the United Nations, Karen Pierce, speaks to the United Nations Security Council during a meeting about a chemical attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter using a military-grade nerve agent, at the U.N. headquarters in New York City, U.S., September 6, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Britain's Ambassador to the United Nations Karen Pierce on Friday named several Syrian generals and their units stationed around rebel-held Idlib province, warning in the Security Council that they would be punished for any major military offensive on civilians. An estimated 3 million people live in the last major stronghold of active opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule. Syrian government and Russian warplanes began air strikes in Idlib this week in a possible prelude to a full-scale offensive. The presidents of Turkey, Iran and Russia, meeting in Tehran on Friday for a summit of key foreign players in Syria's war, failed to agree on a ceasefire in Idlib. Russia has described Idlib as a "nest of terrorists," while the United Nations has warned an assault on the area could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe. "There are more babies in Idlib than there are terrorists and I think that should give those engaging in military action pause for thought," Pierce told a U.N. Security Council meeting on Idlib on Friday. She named units of the Syrian armed forces and their commanders that Britain believed were stationed around Idlib, including the 4th Armored Division, the Republican Guard, Tiger Forces and 2nd and 5th Corps. "In addition to the Syrian regime, these commanders, these units, will be held accountable by the international community" if there is major offensive with mass civilian casualties, Pierce warned. A Syrian government offensive on Idlib could be the seven-year-long war's last decisive battle. Tehran and Moscow have helped Damascus turn the course of the war. "We are firmly under the impression our Western partners are stoking hysteria around Idlib, and in any way are attempting to prevent the fall of the last major terrorist stronghold in Syria," said Russian U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia. U.N. Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura warned the council that there were "all the ingredients for a perfect storm" in Idlib and the United Nations was ready to work with all parties on evacuation routes if they were required. Story continues "People should be granted safe passage to places of their own choosing if they want to leave temporarily. We must allow the opening of a sufficient number of protected voluntary evacuation routes for civilians in any direction," he said. U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said militant groups in Idlib could be targeted effectively without causing a humanitarian catastrophe. She also said the United States would not consider reconstruction aid for Syria until it sees "concrete results from a genuine political process that ends the war and offers freedom to the Syrian people." "No one else should either. That would be absurd," she told the council. Nebenzia said this was "not acceptable." (Reporting by Michelle Nichols, editing by G Crosse) Sky News The sight of an extremely rare radiated tortoise inching its way along the dusty curb of a road in southern Madagascar is emblematic of what the country is going through. The creature, with its unusual high shield and distinctive yellow markings, is critically endangered. In a land where more than 90% of the human population are said to be living below the poverty line, earning the equivalent of less than $2 a day, the temptation to plunder the country's natural resources is overwhelming for some - especially when many are struggling to live, eat, survive. Cyprus Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides, right, and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian shake hands after they make statements to media during a press conference after their meeting at the Cypriot foreign ministry in capital Nicosia, Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. Cyprus and France have in recent years bolstered ties in the fields of energy, the economy, defense, and culture. French oil and gas company Total is licensed to search for hydrocarbons off Cyprus' southern coast. (AP Photo/ Philippos Christou) NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) -- France's foreign minister says his country is looking to bolster defense cooperation with Cyprus that could help augment Europe's presence in the east Mediterranean. Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday after talks with his Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides that France wants a more united, democratic and sovereign Europe "whose voice is heard with greater power in the world." Christodoulides said Cyprus is ready to work with France to fulfill the ambition of French President Emmanuel Macron that Europe takes more responsibility for its own defense. French warships often use the east Mediterranean island-nation some 100 miles (160 kilometers) from Syria's coastline as a resupply and refueling stop. The two ministers also discussed expanding energy cooperation. French company Total is already licensed to search for hydrocarbons off Cyprus' southern coast. After a week in which three separate flights had to be quarantined due to reported illness, an expert breaks down what you need to know to stay safe. (Photo: Getty Images) Three planes traveling to the U.S. from overseas this week had to be quarantined upon arrival. The first was a flight from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that landed at New Yorks John F. Kennedy Airport on Wednesday; the second and third flights arrived at Philadelphia International Airport on Thursday. All three flights contained a number of passengers returning from Mecca, Saudi Arabia, where there has been a flu outbreak, NBC Philadelphia reports. Rapper Vanilla Ice, who was a passenger on the flight traveling from Dubai, called the situation crazy on Facebook. Im stuck on the runway with like 1000 police, ambulances, fire trucks, he wrote. He later tweeted, So happy Im up top, after hearing of passengers on the bottom level of the double-decker plane who were reportedly ill. Apparently, there is over 100 people sick. A quarantine helps protect the public by preventing exposure to people who have or may have a contagious disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. There are quarantine stations across the country to help facilitate these periods of isolation to prevent other people from becoming ill, infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. The CDC has a host of information online about preventing the spread of illness on flights, but what actually happens in a quarantine situation remains a little murky. According to the CDC, the flights crew members need to report to the pilot all sick passengers with certain symptoms: a fever with a rash, persistent cough, or persistent vomiting; a fever that has lasted for more than 48 hours; or if the person has other symptoms of a communicable disease. The pilot is also urged to contact the CDC quarantine station closest to their arrival city. Adalja, who is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, says the latest quarantines were very brief. (NBC Philadelphia reports that people were quarantined for several hours on Wednesday.) Officials were quickly seeing what was going on, and then the passengers disembarked, he says. Everyone was allowed to go on their way. It was not a strict quarantine. Story continues Officials have to figure out whats going on, he adds, pointing out that symptoms could be caused by something other than an infectious disease. You have to err on the side of caution, especially as were getting close to flu season, Adalja says. If you spot someone on your flight who seems to have these symptoms, Adalja says its important to alert a flight attendant. As for yourself, Adalja recommends people practice good hand hygiene while avoiding contact with body fluids. Legally, theres not much passengers can do if theyre under a mandated quarantine. The CDC has the jurisdiction by law under section 361 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S. Code 264), to take measures to prevent the entry and spread of communicable diseases from foreign countries into the United States and between states. The CDC also states on its website: When alerted about an ill passenger or crew member by the pilot of a plane or captain of a ship, CDC may detain passengers and crew as necessary to investigate whether the cause of the illness on board is a communicable disease. Laws regarding this vary by state, but in most states, according to the CDC, breaking a quarantine order is a criminal misdemeanor. Basically, you can be arrested if you push your way off a plane thats been quarantined. But potential legal issues aside, its a good idea to cooperate from a public health standpoint, Adalja says. Officials are just trying to keep contagious infectious diseases from spreading, he says. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. Will asteroid mining create the worlds first trillionaires? (Getty) Scientists and private companies are readying for a new space race a very lucrative one, with companies racing to grab asteroids worth billions each. Americas U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has begun to seriously evaluate the potential of space-based mining targets. At a discussion held in Colorado this summer, Angel Abbud-Madrid, director of the Center for Space Resources at the Colorado School of Mines said, The space-resources community will benefit greatly from working together with the USGS to assess the location and value of minerals, energy and water on the moon, Mars and asteroids. Goldman Sachs has predicted that the worlds first trillionaires could be created by a new asteroid gold rush. Several big companies aim to invest in the space (Getty) British company Asteroid Mining Corporation aims to be at the forefront of this, says founder Mitch Hunter-Scullion in an interview with Yahoo News. Hunter-Scullion says, A single metallic asteroid just 25 meters in diameter (2 double decker buses) would contain 29 tonnes of platinum worth 725 million (15% of current global supply), while the rest of its metals would bring the total value to 2.3 billion. READ MORE ON YAHOO NEWS UK: BBC presenter Rachael Bland dies at 40 after cancer battle Two Salisbury Novichock attack suspects are Russian spies, Theresa May says Man, 66, has his wallet stolen as hes dying from heart attack Donald Trump hits out at fraud tell-all book written by Watergate reporter Japan typhoon: At least 11 dead and 600 injured after worst storm in 25 years AMC are working to develop the Asteroid Prospecting Satellite One (APS-1), this will launch in late 2020 to conduct a survey of the Near Earth Asteroids to identify ones that contain Platinum Group Metals and Gold. It is now possible to do such a mission on very cheap budgets thanks to CubeSats, we estimate it will cost 2.3 million for the Prospecting phase. Once we have this information then we will then use it to compile a database of asteroids that are closest to Earth and cheapest to fly to, that contains the most Platinum and Gold that we will sell access to. The demand for this data stems from its disruptive impact to the global economy. Story continues We will then use the revenues from the Space Resource Database to fund our own Asteroid Mining mission in the mid to late 2020s. Therefore being both the Shovel Salesman and the Miner. Asteroids of this size could in theory be moved into a Lunar Orbit to be easily accessible from Earth but easy to mine. And could alongside the Deep Space Gateway form the bedrock of a Lunar Orbital infrastructure to facilitate the colonisation of the Moon. Several companies are now building the machines which will take us there including Deep Space Industries, which is building a steam-powered thruster for spacecraft. American companies such as Planetary Resources backed by Titanic director James Cameron are already planning to send robotic vehicles to mine precious metals and rare resources from asteroids. NASAs Psyche mission is set to launch in 2022 and will target a metal-rich asteroid known as 16 Psyche, estimated to be worth 8,000 quadrillion. Christian Schroeder of the University of Stirling says, Asteroids crossing Earths orbit may become convenient targets for mining operations, providing materials that are running out on Earth. By Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) - Canada's TELUS Health is joining forces with London-based AI company Babylon to bring virtual medical services, including video consultations, to Canadians who do not have a family doctor or are in rural locations far from a surgery. TELUS Health, a provider of electronic medical records, said AI services would complement existing healthcare provision by making it quicker, simpler and cheaper to access care. "We are absolutely committed to leveraging the power of technology to drive better health outcomes for Canadians," TELUS Health vice president Juggy Sihota said on Friday. "We went around the globe to look for the best partner for virtual care, and from both a values perspective as well as a technology perspective we have found the best partner in Babylon." The London-based tech firm, founded in 2013 by entrepreneur Ali Parsa, aims to offer medical advice on a par with a family doctor by using AI to assess disease symptoms. It deploys its technology through a smartphone chatbot app that provides a diagnosis and passes the data on to a doctor accessible via a video consultation, potentially offering a big saving in time and money for healthcare providers. Parsa said Babylon, which is already providing healthcare services in Britain and Rwanda and signed a deal with Prudential Corporation Asia last month, wanted to expand into North America, and Canada was the best place to start. "It has a government that is very progressive in the use of technology and in healthcare provision," he said. "What is exciting about Canada is that we will be providing artificial intelligence and we will also be providing clinical services." Sihota said Canada, like many countries in Europe, had an ageing population and shortage of family doctors, and in addition it also had the challenge of around 20 percent of its people living in rural areas. "Five million Canadian families do not have primary care physicians at all," she said. "AI is a more efficient way for patients to see their doctors." Story continues TELUS Health, a unit of telecommunications firm TELUS , would work with health ministries to roll out virtual services, she said, building on the relationship it already had with doctors, pharmacies and authorities. Babylon will develop a mobile app especially tailored to the Canadian healthcare system, Parsa said, and video consultations will be provided by licensed Canadian healthcare providers. The two companies did not disclose financial details. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kirsten Donovan) See Also: PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) Workers with paint brushes and brooms put the final touches on Pyongyang's iconic Kim Il Sung Square as North Korea prepared for what promises to be its biggest celebration in years on Sunday the 70th anniversary of the country's official birth as a nation. The spectacle, months in the making, will center on a military parade and mass games that will likely put both advanced missiles and leader Kim Jong Un's hopes for a stronger economy front and center. Although North Korea stages military parades almost every year, and held one just before the Olympics began in South Korea in February this year, Sunday's parade comes at a particularly sensitive time. TOKYO (AP) Japanese tennis and non-tennis fans alike are celebrating one of their own winning a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The results came in early Sunday morning Japan time, and television stations interrupted TV dramas and cooking programs with news flashes after Naomi Osaka defeated Serena Williams 6-2, 6-4 in the women's final at the U.S. Open in New York. "She just let her playing do the talking," said Tokyo resident Noritomo Kusumoto. "And her words after the match deserve a big warm applause under the unexpected circumstances. True champion and proud of her!" Minori Nakano, a teacher and translator from the city of Kobe in western Japan, praised 20-year-old Osaka's after-match comments in English as "so cool and yet so Japanese". WASHINGTON (AP) Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (pahm-PAY'-oh) has received the letter that President Donald Trump has said he was expecting from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (kim jawng oon). A State Department official is confirming that Pompeo has the letter. It's not immediately clear whether it's been delivered to Trump. Pompeo returned early Friday from India. Trump was in Montana and the Dakotas on Friday before a late return to the White House. The official wasn't authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive diplomacy between the U.S. and North Korea and spoke on condition of anonymity. Trump has said Kim's recent statement that he wants to denuclearize North Korea during Trump's tenure as president was "a very positive statement." Story continues TOKYO (AP) Japanese authorities say 37 people have been confirmed dead from a powerful earthquake that struck the northern island of Hokkaido last week. The Hokkaido government said Sunday that two people remain missing and one other person has no vital signs. Rescue workers are using backhoes and shovels to search for the missing in a tangle of dirt and the rubble of homes left by multiple landslides in the town of Atsuma. All but four of the victims are from the community of 4,600 people. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited a hard-hit area of Sapporo, the main city in Hokkaido. PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) North Korea is bringing back one of its most iconic art forms mass games performed by tens of thousands of people working in precise unison to mark its 70th anniversary this weekend. The performance, which takes months if not years of intense preparation and training, is being called "Glorious Country" this year. It is literally the embodiment of socialist ideals North Korea's most ubiquitous slogan, seen in posters and beaming from neon signs from atop tall buildings, is "Single-minded Unity." Pyongyang sees the performances, last held in 2013, as one of its most highly effective forms of propaganda, highlighting its social and political agenda both at home, where it will be televised repeatedly for months to come, and abroad. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) During the 70 years that the Kim family has ruled, North Korea's 30-plus massive military parades have been used as much for propaganda, intimidation and internal unity as for commemorating important anniversaries. A look at how the parades have evolved ahead of another march on Sunday, the 70th anniversary of the founding of North Korea's authoritarian government: ___ KIM IL SUNG (1948-1994) Kim Il Sung, a former guerrilla who gained fame battling Japan's colonial rule, established the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Sept. 9, 1948. The North's first military parade occurred seven months earlier, on Feb. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Engineers set to sea Saturday to deploy a trash collection device to corral plastic litter floating between California and Hawaii in an attempt to clean up the world's largest garbage patch in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. The 2,000-foot (600-meter) long floating boom was being towed from San Francisco to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch an island of trash twice the size of Texas. The system was created by The Ocean Cleanup, an organization founded by Boyan Slat, a 24-year-old innovator from the Netherlands who first became passionate about cleaning the oceans when he went scuba diving at age 16 in the Mediterranean Sea and saw more plastic bags than fish. SEOUL, South Korea (AP) Former Associated Press photojournalist Kim Chonkil, whose images captured South Korea's turbulent transition from dictatorship to democracy, has died. He was 89. Kim's son, Kim Kuchul, said he died in New York on Thursday after fighting kidney and respiratory problems. Kim covered South Korea for the AP for nearly 40 years until leaving the company in 1987, a period during which the country rose from the devastation of the 1950-53 Korean War into an Asian industrial power and a full-fledged democracy following a bloody struggle against dictatorship. Kim will be remembered for one of the most iconic photos in South Korea's history a May 1961 photo of Gen. SAN FRANCISCO (AP) The New York Times is reporting that Jack Ma, the co-founder and executive chairman of Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba Group, is retiring. The Times said that in an interview, Ma said he planned to step down as executive chairman on Monday to pursue philanthropy in education. He will remain on Alibaba's board of directors. Ma started Alibaba in 1999 in his apartment in the Chinese city of Hangzhou and is now among the richest people in the world. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014 and has a market value of about $421 billion. KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) A helicopter flying in bad weather crashed in Nepal's mountains on Saturday, killing five of the seven people on board and leaving another missing, police said. The pilot and four of the six passengers, including a 68-year-old Japanese man, were among those killed, said police official Basanta Kuwar. Another passenger was missing, while a woman survived the crash, he said. The woman's condition was not immediately clear. Rescuers were scouring the area for the missing person but thick fog and rain and the mountainous terrain were making the operation difficult, Kuwar said. Aside from the Japanese man, the six others aboard the helicopter were Nepalese. BOGOTA (Reuters) - The United Nations mission charged with overseeing Colombia's peace accord with former FARC rebels said on Thursday that six ex-guerrilla commanders were failing to fulfill their obligations under the deal and had left reintegration camps. The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) signed an accord in late 2016 to end more than 52 years of war with the government. It is now a political party that uses the same acronym. The UN Verification Mission is charged with managing two dozen zones around the country where former fighters can live and take part in reintegration projects. Most fighters were given amnesty and financial help under the deal, but commanders are expected to be tried at a special tribunal for alleged war crimes and human rights violations and to serve alternative sentences if convicted. In recent weeks, six former commanders in the country's southeast "took the decision to leave the zones and abandon their responsibilities to approximately 1,500 ex-combatants who live there," the UN said in a statement. "Despite the leaders' departure, the ex-combatants and their families continue to live, study and work there, committed to the reincorporation process," it added. "Independent of what motivated the ex-commanders to take this decision, they are failing to fulfill their obligation." The six missing commanders include Hernan Dario Velasquez, known as by his nom de guerre El Paisa, and Henry Castellanos, known as Romana, a source who works at an organization that closely follows the peace process said. Velasquez was convicted in absentia for ordering the 2003 bombing of an upscale club in Bogota that killed 36 people. Castellanos is alleged to have been involved in drug trafficking and well-known kidnappings during his time in the FARC. The other commanders' noms de guerre are Ivan Ali, Albeiro Cordoba, Enrique Marulanda and El Zarco Aldinever, the source said. Story continues The FARC political party did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for the government high peace commission said it had no comment yet. (Reporting by Julia Symmes Cobb and Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Leslie Adler) See Also: For anyone who saw the movie "10" featuring Bo Derek and Dudley Moore, along with Julie Andrews, it is nearly impossible to erase the picture of perfection the actress presented on the big screen. Derek, who is 61, still has the it factor. Not only is Derek as stunning as ever, she has a heart of gold when it comes to charity, along with the well-being of animals. The actress along with her boyfriend of 16 years, John Corbett, 57, attended a gala on September 6 in Italy that was billed as a White Party for Celebrity Fight Night. The couple arrived in white, as the events name suggested. Derek and Corbett were very well co-ordinated [sic], the Daily Mail (UK) noted. Corbett measured up, rocking white as well as Derek. Fans of Sex in the City know Corbett as Carrie Bradshaws love interest during the hit HBO series. Bringing fashionable ensembles to charitable events is hot The gala benefitted two charitable organizations: the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Centre, as well as the Andrea Bocelli Foundation. As a famous couple, who definitely performed memorable on-screen roles, it is good to see that they have not forgotten about important causes that focus on helping others. Nothing is hotter than a stunning couple that is not superficial. There were two events the pair attended in Italy: the White Party and the Celebrity Fight Night. Both times, the couple was impeccably stylish, which Hollywood Life also pointed out. Derek was fashionable in white jeans paired with a white lace top while Corbett donned sunglasses, slim-fit pants with a fitted white shirt, and white shoes, according to the Daily Mail. Derek and Corbett also posed for photos. Discuss this news on Eunomia Star not shy about making a colorful impression Derek arrived at the Celebrity Fight Night in Florence, Italy on September 5 wearing a vibrant, multi-color V-neck maxi dress, Hollywood Life observed. Her metallic wedges illustrated that she is not afraid of fashion and making a colorful impression. Her beau, John, arrived for the event at the Four Seasons Hotel looking dapper, according to Hollywood Life. He paired a balanced blend of colors, wearing khaki pants and a fitted navy-color blazer. The couples ensembles were more relaxed than the white outfits worn on Thursday. Additional event attendees included Reba McIntire and Veronica Bocelli. Finding out that John Corbett is dating Bo Derek is literally the only thing getting me through the day. pic.twitter.com/8XIIPdY3Bb Darren McMahon (@DarrenMcMahon54) September 6, 2018 Actresss heart shines for others Derek is consistent in respect to having a heart for others. This summer, on July 19, she was honored by the Helen Woodward Animal Center, which recognized her with its annual Humane Award, the Coast News reported. The organizations goals are on pet adoption and providing humane education on-site at Rancho Santa Fe, California. The actress draws worldwide attention to animals as an effect of her dedication, love, and help extended. In presenting Derek with the award, CEO Mike Arms, stated, Were presenting the Humane Award to someone who has dedicated so many different facets of her life to animal welfare. While Derek is remembered as a 10 on-camera in the Blake Edwards movie, she also rates extremely high when giving to animals. Her time is priceless. She has devoted much travel around the world on behalf of the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking, Arms explained. She did not set her sights on animal welfare and activism when she started out in Hollywood. Dereks focus evolved from her career and travels, Derek stated. She does not fall short when she has the goal of helping animals. She has a product line called Bo Derek Pet Care, with a portion of the proceeds given to caring for military dogs that are retired. Bo Derek and John Corbett demonstrate how to live beyond Hollywoods Walk of Stars. Their caring and compassion take center stage. Be sure to follow Blasting News for the latest information. Muhammad Idrees Ahmad in the New York Review of Books: On February 22, 2012, when the British photojournalist Paul Conroy survived the artillery barrage that killed Marie Colvin, he was rushed to a place of greater danger. Bashar al-Assads war of repression has killed civilians indiscriminately, but its targeting of medical facilities has been systematic. Hospitals are the most endangered spaces in opposition-held areas. Of the 492 medical facilities destroyed in the war, Physicians for Human Rights attributes the destruction of 446 to Assad and his allies. The UN Commission of Inquiry has charged the regime and its allies with having systematically targeted medical facilities and intentionally attacking medical personnel. With a pierced abdomen and a fist-sized hole in his thigh, Conroy was carried to hospital under a hail of mortar fire. It was the only hospital in Baba Amr, the besieged Homs neighborhood Colvin and Conroy had been reporting fromand it had no anaesthetics. As the hospitals only doctor cut away Conroys torn muscles and stapled his wounds, Conroy had to dull the pain with three cigarettes. More here. For Subscribers Northern State hosts Bemidji State Saturday in game with playoff implications For the first time in the 2000s-era, the Northern State Wolves received rankings in the NCAA Super Region Four. Two Valencia County youngsters showing goats at the New Mexico State Fair this year took an unconventional and litigious road to get there. According to court documents, Jennifer Otero sent in the required DNA samples for her 9-year-old sons and 13-year-old daughters market goats and pigs several days after the June 15 deadline. Later, the fair notified her the goats would not be accepted for competition due to the samples being sent in late. Upon inquiring further about the eligibility of the pigs, the fair acknowledged it had failed to notify them of the pigs status, and decided to let the pigs into the show. So Otero went to court, claiming the fair arbitrarily rejected the goats while accepting the pigs past the deadline. On Thursday, a state district court in Valencia County granted Oteros application for a restraining order prohibiting the State Fair from keeping the children from entering the animals into the livestock show, but did not rule that the state fair had acted arbitrarily or capriciously. Joseph Holloway, general counsel for the fair, said they would accept the decision, but will be more explicit in explaining deadlines next year. We still think it penalizes everyone who entered the show and followed the rules, he said. Otero will also pay a penalty to the fair. Barbara Henderson has not seen her son, William, since he left her Indiana home six years ago. He just disappeared, Henderson said. He's been homeless for awhile, has a lot of mental issues and substance abuse issues. Then, a doctor called last month to tell her he was placed in a medically induced coma after being severely beaten in Downtown Albuquerque. Nobody deserves that, she said. If you have nothing better to do than pick on somebody who has so many problems. Police say Jose Aragon, 15, and Ignacio Avila, 18, viciously attacked 28-year-old Henderson as he slept in the doorway of a coffee shop Aug. 9 leaving him with brain bleeding, skull fractures and a long and uncertain recovery. Henderson said her son is only just coming out of the coma now and is very confused about what happened; meanwhile, doctors want to transfer him to a neurological rehab in Texas. I hope he recovers, and can do the best he can do, she said. Get the help he needs have another chance. Aragon and Avila are both charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and Aragon is facing an additional charge of aggravated battery resulting in great bodily harm. Police say the two men were riding around with some friends Downtown when they told the driver to stop near Deep Space Coffee, where they got out of the car and attacked Henderson. According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, officers responded to a Deep Space Coffee at 504 Central SE around 3 a.m. after a passerby reported a man screaming in pain. Police say they found Henderson in the doorway of the coffee house. He had lacerations to his head as well as fractures to his face, head and neck. At the hospital, doctors told police Henderson also had bleeding in his brain, a traumatic blood clot in his brain and would need surgery on his jaw. Police say they soon tracked down blurry surveillance footage showing two men getting out of a silver SUV and beating Henderson before leaving the scene. Images of the SUV were released to the public and, before detectives could track down any more leads, police say the SUV's owner Anthony Assed came forward and identified Avila and Aragon as the suspects. Assed told police he and another friend were driving around when Avila and Aragon asked to be picked up. Police say Avila and Aragon suggested they cruise around downtown and asked Assed to stop the vehicle near Deep Space Coffee and both got out. Assed told police he didn't know what the two were doing outside the car but when they got back in they told him that's some gang (expletive) and they beat up some dude before ordering him to drive off fast. Henderson said her son is a very creative, smart person who tried to go to college but couldn't overcome mental health issues that plagued him since a young age. It's not like he was ever a bad person. He could never hang onto reality. The best place he could find is Albuquerque, she said. You see somebody homeless on the street, you don't know their history. He was struck by a lot of blows. Henderson said she doesn't know why he chose New Mexico, as he has no connections here, after he left her home to live with his father in Arizona. Things just didn't work out, she said, calling mental illness a horrible cycle and hopes justice is served on her son's attackers. I want people to know it's just not right, Henderson said. Somebody who has that kind of random anger, needs to called on it. Because I can't even imagine what they would do to people they know. As for seeing her son again after all this time, Henderson said she will wait until he is ready. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal SANTA FE There were vespers, a Mass, a sermon and a procession through the downtown Plaza here Friday to kick of the Fiesta de Santa Fe, but no Entrada. There also were no huge protests, like those mounted by Native Americans and others in recent years against the now-defunct Entrada, a reenactment of the Spanish reoccupation of the city led by Don Diego De Vargas a dozen years after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. This year, the Entradas traditional 2 p.m. time slot on the Friday of Fiesta weekend was filled by a replacement event, Celebracion de la Communidad de Fe (Celebration of Community Faith), which aims to celebrate peace and reconciliation. The event, largely made up of prayers, resulted from a collaboration among Fiesta organizers, the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, Los Caballeros de Vargas a nonprofit Catholic ministry in charge of staging the Entrada for decades the All-Pueblo Council of Governors, and the city of Santa Fe. There were in fact a handful of protesters Friday, but this time they were protesting in favor of bringing back the Entrada. Somebody can have a closed door, back room deal that says they can eliminate 300 years of your history, but they cant eliminate whats in our community, whats in our hearts, said one of the demonstrators, Esther Rivera, of Albuquerque. My people rode here, came here, and we melded with the culture that was here and we created a beautiful thing, and we dont need people now with political agendas dividing us. Her group, including Santa Fe activist Gloria Mendoza, was handing out slips of paper inviting people to donate to the Gente de La Entrada Political Action Committee, whose vision is to celebrate and preserve La Entrada and foster pride in New Mexicos cultural traditions. One man, former school board member Richard Polese, carried a sign that read De Vargas Protected Pueblo Kiva Faith. Viva la Fiesta! But the demonstration was a far cry from last year, when an army of police officers were on hand and arrested eight of the roughly 150 people protesting the Entrada. There was still a sizable police presence on the Plaza Friday, but it was not so pronounced no armed SWAT team officers on the roofs this time. La Conquistadora, a small Marian statue renamed Our Lady of Peace by the archbishop of Santa Fe in 1992, was the focus of the replacement event. Thats what its really about, said Thomas Baca-Gutierrez, president of Los Caballeros de Vargas, who was in on the discussions to discontinue the Entrada. It is said that de Vargas prayed to the 30-inch wood carving of the Madonna, originally brought to Santa Fe in 1625 by missionaries, and asked for a peaceful resettlement of the city in 1692. The small group of protesters shouted a few cries of Viva la Conquistadora! as Native American Buffalo dancers took the gazebo stage Friday, but they soon quieted down. Baca-Gutierrez said he couldnt say whether the Entrada would ever be performed again. What I can say is what we have now is great and its a beginning, he said. And with this beginning I think it will prosper into a stronger future. Baca-Gutierrez said he was glad the event wasnt marred by big demonstrations. The tension wasnt there, he said. And Our Lady, I believe, is what helped create that, along with the dialogue that has gone on. Last year could not be repeated, thats for sure, said Melissa Mascarenas, president of the Fiesta Council. This is the beginning of a new event and were going to continue to strive for peace, unity and harmony in our community celebrate Fiesta the correct way, she said. Asked what she meant by that, Mascarenas said, Not having protests, ugly things, and hurt feelings. Theres no need for any of that. We all need to live together in the community. The celebration opened with prayers from pueblo leaders, including Santa Clara Lt. Gov. James Naranjo. During the Entrada in 2013, he went off script while playing the part of an Indian cacique welcoming de Vargas. Friday, he said a prayer in his native language, then told the crowd he prayed for core values of love and respect shared by all people. Representatives of several denominations also said prayers, including a well-known local Catholic priest, the Rev. Frank Pretto. We ask creator God that as one family, one city, one country we put aside our differences and join together and pray, Let there be peace on earth, a peace that was meant to be,' he said. The choir from St. Michaels High School sang songs during the event, including a Navajo peace prayer. The annual Fiesta celebration takes place by decree of the first Santa Fe Fiesta Council in 1712, which called for a celebration with vespers, mass, sermon, and procession through the main Plaza. Mayor Alan Webber admitted he felt relief that things remained calm this year. Im very pleased about how everyone came together in the spirit of reconciliation, he said. New proclamation Earlier in the day, Webber and leaders of the other groups which negotiated replacing the Entrada signed a new Fiesta proclamation in the courtyard of the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. We acknowledge the past and its trauma, tragedy, and sorrow; we understand its legacy in the present, Webber read from the proclamation. We acknowledge wounds older and deeper than any on this continent, the document goes on to state. On behalf of those from the past who cannot ask forgiveness, we do so now. The text is separate from and does not replace the original 1712 Fiesta proclamation, Webber told the Journal. We could not stand by and watch the place that we love and the place we call home and its spirit represented by the people be destroyed by the escalating conflict by the reenactment of the Entrada, E. Paul Torres of Isleta Pueblo, chairman of the All Pueblo Council of Governors, said from the stage. We could not see our beloved people, all people, be torn apart by an event that reopens the wounds of the past. The Caballeros Baca-Gutierrez emphasized the importance of preserving the overall Fiesta itself for the Hispanic community, whose roots in Santa Fe go back generations, but also the need to respect all perceptions of history. This is a very monumental moment, and we are certainly living up to the reason for La Fiesta de Santa Fe, which is peace, unity, respect and love for all, he said. As a young Hispanic woman and triple minority, I have experienced racism, ageism and sexism. As a mother of a young girl, I worry about social problems like income inequality for women, among other issues like education and crime. I was disappointed to see the recent attempt to attack (Republican gubernatorial candidate) Rep. Steve Pearce as racist simply because hes willing to address the challenges minorities face in New Mexico. Pearce is not perfect, as is no politician or candidate. One thing he is not is racist. I know him personally, and I believe he is the right person to lead our state forward. He will help to create a better future for all the diverse citizens of our great state for whom he cares and loves. I first met the congressman in the late summer of 2013 at a town hall meeting. I was invited to attend by a friend who was part of an immigrant rights group. Being an immigrant myself, and knowing several students and their families who needed a solution to their immigration status, I agreed. The immigrant rights group had about 30 members present, consisting mainly of housewives and working-class men. I had met with the group a couple of times prior, and it quickly became apparent that I was one of the few individuals who spoke English fluently, or at all, and perhaps the only one willing to speak publicly. At the town hall, the immigrant rights group, all Hispanics, sat on the right side of the room. The other attendees, who were mainly Caucasians, sat on the left. I asked several questions. At one point, an Anglo man from the opposing side began yelling while I was speaking, saying things like, Go back to Mexico. I continued speaking, but he persisted to interrupt and yell. Pearce stepped in and put a stop to his interjections, allowing me to voice multiple questions. I also had the opportunity to speak to the congressman further on the topic after the town hall was over. I had been waiting, for as long as I can remember, for immigration reform that wasnt passing Congress because one party proposed amnesty and the other deportation. I was impressed by Pearces humble and respectful demeanor and by his common-sense solutions for immigration. His willingness to engage with both sides and his middle-ground approach to this problem seemed like a compromise both parties could actually support. Since that town hall, I have watched Pearces work closely. It is clear to me that his actions align with the statements I heard that day. He is truly an advocate for all New Mexicans, including our immigrant and minority communities. I trust that as governor he will continue to stand up for all people. Having experienced immigration firsthand, I empathize with this community and its struggles. I came to the United States with my family at age 7. Seeing my7-year-old daughter now reminds me of that pivotal point in my life when I first arrived in my new home, the magnificent state of New Mexico. It was a real miracle for us to leave the poverty in Mexico for the chance of a better life. We left our friends and family behind, but God and life have been incredibly good to us. I am extremely grateful for the opportunities provided to us in New Mexico, but I also know that our state can do better for our minority communities. It will require leadership and a willingness to openly discuss problems and solutions. As governor, Steve Pearce will provide that leadership. I hope you will join me in supporting him with your vote. Pope Francis has called for silence and prayer from those who criticize the Catholic Churchs attempts to root out and punish sex-abusing priests. But it is clear the time for silence has long passed. Priests who prey on children are criminals, not souls to be saved for the sake of an institution. Here in the U.S., the Boston Globe stunned the nation with its Pulitzer Prize-winning series about the systemic cover-up of child sexual exploitation within the Boston diocese back in 2003. Today we are still talking about trying to find justice for victims of priestly sex crimes. Thats why I was cheered by a report this week that the Missouri Attorney General, Jeff Hawley, was launching an investigation into allegations of sex abuse against the Catholic Church in his state. In short order, the Attorney General in New Mexico, Hector Balderas, followed suit. Both AGs are officially requesting all dioceses to voluntarily produce church documents for review of possible cases of sex crimes by priests. Church officials in both states promised to cooperate. And at press time the office of the Attorney General of New York announced it has subpoenaed documents from all seven Catholic dioceses and the archdiocese. The AG has also established a dedicated hot line for victims or those with pertinent information. In addition, AGs in Illinois and Nebraska are also saying they will investigate. The news followed a shocking grand jury report from Pennsylvania that revealed the church had covered up the sexual abuse by more than 300 priests who defiled more than 1,000 children over a span of 70 years. The report concluded there were likely thousands more victims whose records were lost or who decided to keep their terrible secret out of shame or fear. Lets just hope these newly launched investigations and those anticipated to be announced in other states are serious, long-term probes dedicated to finding the truth and were not prompted by personal politics. In Missouri, Attorney General Hawley, a Republican, is locked in a neck-and-neck race for a U.S. Senate seat against Democrat, Sen. Claire McCaskill. And under Missouri law, he only has the authority to investigate. He does not have subpoena or prosecutorial power. So, is his a grandstanding move to attract tough-on-crime voters or an honest attempt at mining the corrupt Catholic landscape that has allowed sexual abuse of so many of the faithful? In New Mexico, AG Balderas is running for re-election in November, and hes reported to have his eye on the governors office. After the Pennsylvania cases made national news and after the Pope himself was implicated in covering up the alleged sex crimes of a top U.S. cardinal, the Albuquerque Journal wrote an editorial challenging him to act in the very Catholic state, and Balderas did. Weve all heard about the idea of the separation of church and state, which was first mentioned by Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It was designed to keep the state out of church business and vice versa. But when church business becomes all about protecting criminal clergy, the state must step in. The scandal in the Catholic Church is worldwide, and this is a watershed moment. What happened inside sacred spaces can no longer be ignored or waved off as something that happened long ago. The massive amount of media coverage has surely put priests across the globe on their best behavior, but that does not mean they should be exempt from punishment for past crimes or that their victims dont deserve justice. And for those in the church hierarchy who engaged in shuffling offending priests from parish to parish or to brief stays at Catholic retreats so they could pray and repent? They are equally guilty, perhaps even more so, as they allowed their fellow clergy to remain free to prey on the unsuspecting, the devoted. Whoever engaged in the cover-up of these horrendous crimes against children should also be punished. A collar and crucifix cannot erase the truth. Any person who knows about or even suspects the sexual abuse of a child and does nothing is culpable. Those who take steps to protect the abuser are complicit. Why should it be different in the church? Some 70.4 million Americans identify as Catholic. It is the largest religious denomination in the United States. As a group it is a potentially powerful political force that could be corralled to demand accountability for the countless victims both alive and gone now who deserve justice. Imagine if only a small percentage of Catholics rose up to urge their local officials to follow in the path of Pennsylvania, New Mexico and these other states to launch official investigations? It is, quite literally, a Come-to-Jesus moment not only for the Pope in Rome but for Catholics everywhere. The laws are different in every state, but this is a call to all those who hold the power to investigate and prosecute attorneys general, district attorneys, local and state police departments. What the Vatican has not done, you must do. History is usually airbrushed to remove a figure who has fallen out of favor with a dictatorship, or to hide away an episode of national shame. Leave it to Hollywood to erase from a national triumph its most iconic moment. The new movie First Man, a biopic about the Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, omits the planting of the American flag during his historic walk on the surface of the moon. Ryan Gosling, who plays Armstrong in the film, tried to explain the strange editing of his moonwalk: This was widely regarded in the end as a human achievement. I dont think that Neil viewed himself as an American hero. Armstrong was a reticent man, but he surely considered himself an American, and everyone else considered him a hero. Youre a hero whether you like it or not, one newspaper admonished him on the 10th anniversary of the landing. Gosling added that Armstrongs walk transcended countries and borders, which is literally true, since it occurred 238,900 miles from Earth, although Armstrong got there on an American rocket, walked in an American spacesuit and returned home to America. Apollo 11 was, without doubt, an extraordinary human achievement. Armstrongs famous words upon descending the ladder to the moon were apt: One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind. A plaque left behind read: HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON, JULY 1969 A.D. WE CAME IN PEACE FOR ALL MANKIND. But this was a national effort that depended on American derring-do, sacrifice and treasure. It was a chapter in a space race between the United States and the Soviet Union that involved national prestige and the perceived worth of our respective economic and political systems. The Apollo program wasnt about the brotherhood of man, rather about achieving a national objective before a hated and feared adversary did. The Soviets putting a satellite, Sputnik, into orbit first was a profound political and psychological shock. The historian Walter A. McDougall writes in his book on the space race, The Heavens and the Earth: In the weeks and months to come, Khrushchev and lesser spokesmen would point to the first Sputnik, companion or fellow traveller, as proof of the Soviet ability to deliver hydrogen bombs at will, proof of the inevitability of Soviet scientific and technological leadership, proof of the superiority of communism as a model for backwards nations, proof of the dynamic leadership of the Soviet premier. The U.S. felt it had to rise to the challenge. As Vice President Lyndon Johnson put it, Failure to master space means being second-best in every aspect, in the crucial arena of our Cold War world. In the eyes of the world first in space means first, period; second in space is second in everything. The mission of Apollo 11 was, appropriately, soaked in American symbolism. The lunar module was called Eagle, and the command module Columbia. There had been some consideration to putting up a U.N. flag, but it was scotched it would be an American flag and only an American flag. The video of Armstrong and his partner Buzz Aldrin carefully working to set up the flag fully extend it and sink the pole firmly enough in the lunar surface to stand after their awe-inspiring journey hasnt lost any of its power. The director of First Man, Damien Chazelle, argues that the flag planting isnt part of the movie because he wanted to focus on the inner Armstrong. But, surely, Armstrong, a former Eagle Scout, had feelings about putting the flag someplace it had never gone before? There may be a crass commercial motive in the omission the Chinese, whose market is so important to big films, might not like overt American patriotic fanfare. Neither does much of our cultural elite. They may prefer not to plant the flag but the heroes of Apollo 11 had no such compunction. 2018 by King Features Syndicate. LAS CRUCES Retired New Mexico State University chancellor and former New Mexico governor Garrey Carruthers responded to claims by the universitys board of regents that his administration failed to disclose increased costs of a scholarship program for incoming students. Carruthers presented the Sun-News and other news organizations with a written statement cosigned by retired NMSU provost Dan Howard and Bernadette Montoya, former vice president of student affairs. Carruthers and Howard retired this summer, while Montoya told NMSUs Round Up last month her position was eliminated to make way for Renay Scotts appointment to a new position, vice president for student success. It is a disservice to all when facts are twisted or ignored, the administrators statement begins, rebutting claims by regents at Wednesdays special meeting that budget overruns due to enhanced scholarships had not been disclosed to them. Chancellor Dan Arvizu and President John Floros, both hired to replace Carruthers earlier this year, informed regents they had discovered an estimated $3.3 million budget deficit due to increased scholarship awards begun in 2016. We were not adequately or accurately informed of the financial impact of this 2016 decision, Regent chair Debra Hicks said on Wednesday. In their response, the former NMSU administrators cited a number of instances regents were allegedly informed that scholarships were over budget, including in a budget adjustment request approved by regents at their May 11 meeting the same meeting where regents appointed Arvizu and Floros. The budget adjustment request referred to in their statement, archived on the board of regents website, includes a $6.3 million increase in spending on student financial aid described in the statement. Prior to that, the statement asserts that regents were advised of overruns, and that the two regent members of the budget committee, were informed in private meetings that the cost overrun for the program would be greater than two million dollars. At no time was there an effort to conceal information from the regents, the statement argued, also claiming the cost overrun was covered by one-time funds and did not cause the budget to go into the red. In conclusion, the administrators wrote, We encourage the regents to become more familiar with the budget process and that they commit to studying programs in detail before criticizing them. Hicks, in a statement, to the Sun-news maintained that the former administrators never did disclose the full financial impact of this scholarship program, and current administrators had a fiduciary responsibility to publicize the shortfall. Copyright 2018 Albuquerque Journal The fate of the only living suspect in the notorious West Mesa serial killing appears to be sealed. The New Mexico Supreme Court last month declined to hear a case involving Joseph Blea, 61, who was convicted of a string of decades-old rapes. That means Bleas case is effectively dead and hell spend the rest of his life in prison. He is serving his 90-year sentence at the Otero County Prison Facility in southern New Mexico. Albuquerque police have pointed to Blea as one of two suspects in the West Mesa murders. Its a crime that drew the nations attention in 2009 when the bodies of 11 women were unearthed in Southwest Albuquerque. The women disappeared in 2003 and 2004. Blea has never been charged in the crime. The other named suspect, Lorenzo Montoya, was killed in 2006 before the bodies were found. Police looked into whether Montoya may have been the killer, but they havent been able to tie him to the crime either. Bleas current prison sentence stems from crimes unrelated to the West Mesa case. He was arrested in 2008 in a domestic violence case. His DNA linked him to a string of rapes in the late 1980s and early 1990s. One of Bleas victims was a 13-year-old eighth-grader whom he raped after breaking into her home and waiting for her to return home from school. Blea had been dubbed the Mid-School Molester for the rapes, most of which occurred near McKinley Middle School. He was convicted of those crimes in 2015. In an unusual move, Blea agreed to the facts of the case during his trial, rather than challenging them. It took jurors 15 minutes to convict him they didnt even wait for the free lunch. He later appealed the case on the grounds that New Mexicos DNA collection law is unconstitutional, among other technicalities. In June, the New Mexico Court of Appeals upheld the statute, known as Katies Law, and denied his appeal. Blea had hoped the New Mexico Supreme Court would review the appellate courts opinion. In mid-August, the higher court declined to hear the case. Bleas appellate public defender, Nina Lalevic, said Thursday that she was no longer involved in the case but that she had hoped the court would take it up. Its disappointing, but its discretionary with the Supreme Court, and its not guaranteed, she said. I understand. Albuquerque police didnt return a call about Bleas case. Police Chief Mike Geier told the Journal earlier this year that a detective tried to interview Blea in prison about the West Mesa case. Hes never cooperated, Geier said. Maybe if hes the one, hell come clean one day. Geier said even if Blea is not the West Mesa killer, hes glad hes locked up. Whether he is the offender in this or not, hes a scourge on society in his own way, he said. God only knows what havoc he would be wreaking on other families. The majority of art is contained and displayed within walls. The Paseo 2018 in Taos breaks down those walls and gives artists the ability to showcase work in an open space with no boundaries. The event is put on by the nonprofit group The Paseo Project. For two days Friday, Sept. 14, and Saturday, Sept. 15 artists from around the world will roll into the Taos Historic District and Kit Carson Park to showcase the art installations. Admission is free. Its a unique and very specific event, says J Matthew Thomas, director of The Paseo Project. This is art you cant hang on the wall. Its site-based and participatory. The Paseo 2018 now in its fifth year is a series of immersive and participatory art installations that harness art, science and technology as tools for the contemplation of Space, which is this years theme. The event offers a view of society in sync with nature and the universe. There will be 14 installations and about 33 artists from around the world participating in the event. When I started this whole idea, I wanted to help us see our town in a different way, says Thomas. My background is in urban design and architecture and what we do is take the main street and shake it up. We want to stop people in their tracks. The nexus for The Paseo 2018 the Space Cloud an inflated pavilion designed by Spanish architectural team Espacio La Nube will serve as a gigantic illuminated nerve center for the weekend events. Within the Space Cloud, a sci-artist will project enlarged animated plankton while a New Mexico-based artist asks the Taos community to come together to explore its world from outer space. You are invited to interact with what is installed, he says. Its an interactive experience. Weve often been told not to touch art, but with this experience, we want it to be immersive. Thomas says another dozen artists and art collectives will add thought-provoking and playful art for public sharing. Thomas and his crew are constantly checking out other festivals across the world to see the latest in art. I love it when a piece is conceptually really powerful, he says. What catches my eye is something that Ive never seen before. Then I start to think of what it would look like placed in the center of the Historic District of Taos. Theres a huge contrast of old and new. It gives new perspective and I think that is what intrigues people who are coming. One of six installations happening inside the Space Cloud, Cosmic Systems by VISIOPHONE of Portugal, will invite visitors to interact with sound and visuals in a dance with swarming particles. Each hour, Ballet Taos will perform an Inertia and Motion dance intervention responding to this interactive projection. We are All Space in Time, guest curated by Erin Elder, is a collection of four site-responsive interactions, installations and experiments that acknowledge the complexities of co-existence. Merging poetry, film, performance and surveillance, the group of artworks explores the human experience of living together in space and time. The four artworks are: No Grounds by Santa Fean Sarah Ashkin is a lightly scripted, participatory performance about peoples relationship to private property. Private Party by Anais Duplan, from Haiti, is a live film shoot that explores the friction between technology and intimacy. Performers are from Las Pistoleras Instituto Cultural de Arte. n Live Stream by Christine Howard Sandoval from Brooklyn, N.Y., is a live-streamed performance using surveillance technology to channel disappearing waterways in and around Taos. n CauseLines: Coherence/Interference is by Winter Count which includes Ginger Dunnill, Cannupa Hanska Luger and Dylan McLaughlin. The installation is an audience-generated sound and video performance created in response to the nearby Chevron Questa Mine Superfund site. Thomas says the event is still defining what it is. Were at a really sweet spot with just more than 30 artists, he says. The community continues to support bringing pieces of art that need big spaces to be displayed. Otherwise, these wouldnt be seen at all. WASHINGTON George Papadopoulos, the Trump campaign adviser who triggered the Russia investigation, was sentenced to 14 days in prison Friday after he told a judge he was deeply embarrassed and ashamed for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries. Papadopoulos, the first campaign aide sentenced in special counsel Robert Muellers ongoing investigation, acknowledged that his actions hindered an investigation of national importance, a move that the judge in his case said resulted in the 31-year-old putting his own self-interest above that of his country. I made a dreadful mistake, but I am a good man who is eager for redemption, Papadopoulos said. The punishment was far less than the maximum six-month sentence sought by the government but more than the probation that Papadopoulos and his lawyers had asked for. Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trumps campaign, has been a central figure in the Russia investigation dating back before Muellers May 2017 appointment. He was the first to plead guilty in Muellers probe and is now the first Trump campaign adviser to be sentenced. His case was also the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election while it was ongoing. U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss said Papadopoulos deception was not a noble lie and said he had lied because he wanted a job in the Trump administration and didnt want to jeopardize that possibility by being tied to the Russia investigation. In some ways it constitutes a calculated exercise of self-interest over the national interest, the judge said. Moss noted that many similar cases resulted in probation but said he imposed a sentence of incarceration partly to send a message to the public that they cant lie to the FBI. The sentence drew a quick response from Trump on Twitter, as he scoffed at the two weeks of prison time by comparing it to an unverified cost figure for the Mueller probe. 14 days for $28 MILLION $2 MILLION a day, No Collusion. A great day for America! the president tweeted. Memos authored by House Republicans and Democrats , now declassified, show that information about Papadopoulos contacts with Russian intermediaries triggered the FBIs counterintelligence investigation in July 2016 into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign. That probe was later taken over by Mueller. According to a sweeping indictment handed up this summer, Russian intelligence had stolen emails from Hillary Clintons campaign and other Democratic groups by April 2016, the same month Papadopoulos was told by a professor that Russian officials had told him they had dirt on Clinton in the form of thousands of emails. Papadopoulos later used his connections with the Maltese professor, Joseph Mifsud, and other Russian nationals in an attempt to broker a meeting between then-candidate Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He admitted last year to lying to the FBI about those contacts with Russians and Russian intermediaries, false statements that prosecutors say caused irreparable harm to the investigation during its early months. Prosecutors say those false statements, made during a January 2017 interview with federal investigators, led the FBI to miss an opportunity to interview Mifsud while he was in the United States in early 2017. In court Friday, prosecutor Andrew Goldstein said Papadopoulos cooperation didnt come close to the standard of substantial assistance. It was at best begrudging efforts to cooperate and we dont think they were substantial or significant in any regard, he said. He said Papadopoulos deception required investigators to scour more than 100,000 emails and gigabytes of data to reconstruct the timeline of his contacts with Russians and Russian intermediaries. Even after his arrest and plea agreement last year, Goldstein said, Papadopoulos continued to be difficult, only providing information after being confronted with documents such as emails and text messages. In response, defense lawyer Thomas Breen said his client was remorseful that his lies impeded the investigation. Papadopoulos lied because he was torn between wanting to cooperate and wanting to remain loyal to a president whose administration he hoped to join, Breen said. His client was also affected by Trumps cries of fake news and his casting of the Russia investigation as a witch hunt just days before his FBI interview. The president of the United States hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever could, Breen said. Breen described his client as a patriot, who wasnt trying to help Russia. But he acknowledged that Papadopoulos was unsophisticated, naive and even a fool for having made contacts with Russia intermediaries during the campaign. Breen said his clients primary interest was brokering a meeting between Trump and Putin, a move he believed the campaign supported. In court papers, Breen wrote that during a March 2016 meeting attended by Papadopoulos, Trump nodded with approval at the idea, and then-Senator Jeff Sessions appeared to like it and said the campaign should look into it. That clashes with what Sessions, a key campaign aide and now Trumps attorney general, told the House Judiciary Committee last November. In that testimony, Sessions said he resisted the idea of any Russia meeting proposed by Papadopoulos. Outside the courthouse Friday, Breen said Papadopoulos didnt recall ever telling anyone in the campaign about the fact that Russia had dirt on Clinton in the form of emails. Breen also rejected the idea that Papadopoulos was the victim of a witch hunt or prosecutorial misconduct. We have seen no such thing. We have seen no entrapment. We have seen no set up by U.S. intelligence people, he said, noting that he also had no reason to believe that Papadopoulos was the subject of a warrant obtained under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Asked if Papadopoulos still remained loyal to Trump, Breen smiled wryly and paused for a beat. We dont talk politics, he said. ___ Follow Chad Day on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChadSDay ___ Read Papadopoulos sentencing memo: http://apne.ws/CY7Ul9Q Read prosecutors recommendation: http://apne.ws/YkyZTfC DALLAS The mother of a black man who was gunned down at his home by a white Dallas police officer who said she mistook his apartment for her own suggested that her son might still be alive if he were white. Allison Jean, the mother of 26-year-old Botham Jean, wondered whether race was a factor when the officer shot and killed her son after she returned home in uniform from her shift on Thursday night. I didnt know she was white until now. If it was a white man would it have been different? Would she have reacted differently? Jean said Friday in footage broadcast by Dallas NBC affiliate, KXAS . Dallas police late Saturday identified the officer as Amber Guyger, a four-year veteran of the force. Dallas police chief, U. Renee Hall, said Friday that her department was seeking to charge the officer with manslaughter. But Hall said Saturday during a criminal justice panel livestreamed on Facebook that the Texas Rangers, who took over the case, asked her department to hold off issuing an arrest warrant because they needed more time to look into information Guyger provided during an interview with investigators. The ball is in their court, Hall said. She acknowledged that many questions remain about the shooting and asked the public to give investigators enough time to get to the answers. A lawyer for Jeans family said Saturday after a prayer vigil at a Dallas church that an arrest warrant should be issued for the officer. This family is frustrated. This family is upset, said attorney Lee Merritt. This family is grieving that that has not happened yet, he said of the wait for investigators to act. Dozens of people including Jeans mother attended the vigil at the Dallas West Church of Christ. The Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Texas Rangers, didnt immediately reply to a Saturday phone message seeking comment about the investigation. Hall said Friday that the officers blood was drawn to be tested for drugs and alcohol. Allison Jean, who has held government posts in St. Lucia, where she lives and where her son grew up, said her sons death just feels like a nightmare. The island countrys government issued a statement Friday expressing shock at the killing and extending condolences to the Jean family. It said officials at its embassy in the U.S. would provide assistance to the family. Botham Jean attended Harding University in Arkansas and, after graduating in 2016, he had been living and working in Dallas at accounting and consulting firm PwC. The private school said Friday that he often led campus worship services while he was a student. Family and friends described Jean as a devout Christian and a talented singer. His uncle Ignatius Jean said the slaying left relatives devastated and looking for answers. You want to think its fiction and you have to grapple with the reality, he said. Albuquerque Fire and Rescues Home Engagement and Alternative Response Team, also known as HEART, has started working with patients who have a history of repeat calls to the 911 system. Comprised of AFR paramedics, HEART team members recently completed their 100-hour community health worker training, which was provided free of charge by the New Mexico Department of Health. Nathaniel Meisner, community EMS captain with the HEART team, said department members looked to similar programs around the state and country. They also spoke with other firefighters and emergency medical service providers in addition to doing a ride along with personnel in Santa Fe and Colorado Springs. The teams job, he said, is to evaluate the patients situation and gather information in order to establish a plan of action to navigate the most appropriate system for the patient. We dont respond to emergency or non-emergency calls, Meisner said. We do what we call a planned visit. We utilize our own database of patient records, and we try to look at what things people are activating 911 for. We also look at how frequent they are activating (the system). We use those things along with referrals from the field to prioritize what people might benefit from our visit. The initial goal is to help reduce the patients reliance on the 911 system and emergency room. But the team will also help educate the public on fall prevention and harm reduction related to opiate overdoses. The team can also assist with social needs, such as social interaction, food, utilities and rent finances, insurance, transportation and safety. And it can help with medical needs like health education and counseling, primary care physician referrals, medication, increased home care, transportation to a 24-hour care facility, mental and behavior health and substance abuse assistance. Its just to figure out where they have unmet needs and help to access the right resources to fit those needs, Meisner said. Its a cold call knock on the door to go visit them and see if theyre willing to allow us to help them. The fire department is in a unique position in that the community trusts us. We want to build upon that trust and help these individuals in their home. Meisner said the long-term goal is to address more non-urgent calls and continue to direct the patient to the best system to address their needs. The team that we have is four individuals, and our ability to impact the community as a whole is going to be limited, he said. I think there is room for a program like this to grow. If you look across the country, you see models that have a great impact in the community. Once we show that we are successful and able to impact patients, we can request additional personnel and funding to spread the impact to a wider patient base. News18.coms iReel Awards, a platform that celebrates outstanding work in the web series space, recognised and awarded outstanding performers in the presence of renowned artists, film-makers and producers at the JW Marriot in Juhu, Mumbai on 6th September, 2018. Celebrities like Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Nikhil Advani, Hansal Mehta, Harsh Chhaya, Surveen Chawla, Kubra Sait, Rajshree Deshpande, Ameesha Patel, Tanushree Dutta, Tisca Chopra, Rasika Duggal, Vikas Gupta, Karan Wahi and Ronit Roy amplified the glamour quotient at the star-studded event. It was Bollywood stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Nimrat Kaur who won the Best Actor (Drama) and Best Actress (Drama) awards for their commendable performances in Sacred Games by Netflix and The Test Case by ALTBalaji, respectively. With great critical acclaim and a massive mass appeal for playing the role of Ganesh Gaitonde, it was Nawazuddin who stole the show. Nimrat was also applauded for her strong performance as an army woman and was at her glamourous best as she claimed her award. Speaking on her win, Nimrat Kaur commented, The Test Case will always be close to my heart since I belong to an army background. As an actor, the digital medium that all of us have been witnessing has genuinely been the most exciting I been part of. Whether its the process or experiencing how many people get to see your work online. Its not Friday bound nor does it come with a time limit. Further accolades followed for Sacred Games, directed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, with the show bagging the award for Best Drama. With crisp writing, the web series -collected the Best Writing (Drama) award as well. The cast soon followed with Jitendra Joshi winning the Best Supporting Actor award for his marvellous portrayal as constable Katekar. Backed with a powerful supporting cast likes of Kubra Sait, Rajshri Deshpande, Neeraj Kabi, Sukhmani Sadana, these actors were rewarded with the Best Ensemble Cast award at the awards night. Commenting on the win, Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap said, There are so many good shows out there and such good content. This is truly the time for writers. We want to thank Netflix and the audience for making the show what it is today. Stand up-comic Sumukhi Suresh was one amongst the winners as she was awarded the Best Actress (Comedy) award for Amazon Primes Pushpavalli, which also went on to win the Best Comedy award. Bhupesh Singh won the Best Actor (Comedy) award for his role in Shaitaan Haveli while the Best Writing (Comedy) award went to Mr and Mrs by new-age platform Girliyapa. Ahana Kumra, for her role in Inside Edge, claimed the Best Supporting Actress award. The esteemed jury for the awards comprised directors Nikhil Advani, Sudhir Mishra and Vice President, Content & Strategy, Book My Show - Monisha Singh Katial, who were enthralled by the content and creativity in the web series segment, and admitted it was difficult to pick one winner across categories. Speaking about the need to instate these awards, Manish Maheshwari, CEO Network18 Digital said, Digital content is all consuming and present everywhere today. There is a visible shift from television to digital with more people embracing the latter. The reason for this is that it allows us to make and tell different stories and present it the way we want to. The important thing for most film makers is to be able to have a voice. I think that interesting directors wanting to do interesting stories get caught in the hullaballoo of mainstream cinema. In the web space, they have the opportunity to voice out their creativity. Adding that iReel is a great initiative to motivate creators in the digital segment he said, A lot of thought has gone into the various categories at iReel Awards. Im very happy that theres an ensemble cast category that does not exist in any of the award shows, anywhere. It was an evening graced by the whos who of the Indian web-series space that brought a host of Bollywood celebrities, directors all under one roof. It was a night to remember for the new-age artists who received their well-deserved awards. Co-powered by Madame, the iReel Awards have Xoxoday as the Associate Partner. Radio City is on-board as Radio Partner, UFO Digital Cinema is the Cinema Partner, Jio Digital Life is the Digital Partner and News18 India is the News Partner. Winners List BEST ACTOR (DRAMA): Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sacred Games BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA): Nimrat Kaur, The Test Case BEST ACTOR (COMEDY): Bhupesh Singh, Shaitaan Haveli BEST ACTRESS (COMEDY): Sumukhi Suresh, Pushpavalli BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jitendra Joshi, Sacred Games BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Ahana Kumra, Inside Edge BEST WRITING (DRAMA): Sacred Games BEST WRITING (COMEDY): Mr and Mrs, Girliyapa BEST COMEDY: Pushpavalli (Showrunner: Sumukhi Suresh) BEST DRAMA: Sacred Games (Showrunner: Vikramaditya Motwane) BEST ENSEMBLE CAST: Sacred Games (Kubra Sait, Rajshri Deshpande, Neeraj Kabi, Sukhmani Sadana) TIMES NOW, Indias leading English news channel from Times Network, will raise the bar even higher as Navika Kumar, Managing Editor, holds a forthright discussion with Indias leading spiritual reformer Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev on her show Frankly Speaking, airing Saturday September 8, 2018 at 7 PM. Kumar will be seen asking pointed questions spanning a range of issues affecting the nation such as womens right to pray, cow slaughter, sit-in protests and dharnas by politicians, section 377, the unhealthy relationship between politics and religion in our country. Known for her keen observations and straightforward approach, Navika Kumar does not waste a moment to ask Sadhguru upfront why the nation is witnessing such high levels of discord today. Invoking Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Kumar asks Sadhguru if he still stands by his belief that unbridled activism, in the form of dharnas by politicians, is detrimental to law and order. Without missing a beat, Sadhguru responds, If you want to become a leader in this country, you don't have to build anything or make a difference in people's lives. You just have to gather a 100 people and block the highway, make everybody's lives miserable for the next three days and you will get elected. About womens right to pray, provoked by the Shani-Shignapur and Sabarimala temple controversy, he says, This must definitely change, there is no question. At the same time regarding Sabarimala temple, from what I've heard from the temple authorities, if it is about their deity being a Brahmachari, then I think you should leave it. There are thousands of temples that are empty. Why go to that one temple? To know more on the straight-out conversation with Sadhguru, tune in to TIMES NOW to watch him in his unmissable avatar on Frankly Speaking with Navika Kumar on Saturday, September 8, 2018 at 7 PM. Frankly Speaking with Navika Kumar airs every Saturday at 7 pm and on Sunday, at 10am & 8pm. Times OOH, finds another reason to rejoice in a span of less than a year. After acquiring Trichy, Coimbatore back in 2017, they have set foot into the turquoise shores of Mauritius, by acquiring the sole media rights at Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, (SSRIA), making it the only Indian outdoor advertising company to do so. In a market where having such a diverse portfolio was unthinkable previously, Times OOH, seems to be doing something right by being aggressive and steady with its acquisitions. To do a quick recap, the company also owns advertising rights to the biggest airports in India: Delhi and Mumbai. Mauritius Airport boasts of about 3.8 million annual footfalls out of which, interestingly, 95% are international passengers, making this acquisition of tremendous strategic importance. Mr. Sharath Chandra, President at Times OOH, opined "Having bagged a solid 10-year contract, a healthy mix of about 140 sites has been planned which includes 42 digital screens, glass wraps, wall wraps and promotional zones, apart from the static requisite. Additionally, there are sponsorship opportunities available. With expertise in DOOH, which seems to be the buzz word in the industry these days, Mauritius airport will keep up with changing industry trends." US President Donald Trump has upped the ante on China as his administration may be about to slap tariffs of up to 25 percent on an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods. The president, speaking to reporters en route to Fargo, North Dakota, said he was ready to roll out even more tariffs on short notice, if he wants. "That totally changes the equation", Trump said. Earlier this year, the Trump administration imposed a package of tariffs on $50bn of incoming Chinese-made parts used for "aerospace, information and communication technology, and machinery". Earlier on Friday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told Bloomberg Television the administration would evaluate public comments before making decisions on the $US200 billion tariff list. While China's trade surplus with the United States grew again, it remained stable with the rest of the world at $27.9 billion in August. Trump did not indicate whether the office of the U.S. trade representative (USTR) had reached a decision regarding the rate of the latest round of tariffs, originally proposed at 10 per cent. The trade war the president has initiated between the world's two largest economies stems from concerns that China has deployed predatory tactics - including cyber-theft - to try to supplant America's technological supremacy. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, estimates that tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports, on top of previously enacted duties, would shave a quarter of a percentage point off the economy's growth over the next 12 months. Trump told reporters about the tariffs on Friday while returning to Washington DC from Montana, where he held a campaign-style rally Thursday night. "To a certain extent, it's going to be up to China", the president said Friday. Chinese exports to the United States rose to US$44.4 billion in August, a 13.2 per cent increase from the same period past year, according to customs data. Major technology company Apple Inc said a "wide range" of its products would be hit by the tariffs, but not its iPhone. That list includes some consumer products, like cameras, luggage and tires and they'd be subject to tariffs of 10-25 percent. Many American companies that rely on targeted Chinese imports are bracing for the next round of tariffs to hit, with some wondering whether they can absorb the higher costs or instead will need to pass them along to their customers - or find alternatives suppliers outside China. But David French, top lobbyist for the National Retail Federation, whose members include Amazon.com, BJ's Wholesale Club and Macy's, said almost every consumer good could be affected if Trump follows through on all threatened tariffs. "We are still talking with China on a number of issues". Those talks will continue to go on. "But right now, we just can't make that deal", he said. "(Our) asks have not been satisfied", he said. Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier? Sign up to receive news and updates from this site directly to your desktop. Breaking News Columbia Breaking News Greenville Breaking News Myrtle Beach Breaking News Aiken Breaking News N Augusta Breaking News Click on the bell icon to manage your notifications at any time. Success! Please click the 'Allow' button in the 'Show Notifcations' alert in your browser if one is available. Thank you for signing up! Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page. Reuters recent article on Iran moving ballistic missiles to Iraq created a buzz in Arab and international media over the seriousness of the information. Reuters quoted on Aug. 31 three Iranian officials, two Iraqi intelligence sources and two Western intelligence sources as saying that Tehran has given ballistic missiles to Shiite proxies in Iraq. Iran is developing the capacity to build more [missiles in Iraq] to deter attacks on its interests in the Middle East and to give it the means to hit regional foes, the article reported. Such an Iranian move would cause great harm to Iraq, which is trying to restore its diplomatic relations with neighboring countries. This is particularly true when it comes to the Gulf states, with which Iraq has had many differences since the Iraq invasion of Kuwait in 1990 but the relationship has since slightly improved. However, a day after the Reuters article was published, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasimi denied all claims about sending ballistic missiles to Iraq. Such false and ridiculous news only aims to ruin Iran's foreign relations, especially with its neighbors, he said. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry noted in a statement how shocked it was at the information mentioned in the Reuters article. Iranian officials often threaten to target Israel as the closest US ally in the Middle East. According to Reuters, these ballistic missiles could reach the Israeli city of Tel Aviv or Saudi Arabias capital city, Riyadh, another key US ally in the region. Some Iraqi armed factions close to Iran mocked these claims, referring to them as an illogical myth since such missiles are too large and require huge warehouses that only official armies have, according to Hassan Salem, a leader of the Sadikun bloc affiliated with Asaib Ahl al-Haq. A security adviser to the Iraqi government told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that he completely agrees with the armed factions and rules out that possibility of Iran giving them such missiles. Iran cannot be involved in giving such missiles to armed factions. Such action could complicate the Western position, which is against Irans military industry. It could also raise US anger if Iran were to take such action in Iraq, he said. However, Hakem al-Zameli, a leader of the Sadrist movement, did not categorically deny the arrival of such missiles to Iraqi armed factions affiliated with Iran. Zameli, who headed the security committee in the previous parliament, told Al-Monitor, I do not believe such missiles arrived in Iraq, but at the same time I cannot categorically deny it. He added, The Sadrist movement, led by Muqtada al-Sadr, is keeping a close eye on any action of the sort; we do not accept this given the impact it would have on Iraqi security. If Iran wants to threaten US allies from Iraqi territory, it can do so without using ballistic missiles. A number of Iran-affiliated armed factions have already threatened to strike Saudi Arabia when Iran wanted to play this card. Hisham al-Hashemi, an Iraqi security expert at Al-Nahrain Center for Strategic Studies, stressed how these armed factions are indeed capable of striking Saudi Arabia from Iraqi territory if they want to. Hashemi, known for being close to Iraqi security services, explained the map of manufacturing and distributing weapons to the armed factions in Iraq. Camps that manufacture short-range missiles like Katyusha (a multiple rocket launcher) were first established in Iraq in July 2014, he told Al-Monitor. Hashemi said these factories could be divided into three categories, two of which produce certain types of missiles, and he noted that Iranian medium-range missiles such as the Battar, Qaher, Mahdi, Zulfiqar and Karrar missiles are also assembled [in Iraq] by Iraqs Kataib Hezbollah." Hashemi said, These missiles can pose a threat to Al-Asad air base and Habbaniyah air base where US advisers are staying, in addition to threatening Jordan and Saudi Arabia." He noted that the second category of missiles is made out of the scrap and remnants of the [Iraq War] between 2003 and 2011, remnants of the weapons used by the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran, and scrap from the Baath regime's weapons in the Taji area of Baghdad. Hashemi added, These factories are affiliated with the Badr Organization led by Hadi al-Amiri, and most of the large factions and the Iraqi government are very much aware of these factories. The missiles produced in these factories are rudimentary, the security adviser noted, adding, The danger these missiles pose threatens Jordanian and Saudi border bases and cities." Although the security adviser said Iran is acting freely in Iraq and does not need ballistic missiles, Zameli stressed that it is precisely known that in the event of a confrontation with the United States, Iran can introduce such ballistic missiles within hours to Iraq. Controversy over Iranian ballistic missiles in Iraq shows how deep Iranian influence in Iraq is. This requires a serious Iraqi stand to determine the relationship with Iran so as not to harm Iraqi interests and prevent any infringement of sovereignty. Iran and al-Qaeda had a largely hostile relationship and the Sunni jihadi group saw Shiite Iran as a postponed enemy, according to a new study of documents retrieved by US Special Forces during the raid on Osama bin Ladens compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in 2011. President Donald Trump and members of his administration have sought to justify a tough new policy toward Iran in part by asserting that al-Qaeda is among the terrorist proxies backed by the Islamic Republic. However, according to the study, no evidence of cooperation on planning or carrying out terrorist attacks between Iran and al-Qaeda has emerged and the relationship was one of expediency on al-Qaedas part and calculation on Irans. Many of the conclusions in the new study echo previous findings from documents released in 2012 by the Combating Terrorism Center at the US Military Academy at West Point, which was given initial custody of the Abbottabad files. However, Nelly Lahoud, a senior fellow at the left-leaning New America think tank who previously served as a senior associate at the Combating Terrorism Center, has had access to additional information released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from 2015-2017 and nearly a half million other files made available by the CIA in 2017. Lahoud, who spoke about the documents today at the New America offices in Washington, said the most fascinating findings came from the following documents: a 19-page letter written by a senior jihadi to al-Qaeda leaders in January 2007; a letter regarding an Iranian appeal to al-Qaeda in 2004 to contain anti-Shiite violence in Iraq; and a 220-page journal that appears to have been written by one of bin Ladens daughters and that runs from March 2011 to May 1 just hours before the compound was attacked and bin Laden killed. The documents which al-Qaeda never imagined would become public reflect jihadis talking among themselves, Lahoud said, and thus may present a more accurate picture of the relationship than other commentaries by al-Qaeda, Iran or third parties. The analyst divided al-Qaeda-Iran relations from 2001-2011 into three phases. In late 2001-early 2002, after the United States invaded Afghanistan and toppled the Taliban regime, which had harbored al-Qaeda, hundreds of jihadis fled into Iran. Iran allowed them safe passage and in collaboration with the Saudi Embassy in Tehran deported many to their home countries in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, Lahoud said. A condition was that the al-Qaeda members refrain from communicating with each other and attracting international attention a condition they soon violated, she said. In a second phase, from 2002 through March 2003, Iranian authorities arrested many of the jihadis but continued to deport most. Interestingly, this was a period in which US and Iranian diplomats met regularly in Geneva and Paris to discuss issues of mutual concern including what to do about al-Qaeda members fleeing Afghanistan. In a third phase, starting in March 2003 as US forces invaded Iraq Iran began holding al-Qaeda detainees, including members of bin Ladens family, under a form of house arrest. The anonymous January 2007 letter, addressed to our Sheikhs/leaders and those who support us, says: "Iranian authorities decided to keep our brothers as a bargaining chip, but does not specify for what purpose. In the spring of 2003, Iran offered to trade senior al-Qaeda detainees for members of the Mujaheddin-e-Khalq (MEK), an anti-Tehran Iranian militant organization that had several thousand adherents at a camp in Iraq outside Baghdad. However, the George W. Bush administration rejected a swap of MEK leaders for the al-Qaeda detainees and instead gave them protection. Some in the Bush administration thought the group could be used for future attacks on Iran. The 2007 letter refers to Iran as the Iranian-Rafidi regime. Rafidi means rejectionist and reflects the Sunni fundamentalist view that Shiite Muslims are not authentic Muslims because they have rejected those that Sunnis regard as true leaders of the faith. The author explains that jihadis fled to Iran in late 2001-2002 out of necessity and sought to pass through the country or live there only temporarily. Some obtained visas and entered legally while others were smuggled in. Concentrated in the western Iranian city of Zahedan, the jihadis did not observe radio silence as required but annoyed Iran by contacting Chechens and other like-minded militants, the author says. Irans relationship with al-Qaeda became increasingly fraught as sectarian fighting spread in Iraq after the US invasion. Lahoud refers to a two-page letter in July 2004 between an intermediary for Iran and an al-Qaeda member that describes Irans concern over attacks on Shiite shrines in Iraq by al-Qaedas Iraqi affiliate and seeks bin Ladens intercession. The intermediary is told that Iran must first release one of the detained members of bin Ladens family. That did not occur until 2010, when bin Ladens wife, Umm Hamza, his son, Hamza, and Hamza's family were released. Other detainees were freed in 2009. In return, Iran obtained the freedom of an Iranian commercial attache kidnapped earlier in Pakistan by al-Qaeda-affiliated militants. The 220-page journal compiled in the last two months of bin Ladens life has been inaccurately depicted as having been written by the al-Qaeda leader himself, Lahoud said. Instead, she believes it was written by a bin Laden daughter, Miriam. It deals extensively with bin Ladens fascination with the events of the Arab Spring and brainstorming about how al-Qaeda could be a part of those movements. Here, references to Iran are marginal, Lahoud said, and only in regard to Bahrain, where the Saudis had intervened to crush protests by the small countrys Shiite majority. If Iran was collaborating with al-Qaeda, bin Laden would "presumably propose some way to take advantage of the situation in countries undergoing Arab Spring protests and to agitate protests in Saudi Arabia, Lahoud writes. Instead, bin Laden worries that Iran will try to mobilize Shiites in the region. If Iran chooses to escalate, it can, for betrayal is intrinsic [to its politics], particularly because its regime espouses a militant revolutionary worldview, bin Laden is quoted as saying in the journal. His distrust of Iran went so far as to warn his wife, when she was freed from Iranian detention in 2010, to leave behind everything brought with her from Iran, including books and clothes and to replace everything the size of which could fit in the eye of a needle since tiny tracking devices have been developed and that could be injected into even a pill. Asked her reaction to the Trump administrations attempts to assert substantial links between Iran and al-Qaeda, Lahoud said, What they need is a dispassionate analysis of these documents. They [al-Qaeda] dont like them [Iranians]. They have to deal with them. Twenty-eight years ago, on this very day, I went into labor with my first child, my son. He was as stubborn then as he is now, so about twenty-six hours later, I had him by c-section on the fourth instead of the third, which had been his actual due date. Violence in Iraq spread to the capital Sept. 7, as three mortar shells hit Baghdad's Green Zone, the center of government institutions. The zone is heavily fortified and no casualties were reported. But the attack comes amid bloody protests this week in the southern city of Basra, where so far more than 10 protesters have been killed. Dozens of protesters and members of the security forces have been injured. The outgoing government hasn't addressed protesters' demands for basic services in Basra, and the legislature's political parties have failed to form a new Cabinet in the four months since the parliamentary elections took place. Protesters on Sept. 6 attacked and set on fire political parties buildings in various areas of Basra province. The buildings mostly belong to pro-Iran parties. Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, the Badr Organization, Hezbollah Brigades, Khorasani Brigades, Islamic Dawa Party and Hezbollah al-Nujaba are among the dozens of political parties whose buildings were set on fire. On Friday, protesters also set fire to the Iranian Consulate in Basra. Faleh al-Khazali, a Badr Organization parliamentary representative from Basra whose office was set on fire, accused the US Consulate in Basra of being behind the violence and fires, and called on the Iraqi government to close the consulate permanently. The Fatah Alliance demanded Sept. 7 that current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi resign due to his failure to manage the Basra situation. Thousands of residents have been sickened by the high levels of salinity in their contaminated water supply. It seems that by attacking the Green Zone, militias close to Iran are warning Abadi not to insist on serving a second term in office, and warning the United States not to interfere in forming the new government. The pro-Iran militias regularly targeted the Green Zone with mortars during the US presence in Iraq that ended in 2011. No one so far has claimed responsibility for the recent mortar attack, which came two days after a group of pro-Iran militias threatened anyone trying to form a new pro-US and pro-Saudi government in Iraq. The group said it will target US troops in Iraq and overthrow the Abadi government. "We look with anger at the illegal military presence of foreign forces in Iraq under any name, and we state clearly that our patience is limited and that we will deal with them as an occupying force and [it is] our legitimate right to use all means to get it out of our country," read a statement signed by 11 pro-Iran militias of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), including the Hezbollah Brigades, Badr Organization, Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Khorasani Brigades. The statement alleged a conspiracy between Brett McGurk, US special presidential envoy to the international coalition fighting the Islamic State, and Saudi Minister of State Thamer al-Sabhan to "form a vulnerable government subject to external orders. The militias also targeted Abadi, saying: "Attempts by the outgoing government to undermine the [PMU elements] after the announcement of the election results by taking irresponsible actions to control the vital [elements] of the state beyond its constitutional powers through the dismissal and exclusion [of PMU leader Faleh al-Fayad] and dismantling [PMU factions] cannot pass without a suitable response from us." Abadi on Aug. 30 had dismissed Fayad from all his government posts: national security adviser, head of the national security apparatus and PMU chief. Also on that day, Hadi al-Amiri, head of both the Badr Organization and the Fatah Alliance, threatened to overturn the incoming government if the United States influences its formation. The Fatah Alliance consists of pro-Iran PMU factions. Amiri's office issued a statement: "If you [McGurk] insist on your interfering, then we shall deem any government you [help] form as a collaborating government and we shall seek to overthrow it within a matter of two months. Abadi and his allies, including Sadrs Sairoon Alliance and Ammar al-Hakims National Wisdom Movement, claimed Sept. 2 that they had the parliamentary majority necessary to form a new government. But the pro-Iran rival groups, which include the Fatah Alliance and former Prime Minister Nouri al-Malikis State of Law Coalition, are trying to dismantle Abadis alliance so they themselves can claim to hold the majority. That effort began with Fayad leaving Abadis Nasr coalition and taking eight other members with him to join the Fatah Alliance. Some reports said former Defense Minister Khalid al-Obaidi, a prominent Sunni leader, took seven other members from Nasr and joined Fatah after he was promised the defense minister position. The Shiite militias called on Sadr to clarify his position and join their anti-US front. They also called on the Islamic Dawa Party to put an end to its leaders supposed irresponsible conduct, in reference to Abadi. Local media reported some pro-Iran PMU leaders threatened to assassinate McGurk and are no longer obeying Abadi, who oversees Iraqi security forces, including the PMU. Abadi has recently adopted tough positions against Iran. He announced his government would abide by some of the US sanctions against Iran, saying, We will not risk the fate of our people to please Iran. He also slammed Iran for cutting the water supply from the Karun River, which flows into Iraqs Shatt al-Arab River. That action, he said, contributed to the water contamination in Basra. All the aforementioned indicators show that even if Abadi manages to clear all the hurdles to serve a second term, he will face strong opposition from the pro-Iran parties and militias. The Pentagon kicks off war games in Egypt on Saturday for the second year in a row, an unusual step signaling the Donald Trump administrations support for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi despite lingering human rights concerns. US-led Operation Bright Star, meant to hone Cairos ability to fend off militant groups such as the Islamic State in the Sinai Desert, had been held on a year-on, year-off basis for more than 30 years, from 1980 until the 2011 Arab Spring. Holding the exercises with 200 American troops for a second straight year just weeks after the State Department released $195 million in military aid frozen under former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is widely seen as a strong signal that the US administration will continue the $1.3 billion military relationship. The Egyptians, a former US official told Al-Monitor, are now free to act as they wanted to all along. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has been leading the push for normalization, the former official said, in spite of the State Departments concerns over the detention of two Americans, Egypt's close ties with North Korea, and the Sisi governments crackdown on nongovernmental organizations. Mattis was one of the major proponents for lifting the hold on assistance and was fairly aggressive on getting [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo to lift the hold, the former US official said. He views Sisi as a major ally of the US. Pompeo, by contrast, doesnt seem to have a strong view on the matter. I dont think he views it as a priority to reach out and build a relationship with the Egyptians, the source said. Central Command did not respond in time for publication to Al-Monitors inquiry about whether the exercise would take place annually. A tighter US-Egypt relationship still may not get Sisi the high-tech American military gadgets hes asked for, including armed drones. A State Department official told Al-Monitor that the agency will continue to focus Egypts annual $1.3 billion Foreign Military Financing (FMF) allowance on counterterrorism, border security, the terror fight in Sinai, maritime security and sustaining the weapons systems Cairo has already purchased. The policy is a continuation of Barack Obama-era rules put in place after the United States re-established ties with Sisi in 2015, a year after the former defense minister took power in a military coup. The Trump administration also has not restored cash flow financing to Egypt, which was discontinued in 2015, that would allow Egypt to buy US military equipment on credit. Despite the Pentagons efforts to improve the relationship, experts told Al-Monitor that Egypt since 2016 has blocked the US military from accessing Sinai to make sure US weapons arent used to commit human rights violations, as called for under US aid law. Inspectors havent been allowed into the northeast region of the desert, where the fight against the Islamic State is taking place. Those incidents and reports of human rights violations by the Egyptian military in the yearslong conflict against the terror group have raised concerns that Cairo could give lip service to American conditions on military aid. There is a belief that this money is needed to maintain a good working relationship with Egypt, said Zack Gold, an associate research analyst at the CNA defense think tank. In many ways, it has created a dependency, an expectation of assistance. The administrations confidence isnt unanimously shared by Congress, where some lawmakers fear that Egypt is moving in the wrong direction when it comes to human rights. Were about where we have always been, said an aide to Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt. The secretary of state made a calculation to waive the democracy and human rights conditions and release $195 million in 2017 FMF. Even though President al-Sisi is an autocrat and the armed forces are unaccountable, the White House has other priorities. He said top House lawmakers on the panel support the State Departments ability to waive the conditions on military aid. The aide said Sen. Leahy is holding up $105 million in 2017 FMF. He has called for reparations for an American citizen grievously injured in an Egyptian military attack, fair public trials for prisoners, access to Sinai to investigate the use of US military equipment, and resolution of the 2015 NGO convictions and subsequent law. Lawmakers believe little, if any, progress has been made. The administration cant make a credible case that the Egyptians have met the conditions in US law, the aide said. President al-Sisi is taking the country in a different direction. A 21-year-old man died early Saturday after he and another man were shot in southwest Birmingham. Both victims showed up at UAB Hospital about 12:30 a.m. suffering from gunshot wounds, said Birmingham police Sgt. Bryan Shelton. The fatality victim - identified as Marqueze Green- had been shot once in the back and was pronounced dead shortly after arrival at the hospital. The second victim was shot once in the arm and is expected to recover. Shelton said the preliminary investigation showed the two men were sitting in a car in the 2400 block of Steiner Court S.W. when someone in another vehicle opened fire on them. Investigators believe the shooting wasn't random and that the victims were targeted. Detectives have not yet determined a motive or identified any suspects. The slaying marks the 82nd homicide in Birmingham in 2018. Of those, at least five have been ruled justifiable and therefore will not be included by the Birmingham Police Department in its year-end tally. In all of Jefferson County, there have been 115 homicides this year, including the 82 in Birmingham. Anyone with information in the deadly shooting is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. A young boy was rushed to the hospital Friday night after he was hit by a car on an Ensley roadway. Birmingham police West Precinct officers and Birmingham Fire and Rescue medics responded just before 9 p.m. to the 2600 block of Avenue C. The boy - age 6- was possibly riding a scooter on Avenue C when it appears he was struck by an eastbound car. A small scooter and a little boy's shoe were on the side of the road in the spot where he was hit. The boy was taken to Children's of Alabama with injuries police and fire officials say are life-threatening. The motorist who struck him remained on the scene and is cooperating with police. Several of his family members and friends also are on the scene. Efforts to locate the boy's family members were unsuccessful. Birmingham police accident reconstruction investigators were still on the scene as of 10:30 p.m. This story will be updated if more information is released. A panel of 11th Circuit federal appeals court judges has ruled that the "Pensacola Cross" in a Florida park must come down, but the judges called on the full court to hear the case and let the World War II-era memorial remain. Friday's ruling is the latest turn in a legal journey that started in 2016 when the American Humanist Foundation sued the city of Pensacola, Fla., on behalf of citizens offended by the 34-foot-tall concrete cross. Alabama and 13 other states have sided with Pensacola in the legal battle that could end up before the Supreme Court. "The large cross in Pensacola's Bayview Park is a local landmark dating back more than seven decades," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a court filing. "The cross is woven into the fabric of Pensacola's history and its presence in a public park does not violate the First Amendment's prohibition of the establishment of religion, as opponents have claimed." The appeals court panel wrote in Friday's 82-page ruling that "our hands are tied. Absent (full appeals court) reconsideration or Supreme Court reversal, we are constrained to affirm the district court's order requiring removal of the Bayview Park cross." The judges called for a hearing by the entire 11th circuit court. The ruling includes a lengthy review of the cross's history and of American history relating to religion and religious symbols. But others argue that the legal argument against the cross today is legally sound. Dave Niose of the American Humanists Association told AL.com in 2017 that "the precedent is just so overwhelmingly against" the display of Christian symbols in public spaces that ruling against the cross is likely. Johnny Bobbitt will receive the full $400,000 raised in his name by a South Jersey couple, who are now the focus of mounting questions over what happened to the donations for the then-homeless veteran. "Johnny will be made whole and we're committing that he'll get the balance of the funds that he has not yet received or benefitted from," GoFundMe and Cozen O'Connor, the law firm representing Bobbitt, said in a statement Thursday. Burlington County couple Kate McClure and Mark D'Amico launched the online fundraiser for the homeless man after he gave his last $20 to McClure when she ran out of gas on I-95 in Philadelphia last year. The feel-good story gave way to accusations the couple squandered the donations on vacations and other personal expenses. "GoFundMe's goal has always been to ensure Johnny gets support he deserves," a company spokesman said in a statement. The fundraising site announced earlier this week that it would deposit $20,000 into an account for Bobbitt, maintained by his lawyers, as the case plays out in ongoing litigation and a newly-disclosed criminal probe. "As we've said, our platform is backed by the GoFundMe Guarantee, which means that in the rare case that GoFundMe, law enforcement or a user finds campaigns are misused, donors and beneficiaries are protected," a GoFundMe spokesman said. "We're fulfilling that commitment today and we will continue to work with Johnny's team to make sure he's receiving all donated amounts." GoFundMe said it would continue working with law enforcement in the case. Also on Thursday, Burlington County Prosecutor Scott A. Coffina confirmed investigators served a search warrant at the couple's Florence Township home "in connection with a criminal investigation into the Johnny Bobbitt matter." No charges have been filed, according to the prosecutor. Authorities were seen removing a BMW from the couple's residence. The announcement came after Bobbitt's lawyer, Christopher C. Fallon, said Tuesday he learned the money raised for his client was gone. An attorney for the couple has declined comment and told a judge they would invoke the 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination. Noah Cohen may be reached at ncohen@njadvancemedia.com. During the first two weeks of August, when most people in Western Europe were enjoying their summer holidays, volunteers from No Name Kitchen, a group helping migrants in Bosnia, recorded 17 cases of violence against people on the move at the countrys border with Croatia. (The UNHCR recently reported that their partners in Bosnia and Serbia recorded over 700 allegations of violence at the borders of Croatia since the beginning of this year.) In at least five of the 17 cases recorded by No Name Kitchen, the victims were vulnerable women who were trying to reach safety in the European Union. Volunteers said these women were treated brutally by the authorities and subjected to sexual violence, racism and Islamophobia. Marva, from Afghanistan, told them the group she was travelling with was stopped by police after they crossed the Slovenian border. She said the officers ordered the women in the group to remove their niqabs. When she refused to do so and started to cry, a policeman forcefully removed the garment and threw it on the floor. Here is not Afghanistan, here is Slovenia, the policeman allegedly told her. Here is no Islam. Fatima, from Iran, had a similar experience, but in Croatia. Her husband and daughter were beaten up by police officers. She was held at gun point and they were all ordered to walk back to Bosnia. She said she was scared to death. She thought they were going to kill her and her family. Several victims said officers inappropriately touched their bodies, including their breasts and genitals, during these violent encounters. They said the abuse happened in front of their children and husbands. The abusers were always in uniform. Police violence and brutality is nothing new at the borders of European Union. Hungarian, Romanian, Bulgarian and Greek police officers have long been resorting to violence in order to keep Fortress Europe safe. Croatian police joined in this brutality last year, and now even Slovenian police is abusing people on the move at their borders. As always, this violence is affecting the women the most. They are not only violently prevented from finding safety and security in Europe, but also subjected to sexual violence. And their abusers act with impunity. No one in Brussels, or in any other European capital, has punished or even condemned these officers for their treatment of women at Europes borders not even in countries led by women or where leftist, progressive parties are in power. In the last two years, the #MeToo movement encouraged the world to have a conversation about sexual harassment and condemn men who use their positions of power to abuse women. However, the abuse women (as well as men and children) experience at the hands of border officials at the gates of Europe was never included in this conversation. European media also contributed to this problem by failing to give a voice to these victims. On New Years Eve 2015 many local women reported being robbed and assaulted in Cologne, Germany and authorities said most of the accused were North African, migrant men. The media was quick to sensationalise the issue and create a narrative which implied European women are in need of urgent protection from brown, Muslim, migrant men. Authorities were quick to take action. However, now that migrant women are the victims, the media is largely silent, and the same EU officials urging action on the Cologne attacks are looking the other way. The violence at the borders of the EU is a message to all migrants and everyone who is not a citizen of Fortress Europe that they are not welcome, not even when they are running from wars, persecution, authoritarian regimes, poverty or the devastating effects of climate change. It doesnt matter that Europe is responsible for many ills that are forcing these people to leave their homes and seek safety in foreign lands. :iberals in the EU are still refusing to acknowledge this loud and clear message sent out by their official representatives. They congratulate themselves on their humane treatment of migrants, and refuse to acknowledge the human rights abuses taking place at their doorstep. They hypocritically condemn the US administration for separating families trying to cross US borders, but talk nothing of the abuse of migrants at Europes borders. Is the violence migrants endure in Europe any more acceptable than what happens in Trumps America? In liberal, progressive Europe human beings are being physically and sexually abused at borders, threatened and kept in camps indefinitely. Children are often left alone, unprotected, and deprived of an education and a future. What the EU border police is doing to vulnerable women, men and children is a crime and it cannot go unpunished. If Europe does not act now, it will soon become a place where violence against the other is acceptable. This has happened many times before in recent history, and humanity at large suffered its consequences. Europe should learn from its past mistakes, and this time make sure its on the right side of history. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance. Health minister criticised for suggesting woman who was fatally stung by scorpion must have provoked the arachnid. Algerias health minister has provoked a barrage of criticism after suggesting a woman fatally stung by a scorpion in southern Algeria was responsible for the incident. Health Minister Mokhtar Hasbellaoui was answering questions about healthcare reform at a news conference in Algiers on Tuesday when he was asked about the death of Aisha Aouissat, a university professor in the city of Ouargla capital of Ouargla province located some 780km south of Algiers. Aouissat died after 10 days in a coma, according to local news outlet Nas Ouargla News. The health facility did not have an antidote to the poisonous sting. You know that the animal world is a friendly world. Animals do not harm humans. Animals harm humans when they feel threatened, Hasbellaoui said. We have forgotten what is essential [] that we must live with our environment. Sometimes, our environment is hostile. I think that work needs to be done to study the behaviour of scorpions because understanding an animals behaviour will allow us to prevent such incidents, the minister added. Translation: Health minister The scorpion doesnt attack anyone unless he feels threatened! Algerians took to social media to decry the state of public health in the resource-rich country and mock the ministers apparent lack of sympathy and decorum. https://twitter.com/Amen_Zine/status/1037083202299383808?ref_src=twsrc^tfw Had I known that I would one day become minister of health, I would have studied more seriously Mokhtar Hasbellaoui, minister of health Le monde animal est gentil . Je deduis que lhomme nest pas un animal. Merci a Monsieur Mokhtar Hasbellaoui, Ministre de la Sante, de la Population et de la Reforme hospitaliere. A reformer! Azeddine SALMI (@zsalmi) September 4, 2018 Translation: The animal world is friendly. I deduce from that man is not an animal [then]. Thank you to Mr Mokhtar Hasbellaoui, minister of health. Just weeks before her death, Aouissat, a linguistics professor, had herself criticised the lack of government investment in vital infrastructure and the absence of necessary equipment in what is commonly seen as the countrys richest province. In August, health officials confirmed a cholera outbreak that killed at least two people in northern Algeria. Many accused the government of negligence, saying the deaths could have been prevented if authorities had been more responsive to initial reports of the waterborne diseases spread. Dutch government says the siblings, who have lived in the Netherlands for 10 years, could remain in the country. The Netherlands has suspended a planned deportation of two Armenian children whose bid for asylum was rejected, in a case that has drawn nationwide attention. The surprising U-turn came after the siblings 12-year-old Lili and her brother Howick, 13 went into hiding ahead of their expected deportations on Saturday. In a statement, the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security said that while authorities in the Netherlands and Armenia had worked hard to arrange a secure situation for the pair in Armenia, recent developments meant the welfare and security of the children can no longer be sufficiently guaranteed. The state secretary has therefore, taking everything into account, decided that the children can remain in the Netherlands, Saturdays statement added. Going into hiding Earlier on Saturday, Maarten Molenbeek, spokesperson for the justice ministry, said the children had run away from a foster home overnight, while police appealed for the publics help in locating them. Police reported in the afternoon that the siblings had been found and were being questioned, but would be returned to foster care. The children have been living with foster parents since their mother, Armina Hambartsjumian, lost a decade-long legal battle for asylum and was sent to Armenia without them. It was not immediately clear whether Hambartsjumian, who was deported to Armenia last year, would be allowed to return to join her children. The siblings, who came to the Netherlands in 2008, have reportedly never visited Armenia and do not speak Armenian. A court in the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, rejected a final bid to block their deportations on Friday. The Dutch government faced mounting disapproval of its original refusal to let the siblings remain in the country. Mark Harbers, state secretary for justice and security defended the governments position on Friday but acknowledged it was a tough decision to deport them. Everybody feels emotional about this; that also applies to somebody in the cabinet like me, Harbers said. But at the same time, you have to keep looking at all the facts that play a role. The United States has cut one of its last remaining aid programmes for Palestinians, a move that is going to affect critical patients, including cancer victims and children with serious health conditions. Washingtons decision on Saturday to scrap its $25m financial assistance to a network of six hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem was sharply criticised by Palestinian leaders and health officials, who called it a cruel and unjustified act of political blackmail. The withdrawal of the aid comes months after President Donald Trump whose administration has yet to present a long-touted peace plan for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict called for a review of US assistance to the Palestinian Authority (PA). As a result of that review, at the direction of the president, we will be redirecting approximately $25m originally planned for the East Jerusalem Hospital Network. Those funds will go to high-priority projects elsewhere, the US State Department said in a statement on Saturday. So far, the US funds had made it possible for Palestinians to seek specialised treatment such as cardiac surgery, neonatal intensive care, radiation therapy or paediatric dialysis. These treatments are not available in the occupied West Bank or Gaza, according to the World Health Organization. Speaking to Al Jazeera, a senior official working in the Jerusalem network of hospitals called the US decision inhuman and cruel and urged the international community to intervene. {articleGUID} We are the only entity that provides critical health services not available elsewhere in Palestine, said Walid Nammour, chief executive officer at Jerusalems Agusta Victoria Hospital. Patients should not be caught in the middle of political issues. Political blackmail The PA also called the move an inhuman and immoral action. This is not a formula of peace-building. This is a completely inhuman and immoral action that adopts the Israeli right-wing narrative to target and punish Palestinian citizens to compromise their rights to independence, said Ahmad Shami, spokesperson for PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Such an act of political blackmail goes against the norms of human decency and morality, added Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization executive committee. The move on Saturday came amid a vacuum in Middle East peace efforts as the US administration presses on with work on a peace plan that has been under discussion for months. Trump has tasked his son-in-law Jared Kushner and lawyer Jason Greenblatt to draft the peace proposals. Last month, the Trump administration ended $200m in economic assistance for the West Bank and Gaza. A week later, the US halted all funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), which provides much-needed services to Palestinians within and outside the occupied territories. A statement from the Palestinian foreign ministry said the UNRWA aid cut was part of a US attempt to liquidate the Palestinian cause and said it would threaten the lives of thousands of Palestinians and the livelihoods of thousands of hospital employees. This dangerous and unjustified American escalation has crossed all red lines and is considered a direct aggression against the Palestinian people, it said. Defending its decision, Washington said UNRWA needed to make unspecified reforms. On Thursday, Trump made it clear his decision to slash US funds was to force the Palestinians to negotiate, but the decisions have only further heightened tensions with the Palestinian leadership. Youll get money, but were not paying you until we make a deal, he said in Washington, DC. If we dont make a deal, were not paying. The massive cuts in aid for Palestine followed the Trump administrations controversial decisions to recognise of Jerusalem as Israels capital last year and move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in May. At least 11 killed and 50 wounded in missile attack on Iranian Kurdish party offices in Koya, reports say. Rockets have struck the headquarters of two Iranian Kurdish opposition parties in Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdish region, with reports saying at least 11 people have been killed and 50 others wounded. The missiles hit the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) on Saturday in the town of Koya, 300km north of Iraqs capital, Baghdad. In a post on Twitter, the PDKI blamed Iran for the attack and said that an adjacent refugee camp was also hit. Photos posted by PDKI on social media showed injured children and massive plumes of smoke in the sky. Al Jazeera could not verify the report independently. Iranian state media and its military have not commented on the reported attack. In a coordinated attack, the terrorist regime of Iran targeted PDKIs bases and adjacent refugee camps in Koya, Iraqi Kurdistan. According to initial reports, 35 have been wounded, and 5 others have died.#Pdki #Kurdistan #rojhelat #twitterkurds pic.twitter.com/URqpX5bnwK PDKI (@PDKIenglish) September 8, 2018 Video footage of Irans use of long-range missiles in attack against PDKIs bases and adjacent refugee camps in Koya, Iraqi Kurdistan.#PDKI #rojhelat #Kurdistan #twitterkurds pic.twitter.com/uTDm7RK0Av PDKI (@PDKIenglish) September 8, 2018 The two separatist groups seek Kurdish autonomy in Iran and operate in exile in neighbouring Iraq. Kurds account for about 10 percent of Irans population of 80 million people, with many living in the mountainous northwest region that borders Iraq and Turkey. A breakaway Kurdish republic backed by the Soviets briefly emerged after World War II and a Kurdish uprising followed in the years after Irans 1979 Islamic Revolution. An armed campaign by PDKI fighters in Iran continued into the mid-1990s. Ultimately, the PDKI declared a unilateral ceasefire with Iran in 1996. Deadliest since 1996 News channel Kurdistan 24 said the attack occurred at a meeting of the PDKI leaders, adding that at least two senior officials secretary-general Mustafa Mawludi and his predecessor Khalid Azizi were wounded in the shelling. Saturdays attack was the deadliest on the partys headquarters since 1996, the channel said. It came a day after the PDKI accused Iran of conducting indiscriminate shelling at the border region between Iraq and Iran. The PDKI also staged attacks across the border in Iran on Friday, ending a 20-year ceasefire with the Islamic Republic, according to dpa news agency. A PDKI leader, Mohammed Saleh Qadri, told dpa that Iranian drones took off from the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and hit the partys bases in Koya. Koya, also known as Koysinjaq, is about 60km east of the autonomous Kurdish regions capital Erbil. Citing local officials, Rudaw, a Kurdish television channel, said the Koya region has been under bombardment for days. Meanwhile, Iran on Saturday executed three alleged Kurdish separatists, according to Irans Fars news agency. One of them, Ramin Hossein Panahi, had planned to bomb a rally in Irans Kurdish province last June, Fars said. Zaniar Moradi and Loghman Moradi were executed for being members of an unnamed terrorist separatist group and of killing people, the report added. On Friday, Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps admitted to killing six members of a Kurdish armed group involved in a July attack on an Iranian border post. Senior Muslim Brotherhood leaders among 75 sentenced to death over 2013 Rabaa protests, journalist Shawkan to be freed. An Egyptian court has sentenced 75 people to death, including senior leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood, over a 2013 sit-in protest in Cairo that ended with the killing of hundreds of protesters. Senior Brotherhood leaders Essam el-Erian and Mohamed Beltagi were sentenced to death, while Mohamed Badie, the Brotherhoods spiritual leader, was handed a life sentence. Prominent photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid, also known as Shawkan, was handed a five-year sentence but should walk free for time served. He was arrested in August 2013 while covering the killings in Cairo. Lawyers for Shawkan said he would be out in a few days. In addition to Badie, 46 people were handed life sentences, while 612 other defendants received prison terms ranging from five to 15 years after a mass trial in Cairo. Among them is Al Jazeera journalist Abdullah Elshamy who was sentenced to 15 years in abstentia. Elshamy was jailed in Egypt without charge for 11 months until he was released in June 2014. In a statement on Saturday, Al Jazeera Media Network condemned his sentencing as a continuation of the Egyptian authorities efforts to sillence Al Jazeera and its journalists and to deter and intimidate the Network from covering developments in Egypt. The Qatar-based network, which launched in June an international campaign called Demand Press Freedom, also condemned the detention of Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein who has been in prison in Egypt for more than 625 days without a trial. The Egyptian court sentenced 75 people to death [Roger Anis/AP Photo] Those sentenced on Saturday are accused of security-related offences, including incitement to violence and organising illegal protests. Amnesty International condemned the mass sentences as a disgrace. The fact that not a single police officer has been brought to account for the killing of at least 900 people in the Rabaa and Nahda protests shows what a mockery of justice this trial was, said Nadia Bounaim, Amnestys North Africa director, in a statement. On August 14, 2013, police dispersed a mass sit-in protest in Cairos Rabaa al-Adawiya Square. The security forces killed more than 800 people in a matter of hours, in what Human Rights Watch (HRW) concluded likely amounted to crimes against humanity. Government forces moved in with armoured vehicles, bulldozers, and hundreds of security forces in the early hours of the day. According to HRW, about 85,000 protesters joined the sit-in, which extended for over 45 days and grew larger and more organised with time. The protest was staged by supporters of Mohamed Morsi, Egypts first elected president and Muslim Brotherhood leader, who was overthrown by the military a few weeks earlier. Thousands were arrested on the day of the massacre and in the months following. Turkish leader says Turkey will not sit idly by, if the world turns a blind eye to killing of tens of thousands. Ankara will not stand by and watch the loss of civilian lives in Syria, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned, after a trilateral summit with the leaders of Iran and Russia. In a series of tweets on Friday following the meeting in Tehran, Erdogan said disregarding civilian lives would play into the hands of terrorists. If the world turns a blind eye to the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people to further the regimes interests, we will neither watch from the sidelines nor participate in such a game, Erdogan said. {articleGUID} Turkey, he reiterated, was committed to the voluntary and safe repatriation of refugees and a lasting solution to the Syrian conflict. Irans President Hassan Rouhani hosted his Russian and Turkish counterparts Vladimir Putin and Erdogan on Friday amid growing concern over a looming humanitarian catastrophe in Idlib. The province hosts more than three million people, half of whom are internally displaced. The summit ended without an agreement as Turkey pushed for a ceasefire that was rejected by Russia and Iran, raising fears of an imminent offensive in Idlib by the Syrian government. Russia and Iran back Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey supports some of the rebels, who seek al-Assads removal. If the world turns a blind eye to the killing of tens of thousands of innocent people to further the regimes interests, we will neither watch from the sidelines nor participate in such a game. Recep Tayyip Erdogan (@RTErdogan) September 7, 2018 Joint statement However, in a joint statement, Iran, Russia and Turkey said that the Syria crisis could only reach a final resolution through a negotiated political process, not military means. The statement also called for the creation of conditions safe enough to allow the return of those displaced by the seven-year conflict. The talks in Tehran were held as Russian and Syrian fighter jets continued bombing various areas of southern Idlib province, killing several people, according to activists. Idlib is the last major city still under Syrian rebel control. Buoyed by Russian and Iranian support, forces loyal to al-Assad have clawed back swaths of territory from the opposition. But those gains have come with accusations of chemical weapons use and the targeting of civilians. The oil-rich southern city remains on edge, with 12 deaths since Tuesday and burning of Iran consulate. The two leading groups in Iraqs parliament have demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi over the unrest in the southern city of Basra, where a recent escalation in violence during protests over public services has seen at least 12 deaths, the Iranian consulate torched and its airport hit by rockets. At an emergency session of parliament on Saturday, the Sairoon coalition headed by populist Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, which won the most seats in Iraqs May elections, called for al-Abadis government to step down. We demand the government apologise to the people and resign immediately, al-Sadrs spokesman, said Hassan al-Aqouli, said. Ahmed al-Assadi, spokesperson for the second-largest Fateh Alliance list, also denounced the governments failure to resolve the crisis in Basra. Defending his government, al-Abadi described the weeks-long unrest in Basra over poor services and lack of jobs as political sabotage and charged that the crisis was being exploited for political ends. His government has announced the allocation of an unspecified amount of extra funds for Basra, although demonstrators say that billions of dollars in emergency funding pledged in July has failed to materialise. In a session attended by 172 deputies in the 329-seat house, al-Abadi also traded barbs with Asaad al-Eidani, the governor of Basra who is also the speaker of parliament. Iraqi officials lifted a curfew on Basra on Saturday night which they had imposed earlier in the day, according to a military statement. Basra on edge Basra has been rocked by protests since Tuesday, with demonstrators setting ablaze government buildings, the Iranian consulate and the offices of pro-Tehran militias and political parties. Anger flared after the hospitalisation of 30,000 people who had drunk polluted water. Residents in the oil-rich region have for weeks complained of water and electricity shortages, corruption among officials and unemployment. Hours before parliament met, four rockets fired by unidentified assailants struck inside the perimeter of Basra airport, security sources said. Staff at the airport, which is located near the US consulate in Basra, said flights were not affected. The attack came after a day of rage in the southern city where hundreds of protesters stormed the fortified Iranian consulate, causing no casualties but sparking condemnation. Al-Abadi said he had instructed security forces to act decisively against the acts of vandalism that accompanied the demonstrations. Iraqs Joint Operations Command, which includes the army and police, vowed a severe response with exceptional security measures, including a ban on protests and group travel. The foreign ministry called the attack on the consulate an unacceptable act undermining the interests of Iraq and its international relations. Reporting from Baghdad, Al Jazeeras Rob Matheson said that despite the measures taken by al-Abadi, Basra could be facing another upsurge of violence tonight and in coming days. Although the PM has authorized security services to head to Basra to try and contain the violence, there is a real fear that if the security forces get involved, that will exacerbate things even further and may also encourage it to spread across other parts of Iraq as well. He added that while tribal elders had previously helped suppress this kind of violence before, protesters are as angry at the tribal leaders as they are with the government and security forces. There is a significant worry that if nothing tangible appears for the people within the next few days, this could spiral out of control, said Matheson. Iranian reaction Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi denounced the savage attack on its consulate, Irans Fars news agency reported. A spokesman for the consulate said that all diplomats and staff had been evacuated from the building before the protesters attacked and that nobody was hurt. Irans ambassador to Iraq, Iraj Masjedi, said the consulate was totally demolished and charged that foreign agents close to the US, Zionists and some Arab countries are trying to sabotage Iran-Iraq relations, Irans ILNA news agency reported. Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeeras Zein Basravi said that leaders in Tehran were taking this situation very seriously. The foreign ministry spokesman pointed out that this was part of an attempt to drive a wedge between friendly relations of the governments of Iran and Iraq. He said that although there may have been events outside of the governments control, it was a failure of the Iraqi government that was unable to use its police forces to protect the Iranian mission. The parliamentary commission on foreign policy and national security has said it will investigate the events that led to the attack on the mission, said Basravi. The foreign ministry called the attack on the consulate an unacceptable act [AP] Neglect, corruption The wave of protests first broke out in Basra in July before spreading to other parts of the country, with demonstrators condemning corruption among Iraqi officials and demanding jobs. Since then at least 27 people have been killed. Were thirsty, were hungry, we are sick and abandoned, protester Ali Hussein told AFP on Friday in Basra after another night of violence. Demonstrating is a sacred duty and all honest people ought to join. The anger on Basras streets was in response to the governments intentional policy of neglect, the head of the regions human rights council, Mehdi al-Tamimi, said. Iraq has been struggling to rebuild its infrastructure and economy after decades of bloody conflicts, including an eight-year war with Iran in the 1980s, the US-led invasion of 2003 and the battle against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group which was declared to be over at the end of 2017. In August, the oil ministry announced that crude exports for August had hit their highest monthly figure this year, with nearly 112 million barrels of oil bringing $7.7bn to state coffers. Iraq, however, suffers from persistent corruption and many Iraqis complain that the countrys oil wealth is unfairly distributed. Radical solutions Parliament said MPs would hear speeches by al-Abadi and key ministers and discuss the water contamination crisis, the latest breakdown in public services to spark public anger. The meeting was demanded by al-Sadr, who has called on politicians to present radical and immediate solutions at Saturdays session or step down. Two months ago, al-Abadi pledged a multibillion-dollar emergency plan to revive infrastructure and services in southern Iraq, one of the countrys most marginalised regions. The premier is trying to hold on to his post in the next government and has formed an alliance with al-Sadr, a former militia chief who has called for Iraq to have greater political independence from both neighbouring Iran and the United States. Haider al-Abadi orders security forces to act decisively after protesters set fire to Iranian consulate in Basra. Iraqs Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has ordered an investigation into deadly violence in the southern city of Basra after protesters stormed the Iranian consulate there. Al-Abadi said late on Friday that he had instructed security forces to act decisively against the acts of vandalism that accompanied the demonstrations. The order came after protesters set fire to the Iranian consulate on Friday as part of weeks-long demonstrations over poor services and lack of jobs. At least 12 people have been killed in Basra since Tuesday, according to the health ministry. Separately, on Saturday, three Katyusha rockets struck the perimeter of the citys airport but did not disrupt operations or cause damage. Iraqs Joint Operations Command, which includes the army and police, said on Friday there would be a severe response with exceptional security measures, including banning protests and group travel. Security officials have announced a city-wide curfew in Basra, a city of two million, warning that anyone in the street would be arrested. Unacceptable Basra has been the epicentre of protests that have rocked Iraq since July, with anger fuelled by pollution of the water supply that left 30,000 people in hospital. Protests intensified earlier this week, causing several deaths as demonstrators torched government buildings, as well as political party and armed group offices. On Friday, thousands of people rallied outside the Iranian consulate in Basra, shouting anti-Iran slogans and condemning what they perceived as Tehrans interference in their countrys politics. The building was reportedly empty when the crowd burst in and set it alight, and no staff were hurt. Iraqs Foreign Ministry said the storming of the consulate, which it deeply regretted, had nothing to do with protesters demands. The targeting of diplomatic missions is unacceptable and detrimental to the interests of Iraq, said ministry spokesman, Ahmed Mahjoub. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Qassemi, blamed Iraq for failing to protect the building and said Baghdad had to identify and punish the attackers quickly. The Iraqi ambassador to Tehran was also summoned to the Iranian foreign ministry. The Iranian consulate was reportedly empty when it was torched [Haider Mohammed Ali/AFP] Several foreign governments have consulates in Basra, including the United States and Russia. In a statement, the US State Department condemned the violence and called on all parties to uphold the right of peaceful protest and to protect diplomats and their facilities. Irans influence Abbas Kadhim, a professor at George Washington University, told Al Jazeera that protesters hold Iranian-backed political parties responsible for the mismanagement and poor services in the city. The anger is directed in every direction, against all, he said. There is a lot of Iranian influence among Basra groups, whether they are in local politics or in the social groups, including the fighting groups, he said. Protesters torched the Iranian consulate in Basra as part of protests over poor public services [Haider Mohammed Ali/AFP] The unrest comes at a politically volatile time for Iraq, with legislators still trying to form a new government, after an inconclusive election in May. The new parliament finally met on Monday for the first time but broke up a day later having failed to elect a speaker, much less name the next prime minister. Click the photo to write a caption and have a chance to win a free subscription to the Norfolk Daily News. The girls father says he was told that he and his family would be barred from going on a speaking tour in Europe. Israel has banned Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi and her family from travelling abroad, her father said, citing Palestinian authorities. Basim Tamimi told Anadolu Agency on Friday that he and his family had planned to travel to Europe via Jordan, to participate in events and discussions on the Palestinian resistance movement and the experience of being detained in Israel. But he said his family were informed by Palestinian authorities that Israel had banned them from travelling abroad. There was no immediate comment from Israeli authorities on the matter. {articleGUID} The Tamimi family had planned to leave Friday morning, Basim said, adding that neither the Palestinian nor the Israeli authorities provided a reason for the ban. On July 29, Israeli authorities released Ahed al-Tamimi and her mother, Nariman, after both had served eight months behind bars. The 17-year-old was arrested in December after a video went viral showing the young woman, then 16, pushing and hitting Israeli soldiers who tried to enter her family residence in Nabi Saleh. She was later slapped with an eight-month jail term for attacking an Israeli soldier. Tamimi, who was already a prominent advocate of Palestinian independence prior to her arrest, has since become an international symbol of resistance against Israels occupation in the West Bank. The teens arrest drew international condemnation and again put the spotlight on Israels treatment of Palestinians, especially Palestinian youth. Tamimi was indicted on 12 charges in Israels Ofer military court in Ramallah two weeks after her arrest. In March, Tamimi and her mother accepted plea deals that would see them serve eight months in prison, including time served, in exchange for pleading guilty to some of the charges. {articleGUID} Israeli forces initiated a crackdown on Nabi Saleh after the video went viral, arresting residents and shooting dead Aheds 21-year-old relative Izz al-Din Tamimi during a raid on the village last month. Former US president condemns politics of fear in first direct attack on incumbent leader since 2016 election. Former US President Barack Obama has launched an unprecedented attack on his successor Donald Trump and his Republican party, condemning the use of fearmongering and bigotry as electoral devices. In a rallying cry ahead of Novembers midterm elections, Obama told an audience at the University of Illinois that the United States was going through a period in which the powerful and privileged sought to keep people divided and angry. {articleGUID} It did not start with Donald Trump, Obama said in his first direct criticism of the incumbent US leader since he took power after the November 2016 election. He is a symptom, not the cause. He is just capitalising on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years, he added before condemning the Republican party for shielding Trump from facing the consequences of his worst actions. The Democrat hit out at the Republican partys record on the environment, the White Houses cosying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Trump administrations targeting of minorities and Trumps own threats against the media. Appealing to tribe, appealing to fear, pitting one group against another, telling people that order and security will be restored if it werent for those who dont look like us or dont sound like us or dont pray like we dothats an old playbook, Obama said. In a healthy democracy, there are some checks and balances on this kind of behaviour, this kind of inconsistency, but right now, theres nothing, he added. Republicans who know better in Congress are still bending over backwards to shield this behaviour from scrutiny or accountability or consequence. Obama also accused Republicans of giving tax cuts to the rich, taking away healthcare from millions, and rejecting scientific facts behind climate change. Its not conservative. It sure isnt normal. Its radical. Its a vision that says the protection of our power and those who back us is all that matters, even when it hurts the country. Inspiring words from @BarackObama today. A powerful reminder that it's on all of us to vote this fall if we want leaders who reflect the civility, character, dignity, and goodness of the American people. The stakes couldn't be higher, but Americans always rise to the occasion. Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 7, 2018 The former US leader has a long rivalry with Trump who was a key proponent of the conspiracy theory that Obama was not born in the US, which if true would have rendered him ineligible to hold office. On his Twitter account, Trump did not respond directly but instead shared tweets attacking Obama, including one which accused him of slick speaking and being responsible for school shootings. The upcoming mid-term elections are seen as a key test of Trumps first two years in power. {articleGUID} If the Democrats are able to gain control of the Houses of Congress, they would be able to severely hinder Trumps policies. The US president is feeling the pressure as an investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election pulls in an increasing number of his associates. Trump also faces criticism from within his administration, albeit anonymously in most cases. Earlier this week, an unnamed White House official penned a New York Times opinion piece, claiming the presidents worst impulses were tempered by adults in the room, who ensured he did not act to the detriment of the US on issues such as foreign policy. Abu Dhabis crown prince says defence and military ties and issues of mutual interest discussed in the meeting. US Defence Secretary James Mattis has held talks with Abu Dhabis crown prince in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), days after warning the Gulf state that Washingtons support for its military intervention in Yemen was not unconditional. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed tweeted on Saturday that his meeting with the Pentagon chief late on Friday covered the enhancing of defence and military ties and issues of mutual interest. He did not give further details. {articleGUID} On August 28, Mattis warned that the United States could end its support for the Saudi-UAE military alliance fighting Yemens Houthi rebels amid an international outcry over the deaths of dozens of children in coalition air raids. Twin attacks south of the rebel-held Red Sea port of Hodeidah on August 23 killed 26 children, according to the United Nations. An August 9 air raid in Houthi-held Saada province killed 51 people, including 40 children. US support The US provides weapons, aerial refuelling, intelligence and targeting information to the coalition. Last month, Mattis said that the US has been working with Saudi Arabia and the UAE to improve targeting and recognises that tragedies have occurred. It is not unconditional, Mattis said of Washingtons backing for the coalition. Our conduct there is to try and keep the human cost of innocents being killed accidentally to the absolute minimum. Yemen remains wracked by violence since the Houthis overran much of the country, including the capital Sanaa, in 2014. The conflict escalated in March 2015 when Saudi Arabia and allies who accuse the Houthis of being Iranian proxies launched a massive air campaign in Yemen aimed at rolling back rebel gains. Iran and the Houthis deny the accusations. Now entering its fourth year, the war has pushed more than 22 million people half of whom are children to seek humanitarian assistance. According to the UN, more than 10,000 people have been killed in the war in Yemen a death toll that has not been updated in years and is certain to be far higher. At least 11 killed and dozens more wounded in missile attack on Iranian Kurdish party offices in Koya, reports say. Rockets have struck the headquarters of two Iranian Kurdish opposition parties in Iraqs semi-autonomous Kurdish region, killing and injuring several people, according to officials and local media. The missile attack hit the headquarters of the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) and the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI) in the northern town of Koya on Saturday, according to the TV channel Kurdistan 24. Eleven KDPI members were killed and 30 wounded by Katyusha rockets fired on their headquarters, Kamran Abbas, director of the citys hospital, told AFP news agency. The PDKI, in a Twitter post, blamed Iran for the attack and said an adjacent refugee camp was also hit. Photos posted by the PDKI on social media show injured children and massive plumes of smoke in the sky. Al Jazeera could not verify the report independently. In a coordinated attack, the terrorist regime of Iran targeted PDKIs bases and adjacent refugee camps in Koya, Iraqi Kurdistan. According to initial reports, 35 have been wounded, and 5 others have died.#Pdki #Kurdistan #rojhelat #twitterkurds pic.twitter.com/URqpX5bnwK PDKI (@PDKIenglish) September 8, 2018 Video footage of Irans use of long-range missiles in attack against PDKIs bases and adjacent refugee camps in Koya, Iraqi Kurdistan.#PDKI #rojhelat #Kurdistan #twitterkurds pic.twitter.com/uTDm7RK0Av PDKI (@PDKIenglish) September 8, 2018 The two groups seek Kurdish autonomy in Iran and operate in exile in neighbouring Iraq. Kurdistan 24 said the attack occurred as party leaders sat for a meeting and at least two senior officials were injured in the shelling. Saturdays attack was the largest on the partys headquarters since 1996, the channel said. Koya, also known as Koysinjaq, is about 60km east of the autonomous Kurdish regions capital Erbil. Citing local officials, Rudaw, a Kurdish television channel, said the Koya region has been under bombardment for days. Also on Saturday, Iran executed three alleged Kurdish separatists, according to Irans Fars news agency. One of them, Ramin Hossein Panahi, had planned to bomb a rally in Irans Kurdish province last June, Fars said. Zaniar Moradi and Loghman Moradi were executed for being members of an unnamed terrorist separatist group and of killing people, the report added. Meanwhile, Irans Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Friday they had killed six members of a Kurdish armed group involved in a July attack on an Iranian border post. Rebel commanders say offensive has not yet started despite escalation that killed at least six civilians. Antakya, Turkey Syrian government forces backed by their Russian allies have stepped up their bombardment of rebel-held territories in northwest Syria, killing at least six civilians, according to local activists. The air raids and shelling on Saturday came a day after Russia rejected a Turkish call for a ceasefire in Syrias Idlib province, where a major government assault aimed at recapturing the last rebel stronghold in the country is seemingly imminent. The attacks targeted areas in southern Idlib province and in the north of neighbouring Hama province, in what is seen as the biggest escalation over the past week. One hospital in the village of Hass in southern Idlib was destroyed by a barrel bomb dropped from a helicopter. {articleGUID} Local activists told Al Jazeera that six civilians died in the bombardment, including one child. According to Abd al-Kareem al-Rahmoun, a representative of the White Helmets, a volunteer rescue group operating in rebel-held parts of Syria, the town of Qalaat al-Madiq in northern Hama province was targeted with more than 150 shells. The shelling killed two men and wounded five others, including two children. At least 26 people in rebel-held areas have been killed since the beginning of the month, the White Helmets said. Rebel factions in northern Hama province responded to Saturdays attacks with rocket fire and shelling of areas under government control, including the city of Salhab further west. According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), there were no reported casualties. On Friday, rebel shelling killed 10 people, including five children in the Christian-majority town of Maharda in western Hama province, SOHR reported. {articleGUID} Mohamad Haj Ali, commander of the First Coastal Division, which is part of the moderate opposition formation al-Jabha al-Wataniya lil-Tahrir (NLF), told Al Jazeera that despite the escalation, the battle for Idlib has not started yet. [The offensive was delayed] because of Turkish pressure on the Russians. We still hope for a diplomatic solution, he said, adding, however, that he expects the offensive to be launched in the coming weeks. If this happens, its first stage will target northern Latakia province and the area around the town of Jisr al-Shaghour in southern Idlib, he said. In a separate development, clashes erupted between Syrian troops and Kurdish security forces known as Asayesh in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in northern Hasakah province. At least 13 members of the government forces were killed and seven Asayesh fighters, according to SOHR. Although Qamishli is fully controlled by Kurdish forces, Damascus has retained control of a military base in its outskirts. What next after Tehran summit? In a summit on Friday in the Iranian capital, Turkey which backs certain rebel groups in Idlib and Assad allies Russia and Iran failed to reach an agreement on the fate of the province, which is home to about three million people, half of whom are internally displaced. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans proposal for a cessation of hostilities was rejected by his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Naji Abu Hadhifa, a spokesperson for the NFL, told Al Jazeera that nothing has changed after the Tehran summit, which confirmed the armed oppositions low expectations. According to Hadhifa, the intensified bombardment of southern Idlib and northern Hama provinces is aimed at frightening the civilian population. He added, though, that the armed opposition has stepped up preparations to deal with a large-scale government offensive, and even a feared chemical attack. Hadhifa also accused Russia of trying to sow divisions within the opposition by lying that there are some factions who want reconciliation and are seeking to establish contact with the Syrian government or Moscow. {articleGUID} Earlier on Saturday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu also downplayed the current escalation and said that Turkey is currently working hard to de-escalate the situation. The terrorist groups in Idlib were brought there by those who are now attacking them from Aleppo, Homs, the south through corridors. We warned them that this would be a problem in the future and now they use it as an excuse, said Cavusoglu, referring to the humanitarian corridors Russia established after reconciliation deals with rebel factions that allowed them to relocate to Idlib as advancing government forces moved into opposition-held territory. Russia has justified its intention to launch an offensive on Idlib by citing the presence of terrorists in the province. Cavusoglu also said that if fighting escalates, some two million people would head to the Turkish border, which would affect both Turkey and Europe. Chair of Joint Chief of Staff says no decision has been made over US response to possible chemical attack in Syria. The top US military official has said he is involved in routine dialogue with the Trump administration to discuss the military options available if chemical weapons are used in an expected assault on the Syrian rebel-held province of Idlib. Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Saturday that no decision had been made by the United States to employ military force in response to a future chemical attack in Syria. But we are in a dialogue, a routine dialogue, with the president to make sure he knows where we are with regard to planning in the event that chemical weapons are used, he told a small group of reporters during a trip to India. Dunford later added: He expects us to have military options and we have provided updates to him on the development of those military options. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has massed his army and allied forces on the front lines in the northwest, and Russian planes have joined his bombardment of rebels there in a prelude to a widely expected assault despite objections from Turkey. This week, a top US envoy said there was lots of evidence that chemical weapons were being prepared by Syrian government forces in Idlib. Swiftly and vigorously The White House has warned that the US and its allies would respond swiftly and vigorously if government forces used chemical weapons in Idlib. President Donald Trump has twice ordered limited strikes in Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons, in April 2017 and April 2018. Dunford did not say, one way or the other, what he expected Trump to do should Syria use chemical weapons again. Frances top military official also said last week his forces were prepared to carry out strikes on Syrian targets if chemical weapons were used in Idlib. Dunford declined to comment on US intelligence about the possible Syrian preparations of chemical agents. Idlib is the last remaining major rebel stronghold and a government offensive could be the last decisive battle in a war that has killed more than half a million people and forced 11 million to flee their homes. The presidents of Turkey, Iran and Russia on Friday failed to agree on a ceasefire that would forestall an offensive. Tehran and Moscow have helped al-Assad turn the course of the war against the opposition, while Turkey is a leading opposition supporter and has troops in the country. Turkey says it fears a massacre and it cannot accommodate any more refugees flooding over its border. Demonstrations continued for and against the Saudi-UAE coalition-backed government. By Booker, the new poster child for demagoguery, called it his Spartacus moment, pretending to risk his political career by releasing, in violation of Senate rules, an email by Judge Brett Kavanaugh on racial profiling that had already been cleared for release, a post 9/11 email that expressed the hope that a race-neutral set of rules for vetting terrorists could be found. Racist it was not, except in the mind of Booker, who was less like Spartacus and more like that little Martian in the movie Space Jam ready to fall on his rubber sword. What is the difference between Cory Booker and Emily Litella, the late Gilda Radner's classic "Saturday Night Live" character who would go off on epic rants only to say, when told her premise was incorrect, "Never mind"? Cory Booker will not say, "Never mind." As Fox news contributor and Democratic pollster Doug Schoen opines about Booker's latest tirade: The senator was not elected to pretend to engage in civil disobedience that really isn't civil disobedience in an effort to appeal to the Democrats' growing progressive wing without taking any real risks at all. And Booker was not elected to play the role of one of the many protesters who, during Kavanaugh's hearing and previously, have taken well-publicized protest actions to "resist" the Trump administration in every way possible, including violating the law. Even though the rule-breaking by Booker turned out not to be rule-breaking in the end, it set a bad precedent. Senators need to follow the rules of the chamber. That's because in order for the Senate to operate smoothly in service of the American people it has to operate by rules and members have to be able to trust each other to abide by those rules. When senators feel they can ignore rules whenever they wish and fight their opponents with any means necessary the Senate can descend into chaos and paralysis, making it unable to function as what it used to be called "the world's greatest deliberative body." This is not Mr. Smith goes to Washington. This is Saul Alinsky runs for president. Somewhere Saul Alinsky, author of the progressive guidebook, Rules for Radicals, is smiling. His goal was to destroy America's institutions through demonization of their occupants and the corruption of their functions. If Donald Trump's election has done anything, it has exposed the depth and stench of the swamp; pulled back the curtain and forced us to pay attention to the anarchists who were running the show behind. Cory Booker intends to ride the race card all the way to the White House and if good men like Judge Kavanaugh are to be sacrificed well, hey, break the eggs and make your omelet. His demonization of Kavanaugh as a racist is akin to his slanderous assault on then attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions who, whatever his other faults, is not a racist. Cory Booker willingly stepped to the plate as the designated character assassin of fellow Sen. Jeff Sessions. It was a forum of great attention that perhaps Booker thought might launch a 2020 presidential run like another freshman Senator, Barack Obama, whose 2004 Democratic Convention speech launched his presidential campaign. As Sen. Tom Cotton noted on Facebook: I'm very disappointed that Senator Booker has chosen to start his 2020 presidential campaign by testifying against Senator Sessions. This disgraceful breach of custom is especially surprising since Senator Booker just last year said he was "honored to have partnered with Senator Sessions" on a resolution honoring civil-rights marchers. Senator Booker says he feels compelled to speak out because Senator Session wants to keep criminals behind bars, drugs off our streets, and amnesty from becoming law. He's welcome to oppose these common-sense policies and vote against Senator Sessions' nomination, but what is so unique about those views to require his extraordinary testimony? Nothing. This hearing simply offers a platform for his presidential aspirations. So too does the hearing on Judge Kavanaugh's confirmation as a Supreme Court justice. Racism is the last refuge of political scoundrels like Cory Booker, something which requires an historical amnesia of historical and, yes, hysterical proportions. Booker's historical amnesia omits the fact that it was Senator Robert Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia and former "Grand Kleagle" with the Ku Klux Klan, who holds the distinction of being the only Senator to have opposed the only two black nominees to the Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall and Clarence Thomas, and led a 52-day filibuster against this legislation. Sen. Al Gore, father of the former vice president, voted against the act, as did Sen. J. William Fulbright, to whom Bill Clinton dedicated a memorial, current senior senator from South Carolina Ernest Hollings, Sen. Richard Russell and, of course, Sen. Strom Thurmond, who was a Democrat at that time. Booker forgets that it was Democrats who unleashed the dogs and turned on the fire hoses on civil rights marchers. It was Democrats who stood in the schoolhouse door and are still standing there by opposing school choice and trapping minority children in failing schools. It was Democrats who blocked the bridge in Selma. Booker's amnesia omits the fact that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would never have been possible without Republican leadership. Not only was that legislation a personal victory for Illinois Republican Sen. Everett Dirksen, then Senate Minority leader; Republicans in both the House and Senate supported the measure in far greater percentages than Democrats. Only six GOP senators voted against the act, compared with 21 Democrats. The party of Abraham Lincoln and Jeff Sessions beat back the fire hoses and dogs of the party of Robert Byrd and Cory Booker. As one pundit put it, the Democrats should know a lot about Jim Crow laws, since they are the ones who wrote them. Condoleezza Rice, President George W. Bush's national security advisor, and who introduced Kavanaugh at his hearing, explained at the 2000 GOP national convention why a black college professor would be a Republican: The first Republican I knew was my father John Rice. And he is still the Republican I admire the most. My father joined our party because the Democrats in Jim Crow Alabama of 1952 would not register him to vote. The Republicans did. I want you to know that my father has never forgotten that day, and neither have I. And neither should we. Booker is not Spartacus, fighting for the freedom of slaves and the proposition that all are created equal. He is Al Sharpton, a race-baiting demagogue lusting after the power of government, ready to rewrite history and demonize anyone blocking his progressive path as a racist. Go ahead, Cory, play the race card. We'll play our Trump card. Daniel John Sobieski is a free lance writer whose pieces have appeared in Investor's Business Daily, Human Events, Reason Magazine and the Chicago Sun-Times among other publications. Sunday's Vote Could Snap Swedes out of Their Stockholm Syndrome Swedes are set to vote Sunday, and soon the world may view another example of citizens frustrated by arrogant politicians and bureaucrats upending the status quo and changing the landscape of a rich country whose leaders manifestly have failed the working class. For in truth, Sweden is burning, physically and figuratively. This reality is known better outside that country, because pro-globalist elites in Sweden work so hard to obscure brutal crimes and dislocations that occur as too many unvetted immigrants sweep into their generous nation. But it is not simply burning cars, and savage assaults that capture the concern of Swedish citizens and international observers. An expensive, thirty year experiment in Sweden promoting global governance and attacking world problems has certainly helped Swedish elites, but many voters see more financial harm than benefit for themselves. So, in mere days, the Swedish electorate will speak, and rumblings emanating various ways suggest that parties and politicians long in control of the government will suffer erosion in their influence. How much power will a right-leaning party Sweden Democrats win at the ballot box, and what roles might candidates in this party play either supporting or obstructing the coalition government destined to emerge after September 9, 2018? How closely will voters examine the qualifications and backgrounds of candidates for office, including their criminal records, if any, and the stated goals of their political parties concerning Sweden and regarding the wider world? These major questions and looming answers must be seen in context. Sparks Igniting Political Changes In February 2017, when newly inaugurated President Trump drew attention to Tucker Carlson's Fox News special on Sweden's mounting problems with immigration policies, most critics around the world scoffed. So, who was correct? Months later, on April 7, 2017, an asylum-seeker killed five persons, and injured many more. These are the brutal losses that can be seen and measured. How many more minds were wounded then, and how many still suffer from deep, lasting anxieties knowing there may no longer be safe spaces left in once-serene Sweden, especially for children and for grandchildren? Lax vetting of visitors and immigrants is a poor choice for governments in rich nations. Evidently, the ancient lesson of the "Trojan horse" is one casualty of trends in education. When will we start learning from history, recent and long past? For years, the Swedish police, government officials, mainstream "journalists," local educators and think-tankers did their best to cover up tragic incidents where newly settled immigrants committed violent crimes against persons and against property inside Sweden. Much has changed following events in 2017 and then on August 14, 2018, when roving bands of black-clad youths overturned and burned vehicles in Gothenburg and several additional Swedish cities. Even Sweden's Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven, had to admit publicly that he was outraged over violent attacks that seemed coordinated almost with military precision. As in other nations, crime statistics in Sweden apparently are not tracked carefully enough to catalog socio-economic characteristics of attackers and victims. Moreover, concerns arise whether crimes against the vulnerable are accurately reported in "No-Go" zones scattered across Sweden that are chiefly populated by immigrants. Yet, evidence is unmistakable that immigrants streamed into Sweden to take advantage of taxpayer-funded financial benefits that are not available in the war-torn, economically depressed zones whence immigrants originate. Sadly, in too many cases these immigrants exhibited little interest in assimilating peaceably, and instead attacked their economic benefactors. Long-time residents and visitors to Sweden understand that welcoming numerous immigrants who despise secular society and reject Swedish cultural norms entails profound risks. Do Swedes really wish to inhabit a globalist world, where artificial borders unfairly deny fair access to Sweden to fellow world citizens living in economically depressed or politically challenging conditions? Are Swedes required to welcome and subsidize all immigrants, even those who may despise secular government, and local mores? As challenging as Sweden's immigration problems are in September 2018, they seem to be symptoms of deeper concerns. Sending all unvetted immigrants back to their countries of origin would still leave Swedish workers as cogs in a globalist wheel of misfortune, where their wages may be crushed by cheaper human or machine alternatives. Regulated Nationalism or Unregulated Globalism? For 30 years, from 1989 to the present, the Swedish people have been in thrall to elites who tirelessly sell virtues of "globalism." Considering who may actually benefit from submitting to globalist impulses, American observers need to understand that Sweden's economy is remarkably different from ours: Sweden's businesses are much more dependent on foreign customers. For example, in 2016, exports from Sweden were $228 billion. This figure is equal in size to the internal Swedish market for household goods and services (consumption). In contrast, American exports of $2,296 billion were just 17% of household consumption during 2016. Without export sales, many Swedish companies would experience substantial economic losses. Whereas, American companies, even now, can still thrive catering primarily to our large, vibrant home market. So, it is easy to understand why Swedish politicians would embrace globalism, thinking that doing so might help Swedish multinational companies and their employees to promote export sales. And yes, large corporations there have indeed thrived many Swedish-branded products sell across the world, and some private sector employees earn incomes that allow families to live well, even to save. Academics, think-tankers, and writers in Sweden also have flourished while promoting unregulated globalism. But the people who have suffered are those in the private sector whose jobs and incomes stand ever more at risk. Despite abundant evidence that globalist policies failed to lift wages for private sector workers in richer nations, Swedish voters, until now, continue to elect pro-globalist governments, and in so doing exhibit classic signs of "Stockholm Syndrome," a condition that Merriam Webster's dictionary defines as "the psychological tendency of a hostage to bond with, identify with, or sympathize with his or her captor." Will Swedish voters escape their captors and chart a new, more productive course for Sweden's workers and entrepreneurs? Will Sweden become safe again? Soon, the world shall see. Morocco cannot accept that its territories serve as a safe haven for human trafficking networks and refuses to play the role of the regions policeman, Spokesperson for the Government, Mustapha El Khalfi, said Thursday in Rabat. Mustapha El Khalfi was adamant on this issue, during the press briefing given at the end of the Cabinet Councils weekly meeting. He again explained the strategy adopted by Morocco on the thorny issue of illegal migration and gave eloquent figures. He said that Morocco has once again told the European Union that it will never accept to host on its territory reception centers for migrants expelled from Europe. This firm stand was expressed lately to the ambassadors of the European Union and of African countries accredited in Morocco. We met with the diplomatic missions representatives, and explained to them the Moroccan strategy to fight illegal emigration, he said. The minister added that the issue of migration, especially the recent repatriation to Morocco of 120 African migrants from Spain, was one of the main topics discussed during the cabinet meeting. The first point on which the government insists concerns Moroccos categorical refusal to host migrants detention centers on its soil. The second, and not least, is that the Kingdom cannot by itself play the role of the policeman of Europe. In other words, Morocco is asking the EU to contribute both technically and financially to its efforts in this area. Just as Morocco refuses to play the role of a policeman, it refuses that its territory is used by human trafficking networks that smuggle out migrants to Europe. Morocco is determined to wage an implacable fight against these mafia, insisted the Government spokesman. The spokesmans remarks came as some human rights groups denounced what they described as the role Moroccan security authorities play to protect the European Union. Some inaccurate press reports alleged that hundreds of illegal migrants from sub-Saharan Africa have been dislodged from northern cities and deported to the south. Government sources explained that when deportations are operated from a city to another, and not abroad, it is mainly to free the migrants from the hands of human trafficking mafias. The number of these networks has increased since the closure of the Libya route, the sources said. Mustapha El Khalfi also provided eloquent figures on the fight against illegal migration currently conducted by Morocco and surveyed the migration strategy adopted by Morocco. He said this strategy made it possible to regularize, in 2014 and 2017, the situation of nearly 50,000 undocumented migrants, 90% of whom are sub-Saharans, who now reside legally in Morocco. Several programs were set up to facilitate these immigrants social integration and to enable them benefit from education, health, housing and vocational training, he said. Morocco has also worked, in coordination with the diplomatic representations of the countries concerned and the International Organizations for Migration, to ensure the voluntary return of migrants to their countries of origin in total respect of their dignity and their rights, El Khalfi pointed out. He said 22,000 immigrants have benefited from this operation since 2014, including 1,400 in 2018. Despite this openness and the humanitarian approach adopted by Morocco in the area of immigration, some illegal migrants have not joined the initiatives proposed as part of the national immigration strategy and still dream of crossing to Europe. As part of Moroccos fight against all forms of organized crime, Moroccan security services thwarted in 2018 more than 54,000 illegal immigration attempts, dismantled 74 human trafficking networks, seized 1,900 boats and brought before justice 260 traffickers, the Government spokesman said. The prevailing explanation, at least the one advanced publicly by Donald Trump and his supporters, is that Hispanic immigrants are disproportionately inclined toward criminality and long-term welfare dependency vis-a-vis other immigrant groups. Why do the public discussions of immigration overwhelmingly focus on our Southern border while the influx of almost equal numbers of Asians, Europeans, and Indians goes unnoticed? Why fixate on Hispanics? The elephant in the room is the low I.Q. of these would-be future Americans. Specifically, the average I.Q. in central American countries Honduras 81, El Salvador 81, Guatemala 79, for example would assign these migrants and their offspring to the "educable" or mildly retarded category in schools, unable to master all but the basics (Mexico might be a small exception with an average I.Q. of 88). To be sure, the newcomers may be a tad smarter than their countrymen left behind, but even so, an average of a few points higher would not substantially alter their intellectual shortcomings. Put into context, the average I.Q. of black Americans is 85, so these Central Americans would be at the very bottom of America's educational achievement hierarchy. This awkward reality is not totally racial notable exceptions exist, and these "educable" Hispanic immigrants will be far outnumbered by whites with similarly low cognitive abilities. Critically, low I.Q. is likely to persist across generations and is intractable compared to reversing criminality or welfare dependency, since criminality can be mitigated by tougher law enforcement, while welfare rolls can be trimmed. Low I.Q., by contrast, is impossible to boost. Skeptics should consider the failure of Head Start and countless similar interventions in this futile quest. The influx of millions of low-I.Q. people will likely transform America (politics included) and conceivably even edge us closer to nations like Brazil and even Venezuela. While recent immigrants from places like El Salvador on their own lack the numbers to execute this transformation, added to those of the Bernie Sanders ilk already here, they can turn electoral minorities into majorities. California may be a harbinger. Make no mistake: Trump and his supporters have a credible case that an open southern border may well alter American quantitatively, qualitatively, irreversibly, and for the worse. Anticipating this transformation is hardly rocket science. First, this will be a population plagued by innumeracy in a society requiring at least some ability to comprehend numbers. How many low-I.Q. people understand what a million or billion is, let alone trillions, all commonplace terms in deliberations over the national debt and trade deficits? Keep in mind that many of those with low I.Q.s love the lottery, where one-in-a million odds seem "reasonable." These are also people who as jurors can award damages in the hundreds of millions thanks to junk science. Imagine a judicial system where a handful of juries regularly dictates hundred-million-dollar judgments that bankrupt corporations while creating extensive unemployment and destroying pensions. Do these "generous" jurors honestly believe that their outsized kindness makes economic sense? Meanwhile, picture the cognitively challenged following environmental disputes where, for example, a proposed regulation shifts from one part per hundred million to two parts per hundred million, a change that may be portrayed (accurately but probably deceptively) as doubling the permitted toxic waste but in fact may be environmentally meaningless, given infinitesimal quantities. What does "a part per hundred million" mean to those mystified by "million"? More importantly, can they grasp how seemingly high-sounding environmental intervention may have business-killing ramifications? Imagine a low-I.Q. person trying to follow a public debate on, say, spending more on education, that includes such basic economic concepts as opportunity costs and trade-offs. Can he draw the connection between government mandating cheaper medical costs and fewer doctors? Probably not. Ditto for calculating non-economic costs, especially non-obvious ones. Try explaining to those who can't get past 6th grade that artificially high minimum wages in practice harms intended beneficiaries, since these mandates raise the cost of hiring alleged beneficiaries. Or that alluring soak-the-rich tax rates will fail, since the wealthy will escape confiscatory taxes or refuse to invest in economically productive ventures. Can they grasp America's foundational political principles? Try explaining that the rule of law requires only following certain detailed procedures and that it does not guarantee that those "obviously" 100% guilty will, in fact, be convicted. Or why the First Amendment protects hurtful or offensive speech. Or that the morally offensive for example, adultery is not illegal unless prohibited by a specific statute. Such intellectual insufficiencies almost guarantee widespread Bernie Sanders-style demagogy, a world where voters embrace free lunches thanks, supposedly, to an endless supply of billionaires agreeable to being fleeced. Campaigns will see rivals competing to be Santa Claus, as if every alluring benefit were an unalienable government-funded right. Pandering office-seekers will also demand that government just get rid of "bad things" regardless of cost or legal obstacles. Just try to convince those of limited intelligence why eliminating all sexual harassment invites totalitarian cures far worse than the offending behavior. Does the concept "totalitarian" mean anything to those stymied by 4th-grade reading lessons? There is some upbeat news here. The Founders fully understood this danger and, for those accusing Trump, et al. of racism, the Constitution was written at a time when America (excluding slaves, of course) was overwhelmingly white and of European ancestry. Warnings of low I.Q. are not dog-whistle racism. Many Founders were personally familiar with mass foolishness where people demanded "free" government handouts. The Constitution itself was created in response to the Shays Rebellion, when mobs of destitute farmers attacked courthouses in the hope of forcefully discharging their debts. The Constitution reflects the fear of the Great Unwashed: checks and balances; the separation of powers; federalism; explicit limits on government power (for example, Article I, Section 9 and the Bill of Rights); the lifetime appointment of judges; and the Electoral College, not a popular majority, electing the president, among multiple other barriers to foolish mob rule. Meanwhile, the states sharply limited the franchise to property-owners to block the easily misled poor from heeding soak-the-rich demagogy. Nevertheless, the threat of rapacious economic appetites remains relevant. Constitutional limits can accomplish only so much. Puerto Rico is constrained by the U.S. Constitution, but it has nevertheless overspent itself into near bankruptcy. California seems headed in this direction thanks to widespread beliefs that any idea that sounds good for example, universal health care for all immigrants deserves to be implemented. Several cities such as Detroit have declared bankruptcy due to never having to say "no" to "good ideas" while refusing to pay the bills. It is impossible to specify a tipping point when the U.S. drifts into a Third World-like wealth-destroying "socialism," where government barely functions thanks to an inept workforce. It may require an influx of millions more low-I.Q. immigrants before this calamity finally arrives, but this fear is not racist hyperbole. This is the elephant at our southern border. Who are they? As conservatives, why do we not agree with them? That answer varies, but usually it is because we find their ideas foolish. Ideas like "equality," "tolerance," "flourishing," and "social justice" sound like wonderful concepts. Conservatives are not against these ideals, which leftists claim to tout. The problem for most conservatives is that we don't believe that these goals are attainable through the methods the left provides, if at all. Before we lose our minds over the New York Times' anonymous op-ed , we should remind ourselves about who the leftists are. And how they play their game. The vision the left has of a good society seems, to most conservatives, like a lot of dreams that don't match anything in the real world. They are the descriptions of a society that exists nowhere and never will exist. The left believes, in other words, in Utopia. Thomas More wrote an entire book in Latin about that, back in the sixteenth century. In Utopia, More satirizes the idea of a perfect society. The book focuses on an island nation on which someone named "Raphael" claims he spent five years. The word "utopia" means, literally, no place or "nowhere." The society of Utopia is a collection of ideal situations that look a lot like the left's fantasies of social justice. We hear that the Utopians "have very few laws" (87) because their cultural means of encouraging virtue work smoothly and do not require onerous enforcement. In fact, so deeply are the fruitful habits of the Utopians imbued in their personality that their "first principle is that every soul is immortal and was created by a kind God, Who meant it to be happy" (71). Most illustrative for readers of the New York Times op-ed is what the Utopians do to protect themselves from violent invasion without having to fight wars. Take a look at this passage: So the moment war's declared they arrange through secret agents for lots of posters to go up simultaneously at all points on enemy territory where they are most likely to be seen. These posters carry the official seal of the Utopian government and offer a huge reward for killing the enemy king. They also offer smaller but still very considerable sums for killing certain individuals whose names appear on a list and who are presumed to be the chief supporters, after the king, of anti-Utopian policies. The reward for bringing such people in alive is twice as much as for killing them and they themselves are offered the same amount of money, plus a free pardon, for turning against their own associates. The immediate result is that everyone mentioned on the list becomes suspicious of everything in human shape. They all stop trusting one another and stop being trustworthy. They live in a constant state of terror, which is perfectly justified for it's often been known to happen that all of them including the king himself are betrayed by the very person that they pinned the most faith on. (92) More describes the artful but sinister form of psychological manipulation, which history remembers from the Spanish Inquisition and wars of the Reformation. In Utopia, this form of psychological operation constitutes "peaceful means" of achieving one's political ends. Should it surprise us that the anonymous op-ed in the New York Times seems to engage in Utopian warfare? People exist who want the Trump administration to fall apart and who want a reinstatement of the Obama-Clinton cabal. They have situated themselves in various posts across entities that would deliberately collaborate to wage some version of More's Utopian mind games. The idea is to breed maximum distrust among Trump's allies and then cause them to fall apart. Then the Democrats do not have to spend money or do the hard work in order to build a base of support, engineer intelligent policies, or execute their plans faithfully. Every day, more information comes to light about the coordination among people in the major media outlets and members of the seventeen organizations in the Intelligence Community. That is not to mention, as well, the disturbing links between intelligence and academia, as well as the churches. Consider for instance what I came across in my recent study of the American Academy of Religion. The published program from the 2017 conference of the Academy included Session "P17-241," which states the following: In the years following the 1993 confrontation between the FBI and a religious community called the Branch Davidians, religion scholars have occasionally offered the FBI advice regarding dissident religious groups who are less commonly well-understood and who come into conflict with law enforcement. The American Academy of Religion has served as an interlocutor for the Critical Incident Response Group and has also established a relationship with the FBI Academy through its National Academy. The mutual hope of religion scholars and the FBI officials with whom they have interacted has been that consultation might lead to better outcomes than occurred with the Branch Davidians. This panel will reflect on the interaction between religion scholars and law enforcement officials over the past 25 years and what may be learned from the experience to inform interaction going forward. In looking at this innocuous entry in a conference program that is hundreds of pages long, you may wonder how American society became so blase about its totalitarian psy ops. Here you have Harvard brokering a "collusion," literally, between spies and the people studying religions that people don't like. If you think by "dissident religions" the Harvard pontiffs refer to Islam, you are probably not paying close enough attention. The new Branch Davidians, at least in the mind of people engineering this modern-day Inquisition, are probably Christian sects that disagree with Democrats and might defy Democrat-led governments. In order to defray the possibility of conflict, Barack Obama's old alma mater has gathered together "religion scholars" whose field research involves spying on the religious opposition to the Democrats and feeding information to the FBI. You do not have to go far to connect the dots from here to the media, either. According to a press release by the American Academy of Religion on July 16, 2018, the Academy grants awards for "Best In-Depth Newswriting on Religion." The top three winners this year were: Daniel Burke, CNN Religion Editor ... Jack Jenkins, national reporter for Religion News Service, second; and Kelsey Dallas, faith writer for Desert News, third[.] ... Jurors described Burke's winning articles on the mysteries, complexities, and divisiveness of religion involving Neil Gorsuch's background, Roy Moore, LGBT rights, and the debate between moral evil and natural[.] So the Academy's top prize went to a "religion reporter" who works for CNN and did "in-depth reporting" on Neil Gorsuch, Roy Moore, and LGBT rights as they relate to people of faith. The Academy giving him this award sits on an information pipeline between the FBI and the colleges whose faculty evaluated his work for a prize. The runner-up: Jack Jenkins presented a "smart, varied thematic approach to an issue at the heart of the national conversation the resurgence of white nationalism," commented one juror. He approached the topic through the lenses of faith, history, Trump, the Charlottesville protest, and the presence of white nationalism in church pulpits. Are you starting to smell the rat? Note who made up the jury: The jury make-up included Evan Berry, Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion, American University, and member of [Committee on the Public Understanding of Religion]; Michelle Boorstein, religion reporter for the Washington Post; and Jaweed Kaleem, national race and justice correspondent for the Los Angeles Times. When you come across a column as provocative as the New York Times op-ed, you may be tempted to react to the cues immediately available to you. It looks at first glance like the statement by someone working in the Trump administration sincerely worried about the future of the country. But to reach print, such a document had to have passed through many sieves. See the connections among academia, the intelligence community, the churches, and the press. Because obvious networks of people with similar sympathies occupy key posts in all these institutions, they can coordinate and know how to do so. They have a purpose: to bring the Obama regime's cronies back to absolute power and to destroy the "dissident religion" represented by Trump's evangelical base, which the Harvard Estate views as racist and anti-LGBT. They have a strategy: avoid high financial costs, avoid difficult conflict, and give as much cover as possible to the colluders. The idea here is to breed anxiety, distrust, and division in Trump's camp. Part of this involves culling key terms from the Christian and conservative base that girds Trump and developing emotionally fraught storylines that can turn such constituencies against each other. They have the researchers who are paid (by tax-exempt non-profit colleges!) to look into the workings of the conservative Christian world as their full-time jobs. They have collaborators in the churches who can spy on all information about Trump's evangelical base through ministries on the ground. They have the intelligence community ready to execute the dirty work. And they have the media to spin the whole affair so people get distracted and don't see the vicious inquisition right before them. But here is one thing they can't take from us: Thomas More. He gives us the playbook. We should read it and work from it. Follow Robert Oscar Lopez at English Manif. Also, keep an eye for a series he hosts for Mass Resistance called "Save Our Churches." WORK CITED Thomas More. Utopia. Trans. Paul Turner. New York: Penguin, 2003. Our political, academic, and media elites, many of them recipients of Chinese financial largesse, remain relatively silent about this challenge, but our allies on China's side of the Pacific tend to treat the threat of China's rising power profile as a more serious issue. For reasons of immediate self-preservation. A quiet victory was just won in the South Pacific, but our media were too busy covering the putative bravery of Spartacus of Newark to even notice. Amid all the hype over Russia's supposed threats to our global standing, China, with almost eight times the GDP of Russia, is aggressively building the wherewithal to challenge America as the dominant power in the Pacific. Thus, this news, reported in the Australian media, has been pretty much ignored here. Primrose Reardon of The Australian reports: Australia successfully blocked China from funding a major regional military base in Fiji, a move that reveals intensifying concern in Canberra over strategic competition in the South Pacific region. In a move to outbid China to secure the rights as the sole foreign donor of the Fiji Military Forces' Black Rock Camp in Nadi, the Coalition government has contributed a "significant" figure for the facility to be transformed into a regional training hub for South Pacific militaries. Beijing's rival bid, confirmed by the Fijian Defence Force, came amid Australian government fears of China gaining a military presence in the region, notably in Vanuatu, although that country's government denies this was on the cards. A look at this map of the major South Pacific islands reveals how strategic both Fiji and Vanuatu would be in any possible future conflict between China and its Pacific neighbors, including American Samoa, and Hawaii. The Australian has been told by senior sources that the government believed China was planning to build an airport at the site. China uses aid, loans, and commercial ties to spread its influence, and it is not troubled in the least by unsavory behavior by governments that West has scruples against: China first improved its ties with Fiji when the Pacific nation was ostracised by the West after Mr Bainimarama claimed power in a 2006 coup. China has previously flagged interest in investing in Fijian military facilities. In 2015, its then ambassador to Fiji, Zhang Ping, said he was open to helping Fiji set up a new naval base. "If there is a need from the Fiji side, we will be happy to look at it," he said, according to a report in the Fiji Sun. It said Fiji and China had previously signed a memorandum of understanding over military co-operation. China also donated a new "surveillance and hydrographic" vessel to Fiji's navy at the same time as the island nation received a refitted Australian patrol boat. Earlier this year, China sent scientific surveillance ship Yuanwang 7 to Fiji on the same day the Australian navy's HMAS Adelaide was in Suva as part of the Indo-Pacific Endeavour exercise. Fiji has a close policing relationships with China. It signed a police co-operation deal with Beijing's Ministry of Public Security in 2011 that involves sending Fiji police to China for training. The geopolitics of the 21st century will be principally about the world coping with the rise of a rich, aggressive, economically sophisticated China, anxious to redress four centuries' worth of grievances against Western civilization that humiliated, divided, and subjected China to an inferior status. It's too bad that our elites instead focus on Russia, a nation that does have a huge nuclear arsenal, but little else in the way of global economic might. Its population is falling and dying younger, and produces few manufactured exports other than defense materiel mainly sold to nations that can't buy American gear. Hat tip: John McMahon The mayor signed an executive order that will prevent the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency from detaining illegal alien criminals in Atlanta's city jail. She also requested that ICE remove all detainees currently held. Her explanation is classic. Fox News: "As we work to achieve our vision of an Atlanta that is welcoming and inclusive, with equal opportunity for all, it is untenable for our City to be complicit in the inhumane immigration policies that have led to the separation of hundreds of families at the United States southern border," Bottoms said in a statement. Sorry to inform you, Madam Mayor, but Atlanta the last time I looked is still part of the United States of America. That makes you "complicit" in anything and everything the federal government does. The move comes months after Bottoms signed a separate order that blocked the city jail from accepting any new ICE detainees amid enforcement of the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy, which resulted in migrant families being separated at the border. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that there were 205 ICE detainees in the jail in June, and that number decreased to just five as of Wednesday. A spokesperson for ICE confirmed to the newspaper that all of the agency's detainees at the Atlanta City Detention Center would be transferred by the end of Thursday. "I do not make this decision lightly, or without concern as to the impact on these individuals," Bottoms' statement read. "But until there is comprehensive immigration reform, this is the only way Atlanta can truly fulfill its legacy of compassion and tolerance. Civil offenses do not warrant criminal consequences and no one should be jailed solely because they seek the American Dream." Atlanta's "legacy" is not one of "compassion and tolerance." It is one of racism, brutality, oppression, and the mistreatment of black Americans. There has been a concerted effort to whitewash this "legacy," but not amount of revisionist rhetoric will alter the shameful history of the city. Most of these illegal aliens are detained because they committed criminal acts. Most of these crimes are not "civil offenses." Crossing the border illegally might be, but most are not being specifically detained for that crime. So when she makes the straw man argument that "no one should be jailed solely because they seek the American Dream," she gets it wrong on two counts: those criminal illegals sure have a strange idea of how to pursue the "American Dream" by preying on Atlanta's citizens and they are not "solely" being jailed for that pursuit. And what about all of those individuals around the world who also want to "pursue" the American dream but are doing it by the numbers, waiting patiently to enter the country legally? I guess the mayor's sense of "social justice" and "fairness" excludes those who obey the law. Yes, but it sure makes Bottoms out to be one compassionate, virtuous human being, doesn't it? "Dead men tell no tales" is the motto of ruthless and bloodthirsty miscreants throughout history. And if the court papers filed by lawyers for the Democratic National Committee are correct, we will never hear what London-based Professor Joseph Mifsud had to say about how and why he set up George Papadopoulos with the information that Russia had "dirt" on the Hillary Clinton campaign. Papadopoulos later passed along this information from Mifsud to Alexander Downer, at the time Australia's ambassador to Britain, at a fashionable London wine bar. Downer passed this along, and it became a critical piece of evidence in the FBI opening a counterintelligence probe of the Trump campaign at the end of July 2016. We may never know why Mifsud took it upon himself to set up Papadopoulos with information that became the trigger for the FBI counterintelligence investigation called Crossfire Hurricane, which led to the Mueller probe. Coincidentally or not, the DNC chose to make this public on the very same day that Mifsud's patsy Papadopoulos was sentenced to two weeks in prison for lying to the FBI. "The DNC's counsel has attempted to serve Mifsud for months and has been unable to locate or contact him. In addition, public reports have said he has disappeared and hasn't been seen for months," DNC spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said. The DNC stood by its claim in a statement to The Hill on Friday. The committee indicated that an investigator had been used to find Mifsud, who had disappeared for months, and was told the Maltese professor may be dead. DNC lawyers wrote in court filings Friday that Joseph Mifsud, who spoke to Papadopoulos during the 2016 presidential election, "is missing and may be deceased," Bloomberg News reported. The lawyers did not elaborate. "Dead men tell no tales" is the motto of ruthless and bloodthirsty miscreants throughout history. And if the court papers filed by lawyers for the Democratic National Committee are correct, we will never hear what London-based Professor Joseph Mifsud had to say about how and why he set up George Papadopoulos with the information that Russia had "dirt" on the Hillary Clinton campaign. Papadopoulos later passed along this information from Mifsud to Alexander Downer, at the time Australia's ambassador to Britain, at a fashionable London wine bar. Downer passed this along, and it became a critical piece of evidence in the FBI opening a counterintelligence probe of the Trump campaign at the end of July 2016. Image credit Deviant Art. John Bowden reports in The Hill: DNC lawyers wrote in court filings Friday that Joseph Mifsud, who spoke to Papadopoulos during the 2016 presidential election, "is missing and may be deceased," Bloomberg News reported. The lawyers did not elaborate. The DNC stood by its claim in a statement to The Hill on Friday. The committee indicated that an investigator had been used to find Mifsud, who had disappeared for months, and was told the Maltese professor may be dead. "The DNC's counsel has attempted to serve Mifsud for months and has been unable to locate or contact him. In addition, public reports have said he has disappeared and hasn't been seen for months," DNC spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said. Coincidentally or not, the DNC chose to make this public on the very same day that Mifsud's patsy Papadopoulos was sentenced to two weeks in prison for lying to the FBI. We may never know why Mifsud took it upon himself to set up Papadopoulos with information that became the trigger for the FBI counterintelligence investigation called Crossfire Hurricane, which led to the Mueller probe. Assaults on ICE agents reached a decade high in 2017 , and assaults on Border Patrol agents have also surged in recent years, according to new government numbers that seem to back up agents' claims that illegal immigrants are increasingly looking to fight rather than flee. The border situation is getting extremely violent and ugly, according to a new report from the Washington Times : The new numbers, reported by Homeland Security's inspector general, could even be underselling the problem, investigators said, because the government doesn't do a good job of tracking incidents, and agents and officers don't always report them properly. But the report does signal renewed danger particularly on the southwest border, where agents say a surge in illegal immigration in recent years generally correlates with growing violence. Violence? From illegals? The report is a contradiction of the "narrative" put out by the left, its press allies, and even some libertarians, that illegals commit far fewer crimes than the average American and therefore rule of law is unimportant. Illegals, after all, are just moms and toddlers, coming here to celebrate Mother's Day, aren't they? As NPR reported, "Illegal Immigration Does Not Increase Violent Crime, 4 Studies Show." So OK, then: let the illegals in. Violence from illegals is nothing but a right-wing myth. Never mind about that rule of law stuff. Now we have a new surge of border mayhem targeting law enforcement. Obviously, something is going on. To take an incentive-based look at what that might be, there are several possibilities. One: President Trump's crackdown on illegal border-crossers is ending the free-for-all illegal crossers have up until now benefited from. This Border Patrol chart, from Washington Post lefty columnist Catherine Rampell, shows a clear upward trend in 2018. So instead of turning themselves in to the Border Patrol for diaper service, a warm bed, Meals on Wheels, and a bus ticket or free flight to their destination of choice, plenty of the people who pay cartels to get them across are finding themselves busted. Obviously, the Border Patrol is being restored to its original mission, and that's cutting into one perverse incentive to immigrate illegally, because word gets around. But it doesn't quite explain the violence. It would only explain an increased willingness of illegal border crossers to run away from, not toward, ICE and Border Patrol agents. The violence is likely coming from money matters, among both cartels and their clients. First, stepped up enforcement of illegal border crossings is costly to cartels, who make billions off these illegal crossings. The knowledge that a bust may happen is enough to incentivize at least some would-be border-crossers from not wanting to cross illegally at all, and that means less "business" coming in for the cartels. It's obviously enough to make them mean. Two, busts are costly for cartels in another way: losing a man to jail for one of Trump's stepped up busts of illegal border-crossing operations means having to find a replacement and train that person, which costs cartels more cash. Like any business operation, cartels raise their prices to illegals to cover the costs which is why the price of a coyote-guided illegal crossing has gone up neighborhood of $6,000 or so, from Central America, and probably higher now. Higher prices mean fewer customers which, again, costs cartels money as it shrivels their markets further. They are cartels, after all. They get really nasty when they lose money. But most businesses diversify when business goes south. Certain other factors seem to be working toward cartels' advantage. One of those is the presence of left-wing judges who throw consistent roadblocks at President Trump every time he tries to enforce rule of law on the border. Trump has not been able to get rid of DACA, a non-law that was nothing but an executive order drawn out of the air by a leftist president using his pen and phone for one. Nor has he been able to enact family separations from group border-crossers apprehended crossing illegally as a disincentive to abusing the asylum system. The crying toddler pictures served the cartel aims handsomely, creating incentives for more business. Nor has he been successful (at least until recently) at keeping unvetted nationals from terrorist states out. What's more, the Border Patrol and ICE have been sanctioned in court for defending themselves from border rock-throwers and shooters, ending up in big payouts to lawbreakers at lawmen's expense. The cartels watch these things and can logically conclude, from their business perspective, that once a matter reaches a court level, leftist judges will ensure that illegals always win. That, too, is good for the cartel business. Nobody gets involved in violence, not even cartels, unless the risk-to-reward ratio is acceptable. Obviously, left-wing judges have lowered the risks and stepped up the rewards as Trump has shrunk the market. If you know you're going to get off because the justice system and the left-wing press will always be on your side, you take the risk. That seems to be what's fueling this ugly trend. A controlled border would not have this violence. An uncontrolled one, with just enough comfort for lawbreakers, might just. That underlines just how important it is to allow President Trump the leeway he needs to enact his border control agenda. Voters need to figure this out, because the violence at the border shows that the cartels already have. Image credit: U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, via Flickr, public domain. John Rolfe of the News Corp Australia Network (behind paywall, but readable here ): Rupert Murdoch's media empire has launched an attack on Google on the Australian flank of the global giant's operations. AUSTRALIA'S competition watchdog has been urged to recommend Google be broken up. The call is contained in a new submission by News Corp Australia to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's digital platforms inquiry. It is believed to be the first time a major media company anywhere in the world has suggested Google be split into different businesses. It comes as regulators and politicians around the globe look to the ACCC inquiry also a first for ideas on how to grapple with Google's growing dominance. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) already is conducting an investigation into the impact of search engines, social media platforms, and content-aggregators "on the supply of news and journalistic content and the implications of this for media content creators, advertisers and consumers." Unlike the testimony that has been presented to the American Congress, the News Corp submission focuses not just on the filtering function of these giants, giving or taking away distribution for content, but also on the economic impact. [T]he News submission says Google acts not only as the gateway to the internet and news content but as an "intermediator" between readers and publishers, ensuring any 'clicks' result in revenue generation for Google at the expense of publishers. News's submission says "in order to prevent the further erosion of incentives to invest in quality content and sustainability of journalism, a number of legislative or regulatory interventions should be considered" references to concepts it has previously floated including an algorithm review board and imposing fees for hosting content. However News now says these are no longer the best ways to ensure Google does not operate its search function in an "exclusionary manner". "Google's prior conduct suggests that more permanent and possibly structural interventions would better preserve the incentives for continued investment in journalism," News says. A skirmish on the other side of the planet may not gather much media attention here, at least not yet, but it has the potential to spark other moves elsewhere in the economically free world. Hat tip: John McMahon Obama cracks up with Trump Derangement Syndrome On September 7, Barack Obama gave a speech in Illinois bitterly attacking President Trump and talking about his favorite subjects: himself and slavery. Obama is angry. He called on his followers to get out and vote in November to defeat Trump. He is angry that the voters rejected him in 2016 by electing Trump instead of Hillary. He knows that this was a rejection of his policies, and more importantly, it was a rejection of Obama personally. Obama cannot accept this. He and Joe Biden campaigned for Hillary daily, and Obama even said he would take it as a personal insult if black voters didn't vote for Hillary. Black voters and Hispanic voters ignored Obama's orders. Trump got more black and Hispanic voters than Romney in 2012. Obama cannot stand the success of President Trump. The economy is booming, the stock market is booming, and unemployment is down, but Obama does not care that our country is doing well. Obama has to give a speech to again try to divide us. Obama went so far as to claim that the economy is doing well because of his policies. He cannot accept that Trump turned around the weak Obama economy. If he really believes this, he is delusional. Obama said he does not need the Trump tax cuts. Nobody is forcing Obama to take the tax cuts. He can write a check to the IRS for any amount he wishes as a gift in addition to the tax he owes. Who believes he will do this? Obama trotted out the same class warfare talking points. Obama said Trump is "cozying up" to Putin. Obama and Hillary approved the sale of 20% of our uranium to Putin's Russia, but this isn't "cozying up." Obama cannot accept that Trump is dismantling Obama's legacy. Trump canceled the Iran sellout deal, where Obama gave Iran 150 billion dollars, plus billions in cash, and Trump is applying sanctions against Iran. Trump has rejected the Paris Climate Accord, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the N.Y. Times called "Obama's Signature Trade Deal." Obama knows that Brett Kavanaugh will be confirmed as a Supreme Court justice and that Kavanaugh was brilliant in the hearings, making the Dem senators look foolish. Unlike Obama, Trump does not apologize for American power. Trump is proud of our country. The bottom line is that Obama is angry. He did all he could to defeat Trump and elect Hillary. His corrupt FBI/DOJ whitewashed the Hillary email scandal and used the unverified, Hillary-paid-for Steele dossier to obtain FISA warrants to spy on the Trump campaign, which led to the Mueller investigation. But Obama's efforts failed to elect Hillary. Further, a grand jury is investigating Andrew McCabe, the second in command at the Obama FBI. Obama knows that this investigation will lead to Comey; his A.G., Lynch; Hillary; and ultimately himself. The major players in the Obama FBI and DOJ will be investigated. Obama failed to defeat Trump. He is angry and desperate and will campaign to elect enough Dems in the November election to impeach Trump. Obama's campaigning will have the same success as his campaign to elect Hillary. Image: Ari Levinson via Wikimedia Commons. The U.S. is strongly warning Assad not to use chemical weapons in the coming campaign and is drawing up military options to use in case the Syrian president gases his own people. Russian and Syrian jets began bombing rebel positions in Idib province today, the last stronghold of rebel opposition to the regime of Bashar Assad. Western nations and the U.N. are warning Assad not to engage in indiscriminate slaughter as hundreds of thousands of civilians hunker down in anticipation of the onslaught. Meanwhile, a summit involving Iran, Turkey, and Russia failed to achieve a ceasefire that might have spared tens of thousands of civilians. Reuters: Friday's summit had focused on a looming military operation in Idlib, the last major stronghold of active opposition in Syria to the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan pushed for a ceasefire during the summit but Russian President Vladimir Putin said a truce would be pointless as it would not involve Islamist militant groups Assad and his allies deem as terrorists. Tehran and Moscow have helped Assad turn the course of the war against an array of opponents ranging from Western-backed rebels to the Islamist militants, while Turkey is a leading opposition supporter and has troops in the country. The United Nations fears a full-scale offensive could cause a humanitarian catastrophe involving tens of thousands of civilians. Both the rebels and the terrorists are using civilians as human shields in Idib, but it appears that Russia and Syria will ignore the potential catastrophic loss of human life to stamp out the last major opposition to Assad's rule. Today's air attacks are just a taste of the future: Russian and Syrian warplanes pounded towns in Syria's opposition-held Idlib province on Saturday, a day after a summit of the presidents of Turkey, Iran and Russia failed to agree on a ceasefire that would forestall a Russian-backed offensive. Witnesses and rescuers said at least a dozen air strikes hit a string of villages and towns in southern Idlib and the town of Latamneh in northern Hama, where rebels are still in control. Syrian helicopters dropped so-called barrel bombs containers filled with explosive material on civilian homes on the outskirts of the city of Khan Sheikhoun, two residents of the area in southern Idlib said. Three civilians were killed in the village of Abdeen in southern Idlib, a civil defense source said. The destruction of the rebel army will not end the war. Terrorist militias will almost certainly continue some kind of low-level insurgency against Assad, and the main rebel group will maintain control in isolated pockets of the country. But, with the destruction of the rebels in Ibid, there will no longer be any effective opposition to Assad. Whatever bloodbath happens in Ibid will almost certainly be matched by Assad when he takes his revenge. That means reining in the Kurds, who have established a semi-autonomous region in the south. The Kurds have a tough little army but are no match for Russian jets and Hezb'allah fighters. They, too, will be conquered. So Assad will rule the rubble of his country. Western and Arab nations are not likely to contribute to rebuilding, so Syria will slip into the status of a failed state a haven for terrorists who will bedevil American friends and allies in the region for decades. The ultimate triumph of the "Arab Spring." Samsung has been awarded a new patent that could improve on smartphone cameras across a couple of noted issues by adding a rotating mechanism which fundamentally changes how a smartphone camera moves from the inside out. Filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) under patent number US10070062, the patent shows how actuators and subsequent component pieces can be placed in a way that allows the entire lens barrel to tilt. The first examples provided by Samsung for how that might be used include enhancements in optical image stabilization and image focusing. By allowing the sensor array to freely tilt, the camera in a device could effectively track the object, person, or another subject. More accurately centering the lens on any of those as the shutter is operating would, in effect, place the subject matter at an optimal point for maintaining focus and, in conjunction with current optical image stabilization technologies, improve overall stability. Speculatively, thats also something that could improve things further through the use of increasingly common AI and machine vision algorithms. Beyond that, Samsungs patent points to improvements to driving transmission efficiency. That may be intended as a description of the moving parts themselves since the patent also discusses a change that allows the rotating member to move perpendicular to other parts. However, it could also indicate that a tilting camera assembly might be helpful in terms of light transmission. For example, Samsung has been rumored to begin implementing more than two sensors on some future devices. If at least one of the sensors is able to be rotated, they may be able to automatically be repositioned in a way that allows more light to pass to the sensor while maintaining focus on the subject matter. Setting that aside, the technology in question may not even be intended solely for smartphone cameras. The technology manufacturer does use a smartphone in its example imagery but the patent itself could be extended beyond that. Specifically, Samsung describes its use in an electronic device that features a housing, display, camera, memory, and a processor. Although that fits well with a smartphone or tablet, it also could be used to describe a VR headset or other wearable. Those are all technologies where this particular patent might be beneficial and leaves the company with plenty of options if it chooses to follow through and implement the patented invention in any real-world designs. Will Morocco start marketing its gas in two years? The answer is yes, according to local daily lEconomiste, which states that the potential is huge as forecasts put the volume at 60 million cubic feet per day over a minimum period of 10 years. Moroccos gas potential is so important that it will soon be marketed, states the daily, which sets a 2-year period for starting the commercialization of the commodity. The Moroccan Ministry of Energy has just sealed with the UK-based Sound Energy company a new 8 year petroleum deal for the production and exploitation of gas discovered in Tendrara, in Eastern Morocco. The British operator will start marketing the discovered gas from that concession that covers a 133.5 km-surface area, the daily says, adding that the operators plan includes the drilling of 5 new horizontal development wells, in addition to the reconstruction of existing wells. The construction of gas processing and compression plants is also on the discussion table, in addition to the setting up of a 120km-long pipeline between the future Tendrara station and the delivery point, LEconomiste adds. Regarding the crucial phase of production and marketing, the daily talks about 60 million cubic feet a day for a minimum of 10 years. During that period, 10 to 13 wells will be drilled to maintain this rate of production. In June, Sound Energy announced plans to build a gas plant and a pipeline to commercialize gas it discovered in eastern Morocco. The company has set up a consortium comprising Enagas, Elecnor and Fomento for the engineering, design, construction and financing of the entire infrastructure required for this ambitious project. Morocco imports about 95 percent of its energy needs. For foreign firms, the country represents a stable frontier in North Africa that is poised to be on the international gas map in the years to come. Moroccan Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita on Friday summoned the Dutch Ambassador to Rabat to protest against the remarks made the previous day by Foreign Minister Stef Blok, deemed as a direct interference in Moroccos internal affairs. Bourita made it clear to the Dutch ambassador that Morocco rejects categorically and vigorously the Dutch Foreign Ministers statement of Thursday (Sept. 5). Morocco denounces a direct interference by the Dutch Foreign Minister in the countrys internal affairs and a marked lack of respect for Moroccan justice, in blatant contradiction with the basic rules of respect for courts rulings, and what is more when it is question of courts of a foreign country, Bourita told the ambassador of the Netherlands. For Morocco, the remarks contain inappropriate language, erroneous assessments of facts and shocking and inappropriate positions. Nasser Bourita reminded the Dutch diplomat that he had already expressed, in particular last April, in the clearest and firmest way, to his Dutch counterpart, the categorical rejection by Morocco of any interference in its internal affairs. Bourita had then told the head of the Dutch diplomacy that the Al Hoceima case was not a diplomatic affair but was, indeed, a question of Moroccan sovereignty. Yet, the Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok again on Thursday referred to the protest movement known as Hirak in Morocco, the arrests and sentences handed down to Hirak activists in June, criticizing the verdicts and the detention conditions of the defendants. He went as far as requesting a meeting of the (Dutch) Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs to draft a written report on the developments of this case. Stef Blok also revealed that members of the Dutch Embassy in Rabat had attended the various trials of Al Hoceima detainees and got in touch with some of the defendants lawyers. To mark further Moroccos discontent, Bourita told the Dutch ambassador that the Kingdom has cancelled the meeting that was to take place with the Netherlands at the end of September in New York, on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Nikki Haley showed her signature impeccable timing in writing a high-profile response to Trumps anonymous insider critic. Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images The reaction of most Trump administration notables to the insta-crisis set off by the presidents anonymous inside critic who penned a New York Times op-ed confessing sabotage against the boss less savory wishes has been nearly as interesting as the op-ed itself. The president, of course, has thrown temper tantrums on Twitter that make you shiver at the rage he must be expressing privately: Does the so-called Senior Administration Official really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 5, 2018 White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was so agitated she began deploying Trump-like language instead of acting as his ambassador to the normal world of discourse: The medias wild obsession with the identity of the anonymous coward is tarnishing the reputation of thousands of great Americans who proudly serve our country and work for President Trump. Stop, press secretary Sarah Sanders wrote in a Thursday statement. One by one, White House and Cabinet officials rushed to deny they were the author of the op-ed. But they seemed hunted and haunted by the speculation: Hey, its Jared. Im outside. Can someone let me in? ... Jared KUSHNER, the presidents son-in-law ... Im here for the NAFTA negotiations ... Can someone unlock the door? ... There are reporters out here asking me about the op-ed, & its getting awkward. pic.twitter.com/in0FHsTtIr Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) September 7, 2018 Finally, one administration figure came forward who seemed to understand perfectly how to deal with the crisis: by using it to benefit herself. Nikki Haley, the ambassador to the United Nations wrote her own op-ed, for the Washington Post, dressing down the anonymous deep stater while suggesting he or she didnt know Donald J. Trump at all: I, too, am a senior Trump administration official. I proudly serve in this administration, and I enthusiastically support most of its decisions and the direction it is taking the country. But I dont agree with the president on everything. When there is disagreement, there is a right way and a wrong way to address it. I pick up the phone and call him or meet with him in person. She went on at some length in describing the White House as a place where everyone with true power has easy access to Trump. And she portrays the president as a man who listens patiently to dissenting views, which she had had occasion to offer on more than one occasion. The not-so-veiled suggestion, of course, is that Anonymous must be some self-aggrandizing schmo who has to pretend to be burrowing away at Trumps designs because he or she cant get within 100 yards of the Oval Office. If the author truly is a senior administration official, then he or she has the kind of access to the president I described. If that is the case, this official has ample opportunity to try to persuade the president to change course. If the author is frustrated by an inability to persuade the president, then he or she is free to resign . To Mr. or Ms. Anonymous, I say: Step up and help the administration do great things for the country. If you disagree with some policies, make your case directly to the president . But do not stay in your position and secretly undermine the president and the rest of our team. It is cowardly, it is anti-democratic, and it is a disservice to our country. This was a pitch-perfect and well-timed gambit by Haley. She managed to suck up to Trump even in the act of declaring her independence from him. She positioned herself as both unshakably faithful to the boss, and as having enough clout to tell the president to his face when he is wrong, showing loyalty but earning respect. And most of all, she offered a repudiation of the impression of an administration in chaos that Anonymous asserted and Trump reinforced by his over-the-topeven for himreaction. This isnt the first time Nikki Haley has shown impeccable timing in dealing with a crisis. She was elected governor of South Carolina in 2010 by very skillfully turning sexual smears against her into a plot by good-old-boy former Democrats to halt the conservative ideological revolution that she (as Mark Sanfords heir apparent) offered. Her big national moment in the sun as governor occurred after the Emanuel AME Church massacre in Charleston, when she called for taking down the Confederate flag from the statehouse long after that position could rightly be described as brave. And as a junior member of the Trump administration in 2017, she exploited a vacuum in foreign policy development by all but setting policy on Syria at a crucial moment, with the president and the secretary of state following her lead. She has successfully transformed herself from the grim extremist who sought to bar unions from South Carolina into one of the more stable figures in an unstable administration. Haleys latest ploy shows this pattern is no accident. She is an opportunist of the highest order, and I mean that as a compliment. If there is a betting pool on her prospects for the 2024 national ticket, count me in. The Art Base in Basalt will host artist Ingrid Roddick and musical duo Cristina Villafane and Marisa Di Giambatista, who all hail from the Aspen sister city of Bariloche, Argentina, today for a Free Family Crafternoon from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Another event is set for Monday night at 5:30. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Jonathan Culshaw, the Asia managing partner of offshore law firm Harneys, has passed away at 48. The cause of his death was not immediately apparent. Culshaw began his legal career in London in 1993 at Freshfield Bruckhaus Deringer, before moving to Walkers in 2001 as a senior associate in the Cayman Islands. He joined Harneys in London in 2008. He then relocated to Hong Kong in 2012 to become the firms chief in Asia and to lead the global investment funds and regulatory practice of the firm. When I look around, the suit and tie are just not worn behind the scenes anymore, so this policy will articulate to our staff that they have a choice in how they present themselves. As legal professionals, we do tend to work long hours and it is important to be comfortable, said managing principal Andrew Lacey. How we dress is also a reflection of who we are, so its nice to have that opportunity to let your personality shine through, he said. Future Workplace is built on trust and respect for employees, Lacey said. It also encourages creativity and gives them an opportunity to take control of their careers. These will ultimately build a stronger and more committed workforce, he said. The moves we are making towards creating a large law firm without losing our boutique personality is bold but necessary to face the challenges presented in the current legal landscape, Lacey said. We are investing in technology and skills development that will see our principals and managers able to coordinate and run highly functioning teams that are more flexible in the way they approach work. Marc Walker, McCabe Curwood COO, said the move is not only a great for self-expression, but also for a practical approach to work. Employees will now benefit from superannuation contributions on both paid and unpaid parental leave for up to 12 months. This applies to primary and secondary carers. The firm offers 18 weeks paid parental leave for primary carers and 3 weeks for secondary carers. Payment of superannuation during periods of parental leave can make a significant difference to the retirement savings of employees who take time out of work during their careers to care for children. This is particularly true for women who are more often the primary caregivers during periods of parental leave, said Corrs CEO Gavin MacLaren. The policy for superannuation contributions will be applied from 1st July 2018. Overconfident CEOs get sued more says study If you have clients with larger-than-life personalities and an abundance of confidence, you are more likely to be helping them with litigation. Thats according to a study by Stevens Institute of Technology in the US which find that overconfident CEOs are 33% more likely to get sued by shareholders. Iraq's parliament on Friday announced an emergency meeting after a curfew was imposed in the southern city of Basra following a fresh outbreak of deadly protests over poor public services and as shells were fired into Baghdad's fortified Green Zone. One protestor died and 11 were wounded during Friday's protests in Basra, local health sources said. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who celebrated an electoral victory in May, had his own message for Abadi, according to CNN: "I hope you don't think that the Basra revolutionaries are just a bubble. quickly release Basra's money and give it to clean hands to start at once with immediate and future development projects". Crowds have attacked the offices of the state-run Iraqiya TV and set fire to the headquarters of the ruling Dawa Party, the Supreme Islamic Council and the Badr Organisation, whose leaders are all vying to form Iraq's ruling coalition. The torching of the Iranian consulate came hours after three mortar rounds were fired early Friday morning into the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad where the US embassy is located, landing in an empty lot and causing no damage. On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in the city to mourn the death of a protestor in the blaze. Mourners carried the body from his house through the streets to the singed government building, chanting: "This is a promise, this is a promise, Basra won't stay silent anymore!" Mac Miller Dead at 26 of Apparent Overdose Law enforcement confirmed that the rapper was found Friday at around noon at his San Fernando Valley home. Mac Miller openly struggled with substance abuse, which he documented throughout his mixtapes and albums. Protesters set fire to what remained of the government buildings torched the night before. The newly-elected parliament earlier this week held its first session since the national elections in May. Iraq's politicians have so far failed to agree a new government after an inconclusive election in May. In his Friday prayer sermon read out by an aide he demanded an end to the use of violence against "peaceful protests" and placed the blame firmly on politicians. "The failings of Iraqi political leaders in recent years have caused the anger of people in Basra", Sistani said. "Pressure must be exerted for the new government to be different from its predecessors". Iraq's two main Kurdish parties have not taken a side. Baghdad's two most influential allies, Washington and Tehran, also backed the government despite their deep hostility to each other. Local residents say the government is corrupt and has allowed infrastructure to virtually collapse in the region that generates much of Iraq's oil wealth. But the largest Sunni blocs are aligned with al-Abadi and al-Sadr. Amiri called on Abadi to resign over the crisis on Friday. The Chevrolet Colorado ZR2, already a hit among die-hard fans of outdoor adventures on wheels will get a major refresh starting January 2019 thanks to a collaboration between the carmaker and aftermarket specialist American Expedition Vehicles (AEV).With a name to suit its looks, the ZR2 Bison will come powered by the V6 gas engine coupled to an 8-speed transmission already in production that suffered no modifications compared to the regular production version. What AEV did was add countless special parts meant to protect and aid the truck as it treks through forests or on otherwise unfriendly terrain.For the protection of the lower part of the Colorado, AEV added five skid plates, made of Boron steel, that cover the engine oil pan, fuel tank, transfer case and both front and rear locking differentials.Further up, specially designed steel front and rear bumpers were added. The former is also equipped with winch provisions, while the latter comes with integrated recovery points.The Bison rides on 31-inch Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac off-road tires that cover 17x 8-inch aluminum wheels.The usual logo found on regular Colorados has been replaced with a more Ford Raptor -like lettered grille.Weve been following Colorado since its introduction, and the ZR2 really captured our attention, said in a statement Dave Harriton, AEV president.As this is the first Chevrolet vehicle weve ever given the AEV treatment to, we wanted to do something extra special in bringing five hot-stamped Boron steel skid plates to off-road customers for the first time in the industry."As said, the model will become available for purchase in January 2019. Pricing has not yet been announced.In the document attached below, you will find all the details on the Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 Bison. All hope, and indications are, that actual testing of the rocket meant to ultimately carry humans to space will begin soon. Even SpaceX has high hopes these extensive tests will take place soon.Not the same can be said about the second stage of the rocket, the one supposed to actually carry humans to space. According to a report by online publication Investors Business Daily , SpaceXs COO Gwynne Shotwell said at the DARPA D60 conference this week that the company hopes to begin these tests late next year.She also added an actual launch to orbita might take place as soon as 2020.The BFR was unveiled as a concept by Elon Musk nearly a year ago. It is comprised of a reusable booster (first stage), and a ship mounted on top of it (second stage).The booster will be 58 meters long (190 feet) and designed pretty much the same way as the proven Falcon rocket currently sending tons of cargo to space.The second stage, or the ship, is a bullet-like construction 48 meters in length (157 feet) and with a diameter of 9 meters (30 feet).Theoretically, it can be configured to serve various transport needs. For the trip to Mars, Musk plans to eventually have it fitted with 40 cabins for crew, as well as common areas.The two components of the BFR combined are in terms of size close to the biggest rocket ever made by man, the Saturn V. In beats the rocket that carried all the humans that went to the Moon in terms of payload capacity.The flamboyant plans of Elon Musk call for two BFRs to launch towards the Red Planet carrying cargo in preparation for human arrival by 2022. In 2024, 2 other ships, this time crewed, are to be launched toward the same location. Last week, Reuters reported that Iran transferred two types of weapons a rail-launched artillery rocket and solid-propellant short-range ballistic missiles called the Fateh-110 and the Zulfiqar to Shiite militias in neighboring Iraq. The same report cited an unnamed Iranian official who said the missile transfer was a backup plan if Iran was attacked. The big picture: Irans alleged transfer of missiles and rockets to its clients in Iraq constitutes an escalation, indicating that Tehran is taking greater risks in response to U.S. sanctions enforcement. While Irans stated reason was to broaden options for retaliation, the deployment also empowers select Iraqi Shiite militias (who thus far have not been named) in the battle for influence in post-ISIS Iraq. Irans willingness to offer militias and not the Iraqi state these weapons is also a measure of its investment in these forces as agents of Iranian influence. Background: Irans ballistic missile arsenal is the biggest in the Middle East, as both James Clapper and Dan Coats, the current and former directors of national intelligence, have attested. Ballistic missiles play a key role in Iranian security policy, offering the regime a sense of confidence in its deterrent capabilities and opportunity to threaten rivals. Iran does not only produce and test surface-to-surface ballistic missiles, however. It also distributes them. In 2012, it was reported that the Assad regime in Syria used the Iran-sourced Fateh-110 missile against rebels. In 2014, a hardline Iranian outlet touted that the Fateh-110 was among Lebanese Hezbollahs missile inventory. And in 2017, Houthi rebels in Yemen used an Iranian variant of a finless Scud missile called the Qiam-1 (or Burkan-2H) to retaliate against Saudi Arabia. The bottom line: The Iranian missile threat is not limited to ballistic missile launches from Iranian territory, nor platforms that are capable of carrying a nuclear payload. Irans dispersal of ballistic missiles and rockets to various actors in the Middle East is designed to limit the options available to security planners against Iran while simultaneously strengthening local forces that wield these weapons on behalf of Iran in key Middle Eastern conflict zones. Behnam Ben Taleblu is a Research Fellow at Foundation for Defense of Democracies 1 big thing: Next rough wave of tariffs looming President Trump plans to evaluate public comments before deciding on the latest proposed tariffs on Chinese imports, according to White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow this morning, dimming speculation that they could announce the next round as early as today. Driving the news: The comment period for the next round of U.S. tariffs ended Thursday. Per Reuters: The U.S. Trade Representatives office collected 5,914 individual comments on the proposed tariffs before a public comment period ended late on Thursday night. The president himself, we will evaluate the comments and we will make a decision regarding the $200 billion, Kudlow said on Bloomberg Television. Well make a decision on the volume, on the rate, on the timing, I dont want to get ahead of that curve, its out there. There's still no clear pathway to resolving the disputes. Bob Davis and Lingling Wei of the Wall Street Journal report that the U.S. may be counting on deals with Japan, EU, Mexico and Canada to provide more leverage: Relaxing trade tensions with Mexico and Canada, plus a preliminary trade agreement with the European Union, have made it easier to forge a multilateral front to oppose Chinese trade practices. The U.S., EU and Japan have already held meetings on such a strategy. A trade detente also blunts criticism from Congress and U.S. industry that the administration has erred by picking fights with friendly countries at the same time as it battles with China. Additionally, officials say, it helps recruit allies to stop Chinese exporters from skirting U.S. tariffs by shipping goods to third countries, which then send the goods to the U.S., say officials. On the other side: Chinese officials continue to give no public indication they will make the kinds of structural concessions the Trump administration is demanding. The latest issue of Qiushi, an authoritative theoretical journal under the Communist Party Central Committee, has a commentary defending China's economic system and arguing that America's real goal in launching the trade war is to thwart China's rise. My thought bubble: There's a school of thought that the increasingly repetitive messaging (that Americas real goal is China containment) is just propaganda posturing for negotiating leverage. I think the fact that this line keeps appearing in the most authoritative publications for Communist Party members and officials, not foreign audiences, likely undermines that view. The bottom line: Maybe the Chinese will eventually cave, but the White House should be preparing for a much longer and more protracted trade war. Former Armenian Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamian has been charged with exceeding official authorities and Illegally participating in entrepreneurial activity as part of a criminal probe into a claim by an entrepreneur that his business was snatched from him a decade ago. The Special Investigation Service told RFE/RLs Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) on Saturday that Abrahamian was not taken into custody after pledging not to leave the country pending investigation. The Investigation Committee of Armenia earlier said that Abrahamian is suspected of abusing his powers in 2008 by allegedly forcing a businessman to give up a majority stake in a mining company that later went to other people, including the former prime ministers brother Henrikh Abrahamian. Witnesses in the case, according to the report, among the people involved in the alleged abuse also named former police chief and current lawmaker Alik Sargsian, who is linked with the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia. Todays official information makes no mention of Abrahamians connection to the 2008 post-election events. On August 9, law-enforcement authorities launched a probe into Abrahamians possible involvement in the breakup of opposition protests staged in Yerevan following a disputed presidential election a decade ago. The National Security Service then arrested Abrahamians brother Henrik after raiding a former industrial plant effectively owned by Hovik Abrahamian. It claimed to have found a weapons cache there and said the arsenal would be verified on its possible use against opposition protesters on March 1-2, 2008. In a separate statement, the security agency said it arrested Henrik Abrahamian and the propertys formal owner, Ambik Gevorgian, on suspicion of illegal arms possession. In a Facebook post on September 8 the former prime minister denounced his prosecution describing it as a manhunt. Abrahamian said that no illegal items were found by law-enforcement bodies during searches at the legal address where he is registered and in the home where he actually lives. He claimed he did not have anything to do with the property where security officials found the weapons. First, they publicly tried to connect that place with me and then the weapons found there with the March 1-2, 2008 events. It is clear that I was the target of this series of distortions, he claimed. Abrahamian linked the charges brought against him with his September 4 interview to a local news website in which, he said, he criticized the actions of the authorities. Immediately after that they pressed ungrounded charges against me with the purpose of silencing any dissidence, he claimed. The manhunt and pressure on free speech and dissidence that are being carried out by the Armenian authorities will not lead to any good place, Abrahamian warned. Abrahamians case is the latest in a series of prosecutions against former government officials launched by Armenian law-enforcement authorities in the wake of the April-May change of power in the South Caucasus country. Nikol Pashinian, who came to power as prime minister in the wake of large-scale anti-government protests led by him, has vowed to stamp out corruption, monopolies and to deal with other crimes that he believes have not been detected under the previous governments. As part of a reopened criminal probe into 2008 post-election violence that left 10 people dead Armenias then president Robert Kocharian and several other former officials have already been charged with overthrowing the constitutional order. Several members of the extended family of Serzh Sarkisian, who succeeded Kocharian in 2008 but was forced by the Pashinian-led movement to resign earlier this year, are also under investigation in connection with different crimes, including an attempted murder and illegal enrichment. Abrahamian, 60, held high-ranking state posts and developed extensive business interests during Kocharians and Sarkisians tenures. He managed Sarkisians 2008 and 2013 presidential election campaigns before being appointed as Armenias prime minister in April 2014. Abrahamian, who also served as Armenias parliament speaker in 2008-2011 and 2012-2014, fell out with Sarkisian a few months after being sacked by the latter as head of the government in September 2016. He left Sarkisians Republican Party of Armenia in January 2017 and has kept a low profile since then. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian praised the current level of relations between the two countries as they met for talks in Moscow on Saturday. The Kremlin said the negotiations between the two leaders focused on key questions of developing allied Russian-Armenian relations as well as cooperation in Eurasian territory, in particular, within the Eurasian Economic Union and the Collective Security Treaty Organization. In his remarks before the meeting Putin said that relations between Moscow and Yerevan develop steadily in all directions. This concerns the sphere of political relations, the military sphere, issues of security and economic cooperation, the Russian leader said. Putin singled out Russian energy supplies to Armenia, stressing that Yerevan receives Russian natural gas at the lowest prices Gazprom sells gas in the world $150 per 1,000 cubic meters. Pashinian, for his part, stressed the fact that he was having his third meeting with Putin within a space of just four months. I think that such frequency emphasizes the special nature of relations between our countries, let me say also the special nature of our personal relations, the Armenian leader said. Despite certain pessimism that is present both in the Armenian and Russian press and in social media, I think that our relations develop in a fairly dynamic way, very naturally. And I think our top objective is to try to use the whole potential in developing our relations. Still, Pashinian acknowledged the existence of some questions that need to be discussed by the two countries. God save us from a situation where we would have no questions in our relations, because that would mean we have no relations at all. I can say with certainty that we have no issues in our relations that cant be solved, and today, of course, we are going to discuss a wide range of issues, he said. I am sure that these issues will be solved, and we will be guided by respect of interests in our allied relations, respect for the interests of our countries, respect for the sovereignty of our countries and the principle of non-interference in each others internal affairs, Pashinian underscored. After the end of his meeting with Putin Pashinian wrote in a Facebook post: Weve had a productive conversation as a result of which we can state that Armenian-Russian relations are brilliant. There are no problems in our relations in any direction. The Armenian prime ministers talks in Moscow come after a strong Russian reaction to Yerevans prosecution of a number of former government officials, including ex-President Robert Kocharian and ex-deputy Defense Minister Yuri Khachaturov, who currently chairs the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-led defense pact of six former Soviet countries, including Armenia. Both Kocharian and Khachaturov are accused of breaching the constitutional order during a deadly postelection crackdown in 2008. After charging Khachaturov Armenia also initiated a procedure to recall him from the top CSTO post. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov twice publicly denounced the prosecutions of former officials in Yerevan, arguing that they ran counter to the new Armenian leaderships earlier pledges not to persecute its predecessors for political reasons. And on August 31, the Kremlin reported a phone conversation between Putin and Kocharian during which the Russian leader congratulated the former Armenian president on his birthday a rare event in state diplomacy that some analysts took as a sign of Moscows backing for Kocharian, who recently announced his return to active politics. In his public statements Pashinian downplayed the significance of political implications behind Putins congratulations to Kocharian. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has congratulated Macedonian counterpart Gjorge Ivanov. "On my own behalf and on behalf of the people of Azerbaijan, I extend my sincere congratulations to you and all your people on the occasion of the Independence Day of your country," President Aliyev said. "Azerbaijani-Macedonian relations are dynamically developing. I hope that the further strengthening of our friendly relations and the development of our cooperation of mutual interest will always contribute to prosperity of our peoples," he added. "On this joyous day, I wish you the best of health and success in your endeavours, and the friendly people of Macedonia tranquillity and well-being," Ilham Aliyev said. Trend: Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has signed an Order providing funds for the construction of Baku-Alat-Gazakh-Georgian border (103 km) Navahi-Pirsaat highway in Hajigabul district. Under the presidential Order, the Azerbaijan Highway State Agency is allocated 3.8 million manats for the construction of the road connecting five residential areas with a total population of 11,000 people. By Trend: Azerbaijan continues to show their dedication in supporting Afghanistan on its journey to stability and success, ambassador of Afghanistan to Azerbaijan Mohammad Taqi Khalili said at an event in Baku Sept. 7 dedicated to the National Day of Afghanistan. It is with great privilege that I welcome you all to the celebration of the 99th National Day of Afghanistan. Today I look forward to celebrating my last Afghan National Day in Azerbaijan. Honoring yet another year of the resilience and innovation within Afghanistan, aided by our regional friends and international allies. Within my residence, I have witnessed the fortifying Afghan-Azerbaijani relations, each year more abundant than the last. In December 2017, the Azerbaijani government hosted the Heart of Asia conference in Baku, attended by member countries and international organizations. On the sidelines of the conference 5 important documents were signed between our two nations; regarding security and law enforcement, education, trade and economics, promotion and reciprocal protection of investments, and air services cooperation. It was the first time since the establishment of our diplomatic ties with Azerbaijan, that we signed such monumental agreements. Which in its own is an accomplishment. The agreements signed are well on their way to realization, as within the scope of economics and trade we have formed a joint working group, which will hopefully commence its first round of meetings by the end of the year. This June, Azerbaijan yet again displayed their camaraderie by hosting the International Contact Group meetings for Afghanistan in Baku. In light of such brotherhood, I would like to extend my gratitude to the Azerbaijani government for hosting both the Heart of Asia conference and the ICG meetings. In whole it has been an eventful and promising year for the future of Afghanistan and its international allies. Finally, one cannot speak of our two nations fraternity and not mention the consistent cooperation between Azerbaijan and NATO in Afghanistan. Azerbaijan continues to show their dedication in supporting Afghanistan on our journey to stability and success, with increased deployment of Azerbaijani peacekeepers on Afghan soil. I am honored to have facilitated these initiatives and in the final month of my mission as ambassador it is my unshakable conviction that the diplomatic future of our two nations is thriving, said the envoy. As my term here is quickly drawing to an end, I would like to take this time to reflect on my dynamic experiences in Baku. From first meeting the Land of Fire as a young student, 23 years ago To today being an ambassador within this flourishing modern community. I can personally say that it has been enlightening to see Baku from the perspectives of essentially two different people. From having witnessed the hosting of the 1st European Games to 4th Islamic Solidarity Games, it is without doubt that the Azerbaijani people encompass a desire for progress and promoting peace. And I am grateful to have experienced this era. Before I bid farewell there are many people whom I must thank, firstly President Aliyev and the Azerbaijani Government and people for their hospitality. I would also like to thank my fellow diplomats and ambassadors for our many enriching interactions and valuable conversations, noted the ambassador. While delivering speech during the event, Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Ramiz Hasanov said that the relations between the two countries are based on friendship and brotherhood. Relations between Azerbaijan and Afghanistan are developing both in bilateral and multilateral formats, Hasanov added. He said that Afghanistan supports the fair position of Azerbaijan in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Afghanistan supports the solution of the conflict on the basis of international law within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, he said. "All this attaches special importance to our relations. The operation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will also give a special impetus to economic relations, Hasanov said. "Azerbaijan continues to contribute to the restoration of Afghanistan, he said. Today, the number of Azerbaijani peacekeepers in Afghanistan has reached 120. We have great potential for further development of our relations." --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz By Trend: The meeting between the presidents of Russia and Azerbaijan in Sochi was held in a rather interesting and historical period, Russian expert Stanislav Pritchin told Trend. Just three weeks ago the most important convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea was signed, Pritchin, who is also leading analyst at the Center for Central Asia, Caucasus and Volga-Ural Region of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said. But as the bilateral agenda is broader, another meeting was required to discuss cooperation programs and new agreements, first of all, in the sphere of economy between Russia and Azerbaijan, he said. The most interesting part of the meeting was devoted to planning, Pritchin said. Two documents were adopted, one of which envisages the continuation of the development of road maps of bilateral cooperation. "The second document envisages cooperation between the ministries of economy of the two countries for the development of more active contacts, he said. In my opinion, among the significant arrangements are the signing of an agreement on the assembly of GAZ vehicles and the beginning of joint development of one of the fields in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea. According to the plans, the general implementation of all arrangements has clear time frame. Azerbaijan will reach one of the leading positions in the post-Soviet area among the most active partners of Russia in the economic sphere and at an interstate level, he said. This is quite interesting, because Azerbaijan is not a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, and the entire cooperation is built on a bilateral basis." On September 1, during the visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Russia, 17 documents, covering the issues of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Russia in such areas as energy, transport, industry, tourism and others, were signed. Per the Guardian, there's no chance of recovering either species-half of the eight species listed should be considered extinct, the other half "possibly extinct", which researchers say means they have "almost certainly" vanished completely from the wild-though captive populations of Spix's macaw are being bred to enter the wild. Eight bird species, including the Brazilian blue parrot featured in 2011 animated flick Rio, make up the first confirmed avian extinctions this decade. In Rio, the lead character Blu saved his species by traveling to Brazil to mate with Jewel, the last-known Spix's Macaw in the wild. Unfortunately, there is no happy ending for the species in real life, as the Spix's Macaw is one of eight new bird species on the extinct animals list. According to the study, the Spix's macaw was last sighted in 2000 and in 2011, the tiny Alagoas foliage-gleaner was confirmed extinct in 2011. The study, funded by the non-profit BirdLife International, statistically analyzed 51 critically endangered bird species and found that eight could likely be classified as extinct or very close to extinction. European nations urge Syria, Iran to uphold Idlib ceasefire Reports proving these plans say that the United States has been increasing the number of cruise missiles deployed to the Middle East. The other seven species are the poo-uli, the Alagoas foliage-gleaner, the cryptic treehunter, the New Caledonian lorikeet, the Javan lapwing, the Pernambuco pygmy-owl and the Glaucous macaw. "We hope this study will inspire a redoubling of efforts to prevent other extinctions", the scientists said. Five of these new extinctions have occurred in South America and have been attributed by scientists to deforestation. The BirdLife International study, however, also pointed out an alarming trend of mainland extinctions outpacing island extinctions. "Our results confirm that there is a growing wave of extinctions sweeping across the continents, driven mainly by habitat loss and degradation from unsustainable agriculture and logging", said Butchart. Stuart Butchart, a scientist who lead the BirdLife International study, said that the extinctions in South America are proof that a crisis is now unfolding in places that have historically been free of such events - and it's all because of the destruction of natural habitats. By Trend: On August 25, 2018 German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Azerbaijan as part of her South Caucasus tour. The agenda in Baku was saturated. The experts and officials assessed the results of the visit as fruitful. During the talks, Azerbaijani and German officials managed to outline vectors for further development of bilateral relations and strengthening of mutual ties. In an exclusive interview with Trend, Ramin Hasanov, Azerbaijani Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, spoke about the importance of the visit, its results, as well as the tasks set before Azerbaijani diplomats as a result of the visit. About importance of visit of Federal Chancellor of Germany to Azerbaijan Of course, the first visit of the head of the government of the country, which enjoys prestige in the EU, to Azerbaijan and is among the twenty first world economic powers, is an important, historic event. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev has visited Berlin and Munich several times at the invitation of the chancellor of Germany to participate in the Munich Security Conference. From this point of view, the German chancellor's visit to Azerbaijan has become a logical continuation of the high-level political dialogue. On the other hand, as it is known, along with Azerbaijan, Merkel visited other countries of the South Caucasus. In this regard, the visit was also interesting from the point of view of objective assessment of the place and role of Azerbaijan in the foreign policy of the Federal Republic of Germany, based on comparative analysis of meetings and statements made in the countries of the region with completely different levels of socio-economic development and foreign policy. At the same time, the visit aroused great resonance among the German public representatives. As I have already stressed, this was the first visit of the German chancellor to Azerbaijan and Armenia. At the same time, Germany's relations with the three countries of the region that are members of the Eastern Partnership program are of great interest in the context of the EU policy in the South Caucasus region. Frankly speaking, some anti-Azerbaijani circles in Germany, spreading critical information about Azerbaijan, tried to cast a shadow on this visit. A vivid example is the artificial agiotage created in the media in connection with Albert Weiler, member of the Bundestag, included in the list of undesirable people for illegal visit to the occupied Azerbaijani lands. However, the successful visit, its productive results, showed the true importance of the Azerbaijan-Germany relations. Attention both in the media and in official, political, economic and scientific and cultural circles was focused on the substantive issues that were discussed during the visit. Merkel's visit to Azerbaijan was assessed as successful and productive both in Azerbaijan and Germany. Key factors that ensured successful outcome Of course, for Germany Azerbaijan is the most important country in the South Caucasus, both politically and economically. This is connected not only with the fact that Azerbaijan is the locomotive of the Southern Gas Corridor project, which is of strategic importance for the EU and has a 70-percent share in the trade turnover between Germany and the South Caucasus. Azerbaijan is also a country carrying out a completely independent policy. It is a country that opened the way for the region to the world markets through the oil strategy laid down by Azerbaijans National Leader Heydar Aliyev and since that period successfully cooperating with the world leading energy companies. Azerbaijan is a country that has gained confidence of the world community. It is an important player, which played a pivotal role in the creation of a regional infrastructure for international cooperation. Azerbaijanattaches great importance to the active political dialogue and equal cooperation with Germany. Germany is one of the first countries with which Azerbaijan established diplomatic relations. There is a sincere political dialogue at the high level between our countries. German government circles appreciated substantive discussions on various issues that took place during the meeting of the chancellor of Germany and the president of Azerbaijan within the chancellor's visit. German government circles stressed that these discussions are crucial from the point of view of the existing political cooperation between the two countries. Another significant point is that during the visit to the countries of the South Caucasus, Merkel was accompanied by a delegation consisting of experts in the field of economy and only in Baku a business meeting was held with the participation of the political leaders of Azerbaijan and Germany. While giving political assessment to the visit, German officials and experts point to the economic aspect, stressing that the visit created a good basis for diversifying and intensifying economic cooperation between our countries. Indeed, at the meeting with businessmen, ideas on the work on specific joint projects were discussed and the corresponding instructions were given. Of course, mutual contacts established as a result of this meeting will contribute to bilateral economic cooperation. One of the main issues on the agenda during Merkels visit to our country was the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Germany, as a member of the OSCE Minsk Group, as well as our important partner in the EU, is in favor of just settlement of the conflict. Berlinis always ready to contribute to the creation of a positive negotiating sphere between the conflicting parties. In Baku, Merkel stressed that the change of power in Armenia can improve the situation and give a push to the negotiation process. As it turned out, as opposed to Azerbaijan, which supports constructive negotiations, Armenia is ready to avoid or sabotage negotiations to preserve the existing status quo. Thus, Germany could use its political weight and economic capabilities for Armenia to sit at the negotiating table with the aim of resolving the conflict. Prospects for bilateral relations opened following Merkels visit to Azerbaijan The current level of relations between the two countries, the growing dynamics of relations, intensive contacts in various spheres, as well as fruitful conditions for the development of comprehensive relations between countries, being created following Merkels first visit to Azerbaijan, have set new tasks for Azerbaijani diplomats. I think that Germany's more active role in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the promotion of political cooperation to the level of strategic partnership, more active participation of German companies in the Azerbaijani economy, the expansion of existing contacts in the humanitarian sphere, Germanys closer acquaintance with culture and tourism opportunities of Azerbaijan are important tasks. The assessment of existing opportunities in these issues and their use will be key indicators of our activity over the next years. Trend: Azerbaijani MP, Vice-President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Azay Guliyev will visit Uzbekistan on September 10, the Azerbaijani Parliament's Office said Sept. 8. In Uzbekistans Dushanbe city, he will take part in a conference entitled "Role of Parliaments in Attracting Afghanistan for Cooperation in Central Asia through Preventive Diplomacy", which will take place through the UN. During the event, Guliyev will deliver a report on the OSCE PA's policy on Central Asia and Afghanistan, the projects being implemented in this direction, the role and prospects of parliamentary diplomacy in the field of cooperation and dialogue between the regional countries. During the visit, a meeting with the speaker of the parliament is planned to be held to discuss the further cooperation issues between the OSCE PA and Uzbekistan. The visit will end on September 13. Every two years, right around this time, Kevin McCarthy throws himself at the mercy of Central California voters. And every two years, unfaili AMAZON DISTRIBUTION JOBS The distribution center Amazon plans to build north of Bakersfield is expected to generate a few high-paying jobs and many lower-paying ones. Here are a few estimates from supply chain consulting firm MWPVL International Inc.: Bakersfield, CA (93308) Today Some clouds in the morning will give way to mainly sunny skies for the afternoon. High 71F. Winds light and variable.. Tonight Generally fair. Low 51F. Winds light and variable. The Californian's Robert Price answers your questions and takes your complaints about our news coverage in this weekly feedback forum. Questions may be edited for space and clarity. To offer your input by phone, call 395-7649 and leave your comments in a voicemail message or email us at soundoff@bakersfield.com. Include your name and phone number; they wont be published. In any deal, Canada needs assurances that it will be spared by USA national security investigations - leading to tariffs so far on steel and aluminum, and possibly on autos - and should dig in on Chapter 19, Manley said. "And the word that continues to block the deal is M-I-L-K, OK?" But those talks excluded Canada, the third NAFTA country. "I don't want to do anything bad to Canada". He also said he wants to make a "fair deal" with Canada. Data released Wednesday showed the US trade deficit hit a five-month high of $50 billion. U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening to cause the "ruination" of Canada if the countries can not reach a NAFTA deal, with sources pointing to dispute resolution and tariffs on cars as obstacles to a deal. For its part, Canada has used the provisions of NAFTA's dispute resolution mechanism to defend its lumber exports to the United States. Mr. Trump's trade chief, Robert Lighthizer, has refused Ottawa's key demand, the preservation of the Chapter 19 dispute-resolution system, to extract maximum concessions from Canada on its protected dairy market and pharmaceutical patents, said one USA industry source with knowledge of the closed-door talks. Trump also wants Canada to scrap its two-year-old pricing agreement that has restricted USA exports of ultra-filtered milk used to make dairy products. Trump has targeted what he sees as "unfair" trade as part of his "America First" agenda to boost US manufacturing and jobs, imposing tariffs on trading partners, including Canada, China, the European Union and Mexico. A Canadian source, who declined to be named given the sensitivity of the situation, said Canadian negotiators thought it was quite possible the talks would continue until the end of this month. A U.S. officer entered the wrong apartment and killed her neighbour The unnamed Dallas officer entered the apartment after her shift on Thursday night and confronted the victim, a 26-year-old male. Investigators are still working to piece together the events leading up to the shooting that claimed the life of Jean, a St. Trump said Wednesday that he expected it to be clear whether there would be a deal to include Canada in a few days. That has prompted retaliation. The Trump administration is preparing to implement new 25-percent tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods after the 90-day public comment period came to a close Thursday. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has promised to protect autoworkers while negotiations for NAFTA continue. Lighthizer has referred to the exemptions as "cultural protectionism" as Canadian companies are free to buy US media outlets. Freeland reiterated her view Thursday that the fate of those tariffs was separate from the NAFTA talks, and she urged the administration to lift the "unjustified and illegal" action. Negotiators and their staff have held several late-night sessions in a bid to overcome disagreements this week. "It was important to discuss a couple of issues face to face and our officials now continue to work very hard and we've agreed that we'll meet again tomorrow", Freeland told reporters. The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Kevin Brady, a powerful voice in Congress on trade, told reporters differences remained between the two sides over Canada's dairy quota regime, a trade dispute resolution settlement procedure and "other longstanding issues". Trump has notified Congress he intends to sign the trade deal reached last week with Mexico by the end of November, and officials said the text would be published by around October 1. Regardless, Kudlow stressed the USA will hold out for the best possible terms of any deal. Crave the Coast Food Fest Showers Oregon Beach Town with Culinary Delights Published 09/08/2018 at 3:37 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff (Garibaldi, Oregon) The really big culinary show happens on the north Oregon coast on September 29 with the inaugural Crave the Coast festival, a large-scale gathering that celebrates the bounty of Tillamook County. It takes place under the big event tent in Garibaldi, right along the shimmering waters of Tillamook Bay. Youll find 40 local food producers and beverage makers: food trucks serving fresh seafood and grass-fed beef, cooking demonstrations, prize giveaways and an opportunity to meet the creators of these fancy eats and those who make the drinks. There will also be opportunities to explore Garibaldis port and fisheries. The festival runs from noon to 6 p.m., and tickets are $30 for adults, $20 for those under 21, and free for children six and under. Tickets can be purchased on the Crave the Coast website. Oregons North Coast is undergoing a food renaissance, thanks to the passion, collaboration and creativity of producers, fishers, harvesters, brewers, winemakers, cheesemakers and chefs, said Nan Devlin, tourism director of Visit Tillamook Coast and the North Coast Food Trail. This corner of Oregon has given rise to the coast-to-table concept of fresh, sustainable, diverse and delicious. This brand new food fest was developed by by Visit Tillamook Coast, Sponsors include Travel Oregon, Port of Garibaldi, Tillamook Chamber of Commerce, KTIL Tillamook Radio, Tillamook Creamery, Tillamook Country Smoker, Pacific Seafood, the city of Bay City, Pacific Supreme and Pelican Brewing Company. Many of the sponsors are an integral part of the Oregon coasts foodie scene, but in addition to those there are exhibiting producers who come from the coast range and the beach towns, and those who get their ingredients from the coast, or have strong local producer connections. Among the exhibitors are Cannon Beach Distillery, Nehalem Bay Winery, Fishpeople Seafood, North Fork 53, Food Roots, Depoe Bay Brewing, Riverhouse Dressing, Nestucca Bay Creamery, Garibaldi Cellars and many more. The festival is part of the North Coast Food Trail, launched earlier this year, said Devlin. The trails theme of Food, Farm, Fish and Forage aptly describes the richness of the region and the accessibility of local products. Some 60 participants are part of the North Coast Food Trail, which boasts businesses that specialize in local foods, including farms, farmers markets, restaurants, lodging, retail, cooking schools, guided experiences and breweries, wineries and distilleries. The trail extends from Cannon Beach through Tillamook County to Lincoln City. For more information, call (503) 842-2672 or email nan@tillamookcoast.com. Other events coming up on this part of the north Oregon coast feature lively culture as well as food. These are: September 22. Tillamook Downtown District Artwalk. Each month a variety of merchants will host local artists in a dynamic and evolving art show. For more information or a listing of the venues and artists that will be participating each month. 1 p.m. Throughout downtown Tillamook, Oregon. Website. September 22. Art of Growing Oysters - Garibaldi Dock Walk with Pacific Seafood. The tour includes a stop at Whiskey Creek Shellfish Hatchery followed by a Dock Walk along the marina in Garibaldi with Pacific Seafood personnel. Get a chance to board the oyster barge, learn about the gear and techniques used to harvest oysters, and more. Garibaldi, Oregon. www.explorenaturetillamookcoast.com. ---- Lodging in Tillamook Bay - Where to eat - Maps and Virtual Tours More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted RABBI DEBORA S. GORDON Background: Born in Madison, Wis., she grew up in Evanston, Ill., where her father was a journalism professor at Northwestern University, and graduated from Indiana University. She studied to be a rabbi in Cincinnati and New York at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, and came to Troy after her ordination in 1997 to lead Congregation Berith Sholom. She and her wife, Judy Wienman, a retired marriage and family therapist, have four children and a wide assortment of animals at their home on six acres in Brunswick. How did you become a rabbi? Judaism is embedded deeply in my family, and my two grandfathers were huge influences. From my father's father (who was the "Rabbi Gordon" in my life and whom I looked around for the first few times I was addressed that way) I inherited a family tradition of Jewish music, folk as well as liturgical. My mother's father was a lawyer who used to fill in for the rabbi in his small congregation, and from him I learned to tell Torah stories Joseph, the Exodus from Egypt, and so on in a conversational style, as if I'd been there. So from my grandfathers I inherited both Jewish words and Jewish music. My father served as High Holy Day chazzan, a cantor, on the campus of Northern Illinois University most of the time I was growing up. I'd hear him practice the liturgical music in the weeks leading up to Rosh Hashana, so I grew up knowing those tunes very well. At home, Friday night (welcoming Shabbat) was special tablecloth, china, the whole family sitting down to dinner and, after my mother learned to play guitar, singing together afterwards. Even with all this, if I had known organized Judaism only from Sunday school and synagogue services, I wouldn't be a rabbi. The magic spark was Jewish summer camp in Oconomowoc, Wis.: learning, singing, and leading services outside in nature; beginning to speak and think and even dream in Hebrew; forming deep friendships. There, Judaism came alive as a relevant, powerful experience. Many of the leaders of American Judaism today were formed by those experiences. When I went off to Carleton College, I got involved with the Jewish students and by my sophomore year had been persuaded to be "ritual chair." I was responsible for organizing and leading High Holy Day services, so over the summer my father made me two cassette tapes of his singing. Turns out his father had made him two reel-to-reel tapes when he went to grad school (which I have, and need to get digitized). I listened to my father's tapes over and over and, with a confidence that amazes me in retrospect, pulled it off. I studied computers and math, music and English and geology, and came out as lesbian my senior year (which was a pretty scary thing to tell people in 1984). I still didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, besides happy. I left college before I got my degree, painted walls, cooked and waited tables. I moved to Bloomington, Ind., with my then-partner just before I turned 24. It turned out that my most valuable skills, from an employment standpoint, came from my Jewish knowledge. Who knew? For me, it was just what I grew up with. I started teaching Hebrew school in the small synagogue, and one day a member of the Ritual Committee came into the office in a state of agitation asking, "Does anybody here sing?" "I do," said I. The graduate student who had been hired that year as High Holy Day cantor had to conduct an opera on the eve of Yom Kippur; he could sing Kol Nidre (the major prayer at the beginning of the service) but then had to leave, and they needed someone to chant the prayers during the rest of the service. If I believed that God pulls strings in our lives, that would be the moment in my life. Not only could I sing, I already knew and loved the music that was needed. Out came my father's cassette tapes once again. For the first time in my life, I was serving a synagogue on the bimah in a formal capacity. It went well, and I liked being part of creating the service. I continued teaching, became a regular participant in the Shabbat Saturday morning service, and was encouraged by the head of the Jewish Studies Program to consider a career in the Jewish community. It made sense to me that since I wanted there to be a Jewish community, I needed to figure out what I could do to nurture Jewish community. Becoming a cantor was the obvious choice, but as I saw it, rabbis talked and cantors sang, and I had things to say. (Fortunately that's changing in some congregations.) The following year the student rabbi (who became the world's first grandma-rabbi when she was ordained in her 40s) took me under her wing and invited me to visit her at the rabbinical school in Cincinnati. I still didn't know what rabbis did other than lead services, but I recognized in the rabbinical students the person I wanted to be. Driving back to Bloomington, I practically smacked my forehead and said "Duh!" Of course I wanted to be a rabbi. Eleven and a half years after I had started at Carleton, I graduated from Indiana University with a degree in Near Eastern languages and cultures with a focus on ancient Hebrew, and started rabbinical school the following fall, just before I turned 30. I'm good at being with people, listening and helping them craft the meaning of their lives, and also at teaching and creating meaningful services using words and music, which are some of the major things that congregational rabbis do. Plus I'm curious about everything, and I found a job where that's a plus: I can talk to anyone about what they are interested in, and I can usually ask an intelligent question. I've now been at Berith Sholom for 21 years, and it's been a joy to nurture that community and its members. Traditions and belief in God are the foundations of most religions. For Judaism, how are questioning and change also essential? Judaism is so much more than just a "faith" tradition. In Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan's definition, Judaism is "the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people." We began in the ancient Near East as a nation, and religion was one of many things that defined our culture: we had (and still have) languages and literature, art and music, customs and folkways, food (and more food) not just a theology or set of rituals. It is not a contradiction in terms to be an "atheist Jew." You can embrace Jewish ethics, celebrate Jewish holidays, participate in Jewish community, whether or not you believe in God in any way. Amazingly, when we lost our political independence 2,000 years ago, we retained our identity and remained largely self-governing, even as we were scattered around the world. Our homeland became a book (actually, lots of books). In order to change from a land-based, animal-and-grain-offering-based ancient religion into one based on study and prayer that could be lived anywhere, the rabbis had to build flexibility and change into the fabric of Judaism. In addition to the written Bible, they had inherited an oral tradition. Within a generation or two after the Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70, they realized that they were going to have to write that oral tradition down and they worried about it because they knew that when rules or teachings are committed to writing, they can lose much of their flexibility. So they went out of their way also to write down the continued conversations, arguments, disagreements and discussions that they had about how to be a Jew and how to be a person. They included the rejected opinions along with those that were adopted. This grew into the Talmud, collected and edited around 500. It reads like it's a discussion between contemporaries, but in fact it's edited to bring together the viewpoints of rabbis from different times and places who thought and taught about the same issues. You know the saying "Two Jews, three opinions"? Questioning and challenging seem to be written into our DNA as well as into our religious tradition. Look at Abraham challenging God over the potential destruction of righteous people along with wicked: "Will the Judge of all the earth not carry out justice?" Judaism at its best understands that questioning is how we grow, how we refine our thinking and how we adapt the tradition we inherit to keep it alive and vital as human circumstances change. "We stand on the shoulders of giants." That saying doesn't just mean that we honor those who came before us; it means that though we may not be giants ourselves, we can see a little further than those who came before us because our eyes have been raised up a little higher than theirs were. It means that even in traditional Judaism, which greatly respects precedent, Jews are not always bound by what was decided in the past because we may have a wider perspective than our forbears were able to have. We live in troubling times. There's so much distrust about people's differing views about fixing the mess we're in. Do you see a way to get the world back on track? I'm a congenital optimist. This isn't just based on my life: It includes the privilege of two decades in this congregation sharing people's joys and sorrows. I am heir to a tradition that routinely invites me to think about 3,000 years of story and history. A long perspective tells me that change is real; my experience tells me that, given a chance, most humans are caring and compassionate. Fear and anger can mess up anyone's perspective, but thank God, that's not the defining experience of most lives. I know bad things happen, but I also know that more good things do. Most of the time, most things go right for most people. Remaining aware of that supports gratitude and resilience. I have seen changes in my lifetime that I never imagined I would see. Judy and I had a civil union in Vermont 18 years ago, and even that limited legal recognition was unexpected. Now we're legally married and over two dozen countries have legalized same-sex marriage. Could I have dreamed of that when I first came out over three decades ago? Never. I have hopes that, like slavery, which once was almost universal and is now almost universally condemned, this is a change that will not be rolled back. Partly because of that 3,000-year perspective, and partly because of my life experience - white lesbian Jewish mom raising four kids, three of whom are black/AfricanAmerican and one of whom is white/light-skinned (these are the ways they describe themselves)) - and partly because for years I have challenged myself to listen to the critiques of our society that come from people who don't share in as many privileges as I do, I wasn't as surprised as many people were by the current rhetoric of hatred and divisiveness. I was surprised that some people in positions of power and respect think it's OK, but not surprised at its existence. I've talked with a lot of people who truly thought "We're past all that," that the multiculturalism that began with the identity politics of the 1960s meant that we were going to live in peace and harmony all our days. Beyond that, the answers begin in respecting everyone's basic humanity and worth, a concept embedded in Judaism in the words b'tselem Elohim, the idea that each person is created "in God's image." I've gotten involved with Better Angels, an organization founded in 2016 to bring members of the Red Tribe and the Blue Tribe together to hear each other. The point is not to change anybody's political views but to re-humanize the other side; to understand why someone else sees the world the way they do; to help us begin to trust again in each other's basic humanity and good intentions. When you listen to someone to try to understand where they're coming from (as opposed to listening in order to argue), they are more able to listen to you the same way. Better Angels is just getting organized in the Capital District and I intend to volunteer with it during my upcoming sabbatical, along with the Poor People's Campaign for a Moral Revival. You will find Jews involved in almost any movement for social justice, whether or not they ever set foot in a synagogue. Our "master story" is "Once we were enslaved, now we are free now go out and make that true for everyone." My former congregant Ruth Klepper told me that her father used to tell her, "Your job is to leave the world better than you found it." Jews involved with social justice movements are living out Jewish values that were transmitted to them from earlier generations. A Protestant colleague once asked me why it seemed so easy to get members of my congregation involved in social justice, compared to her experience with hers. I think it's because the basic building block of Judaism is the mitzvah technically "commandment," often used to mean "good deed," and perhaps best understood today as an obligation or responsibility as seen through a Jewish lens. Of the traditional 613 mitzvot, all but a few are actions: Things you do, or don't do. Faith, belief, feelings, and thoughts are all important, but very difficult to direct. Actions can be seen and measured, their results considered. Reigions tend to have an area in which they specialize, and Judaism's specialty is action. There are ritual actions to support you in your own life and to bring community together, and there are practical actions to nurture community and to leave this world better than we found it. All this is not to say that suffering isn't real or that oppression can be ignored. Things do get better, but that's largely because people stand up and make a difference. An old union saying I learned from my wife: The best organizer is a bad boss.I see that happening. I also feel tremendous hope when I talk with and learn from people a generation younger than I am. The 1960s were a time of radical change, but there's one word today that wasn't part of the milieu in the '60s: sustainability. Sustainability is in food and farms, in the economy, in urban planning and social networks. I believe what's being built today has a good chance of lasting, but it's growing more slowly. That growth continues quietly even during times when public discourse seems to be sliding backwards into name-calling. Do you have that same optimism for Troy? Absolutely. This will be my 22nd High Holy Days in Troy, and I've watched this city go from mostly-empty storefronts to new restaurants opening faster than I can keep track of them. You know what my benchmark is? There's now a veterinarian on River Street. Troy has a cooperative interfaith community centered around TAUM (Troy Area United Ministries), including a clergy group which brings together some of the black clergy and some of the white clergy of various religions, traditions and denominations. I was honored last January to be the first non-Christian preacher at the Troy Martin Luther King Day celebration. Under Mayor Tutunjian I was part of an advisory group for the long-range planning process and got to see Troy through the eyes of some of its longtime residents. I know that the economic revival hasn't moved much outside of downtown yet, and both poverty and crime still affect too many Trojans. But there is an incredible number of people working to make Troy better, and it's an amazing time to be part of this city. Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, is on Monday and Tuesday. This year I'll be trying to give my congregants an "optimism transfusion," offering to them what I've been sharing with you. May it be a good and sweet year for us all. -- Rob Brill David C. Acheson, a Washington lawyer who wrote and edited books that illuminated the life, philosophies and predilections of his father, former secretary of state Dean Acheson, died Aug. 16 at his home in the District of Columbia. He was 96. The cause was complications from advanced spinal stenosis, said his daughter, Eldie Acheson. Acheson practiced law for four decades, including as U.S. attorney for the District in the 1960s and as a founding partner of the Washington office of Drinker, Biddle and Reath. His specialties included strategic advice, compliance and investigations involving corporate malfeasance and securities violations, his daughter said. Like his father, Acheson was "tall and lordly - a man with a barrister's demeanor and a diplomat's sense of ease," as Washington Post book critic Marie Arana once observed in a sketch of the younger Acheson's life. He had already graduated from Yale University, served in the Navy during World War II and received a law degree from Harvard University when his father became President Harry Truman's secretary of state in 1949. Dean Acheson, who left the office in 1953, forged a legacy as an architect of the Marshall Plan to rebuild Europe after World War II, of NATO and of U.S. foreign policy during the Korean War and the early Cold War. Biographers would devote hundreds if not thousands of pages to his life. David Acheson wished to add his own pages, he once wrote, to spare his father the fate of becoming "a mere, depersonalized logo of a foreign-policy style - little more than a Homburg, a mustache and the title page of NSC 68, the 'containment policy' paper that outlined the Soviet Union's aim to world domination and our resolve to block it." After Dean Acheson's death in 1971, David Acheson shepherded to publication a collection of his father's writings on foreign policy, "This Vast External Realm" (1973). He later assembled his father's correspondence in "Among Friends: Personal Letters of Dean Acheson" (1980), co-edited with political scientist David McLellan. The titular friends included poet Archibald MacLeish, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter and Truman. Acheson assisted with the preparation of another book, "Affection and Trust: The Personal Correspondence of Harry S. Truman and Dean Acheson, 1953-1971" (2010), further exploring the relationship between Acheson and the president he described as a "captain with a mighty heart." FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Dean Acheson warned Truman, should be trusted "as much as you would a rattlesnake with a silencer on its rattle." The Kennedy administration, he wrote, was overly interested in its public perception. "This is a terrible weakness," Acheson remarked. "It makes one look at oneself instead of at the problem. How will I look fielding this hot line drive to shortstop? This is a good way to miss the ball altogether." His writings taken together, "it is hard to think of a public figure today who could sustain, through a lifetime, such a varied and interesting correspondence," Harry McPherson, a confidant and adviser to President Lyndon B. Johnson, wrote in a Washington Post review of "Among Friends." David Acheson also wrote a memoir, "Acheson Country" (1993), depicting his father as a family man, an avid equestrian and cabinetmaker, an automobile enthusiast and a man "almost ashamed of conformity." The book made "compelling reading in the ahistorical, all-night-pizza Washington of the Clinton era," journalist Philip Terzian wrote in a review in the New York Times. "For the student of the news it offers a gentle lesson," Terzian went on, "how once our leaders - well, some of them, at any rate - were aristocrats of style, and sometimes of birth, the comfortable inheritors of power, discretion, moral example and dread responsibility, who knew how to step on the stage with aplomb, and leave when the curtain began to descend." David Campion Acheson was born in Washington on Nov. 4, 1921. His mother, Alice Stanley Acheson, was a painter. After graduating from Yale with a classics degree in 1943 and from Harvard in 1948, Acheson practiced in the 1950s with the firm of Covington and Burling. He volunteered with John F. Kennedy's successful 1960 presidential campaign before becoming a U.S. attorney. Later in the 1960s, Acheson served as special assistant to Treasury Secretary Henry Fowler, with a portfolio that included oversight of the Narcotics Bureau and the Secret Service. After leaving government in 1967, he was general counsel of the Communications Satellite Corp. (COMSAT) and practiced law with firms including Jones, Day, Reavis and Pogue. In the 1980s, he served on the government commission appointed to investigate the explosion of the Challenger space shuttle. From 1993 to 1999, Acheson was president of the Atlantic Council, a Washington think tank that supports institutions and policies undergirding NATO. His wife of 56 years, the former Patricia Castles, died in 2000. Survivors include three children, Eldie Acheson of Washington and Bass River, Massachusetts, David Acheson of New York City, and Peter Acheson of Chatham, New York; a sister; and five grandchildren. Acheson wrote that, in exploring his father's life, he discerned - with some regret - differences between the public servants of earlier eras and those of the modern day. "Then, generally speaking, leaders determined their objectives on the merits," Acheson wrote in The Post in 1994. "Today, I fear I must say, more often the start of the analysis is: What do the public and media want? Then, how can we accomplish it? Finally, how do we justify it as the solution to a problem? Public Relations is king, and CNN is the high priest. It seems to me that this is why things in Washington appear to be getting worse. "With such things on my mind, writing about my father was not just an expository act. It was an education." An ethics panel that investigated sexual misconduct charges against a veteran Maryland lawmaker thought the delegate made inappropriate sexual comments but was unable to decide if a 14-year-old sexual assault claim against him was true, according to a report released late Friday. Del. Curtis Anderson, D-Baltimore City, was stripped of his leadership positions by House Speaker Michael Busch, D-Anne Arundel, at the close of the investigation last month. But the report from the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics was not released until Friday. "The committee found that there was sufficient evidence to conclude that Delegate Anderson engaged in conduct contrary to the General Assembly's Anti-Harassment Policy," the report reads. The committee said it could not "assess the veracity of the conflicting witness statements" involving the allegations that Anderson assaulted a legislative staffer in 2004. Anderson, who served in the legislature from 1983 to 1995 and again since 2003, has denied all wrongdoing. The committee recommended that Anderson receive one-on-one anti-harassment training and that the training for all legislators be revised and strengthened. The report offers a timeline of the committee's eight-month investigation, which began in January, just weeks before the start of the legislative session. The committee held six closed- door hearings, interviewed 22 people and along with an outside investigator spent more than 400 hours investigating the claims. According to the report, seven women made claims of sexual misconduct against Anderson but only two cooperated with the investigation. Lisae Jordan, the executive director of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said the state needed to look at what it needs to do "so that victims feel comfortable coming forward" and participating in investigations. Del. Ariana Kelly, D-Montgomery, who led the effort by the women's caucus to overhaul the legislature's anti-sexual harassment policy, said victims clearly need advocates to shepherd them through the process. "When this many women have informal complaints but only two" offer sworn testimony, "the system is broken," she said. After reading the report, Jordan said she was pleased that the Speaker decided to strip Anderson of his leadership position, saying the action will go a long way in changing the culture of the General Assembly. But she also said she was disappointed that the committee's report did not reveal more about the conduct it was examining. "We are at a place where we want to educate," she said. "To know more about what is considered inappropriate would improve the culture." Trump has demanded that The New York Times disclose the author of the essay, described by the newspaper as a senior administration official. Senior staff in key United States national security and economic policy roles charged the article's writer with cowardice, disloyalty and acting against America's interests in harsh terms that mimicked the president's own words. That means it's she, ' he said, speculating about the identity of the top Trump aide. "I'm looking at that right now", Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Members of his administration and inner circle from the vice-president downwards have been lining up to condemn the column and deny authorship. After @PressSec directed people to call the @nytimes and ask the opinion section to out the Op-Ed writer, many have called instead to voice their support for the Op-Ed and the NYT news coverage of the Trump administration. Trump's lawyers have said that even if that happened as Comey described - they say it didn't - it can't be a crime because the president has the constitutional authority to involve himself in the activities of the Justice Department. "It's a person obviously who is living in dishonesty", Ryan said. "I know the president is very unconventional". "The president has to know that when a president speaks, his words weigh a ton". Mr Trump said if the author had a high-level security clearance, "I don't want him in those meetings". "I think he was trying to take credit for this incredible thing that is happening to our country", Trump scoffed. Fan frenzy as Tiger and Rory share PGA Tour lead But a bogey at the first of those holes took the wind from his sails and he followed it with another at the hard 8th. Woods and McIlroy still had to hit the shots and make the putts. "Boy, shooting 29 on the front nine helps". The Department of Justice said in response: "The department does not confirm, deny or otherwise acknowledge the existence or non-existence of investigations". "Our office is above such amateur acts". In his speech, Obama specifically cited Trump having already put pressure on his AG to use the criminal justice system "as a cudgel to punish political opponents", and declared that a United States President should not "threaten freedom of the press because they say things or publish stories we don't like". "To the writer of the op-ed - you are not protecting this country, you are sabotaging it with your cowardly actions", she said. The anonymous author wrote that where Trump has had successes, they have come "despite - not because of - the president's leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective". "Down Pennsylvania Avenue, House Speaker Paul Ryan said he did not know of any role Congress would have to investigate, though Republican Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, a Trump ally, said the legislative body could take part". "I think it's a disgrace that somebody can do that and I think it's more disgraceful that The New York Times would do it, but that somebody is allowed to do that, it's a very sad commentary", he said. The author said they were "working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations". "I know his tweeting and unconventional tactics bother people, but the results of government are good results". Imran Khan appealed to donate funds to build dams ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday appealed to all Pakistanis, particularly the overseas diaspora, to donate funds to help the country build dams. Pakistan is at risk of major droughts by the year 2025. The future of our next generations will be in jeopardy if we do not take any urgent steps to build water reservoirs now, Prime Minister Imran Khan said in an address broadcast on the national television networks, adding the country faces a serious crisis. Construction of dams in Pakistan is inevitable, he said, and pointed out that the country had an average water storage capacity of only 30 days, as compared to 190 days of India, and 1,000 days for Egypt. He said on an average, a country should have 120-day storage capacity. The prime minister said in 1947, the water storage for each Pakistani was around 5,600 cubic meters, while has now dwindled to 1,000 cubic meters. He said the experts had already warned about the impact of climate change on Pakistan, adding the country was expected to be hit by a drought by the year 2025. He warned that Pakistan would not have any water for its crops and for feeding its people. I laud Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar for his initiative of launching funds for the construction of dams, he said, and admitted that it was not the job of the chief justice to take such steps, but of the political leadership of the country. He regretted that the past political leaderships of the country failed to do their duty. The prime minister announced merger of the Prime Ministers Fund and that of the chief justice and made an appeal to the overseas Pakistanis to send in remittances for the dams in US dollars. I urge all overseas Pakistanis to send in at least 1,000 US dollars each. Those who cannot send it in one go, they may send as much as they can, he said, and added that there were around eight to nine million Pakistanis living abroad. We will not only get the money for the dams, but will also get the urgently needed foreign exchange reserves, he said, and expressed the hope that with the funds available, Pakistan will be able to build the dams in five years. Imran Khan directed all PTI chapters abroad and also those of other political parties to launch a jihad to collect these funds for Pakistan. He said in the briefings he had received in the past fortnight, he was astonished to find out the quantum of challenges the country faced. He said the total loans the country owed were Rs 6000 billion (Rs 6 trillion) 10 years back, but today they have swelled to Rs 30,000 billion (Rs 30 trillion). Imran Khan said the overseas Pakistanis had always stood by him in the past and supported his initiatives of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital and Namal College Mianwali. We wont need any loans, he said. I promise to protect every penny of your hard-earned money, he added. Years ago I went to Omagh in search of a decent restaurant but could not find one. There were one or two places to eat but the reviews would not have been great and I didnt want the first write-up from Omagh to be a bad one. Leaves a sour taste in everybodys mouth. Better to say nothing at all. Same goes for any town I go to the first time. Dont want to fall out with the locals on first contact. Some time later I returned and found Vanilla up at the top of the town. This was a wonderfully plain restaurant, almost Shaker in its austerity, but with a great menu built entirely on local game and fish. Imagine all that great produce coming off the slopes and woodlands of the Sperrins. I remember fabulous grouse and pheasant dishes. Last weekend I was back in Omagh, this time to visit Grants, or Ulysseys S Grants, to give it its full title. Owned by the McCann family who also manage the excellent McCanns bar in the town, Grants has single-handedly repositioned the Tyrone capitals culinary reputation. Few restaurants manage to nail that essence of Ireland, the old fashioned and gentle hospitality and the Failte unless theyve been around for decades. The spirit of the place is enhanced by the warmth and cosiness of an ancient timber bar whose style is lifted almost to the inch from the Doheny & Nesbitt divided counter in Dublins Upper Baggott Street. The boss, Myles McCann, says the bar used to be the worktop in an old drapers shop in Donegal which accounts for its extraordinary colour and solidity. Its just the place for pre-dinner drinks. And then theres the staff. I was alone on a Friday night and a bit self-conscious. I was asked if Id prefer a little private booth away from the main restaurant at the back and close to the bar where my solitude would be less of a burden to me. How grateful I was. Its a measure of the level of instinctive hospitality shown in this place. Kicking off the evening with a bottle of Baronscourt Brewing red ale at the bar the menu and specials of the day were revealed. As was the wine list. I spot a favourite Hungarian dry furmint white but the days special is fillet steak with capers and tarragon sauce. A quick conference with bar staff Deborah and Mallaigh and the decision is made: the steak with a carafe of Malbec. What a great call. But first, the Boilie goats cheese starter. A dainty dish featuring little globes of bright white cheese around which are dotted half walnuts and dabs of apple puree, some rocket leaves and a drizzle of balsamic reduction. Everything about this works well. The walnuts are candied, their bitterness replaced by a more intense woody sweetness offering the perfect foil to the smooth, dry goats cheese. Theres just enough apple puree on the plate to bind the two. Its a classic. The fillet is accompanied by big golden, brittle chips, cracking and splitting to reveal the soft spuddy interior. Theyre as good as Ive had in Michael Deanes Meat Locker. The fillet itself is a generous, dark affair, well aged and full of flavour. Im less convinced by the caper and tarragon sauce which, for me, has too much sourness. The salad with blue cheese and plum tomatoes is on the other hand, exactly the right balance and works in tandem with the meat, just as you might expect a well rendered blue cheese sauce to do. Mrs McCann is in the kitchen and is the pastry chef. Many years in the US have provided her with the skills to make the best key lime pie you will find this side of the Florida Keys. Seriously. The crumbling, crunchy biscuit base features smashed up hobnobs and is perfectly dry throughout. The creamy, lime filling is buttery and zesty and the whole thing so indulgent and satisfying, its passing comes to quickly. I consider asking for another one. Instead, a Tir Eoghain Abu cocktail fulfils the role of consoler. Made by Caleb at the bar, the cocktail features Berthas Revenge gin, raspberry coulis and aromatic tonic. It is not the ideal digestif but, as an Armagh man, I feel its an act of diplomatic entente towards the county facing Dublin a couple of days later. (Its an excellent cocktail, by the way, but I really should stick to my principle of cocktails before dinner only). Grants is a signal of the re-emergence of Omagh as a most viable tourism destination. A visit to the nearby Ulster American Folk Park, Gortin Glen, the Sperrins, and all that outdoor activity means you need to be able to repair in the evening to somewhere fabulously atmospheric and great quality. Now you can. The bill Baronscourt red ale 3.95 Goats cheese starter 6.50 10oz Fillet 25.95 Carafe Malbec 8.45 Key lime pie 5.50 Tir Eoghain Abu 7.50 Total 57.85 How much do you know about the prosecution of international war crimes? If the answer is 'very little', you're not alone - it's a topic many of us are unfamiliar with. Take actress Michaela Coel. Before reading the script for Black Earth Rising, a new BBC Two thriller that deals with the complicated legal ramifications of the Rwandan genocide, she had no idea about the history the show covers. "I felt outraged... shocked at my own ignorance," admits the 30-year-old, known for writing and starring in E4 sitcom Chewing Gum. "When did this happen? I was asking my mum, 'Why didn't you tell me?' "I took a dedication to the pursuit of getting the role because I wanted to correct my own ignorance and I wanted to somehow feel a sense of redemption from my lack of awareness." Coel plays Kate Ashby, who was adopted from Rwanda as a child during the genocide, and raised in Britain by Eve Ashby (The Crown's Harriet Walter), a world-class British prosecutor in international criminal law. Now in her 20s, Kate has followed in her mother's footsteps and works as a legal investigator in the law chambers of Michael Ennis (played by Roseanne star John Goodman). "She's absolutely incredible," Coel says of her character. "I understand that she is not real, but she is my hero." The story takes a turn when Eve embarks on a case at the International Criminal Court, prosecuting an African militia leader, and Michael and Kate end up on a journey that will alter their lives forever. Discussing her preparation for the role, Coel reveals she read various accounts of genocide survivors. "I found the more I read, the more tangled everything became," she explains. "It was almost like a rabbit hole that I felt I didn't have the IQ to master." Writer Hugo Blick, whose previous successes include political spy thriller The Honourable Woman, understandably did a lot of research. "In order to feel authentic and knowledgeable about these things, it took about six months of research through Rwanda and into the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a number of people whose experiences are, in some ways, shown to influence the story," says the 53-year-old writer. "But they're not personifications." After completing The Honourable Woman, about a baroness trying to forge new ties between Israelis and Palestinians, Blick recognised he was "interested in the reconciliation of trauma". "So, I thought, 'How does that work institutionally?' Looking at war crimes, that's a pretty big traumatic event, and how are we helping to reconcile people to that? And why are we doing it as a Western environment? Should we be doing it? Why are we doing it?" Issues of justice, guilt and self-determination are touched on across the episodes. Blick calls the unfamiliarity of the story both "the strength of the show and the hill it has to climb". "Our knowledge of modern Africa reminds you that during the genocide it was a period when O J Simpson was arrested," he says. "What do we remember? We remember O J Simpson's arrest, the tragic death of two people, but, in fact, at the same time, up to a million people were killed in Rwanda. "We talk about how the West sometimes expresses this opinion - which is horrifically dangerous - that, 'Down there, that's just what they do to each other, isn't it?' "That (is a) total lack of engagement, responsibility and recognition, and when we make those kind of comments is something we look to explore within the story." Coel agrees that an important function of drama is to raise awareness, but asked whether she thinks it can change people's minds, she seems less sure. "As we've seen as history repeats itself again and again, minds are very malleable things and at the same time very rigid," she suggests. "In myself as a writer, I don't really write to change people's minds. I write to present, 'Here's some considerations'." Blick simply hopes that, after watching the series, people have a better understanding of "our relationship between our institutions, justice and Africa". "It doesn't mean that we cannot be critical of African environments," he points out. "This is a story that is built to be a compulsive thriller and it's asking some difficult questions." Coel's parents were born in Ghana, where filming of Black Earth Rising took place. "It was my first time going home and it was absolutely overwhelming," recalls the actress. "It was beautiful, but it was a roller-coaster." Black Earth Rising, BBC Two, Monday, 9pm A Dublin man accused of money laundering offences after being arrested at a Belfast airport with a bag containing nearly 23,000 must remain in custody, the High Court has ruled. John Gilligan was refused bail amid prosecution claims that he had "sold up" and was leaving Ireland behind for a new life in Spain. A judge also heard all cash in the 66-year-old's suitcase came from family, friends and the sale of belongings such as a Rolex watch. Gilligan, with an address at Greenforth Crescent, Dublin, is charged with attempting to remove criminal property. He was stopped at Belfast International Airport on August 23 as he was about to board a flight to Alicante. Crown lawyer Kate McKay said Gilligan informed a UK Border Force officer that he had cash with 23,000 in his luggage. Searches of a bag removed from the plane confirmed two bundles of cash which, along with currency he was carrying, came to 22,330. Gilligan was arrested and told National Crime Agency officers the money was given to him by friends and family to help him start a new life in Spain. One man had allegedly purchased a watch from him for 5,000, the court heard. Opposing bail, Mrs McKay accepted assertions that Gilligan was under a continuing threat to his life. She also expressed major concerns that he may flee if released, saying he had "effectively sold up on the island of Ireland" and was about to leave the jurisdiction. Defence counsel Plunkett Nugent argued it was Gilligan who notified customs about the money in his bag. Rejecting claims his client may abscond and not return, Mr Nugent pointed to his involvement in ongoing litigation in Dublin. Gilligan only intended to rent a property in Spain for a period, he said. Denying bail, however, Judge Patrick Kinney cited concerns the accused may flee. Thousands of people are expected to gather today to pray for the return of devolved government in Northern Ireland. Last year up to 7,000 Christians travelled to Nutts Corner for the Healing the Land event, with organisers expecting even more today. Andy Campbell, from the organising team, said the ongoing impasse at Stormont had been caused by deep divisions in society. "We have found ourselves entrenched in different camps and we feel the Church - referring to all denominations - has failed the people and not encouraged that unity," he added. "That's been the difficulty. It's time to forgive one another. "We feel threatened and suspicious of each other. That's one of the saddest things." Another focus will be on the high rates of suicide in areas such as north Belfast. Mr Campbell said: "We have a diversity of people taking part. The four provinces of Ireland will be represented. "The main thing we're trying to do by coming together is taking that look off one another of threat and suspicion. "We keep revisiting our past, and while there is justice to be had in a lot of cases, we keep raking the same things up time after time. "Revisiting that stuff that brings up the same old bitterness and hatred." Entry is free for the event, which will run at Nutts Corner Market from 1pm to 4pm. Details at www.healingtheland.co.uk Former DUP MLA and Minister Jonathan Bell gives his second day of evidence at the RHI Enquiry Former DUP minister Jonathan Bell has claimed Arlene Foster ordered him to keep the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scheme open during a stormy meeting at which he felt bullied. On his second day giving evidence to the RHI Inquiry yesterday, Mr Bell said he had told the DUP leader it was "folly" to keep the scheme open as the costs spiralled out of control. But he claimed the then-First Minister overruled him and said it would have to be kept open longer. Recounting the meeting on February 9, 2016 Mr Bell said: "There was tension, the atmosphere was abusive, Arlene was very abrupt. "I said, 'Minister, I have made the decision (to close the scheme), we had announced the decision and really are you going to place me in a position...where in my view I am effectively asking a civil servant to do something that is wrong, and order them to do it. I wasn't prepared to do it." Mr Bell continued: "I did argue hard not to do it, but she ordered me to do it. "She said: 'Look I am the First Minister, you will follow my order. I am instructing you and reversing your decision. "I felt bullied into taking the decision because I was taking the decision against my rational judgement." As Department of Trade, Enterprise and Investment (DETI) minister, Mr Bell had already announced that the scheme would close with immediate effect on February 5, 2016. This caused concern and anger among potential claimants. The former DETI minister alleged that Mrs Foster "created a paper trail" calling for RHI to be closed, but verbally she and some DUP special advisers pushed for it to be kept open. At the tense meeting in Stormont's Parliament Buildings, Mr Bell said the First Minister told him she wanted to keep the scheme open in order to consult further with industry. "I thought that was totally unreasonable because we had a scheme that was out of control," he said. In an interview with BBC broadcaster Stephen Nolan, Mrs Foster claimed it was the DETI Minister who had been "very aggressive" with her. In his evidence yesterday, Mr Bell said that several hours after the first meeting, he had a second "much more friendly" encounter with his party leader. "Arlene was in agreement then with me and said: 'I think what you're saying is correct," he told the inquiry. He claimed that Mrs Foster asked for a two-week extension to the RHI scheme which he agreed to. He told DETI Permanent Secretary Dr Andrew McCormick that closure in a fortnight would be acceptable to the First Minister and Dr McCormick said he "could live with that". It has been suggested to the inquiry by Mrs Foster and two DUP Spads (special advisers) that Mr Bell opposed an extension to the RHI scheme because it made him look foolish. Counsel for the inquiry, David Scoffield QC, said they argued that Mr Bell's concern was "not so much public finances, rather the fact that changing your position so soon after you announced the decision would be something which looked like a political U-turn". Mr Bell denied this was the case. He agreed that it did make him and "the rest of the party" appear foolish, but he also believed it was a foolish decision and the wrong one. The main reason he had opposed the extension was to be "a proper steward of public funds". Mr Bell was questioned about his relationship with Mrs Foster. He said there had been other issues aside from RHI between them in previous months but he didn't detail them. The pair had been good friends when students at Queen's University Belfast and Mr Bell said he had previously relied on Mrs Foster for advice. Mr Bell said all sorts of questions had been asked about his motivation in making his RHI allegations. He told the inquiry that he had sacrificied his political career to stop the RHI overspend. "My only motivation was those hundreds of millions of pounds to get back into the health service and our education system.," he said. "For that I knew I would have sacrificed my political career. I have had two objectives. "One, an inquiry to establish the truth. We have got that and I have every confidence in this panel, including any criticism you may or may not have of me for which I'll apologise for in advance. "But secondly, to ensure these costs were changed and that money is now available. For both of my objectives, I have achieved them." The inquiry chair, Sir Patrick Coghlin, asked Mr Bell several times why he had secretly recorded a conversation with Dr McCormick in 2016. The former DUP minister said he regarded Dr McCormick as a "man of integrity" and all he wanted was a "valid record" of his own concerns over special advisers' alleged interference in keeping RHI open after he had moved to close it. Mr Bell did not tell Dr McCormick he was recording their meeting because he might not "have been getting the accurate information" otherwise. He said he needed a "contemporaneous, accurate account" of their discussion and because Dr McCormick was then working for a different minister, there may have been a reluctance "to have information released". Mr Bell said: "I had serious concerns that the actual information I was seeking and needing was being evaded." Sir Patrick replied: "I'm still, I'm afraid, why it was necessary to bring a concealed recording device." The former DUP Minister said he refused to allow his secret recordings to be broadcast because his only purpose in making them was "validating what I had to say". The inquiry heard about the spike in RHI applications at the time when DUP ministers were "in-and-out" of office in protest at the murder of Kevin McGuigan. The father-of-nine was shot dead by the Provisional IRA in the Short Strand in August 2015. DUP ministers would resign for several days before returning to office for a short period and then resigning again. Mr Bell told the inquiry that this action didn't impact on his work as DETI minister. "DETI functions continued as normal," he said. "I returned on a weekly basis to deal with urgent business, and only resigned when all urgent business (was) dealt with." At the start of yesteray's hearing, Sir Patrick warned that the inquiry wasn't a "media sensational platform". He said: "There is no open invitation to witnesses to come along and use the hearings for the purpose of publishing material to which they object or take offence for reasons which are irrelevant to the inquiry. "It is not a media sensational platform." The warning followed a statement from Mr Bell during Thursday's evidence. He said his special adviser Timothy Cairns had told him "in garish and lurid detail" about "the sexual misbehaviour of two DUP ministers". The RHI Inquiry resumes on Tuesday with Mr Cairns set to give evidence for the first time. Mrs Foster is due to be recalled to the Inquiry later this month. Northern Ireland's two main universities have joined forces to announce the largest ever single investment in the creative industries here. Ulster University and Queen's University Belfast said the 13m for the new Future Screens NI venture could help generate 6bn for the economy and create 3,000 new jobs over the next five years. The project, which will involve creative hubs in Belfast, Newry, Londonderry and Coleraine, is geared at bringing various film and screen projects under a single umbrella, boosting efforts to sell Northern Ireland as a location to international film studios. It will also focus on areas such as gaming, animation, and using virtual reality in health, tourism and engineering. Vice-chancellor of Ulster University, Paddy Nixon, said: "One of the challenges has been the diversity of stuff going on in Northern Ireland. By bringing it all under the one umbrella, it creates a critical mass that we can sell as a nation to the world. "It really makes us look significant in a global market that is huge. We're now going to be a beacon for the rest of the world." Glenn Patterson of Queen's University, who co-wrote the award-winning Good Vibrations film, said the move will help keep talent in Northern Ireland. "The more opportunities we create, the more jobs for people, the more people can see a future to work here," he said. "It then becomes a virtuous circle. People stay because there are jobs, and because people stay and invest their talent and their energy, new jobs and new possibilities are created." A terminally ill cancer patient has said making preparations for his death has helped him come to terms with the diagnosis. Irvine Grey was told he had prostate cancer 12 years ago and when his health suddenly declined this year he began to plan his own funeral. The grandfather from Lurgan is speaking at an end of life care conference being organised by Portadown funeral director Ian Milne. Mr Grey said he has been open with his family, including his grandchildren, about his ailing health and has spoken to his loved ones about his wishes for his final days and hours. This includes not opting for a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order - a legal order which means medics should not resuscitate a patient if their heart stops beating, and is designed to prevent unnecessary suffering. "I turned 72 last week and I updated everyone on Facebook," said Mr Grey, a father of four. "I think it's absolutely essential that family in particular knows exactly what the outcome may be. "I have gone further than talking to my family about my health, I have organised my own service of thanksgiving. "I think it's important to be open with family, it isn't always easy, but I am fortunate that we are a very close family and they have always been very supportive. I still have my mother, who is 95, and it's been difficult for her, especially at one stage when I told her that a recovery wouldn't be happening. "She told me that she didn't want me to die before her and I told her I knew, but we don't have that choice. "I know that the time may come where I may be needing fairly significant doses of medicine for pain control. "My preference would be that I pass into the eternal while still reasonably coherent, but none of us are promised that. "I'm also clear that I would never ask for a DNR because that would be in conflict with my faith." Mr Grey, who has been married to Ingvor for 42 years, was diagnosed with prostate cancer when he was 59. It came after he underwent a blood test which helps to detect the disease, followed by a biopsy which showed he had an aggressive malignant tumour. Fortunately, there had been minimal spread and Mr Grey embarked on a treatment of hormone tablets followed by radiotherapy. "I don't really like to call it an illness because until November 2016 I didn't really feel ill," he added. "The cancer stayed in situ right up until then when I came back from Kenya where I had been on a church mission and I was just more unusually tired and breathless than I normally would be. "I had a scan and that showed it was in my chest, they then did a biopsy and discovered that it had spread to the lymph nodes." Mr Grey underwent further treatment but was dealt the devastating blow in April that the cancer had spread significantly and was in his vertebrae. "Chemotherapy started on May 2, and in the words of the doctors, not mine, they said I may be able to tolerate one or two cycles but they hoped I would manage six," he said. "It was the opinion of the consultants and my GP that it was going to be a case of keeping me comfortable. "I'm on my seventh cycle now and I'm still here. "However, it was the situation back in March and April that drove me to making all my plans and what have you. "At the end of the day, when the time comes it will be another thing off my family's shoulders. I've found the whole process therapeutic, I actually thought it was a shame that I'm not going to be there to be singing the hymns. "I actually think that being so open about everything, especially when you know that time is limited, that it gives family members the chance to do some pre-death grieving." The keynote speaker for the conference is Sean McGovern, an emergency medicine consultant, who has previously called for the implementation of a formal end of life strategy in Northern Ireland. He said it is important that people are realistic about death, in particular he said it can stop doctors carrying out painful and invasive procedures on patients when it is against their wishes. Mr Milne was prompted to set up the conference, which starts at 9.15am on Wednesday, as a result of the medic's comments. He said: "This conference will be valuable for a range of individuals and organisations. Health and social care staff, carers, clergy, family members, legal professionals and many others will benefit from an insight into end of life care from a range of points of view. "The aim of this conference is to not only further the understanding of those with life limiting illness, but also to promote the need for a better comprehension of end of life care in Northern Ireland. Mr Milne continued: "As a funeral director, I am one of the last cogs in the chain of end of life care, and I so often see how difficult it is to provide good personalised end of life care to people if we are not talking about it and preparing for it." For further information on the half-day conference, which is free of charge, or to book a place, telephone 028 3833 8888 or email contact@milnefuneralservices.co.uk Some of the many aircraft that go on display today at the Maze More than 30 historic aircraft - among them planes used in the Second World War - will be on display to the public as the Ulster Aviation Society opens up its hangars at the Maze for European Heritage day. It's the first time in five years that the society has been able to invite the public to visit their collection. Chairman Ray Burrows said he is delighted that at last they have been able to do so today. "We're absolutely over the moon," he said. "Visitors will be able to see and touch our whole collection and will even be able to get inside some of the planes. "They will see the kind of restoration work that's taking place on the vintage aircraft and chat with our members who work on the planes." Housed at the former Maze airbase outside Lisburn, and restored by aircraft engineering enthusiasts, the jewel in the society's crown is an F-4 Phantom fighter, which it acquired from Scotland in 2015, Mr Burrows said. Other aircraft on view include vintage Second World War fighters and Cold War-era jets. There will also be aircraft designed and built at Shorts, civilian aircraft, and military helicopters, engines, artefacts and rare materials - all with strong links to aviation within the island of Ireland. For the past five years the collection has not been open to the public because of a political dispute between the parties at Stormont over the future use of the Maze prison site. But this year permission to show off the historic aircraft has been granted. Mr Burrows said the society was expecting a big turnout. However he warned that there were only around 100 car parking spaces available. "We're expecting a huge crowd," he said. "But we are only able to accommodate a limited number of cars at a time, strictly within the confines of the hangar compound," said the society chairman. "Consequently, we may not be able to permit everyone access when they arrive. We may have to ask people to come back later in the day," he added. The aircraft will be on view today from 10am to 4 pm at the Maze site on the Halftown Road, Lisburn, BT27 5RF. The Prime Minister retains confidence in Karen Bradley despite her admission that she initially did not understand Northern Ireland politics when she took on the Cabinet brief, a spokeswoman for No 10 has said. The Northern Ireland Secretary revealed in an interview published earlier this week that she at first did not realise that nationalists did not vote for unionist parties and vice-versa during elections. Ms Bradley, who was appointed earlier this year, also said she did not fathom some of the deep-rooted issues that define Northern Irish politics. Downing Street refused to be drawn on the criteria used by Prime Minister Theresa May when appointing ministers. A No 10 spokeswoman said: "The Northern Ireland Secretary is working incredibly hard to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland." Asked if the PM remained confident that Ms Bradley was able to do the job, the spokeswoman replied: "Yes, she is working very closely with the parties there." Asked how voters in Northern Ireland could have confidence in Ms Bradley, the spokeswoman replied: "I would point to all of the work that she is doing to restore devolved government to Northern Ireland." The Irish government also moved to defend Mrs Bradley yesterday, saying she is a smart and experienced politician. The Republic's Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said: "She's someone who has really made an effort to understand Northern Ireland. "She didn't have a lot of experience of Northern Ireland before being appointed there but she's an experienced, very smart politician and I'm going to work closely with her to help the parties in Northern Ireland to work with each other in a way that's good for people in Northern Ireland. "Whether you're a unionist or a nationalist, having no devolved government structures, having no capacity to make political decisions in Northern Ireland is bad for everybody, both communities. Karen Bradley recognises that, so do I." But Sinn Fein MLA Mairtin O Muilleoir said Ms Bradley's comments were a "sorry reminder" of where the country was on the priority list of the UK Government. He added: "We have gone beyond being shocked by the British Government's ignorance of affairs here and their disregard for the rights of people here but there is no way they would appoint a Chancellor of the Exchequer who could not count or did not know how to read a P and L (profit and loss statement). "When it comes to appointing their representative in Belfast, the only requirement was that that person would take the orders of Theresa May, who of course is taking her orders from the DUP." SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said there were wider concerns around Mrs Bradley. "I'm not particularly worried about Karen Bradley's lack of knowledge about here before she was appointed Secretary of State," he said. "I'm very concerned about her lack of action since she arrived." Jenny Chapman, Labour's Shadow Brexit Minister said: 'This is embarrassing from the Northern Ireland Secretary." Ms Bradley was appointed in January after her predecessor James Brokenshire stepped aside for medical reasons. She told The House magazine: "I didn't understand things like when elections are fought for example in Northern Ireland - people who are nationalists don't vote for unionist parties and vice-versa. "So, the parties fight for election within their own community. "Actually, the unionist parties fight the elections against each other in unionist communities and nationalists in nationalist communities." A property in east Belfast has been set on fire after an overnight break-in. Shortly before 8.40pm on Friday night police receive a report of a fire in the Dunraven Court area, an estate near to Beersbridge Road. Detective Sergeant Wilson said: "Police believe entry was forced and considerable damage was caused to the property, as a result of this fire. Thankfully, no one was inside the premises during the incident. Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service attended and extinguished the fire. "We would appeal to anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area at the time of the incident to contact detectives in Musgrave on 101 quoting reference number 1244 7/9/18." Alternatively, the public can contact independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Shah Mahmood Qureshi met Chinese FM China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, on Saturday to discuss various matters of mutual interest, including the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The two leaders exchanged ideas on bilateral relations and discussed regional security and the peace process in Afghanistan. "We are proud of Pakistan and China's friendship," Qureshi said after the meeting, noting that the friendship had "withstood every test". Both foreign ministers resolved during the meeting to strengthen strategic cooperation, and China was assured of Pakistan's continued commitment to CPEC as a priority project. The Chinese FM also expressed China's wish to help strengthen and stabilise Pakistan's economy. The Chinese foreign office also extended an invitation to Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit the country as guest of honour. Wang Yi had arrived in Islamabad on Friday accompanied by three other cabinet colleagues for a three-day trip. In addition to meeting his Pakistani counterpart, the Chinese FM will meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, outgoing president Mamnoon Hussain, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa. He is also likely to meet President-elect Arif Alvi. Emphasising the significance of Wang's visit, a Foreign Office spokesman had noted that it was the "first official visit by a Chinese dignitary since the new government was formed in Pakistan." Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying had hoped that the "two countries, through the visit, can renew our traditional friendship, promote mutually beneficial cooperation in various areas and elevate the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership to a new high." The visit of the Chinese FM has special significance as it is taking place days after a similar visit by top US officials in which both countries agreed to reset their ties and reached an understanding that the Trump administration and the new Pakistani government would try to deliver on each others expectations. Former DETI Minister Jonathan Bell first made allegations in 2016 that former First Minister Arlene Foster had acted aggressively towards him as he tried to close the botched RHI scheme. But DUP leader Mrs Foster rejected his claims - and accused Mr Bell of bullying her. Interviewed by BBC NI's Stephen Nolan in December 2016, Mrs Foster described how she had felt bullied by Mr Bell during his time as DETI Minister. "I do recall a meeting with Jonathan, and rather than me being abusive with him, he was very aggressive with me, and I have a witness in relation to how he spoke to me," she said. "I was sitting in my room, and he came in and used his physical bulk to stand over me in quite an aggressive way - so much so that he was told to step back. "I have no idea what the anger was about - but I'll tell you this much: the Jonathan Bell that appears on your programme tonight is not a Jonathan Bell that would be familiar to many of his political colleagues: to many of his civil servants, who worked within the department, or indeed to many in the business community. "I have many female colleagues who have felt intimidated, and felt bullied by Jonathan over the years," the former First Minister said. Stephen Nolan interjected: "Mr Bell would deny that. He would emphatically deny that." Speaking calmly and deliberately, Mrs Foster continued: "He may well do that. "But let me say this. I have felt intimidated by Jonathan Bell on occasion - and I certainly did on that occasion. "So all of this nonsense that I was aggressive to him, it's quite the contrary." Hilary with boyfriend Gavin, who was going to propose to her at Christmas The heartbroken family of a young woman who died suddenly are taking comfort from the fact that she will help up to 30 people through organ donation. Hilary Ferris, a retail manager from Newtownabbey who would have celebrated her 24th birthday on September 18, passed away within three days of being diagnosed with a rare brain cyst. She was taken to hospital on Sunday and underwent two emergency operations to drain a build-up of fluid caused by a chordoid glioma cyst that was putting pressure on her brain. Despite doctors' best efforts, she died on Wednesday, surrounded by her parents, Ivan and Heather, sister Erin (28) and boyfriend Gavin Carmichael (26), who had planned to propose this Christmas after four years together. Hilary had been due to move to England to join Gavin soon. Speaking yesterday, Hilary's father, a Presbyterian minister, said "the word 'devastated' doesn't come anywhere near" how his family is feeling. "Up until 6.30am on Sunday, Hilary was a normal child, then suddenly this whole process started, which ended with her being pronounced dead on Wednesday," he added. "They think she may have had the condition since birth, and from our point of view, with our faith, we believe that Hilary's days were numbered and her time was up, although that doesn't make it any easier for us." Recalling the events that led up to his daughter's death, he said Hilary had been suffering pain thought to have been linked to her sinuses. "Hilary had been having problems at the top of her nose one or two months back, which were thought to be linked to her sinuses," he explained. "She got something to help clear it and there was nothing else wrong. "Two weeks ago she started getting a pain at the top of her nose and into her head, which she still felt was linked to the sinuses - we all did. "On Saturday night she had been out with a friend from work and her head started to get very sore and she was feeling sick. "At 6.30am on Sunday she phoned and asked me to pick her up, and when I collected her she just wanted to lie down and sleep. "We contacted the out-of-hours doctor, who phoned and told us to take her to hospital. "We took her to the Mater at 12pm on Sunday, and blood tests showed her white cells weren't normal. Then they did a CT scan on Sunday evening and it showed that there was a cyst putting pressure on her brain, causing fluid to build up. "They got a special ambulance to begin preparing Hilary for surgery on the way to The Royal, and she went straight to the operating table at 10pm on Sunday night. "They put in a tap to ease the pressure, and the surgeon said she was in a very bad way - that she was a very sick wee girl and he suspected he might have to do another operation. "There was another CT scan and he phoned us five minutes after we left to say she was back on the table for another operation to drain the fluid." At 5am on Monday morning, Hilary was moved into intensive care and placed in an induced coma in the hopes it would help her brain recover. "Everything was going well, then suddenly there was a problem with the vital stats on Tuesday lunch time, so they decided to remove all drugs and started checking her signs at 1pm on Wednesday," Mr Ferris said. "Shortly after 4pm, they confirmed that she had sadly died. On Wednesday evening I had to go and inform my parents and my wife Heather's parents, who are in their 80s, of her death. We are still coming to terms with what has happened." Despite their grief, Hilary's loved ones are drawing comfort from the fact that up to 30 people will benefit from her organs. "She was a fantastic daughter, my youngest child, and she signed the organ donation register for all her organs as she felt strongly that if she couldn't use her organs then others should be able to," Mr Ferris said. "They were able to take 20 samples of organs, and we have been told that 25 to 30 people could benefit. "Within two weeks we will receive a letter detailing all the people that have been helped. "This was Hilary's choice -even though she is dead, she is saving lives, and that gives us comfort. "I would encourage everyone to sign the organ donation register." Mr Ferris said his daughter, a former Belfast Royal Academy student who graduated from Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University with a first in marketing, public relations and events management, was "kind" and "glamorous." "She worked in a supervisory management role at REISS in Victoria Square; she was quiet to a degree, but she was outgoing and made friends easily and put people at ease," he continued. "She was a lovely girl, kind and caring, who was part of a group of six close female friends who had come through school and stuck together. "On Thursday night,three of the five girls who are left appeared at my door - the other two are still in London - and one by one they hugged me and sobbed their hearts out. "They went up to Hilary's room and they FaceTimed the other two so that the five of them were together in Hilary's room. They felt Hilary's presence. They wanted to be close to her and remember her. "Her funeral is on Monday and the girls will be involved, as well as Gavin. "Gavin was going to propose at Christmas. He was about to ask my permission, and the answer would have been, 'Go ahead'." Mr Carmichael also paid tribute to the young woman who he had hoped to make his wife. "We met in Edinburgh at university, and our anniversary was on Christmas Day - we would have been together four years," he said. "She meant everything to me. Hilary was feisty, glamorous and determined, and on Saturday we had packed up the car with her things so I could take them to Southampton. "I was going to drive the stuff over and she was going to fly. I thought that we had a bright future." Hilary's funeral will take place at 11.30am on Monday at Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church, followed by burial at Carnmoney Cemetery. Drug rapist William Fenton was sentenced to eight years in 2002 at Ballymena Court The victim of a brutal serial rapist has said she will do everything possible to keep her attacker behind bars. Christine Jones (36) spoke of her horror at learning that the evil predator who drugged and repeatedly raped her over a terrifying 30-hour period could be back on the streets within months. The businesswoman - who has admitted that she remains traumatised by the ordeal more than two decades later - has now waived her anonymity to launch an online campaign aimed at keeping William Dennis Fenton (60) "where he belongs." Fenton - the first person to be convicted of drug rape in the UK following his attack on Ms Jones 21 years ago - re-offended after being released early from his 12-year sentence and was jailed again in 2013 for similar offences in Scotland. In an emotional interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Ms Jones called on the public to sign a petition against the habitual sex offender's release ahead of a Parole Board hearing next month. "He is a danger to all women in society," she said. "This is the news I've been dreading for so long. There is no doubt in my mind that he will rape again if he gets out. "He should serve the rest of his life behind bars." Ms Jones, right, from Belfast, was just 17 when she was groomed and subsequently attacked by Fenton. It happened on St Patrick's Day, 1997. She had planned to go to a party but never made it because, after picking her up in his car, Fenton gave her a drink laced with drugs, drove her to his house and repeatedly raped her. He eventually left his deeply traumatised, and still heavily-drugged, victim at the side of a road. "My friend saved my life that day," she said. "I went to her house and she knew what to do. I'd have been dead if she hadn't taken me to the health centre. I had so many drugs in my system I had to be pumped. I was out of it." Her memories of that day remain hazy. She is visibly uncomfortable when recalling the ordeal. "He picked me up to take me to a party and gave me a bottle of Bacardi Breezer, which was laced with drugs; it was lights out after that," she said. "I woke up at his house in Islandmagee something like two days later. Then he dropped me off at the side of the road near my house. Somehow, I managed to make it home. "I went to my best friend's house and told her that something had happened. She took me to the doctor. The police were called. They managed to collect the evidence they needed to finally put him away." Christine, a happily married mother-of-two who now lives in Co Down with her 38-year-old husband and their twins, said she became a recluse after the ordeal. "I went to pieces, I took fits...still, to this day, I have insomnia," she said. "I have flashbacks and I'm haunted by memories of what happened to me. "You can scrub your skin, you literally can take your skin off, but when something like that happens to you, no matter how many years go by, you still have the exact same feelings as you did 20 years ago. You just feel disgusting." After "years and years of counselling" Christine said she has "learned to accept what happened" and "to address it". But her life has once again been thrown into turmoil after she claimed the Scottish Probation Board recently told her that Fenton, from Bangor, is up for parole on October 18. "We are not safe with this man on the streets," she said. "He picks women up, provides them with a drink laced with drugs, rapes them, photographs them and then drops them off. "I can supply evidence to the Parole Board in the form of a petition and that's why I'm speaking out. "I want the public to tell Parole Board Scotland that they do not want him walking our streets. "I need to get people to sign that petition. No woman is safe while he's on the street." Christine said she would never forgive herself if she opens a newspaper to find that another girl has been attacked. "I couldn't forgive myself if I didn't try to stop his release," she said. "I went to pieces in 2013 when I read about what he'd done to those other women in Scotland. "It felt as though everything I'd done was in vain. I sat through my court case thinking he was going away for life. What was that whole trauma for? "What was the point of putting myself and my family through it for him to get out and do it again?" She said she was "devastated" that he attacked four other women at his home in Ayr between June 2011 and April 2012. "I want to do everything I can to stop him. I want to finish a job that I have to do," she said. "Unfortunately he has put me in this position. I don't want to do this. I don't want to put my family though this again. I'm disgusted that I have to do this but I've no choice but to do this. "If he gets out he'll come to Northern Ireland. I'll never sleep if he's on the streets. You're always looking over your shoulder. "I don't want him anywhere near me or my children, or anywhere near any other female. Nobody should ever have to be in contact with this man. They should just throw away the key. He is disgusting." A spokesman for Parole Board Scotland said the organisation doesn't comment on individual cases. Speaking out is not a decision Christine has taken lightly. But she believes it's the only way to raise awareness and to beg the public to sign the petition on change.org. "The Parole Board has to listen; they can't not hear our voices," she said. "I don't want to have to put myself and my family through this. The Parole Board granting him a date for early release has put us here. The system has put me here again. I am angry. "What's the point if he gets out and does it again and again? There's no doubt he'll do it again. "I'd love to know how many allegations have been made about him to date? "Since I started the petition, other women have contacted me to say he attacked them too. My heart is broken. It goes on and on for me, my family and my friends because they relive this too." You can sign Christine's petition by visiting the Change.org page. Alderman David Ramsey and Victor Wray with the poppy wreaths which will be laid at the Cenotaph in Londonderry Poppy wreaths which were stolen from the war memorial in Londonderry and burned on a controversial Bogside bonfire are to be replaced this morning at a special service. Three poppy wreaths, laid in tribute to those who lost their lives during the First World War, were stolen from the Cenotaph in the city centre and appeared on the bonfire alongside flags and boards bearing the names of murdered police and prison officers. Yesterday, final preparations were being made for this morning's rededication ceremony at the Cenotaph. Victor Wray, from the City of Londonderry Grand Orange Lodge, said the community felt it had to do something to replace the tribute to those who died. He said: "We as an organisation would not think of disrespecting a chapel or church. I feel the War Memorial in the Diamond comes into that category. "These people who gave the supreme sacrifice were maybe 14 or 15 years of age. And they were from both communities, so the people who stole and burned the wreaths have disrespected everyone. "I know within the Catholic community that there were people there working to get the wreaths off the bonfires, but they couldn't do it. "Our community felt very hurt and disgusted that a poppy wreath could be put on a bonfire and burned. "We would hope that the wreaths can be left there and people can go and look at them and remember. I think it's very sad that the wreaths can't be left alone." The DUP's David Ramsey, a member of the No Surrender Club of the Apprentice Boys, who also had their dedicated wreath stolen, said: "These wreaths are dedicated to members of our community, both Protestant and Catholic, from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, who lost their lives. "We felt that it was shocking that this hate is still within our society. "I would love to meet these people face to face and talk to them. "Replacing the wreaths means that we are rehonouring the people who lost their lives for everyone in society and in the world. These were world wars, not a local situation." The wreaths will be laid at 11.30am today during an Apprentice Boys Parade. The leader of a Christian group which has been refused permission to hold a prayer meeting in a council chamber says he accepts the decision to allow them to gather in another part of the building. Councillors at Mid & East Antrim Borough Council said that if they opened the doors of the chamber to Ballymena House of Prayer group it could set a difficult precedent. Jonathan Leakey who is leader of the group, said it has held prayer meetings in 19 different churches in the Ballymena area and also in schools, vacant shops and even the town's police station. He said the group "love Ballymena" and want the area to prosper and for the "community to be cohesive and free of violence". "We believe God is interested in politics. "He wants Stormont restored and wants Mid & East Antrim Council to be run well," he said. Mr Leakey, who lives in Ballymena, said the group wished to use the council chamber in Ballymena to pray "for wisdom for all politicians" but accepted the decision by councillors. It is expected the prayer meeting will now take place in the studio theatre at The Braid council headquarters in Ballymena. He accepted he could pray for local councillors from anywhere - including his own living room - but said the group liked to gather with others in areas used by the community. The prayer meeting in The Braid is expected to take place at a Friday lunch time in early October. Council Chief Executive Anne Donaghy told councillors the council chamber was "a political environment" and was not available to outside groups but that Ballymena House of Prayer could be offered another part of the building. Councillor Declan O'Loan (SDLP) said: "I am very keen that this chamber should be more widely used than it is currently but I think that use should be by other public sector bodies. But the particular use that it is requested for doesn't to me fit in with that." He warned that if the prayer group gained access it could open the door to other uses "that we might actually not deem appropriate". Councillor Paul Reid of the DUP said: "As one who is a minister of religion I would encourage people to pray. "It is a good thing to talk to God in prayer but I do not believe this chamber is the place where people ought to be praying for a number of reasons." He said there were other parts of the building which could be used as "a quiet place of reflection". Ulster Unionist representative Stephen Nicholl said: "I don't think there has to be a specific place in which to pray. Anywhere is suitable for prayer. "I think perhaps the attention is because of the work that we do here. Asking for assistance through prayer certainly would, on some of the later nights, be useful." He added: "If we say this is a political chamber then we determine that everything else is outside. "Once we change that definition then we cannot stop anybody or anything going on in this chamber under the current equality legislation." Councillor Timothy Gaston of the TUV said ratepayers had paid for the facilities and should be able to use them. He said: "We shouldn't be closing the chamber off to anybody. "We should be opening it up for anybody to come in and view them and use it for whatever they can." A total of 24 councillors out of 32 present voted for the group to use another part of the building. The family of murdered Donegal woman Danielle McLaughlin are set to meet the Taoiseach, after having an earlier request to meet rebuffed on the grounds of her citizenship. It comes following backlash over a letter sent to the family in which an official from the Department of the Taoiseach said Danielle McLaughlin was "not an Irish citizen". In a statement on the Justice for Danielle McLaughlin Facebook page it was confirmed the meeting would take place. "Family of Danielle McLaughlin is finally meeting the Taoiseach of Ireland, Mr Leo Varadkar," it read. "We hope that this will help put pressure on the government of India to fast track the case and punish the guilty. "Our prayers and good wishes are with the family." Danielle McLaughlin was found raped and strangled in the Goa region of India in March 2017. She had been travelling on a British passport. In a letter to Ms McLaughlin's family sent from the Office of the Taoiseach, a request to meet with Mr Varadkar is declined on the grounds that she was not an Irish citizen. "I regret to inform you that a meeting with the Taoiseach is not possible and indeed probably not worthwhile as I note Danielle was not an Irish citizen," the letter reads. Expand Close Leo Varadkar (Brian Lawless/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Leo Varadkar (Brian Lawless/PA) The letter, signed by Mr Varadkar's assistant private secretary, goes on to recommend Ms McLaughlin's family contact Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Sinn Fein senator Padraig Mac Lochlainn earlier called on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to apologise to the family of Danielle McLaughlin, posting a copy of the letter was posted to the Twitter account of Sinn Fein senator Padraig Mac Lochlainn. He described the response as "despicable and offensive". "I have written to him [Leo Varadkar] demanding an immediate public apology and that he meets Danielle's mother, Andrea [Brannigan] while visiting Buncrana next Tuesday to offer the assistance of his Government," Mr Mac Lochlainn wrote. Danielle grew up in Buncrana, Donegal and attended university in Liverpool. After her body was repatriated to the Republic of Ireland a second post-mortem examination was carried out in Dublin at the request of her family. The Department of the Taoiseach could not be reached for comment. The mother of an Irish woman who was raped and murdered in India wants a direct apology from the Taoiseach after she was declined a meeting because her daughter had travelled on a UK passport. Danielle McLaughlin, 28, from Buncrana in Co Donegal, was found dead in a secluded spot in Canacona, an area of Goa popular with holidaymakers, in March last year. Her mother requested a meeting with Leo Varadkar to discuss how families could be better supported when a loved one dies abroad. But Andrea Brannigan says she was told by Government officials that it was probably not worthwhile as her daughter was not an Irish citizen. The distraught mother was advised to contact British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. Expand Close The 28-year-old was travelling on a British passport when she died (family handout/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The 28-year-old was travelling on a British passport when she died (family handout/PA) In a statement, the Department of Taoiseach said officials incorrectly concluded Ms McLaughlin was a British citizen as Ms Brannigan said she was travelling on a UK passport. The statement said: The Taoiseach is aware of the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Irish citizen Danielle McLaughlin, and extends his deepest sympathy to Danielles family. The letter received by the Department of the Taoiseach from Danielles mother indicated that Danielle was travelling on a British passport, leading officials handling the matter to incorrectly conclude that Danielle was a British citizen. This was the basis on which the office advised Danielles family that the matter would be most appropriately handled by the British authorities. Having now clarified the facts surrounding this case, the department can confirm that consular services of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have and will continue to be provided to Danielles family, as appropriate. The department sincerely regrets the misunderstanding that arose in this case. The lack of compassion and consideration beggars belief.Pat Gallagher TD Mr Varadkar is expected to travel to Co Donegal on Tuesday for an unrelated matter. Pat The Cope Gallagher, a Fianna Fail TD for the area, said he was shocked and disappointed at how the matter has been dealt with. He said: Danielles mother and family requested a meeting with the Taoiseach but this week received what I can only call a reply lacking in all compassion, stating that due to the fact that Danielle was not an Irish citizen the Taoiseach would not meet with them. This is a disgraceful response to send to anyone, but to send a response to a mother who lost their daughter in such a horrific way is beyond the pale. While I am led to believe that the Taoiseach will now meet Andrea this week, the lack of compassion and consideration beggars belief. There has been an eruption of anger and shock here in Donegal since the family received this reply. While I dont believe it actually matters, Danielle held an Irish passport previously and had lived most of her live here in Donegal. Expand Close Leo Varadkar will travel to Donegal next week (Brian Lawless/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Leo Varadkar will travel to Donegal next week (Brian Lawless/PA) I spoke with Danielles mother Andrea earlier today and their trauma and anguish has been exacerbated by this callous act. What they have been put through has been made worse by the lack of empathy and compassion from the Taoiseachs office. The statement from the Government apologising is nothing more than the Governments spin unit working overtime. I have written to An Taoiseach expressing my concern at how this matter has been handled. A group calling itself 'Irexit Freedom' has held a conference in Dublin outlining reasons to take Ireland out of the EU. Around 300 people arrived at the event held in the Bonnington Hotel, with each person in attendance paying 8 towards the new party. Saturday's event was organised by Hermann Kelly, a former press officer for Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage. He is also the director of communications for the Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy group in the European Parliament. The Londonderry native has said he aims to register Irexit Freedom as a political party in the Republic with the aim of taking the country out of the European Union, and added such a scenario could be one way of avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland. RTE reports the party initially plans to run candidates in European elections, with the view to running candidates in future General Elections. In its programme it pledges to support "reunited and independent Ireland under the control of the Irish people". The party's other objectives also focus on protection for the Irish language and support of "stable families for procreation". In a country where more than two thirds of people have a positive view of the European Union, the group could face an uphill battle for support. Amid chaotic negotiations between Brussels and London on the future of the UK's relationship with the EU, support in the Republic for the EU grew by around 5% over the past year, according to recent polling data. Victims of the Troubles launched a covenant yesterday which calls for a range of measures to end their "marginalisation" by government. The document was developed by the South East Fermanagh Foundation's advocacy support service in conjunction with partner groups across the victim and survivor sector. They are calling for delivery on a number of issues including a review of the current definition of victim and its replacement to take account of the issue of innocence. They also want to see a pension for people who were seriously injured through no fault of their own, a mental trauma service and access to justice, truth and accountability pathways previously denied them. The group is further calling for a review of the operations of the PIP benefit (Personal Independence Payment) and say those seriously injured should not have to undergo an assessment process where they are forced to relive Troubles-related events. Five victims groups also submitted their responses to the current public consultation on legacy issues. SEFF director Kenny Donaldson said victims of the Troubles have been marginalised and overlooked by government. "There have been minimal advancements made around their needs and rights to reparations, access to justice and broader welfare related issues. "We have become deeply concerned at the politicised arguments which have prevailed to date and which have prevented innocents from being supported as is the duty of this State. "We submit that the Northern Ireland Office legacy structures offered an opportunity for some redress to be made, but sadly the current proposals are a continuation of what has gone before - the injured are not viewed a priority." Mr Donaldson says the UK Government's view that pensions for the seriously injured and a mental trauma service are devolved matters is not sustainable against a backdrop of limited prospect of a timely return of the Executive. "The overarching improvement in reconciliation and good relations within the community can't be achieved by a dismissive approach to innocent victims and survivors and their legitimate issues." Among those backing the move is ex-UDR soldier Carl Dodds (64) from Newtownabbey who survived an assassination attempt on April 6 1989 in Belfast. Mr Dodds was shot once in the chest and the bullet bounced off his collar-bone, through his lung and hit his spine, leaving him paralysed from the waist down and requiring a wheelchair. The father-of-three was subsequently diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and says he has not had a full night sleep in three decades. "Your brain doesn't want to shut down. The memory never leaves you from the moment that you are affected. I don't know of a day when this hasn't impacted on my life. "When I was injured I was given a prognosis of 30 years and you would like to see these issues sorted out before your expiry date comes along." He added: "We want the politicians back around the table so they can give our proposals serious consideration and adapt them into legislation. None of the victims are getting any younger." His view is shared by former security forces member Mervyn Lewers (60) from Londonderry who survived an under-car booby-trap bomb attack on May 22 1988 in which he lost his left leg. "I returned to Northern Ireland four years ago, after many years in Canada. "Three decades on I would have liked to see things moved further along but nothing has changed. Victims are getting older yet they are still being left behind." The NIO has said it will consider the group's proposals. 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 Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson would be a fantastic replacement for Sir Vince Cable when he steps down as UK leader, the head of the Scottish Lib Dems said. Willie Rennie hailed Ms Swinson who is currently on maternity leave after the birth of her second child as being an incredible performer and a top quality politician. He spoke the day after Sir Vince, 75, announced his plans to quit the post after Brexit is resolved or stopped. Asked if that could pave the way for Ms Swinson, the current deputy leader, to take over the helm of the party, Mr Rennie said: She would be fantastic, I think she is a top quality parliamentarian. Expand Close East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson (Andrew matthews/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp East Dunbartonshire MP Jo Swinson (Andrew matthews/PA) Shes so professional, an incredible performer and a really intelligent woman. Ive got a lot of time for Jo, I think she is fantastic. But he quipped: If Vince is waiting till Brexit is over he might be there till 2047. Mr Rennie gave his support to proposals from the UK leader to widen participation in the party, which could see voters who are liberal-minded allowed to sign up for free under plans to bolster membership. While the Lib Dems have languished in the polls and struggled electorally since going into coalition government with the Conservatives in 2010, Sir Vince said on Friday he wanted to create a movement of the moderates that would bring together voters who loosely identify with the party. Britain needs a movement that is ready to lead in the interest of the millions of UK citizens who dont have a voice. That movement is the Liberal Democrats. Be part of what's next > https://t.co/XQRabCJsaM pic.twitter.com/TWHpVetLH1 Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) September 7, 2018 Mr Rennie, who spoke to journalists at the Scottish Liberal Democrat conference in Dunfermline, Fife, said some of the ideas being put forward were based on reforms that managed to reform and revive Liberal parties in both Canada and Germany. And he said he had no concerns about allowing more people to vote for the next party leader. Im not worried about that at all, the Lib Dem MSP said. However in his speech to the conference, former Scottish leader Tavish Scott cautioned party chiefs to be careful with anyone voting for our leader, recalling how Jeremy Corbyn was elected Labour leader after his party allowed non-members a say. But he agreed party reforms were long overdue as he made clear the Liberals must offer an alternative to the left-wing politics of Mr Corbyn and the hard Brexit policies espoused by Tory Boris Johnson. While Mr Scott said the Lib Dems needed to fill the glaring gap in modern politics, he warned if they could not be relevant then the world will pass us by. Mr Scott said: We have not set any heather on fire since 2016, despite being the only avowedly pro-European party who should at least get a hearing from 48% of the electorate. Tony Blair said yesterday that if the British public are offered a choice of Corbyn versus Boris at the next election they will be looking for something else. He is right. And we need to make that alternative us. That is the glaring gap in modern politics. This is a time when liberals have been needed by the nation like never before. Konnie Huq has thrown her weight behind a campaign for the release of photojournalist Shahidul Alam (Ian West/PA) Television presenter Konnie Huq said she has lost pride in her Bangladeshi homeland following the arrest of renowned photographer Shahidul Alam. Mr Alam famous for chronicling human-rights abuses was arrested by the Dhaka metropolitan police on August 5 for allegedly damaging the image of the nation. The photographer, who has covered Bangladeshs use of death squads and the Rohingya refugee crisis, has been a vocal supporter of student protests in the country. Many students were arrested following demonstrations over the deaths of two students killed by a speeding bus. Mr Alam is accused of contravening Bangladeshs Information and Communications Technology Act for an interview he gave to Al Jazeera. In a short video, former Blue Peter presenter said she was really appalled at the treatment of Shahidul Alam. Ms Huq attended a demonstration against Mr Alams incarceration outside the Bangladesh High Commission in London on Friday. She said: To be taken by force and put into prison just because of your beliefs is something that I did not think the Bangladesh government was capable of. In recent years it has transpired that that is not the case at all and people are beginning to think of my country, that I used to be very proud of, as one with an objectionable government. She added: I really hope he gets freed. I just want justice. She has been a vocal supporter of the campaign for the photographers release on social media. In August she tweeted that she was sickened and upset by his ongoing detention. Her sister, MP for Ealing Central and Acton Rupa Huq, has also campaigned against Mr Alams ongoing detention and wrote to staff at the Foreign Office asking them to work for his release. She tweeted on Friday: Glad to hear Foreign Office are raising human rights abuses with authorities in Bangladesh in response to me #FreeShahidulAlam letter to minister @MarkFieldUK. One wonders if repressive government feels more able to get away with stuff now eyes of the world diverted to Rohingya. Glad to hear Foreign Office are raising human rights abuses w/ authorities in Bangladesh in response to my #freeShahidulAlam letter to minister @MarkFieldUK One wonders if repressive government feels more able to get away with stuff now eyes of the world diverted to Rohinga pic.twitter.com/Jbd6eFjxKr Rupa Huq MP (@RupaHuq) September 7, 2018 Film-maker Steve McQueen, dancer and choreographer Akram Khan and artists Anthony Gormley and Anish Kapoor are among the many high-profile figures calling for his release. Mr Alams career as a photojournalist has spanned 40 years and as well as covering major news events in Bangladesh and surrounding countries, he also founded the Pathshala South Asian Institute of Photography in Dhaka. In a statement made to Rupa Huq, Foreign Office minister Mark Field said the issue had been raised by the UK Government with the Bangladeshi minister for foreign affairs. Ms Karim said: Field said the government should investigate unlawful violence against protesters and journalists and hold the perpetrators to account. Police are appealing for information on missing Kane McGlynn (Andrew Milligan/PA) Police are searching for a 14-year-old boy missing in the Scottish Highlands for 24 hours. Kane McGlynn was last seen in Aviemore at about 5pm on Friday. The 14-year-old is 5ft 11in with a slim build and dark blonde hair. He is thought to be carrying a black Converse backpack and wearing black Adidas trainers. Expand Close Police said Kane McGlynn was last seen in Aviemore on Friday afternoon (Police Scotland/PA) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Police said Kane McGlynn was last seen in Aviemore on Friday afternoon (Police Scotland/PA) Police are appealing for any sightings or information on his movements. A force spokesman said: Police Scotland are appealing for information to trace 14-year-old male Kane McGlynn, who was last seen in Aviemore at about 5pm on Friday. We would request anyone who may have seen him or have knowledge of his whereabouts to make contact with Police Scotland on 101. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has been urged to back the campaign for a referendum on the Brexit deal (Jane Barlow/PA) Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP have been challenged to back holding a public vote on the UKs final Brexit deal. Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie demanded Ms Sturgeon and her party get off the fence on the issue of a so-called peoples vote. He called on them to stand up for Britains place in Europe and to put your voice behind a public vote on the deal. Mr Rennie made the plea as he delivered his keynote speech to the Scottish Liberal Democrat Party conference in Dunfermline, where he argued the case for a Brexit deal referendum is growing. Expand Close Willie Rennie said the SNP must take a stand on Brexit (Jane Barlow/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Willie Rennie said the SNP must take a stand on Brexit (Jane Barlow/PA) He said that while people in England are being persuaded of the need for a second vote, it is not the time for Scotland to shrug its shoulders and ignore that big chance to turn back. Ms Sturgeon has said the SNP would not be a block to such a ballot, but neither she nor her party have backed the case. With Britain due to formally leave the European Union at the end of March, Mr Rennie said time is running out for nationalists to take a stand. He said: The SNP say they are open-minded on a final say. But they have been open-minded for two years now. Theres only 200 days left. They arent open-minded, they are paralysed by indecision. He said that while the Scottish Government had appointed a minister for Brexit, post holder Mike Russell has spent so long sitting on the fence on a peoples vote that he has transformed into the minister for splinters. Mr Rennie hit out: Whod have thought it. The SNP turning into Little Britain. Yeah, but no, but yeah, but no. Scots voted against leaving the EU in 2016, but despite the result north of the border the UK as a whole backed Brexit. SNP figures have questioned what would happen if that was repeated in a second referendum. But Mr Rennie said if the SNP stepped up, the outcome could be different. Speaking to journalists afterwards, the Lib Dem MSP insisted: This time the SNP should learn their lesson from last time and rather than sitting on the fence like they did last time, they should lift a finger and help us win. Because they werent helpful, they sat it out, they talked more about the negative campaign in London, they talked more about what happens if England votes one way and Scotland votes another. You would get the impression they actually wanted Brexit to happen from all the talk last time. Its time they changed their attitude and actually came on board and fought to stay in the European Union, rather than using it as a means to drive another independence referendum. Because they really sold the country short last time, they should really step up and try to do something this time. Elsewhere in his speech, he pledged the Liberal Democrats would support parents and teachers in any boycott of national tests for primary one pupils in Scotland. The controversial national standardised assessments have been brought in by the SNP administration, but Mr Rennie said international evidence showed children under the age of seven should have a play-based approach to learning. He hit out at the Scottish Governments return to Thatcherite national testing and said while he expects MSPs to vote against the assessments for four and five-year-olds at Holyrood, the SNP will probably ignore that. He vowed: If pupils, parents and teachers boycott these tests, we will stand with them. These tests are damaging and theyve got to go. He also used his speech to make clear the Liberal Democrats would not support any SNP budget at Holyrood if the party keeps an independence referendum on the table. With Ms Sturgeon not having an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament, her party has relied on support from the Scottish Greens to pass its budget in the last two years. But they are threatening to stand up to them this year, and Mr Rennie sent a message to Finance Secretary Derek Mackay that for the Liberal Democrats to be in, independence has to be out. Engineers set to sea on Saturday to deploy a collection device to corral plastic litter floating between California and Hawaii in an attempt to clean up the worlds largest rubbish patch in the heart of the Pacific Ocean. The 2,000ft long floating boom was being towed from San Francisco to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch an island of rubbish twice the size of Texas. The system was created by The Ocean Cleanup, an organisation founded by Boyan Slat, a 24-year-old innovator from the Netherlands who first became passionate about cleaning the oceans when he went scuba diving at age 16 in the Mediterranean Sea and saw more plastic bags than fish. System 001 located. Passed Alcatraz. Tow going smoothly. pic.twitter.com/Vz8o7S00zW The Ocean Cleanup (@TheOceanCleanup) September 8, 2018 The plastic is really persistent and it doesnt go away by itself and the time to act is now, Slat said, adding that researchers with his organisation found plastic going back to the 1960s and 1970s bobbing in the patch. The buoyant, U-shaped barrier made of plastic and with a tapered 10ft deep screen, is intended to act like a coastline, trapping some of the 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic that scientists estimate are swirling in that gyre but allowing marine life to safely swim beneath it. Fitted with solar power lights, cameras, sensors and satellite antennas, the cleanup system will communicate its position at all times, allowing a support vessel to fish out the collected plastic every few months and transport it to dry land where it will be recycled, said Slat. A water salute to send off System 001 as it crosses the Bay Bridge. pic.twitter.com/OhcAaQOnIb The Ocean Cleanup (@TheOceanCleanup) September 8, 2018 Shipping containers filled with the fishing nets, plastic bottles, laundry baskets and other plastic refuse scooped up by the system are expected to be back on land within a year, he said. Before the launch, Slat said he and his team would pay close attention to determine if the system works efficiently and withstands harsh ocean conditions, including huge waves. He said he is most looking forward to a ship loaded with plastic coming back to port. We still have to prove the technology, which will then allow us to scale up a fleet of systems, he said. The Ocean Cleanup, which has raised millions in donations to fund the project, including from Salesforce.com chief executive Marc Benioff and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, will deploy 60 free-floating barriers in the Pacific Ocean by 2020. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch contains 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic equalling to 250 pieces for every human on the planet. pic.twitter.com/xyX6eVXJ3u The Ocean Cleanup (@TheOceanCleanup) September 8, 2018 One of our goals is to remove 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years, Slat said. The free-floating barriers are made to withstand harsh weather conditions and constant wear and tear. They will stay in the water for two decades and in that time collect 90% of the rubbish in the patch, he added. George Leonard, chief scientist of the Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, said he is sceptical Slat can achieve that goal because even if plastic rubbish can be taken out of the ocean, a lot more is pouring in each year. We at the Ocean Conservancy are highly sceptical but we hope it works, he said. The ocean needs all the help it can get. Assailants have fired three rockets at Basra Airport in Iraq after a chaotic night that saw hundreds of protesters setting ablaze the Iranian consulate, attacking offices belonging to Iranian-backed militias and blocking roads. The city of Basra, home to some of the largest oil fields in Iraq, has been the epicentre of angry protests over decades of government neglect, poor services and corruption. The demonstrations are the most serious to shake the oil-rich southern Shiite area in years, demanding an end to endemic corruption, soaring joblessness and crumbling infrastructure. This week, they turned their rage on neighbouring Iran, blaming its influence in Iraqs political affairs for their misery. Expand Close Protesters storm the Basra government building (Nabil al-Jurani/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters storm the Basra government building (Nabil al-Jurani/AP) An official said it was not clear who was behind the attack on Basra Airport, which also houses the US consulate. He said the attack did not cause casualties or disrupt flights in or out of the city. Iraqs parliament is holding an emergency session to discuss the unrest in Basra. Hours earlier, protesters shouting anti-Iranian slogans including Iran, out, out! stormed the Iranian consulate and set a fire inside. They also burned an Iranian flag and trampled over a portrait of Irans supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Expand Close Protesters burn an Iranian flag (Nabil al-Jurani/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters burn an Iranian flag (Nabil al-Jurani/AP) Irans Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi condemned the attack, which he said caused significant damage to the building. He called for maximum punishment for the assailants. Elsewhere in the city, protesters tried to attack the headquarters of the Iran-backed Assaib Ahl Al-Haq Shiite militia and the guards stationed there opened fire. Angry protesters marched to the citys presidential palaces compound, where Shiite paramilitary troops are stationed, and tried to breach it. At least three cars driven by troops ploughed into the protesters, killing one and wounding four others, according to a health official. Expand Close Protesters raise the Iraqi flag over the Basra government building (Nabil al-Jurani/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Protesters raise the Iraqi flag over the Basra government building (Nabil al-Jurani/AP) On Saturday, the two-storey consulate was partially burned. An Iraqi flag was placed at the entrance to the building after the Iranian one was snatched away and set ablaze at night. Sprayed in red on the concrete wall of the consulate were the words: Down with Iran, down with the militias, the revolution will continue. The provincial government building in the centre of Basra was completely torched and several burned cars were seen in the citys presidential palaces compound. At least 15 protesters have died in clashes with security forces since Monday, including three who were shot by security forces on Thursday night. The violence has forced the closure of the vital Um Qasr port on the Persian Gulf. A provincial official with state-run Iraqi Ports Co said authorities closed the port on the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, fearing sabotage. The UN special envoy to Yemen has downplayed the significance of the failure of peace talks to start, saying he would head back to Yemen within days to try to agree on a new date. A delegation of the internationally recognised government arrived in Geneva for the talks, which were supposed to start on Thursday, but their war rivals Iranian-backed rebels known as the Houthis did not, arguing they could not go because they did not have guarantees for their safe return. Addressing a news conference in Geneva, Martin Griffiths declined to blame either side for the failure to start the talks, saying apportioning blame would not help Yemen. He insisted that the consultation the term used by the UN to refer to the talks had begun when he and his team held three days of talks with the government delegation. It's not the first time that we have difficulties in a Yemeni context. Criticising one or the other doesn't help Yemen. Things happenMartin Griffiths There was an effort on the part of the Ansar Allah to come here, said Mr Griffiths, using the formal name of the Houthis. They wanted to be here. We just did not make it. Its not the first time that we have difficulties in a Yemeni context. Criticising one or the other doesnt help Yemen. Things happen. His refusal to apportion blame angered the Yemeni government. Addressing a news conference, foreign minister Khaled al-Yamani said the envoys comments sought to appease and find excuses for the Houthis, adding that their failure to travel to Geneva showed their irresponsibility. The talks would have been the first between Yemens war rivals in two years. The Houthis insist on traveling to Geneva on an Omani flight, saying that would ensure their safe return to Yemen. We want guarantees on our return to Yemen, senior Houthi official Deif Allah al-Shami said. On Thursday, senior rebel official Mohammed Ali al-Houthi said on Twitter that the Saudi-led coalition backing Yemens internationally recognised government refused to grant the Omani flight authorisation to transfer their delegation to Geneva. He said that raised the risk of being prevented from returning to Yemen, which he said happened in 2016 after a failed round of talks. The coalition, which has imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Yemen since 2016, denied the allegation. Many people may be surprised by the admission from Secretary of State Karen Bradley who said she didn't understand that nationalists don't vote for unionist parties and vice-versa. She has rightly attracted criticism for her tardiness in cutting the salaries of our MLAs and for her procrastination about Stormont - but the rush to condemn her for this latest admission is ill-judged. Some of her critics know little about the political nuances here. Sadly, voting for the major blocks of Orange and Green seems unchanging, but this is not always the case. Tactical voting has helped various parties such as the SDLP when Joe Hendron defeated Gerry Adams in West Belfast, and also Eddie McGrady and Margaret Ritchie in South Down. Some people have refused to be pigeon-holed, including the late Sir John Gorman - a Catholic member of the UUP and a former MLA. It would be wonderful to see more people like him today, who feel that being born into one community does not stop them from appreciating "the other side". The late Maurice Hayes appreciated the best of both main communities and was not afraid to cross the barriers of stereotypes. It is typical of our provincial self-absorption that we think everyone here should be hard-wired into our local difficulties and prejudices. We think they should already know all about our acronyms, bland masks for terrorism and other outrages. For centuries the Irish question has perplexed some of the best minds on these islands. So it is unrealistic to expect that Karen Bradley would become an instant expert on our tribal differences. At least she was being honest. So why should we be so critical of our comparatively new Secretary of State and so intent on making an example of her? If we get to the point where our politicians are receiving brickbats for their honesty, then we are in an even worse place than we feared. Rohingya refugees shout slogans during a protest march marking the anniversary of a Myanmar military crackdown that sparked a massive exodus, at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Ukhia, Bangladesh, Aug. 25, 2018. Myanmar on Friday rebuffed a ruling by the International Criminal Court that it could exercise jurisdiction to investigate the deportation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh. But rights group praised the tribunals decision, saying it could open a path that could lead to prosecution of people responsible for atrocities against the minority group, and a senior Bangladeshi official said his government helped the Hague-based court make its determination about jurisdiction over the issue. The ICC sought our opinion, and we gave it. The ICC had some evidence of its own, Bangladesh Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque told BenarNews. What I can say is that the ICC has ruled in line with what our submission says," he said. Bangladesh hosts about 1.1 million Rohingya refugees from the August 2017 crackdown, from a smaller scale campaign in October 2016, and from previous bouts of violence in Rakhine. In April, the ICCs chief prosecutor requested a ruling on whether the international tribunal could exercise jurisdiction over Myanmar for what she called the alleged deportation of more than 700,000 Rohingya from northern Rakhine state during a crackdown by security forces, even though Myanmar is not a party to the Rome Treaty which established the court. The ICC gave Myanmar a July 27 deadline to submit a written response to the request for a jurisdiction ruling, but the government failed to comply, called the request meritless, and said it should be dismissed. A statement by President Win Myints office expressed regret over the majority decision announced on Thursday by the ICCs pre-trial chamber, and repeated its stance that it had no obligation to adhere to it. Myanmar absolutely rejects the decision which is the result of faulty procedure and is of dubious legal merit, the statement said. The government again denied the allegation of deportation, adding that it had signed bilateral agreements with the Bangladeshi government to repatriate those who were displaced, and cited its creation of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine state, headed by former United Nations chief Kofi Annan, to make recommendations for forging peace, stability and development in Rakhine. Earlier at a brief news conference in Naypyidaw, government spokesman Zaw Htay said Myanmar had laid out its position on the matter in an official statement on Aug. 9. The ICCs decision said it can rule on Myanmar, but didnt cite any evidence, he said. To rule on Myanmar, prosecutors must submit evidence at the ICC, and the ICC has to investigate. This step has not taken place yet. On Aug. 27, however, the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar, working under a mandate from the U.N.-backed Human Rights Council, said the evidence it weighed showed that Myanmar military leaders should be referred to the ICC, for abuses that undoubtedly amount to the gravest crimes under international law. Myanmar government spokesman Zaw Htay comments on a decision by the International Criminal Court concerning jurisdiction over the alleged crime of deportation of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya, at a press conference in Naypyidaw, Sept. 7, 2018. [RFA] Mixed reactions Rights groups, lawmakers, and politicians in Myanmar had mixed reactions to the news. Human rights lawyer Thein Than Oo said the government should not be concerned about an investigation by the ICC if its not guilty of committing atrocities against the Rohingya. If Myanmar didnt commit any crime, such as genocide or ethnic cleansing, what does it have to be afraid of? Just let the ICC investigate. If it does, Myanmar will regain the dignity that it has lost. Thein Tun Oo, spokesman for the opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a military-linked party, said the government should not be silent on the matter. It has to speak out by standing by the military when the ICC says it can issue a ruling on Myanmar, he said. We are worried about having problems because of the governments silence and the ICCs speedy steps to prosecute Myanmar. Lawyer Aung Thein said that if the ICC prosecutes Myanmar, it will do so according to its own procedures. That means that the ICC will not consider whether the Myanmar government is working on the issue by ignoring international pressure because it wants reconciliation with the military, he said. Political analyst Than Soe Naing noted that State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, who has faced scathing international criticism for defending the militarys actions in Rakhine, stands with the armed forces on many issues because she wants national reconciliation. This is the time for the government and the military to talk openly about the differences between them about their stance on national reconciliation to protect the nations sovereignty, he said. Than Soe Naing also downplayed reports and a large body of evidence that soldiers had carried out indiscriminate killings, torture, rape and arson in Rohingya communities during the Myanmar counter-offensive. In late August, investigators from the U.N.s human rights body issued a report in which they said Myanmar military leaders should be prosecuted for genocide against the Rohingya and identified six officials that it said were responsible for crimes targeting the ethnic minority. There might have been some violence [by the military], but I believe it was not genocide or ethnic cleansing, Than Soe Naing said. Pe Than, a lawmaker from the Arakan National Party (ANP), which represents the interests of ethnic Rakhines in Rakhine state, warned that the ICCs prosecution of top military officials identified as responsible for the crackdown could damage Myanmars peace process to end decades of civil war in the country. The governments peace process and its efforts to solve the Bengali problem would become disadvantageous, and we are worried about that, he said, using a derogatory term to refer to the Rohingya, whom Myanmar considers illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, though many have lived in the country for generations We dont want that, Pe Than said. Thats why we support the current governments stance [on this issue], which hurts nobody. If the ICC takes strong actions against Myanmar, we could have internal and external conflicts. Military 'can be prosecuted Sai Late, spokesman of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) party, which campaigns for the interests of the ethnic Shan people, agreed with the ICCs determination that Myanmar can be prosecuted even though its not a signatory of the Rome Statute. It can be prosecuted if its actions have affected another country, he said, referring to Bangladesh. If the ICC can submit concrete evidence that shows that the actions of Myanmars military affected another country, then military leaders can definitely be prosecuted, he said. If this occurs, then Myanmar could face a general crisis. If we encounter conflicts, we dont know whether the government and the military will work together to solve them or try to leave each other in the lurch, Sai Late said. Khun Ja, a leader of the Kachin Peace Network said he approved the ICCs decision. If the ICC can investigate human rights violations by Myanmars military, then I welcome it because the military has been committing many crimes for generations, he said. Though lower-ranking soldiers have been punished, top generals who ordered the crimes are still free. Whether or not the ICC is successful with its prosecution, there is a good chance for the country to have better military and government by doing this, he said. Last months findings by the U.N.s human rights fact-finding mission included Myanmar army atrocities in Shan and Kachin states, where fighting has gone on for decades. In southeastern Bangladesh, Mohammad Khaled, a Rohingya leader at the Balukhali refugee camp, demanded that the alleged perpetrators of atrocities against the Rohingya in Rakhine be brought before the ICC. The Myanmar government cannot ensure justice for us, he told BenarNews. The military must be tried for the crimes. We welcome the ICC [ruling] and eagerly wait to see their trial through the ICC. The first steps towards justice The ICCs ruling prompted international rights organizations to renew their calls for the prosecution of military officers responsible for ordering and overseeing the violence. Myanmar military officers who think they are above the law may finally face consequences for their criminal acts, said Param-Preet Singh, associate international justice director at Human Rights Watch, in a statement issued Thursday. The U.N. Security Council should now refer the whole situation in Myanmar to the ICC so that all victims of atrocities, including those in Kachin and Shan states, get their day in court, she said, referring to the Myanmar militarys abuse of ethnic minority groups in other states where the national armed forces are involved in hostilities against ethnic armies. Abdul Malik Mujahid, chairman of the Chicago-based Burma Task Force, welcomed the ICCs decision. In all my meetings with the Rohingya survivors of genocide, the first thing they ask for is justice, he said in a statement issued Thursday. Today, I believe, the world has taken the first steps towards a long process of bringing justice to the Rohingya people. On Friday, Matthew Smith, chief executive officer of the Southeast Asia-based Fortify Rights, called the courts decision monumental, but a first step. The NGO issued an extensive report in July detailing how Myanmar authorities made extensive and systematic plans for attacks on Rohingya civilians in Rakhine state months before Muslim militants carried out the deadly assaults on police outposts in August 2017 which triggered the crackdown. This decision should inspire more international action, not less, he said in a statement. An ICC referral from the Security Council now would enable the court to investigate the full spectrum of atrocities against Rohingya, Kachin, Shan, and others. Nine members of the 15-member U.N. Security Council would need to vote in favor of a resolution to refer the situation to the ICC, but any of the five permanent members the U.S., the United Kingdom, China, Russia, or France could veto the move. A milestone decision Biraj Patnaik, Amnesty Internationals South Asia director, called the decision a significant step in the right direction which opens up a clear avenue of justice for the Rohingya who were driven out of their homes, often as soldiers opened fire on them and burned down their villages. The court has sent a clear signal to the Myanmar military that they will be held accountable, he said in a statement released Friday. Charles Santiago, chairman of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights and a member of Malaysias parliament, said: The is a milestone decision and a step forward towards accountability for the alleged atrocity crimes against the Rohingya population. [I]t remains imperative that we continue to seek other international justice mechanisms, as well as the United Nations Security Council referral of Myanmar to the ICC for the wide array of atrocity crimes its leaders have been accused, including genocide and other crimes against humanity, he said in a statement issued Friday. That doesnt mean that the international community can take our collective foot off the pedal, he said. On Monday, Myanmar came under additional fire after two Reuters reporters in the country were sentenced to seven years in prison on what many say are trumped-up charges of violating the countrys Official Secrets Act for reporting on a massacre of 10 Rohingya in a village in Rakhine. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) took Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung Sang Suu Kyi to task in a statement on Thursday for remaining silent following its call for her to use her moral authority to ensure that journalists are free to do their jobs in Myanmar without fear of arrest. But nothing, absolutely nothing, forces you as the Union of Myanmars head of government, to observe this deafening silence, wrote RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire. Nothing forces you to refer to journalists coverage of Rakhine state as a huge iceberg of misinformation, he said. Nothing forces you to go down in history as someone who betrayed the ideals on which she built her reputation. This report was produced by Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews, with additional reporting by Kamran Reza Chowdhury in Dhaka. Moncks Corner, SC (29461) Today Cloudy skies. High 53F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low 44F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. PR Newswire LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7, 2018 LOS ANGELES, Sept. 7, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- A former vice president for Passages Addiction Treatment Centers, a Los Angeles company whose posh resorts cater to celebrities and other wealthy individuals seeking substance abuse treatment, has sued the company for retaliating against her due to exposing fraud in the company. Maureen Fahey, a former senior vice president of operations for Passages, filed suit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging that, in her position, she uncovered evidence that the CEO and his father, Pax and Chris Prentiss, as well as other executives in the company, were deliberately committing fraud. After confronting the company leadership about this, Fahey alleges that she and her husband, also an executive at the company, were subjected to escalating retaliation and mistreatment, and were eventually fired. Additionally, the lawsuit claims that Fahey was subject to sexual discrimination and harassment, including unwanted touching and sexual intimidation by Chris Prentiss, the company's president. Representing Fahey is Carney Shegerian, head of Shegerian & Associates, a top Los Angeles employment law firm. "Whistleblowing can be very risky for employees," said Shegerian, "but it's a crucial safety valve for a company that's gone off the rails. This lawsuit will help show workers across California that they can and should stand up for the law and for their own rights in the workplace." This won't be the first time that Shegerian & Associates has tussled against Passages in court. In 2017, the firm won a $1.82 million verdict on behalf of client Cynthia Begazo. The jury in that case found that Passages had discriminated against Begazo due to her disability and whistleblowing actions. "It's not surprising that we have to bring another case against Passages," said Shegerian, "because a company that would break the law with one employee may well do it again. But it is disappointing." He added, "We're very pleased to represent Ms. Fahey, and we look forwarding to showing the court the merits of her case, but it would be even better if Passages learned to obey the law. We will continue holding them accountable." Headquartered in Santa Monica, California and with offices in San Diego, San Francisco, & New York, Shegerian & Associates is a law firm specializing in protecting the rights of employees who have been wronged by their employers. Carney Shegerian, Trial Lawyer of the Year Award winner for 2013, has won 80 jury trials in his career, including 37 seven-figure verdicts. Shegerian & Associates is passionately dedicated to serving the needs of its clients. For more information about the firm, visit www.ShegerianLaw.com. Media Contact: To arrange interviews with Carney Shegerian employment law matters, please contact [email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shegerian--associates-rehab-to-the-stars-treatment-center-sued-by-former-vp-over-fraud-claims-300709117.html SOURCE Shegerian & Associates Students at Brandon University have mixed feelings about cannabis smoking being banned on campus, leading up to the Oct. 17 legalization of its recreational use. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 8/9/2018 (1154 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us Students at Brandon University have mixed feelings about cannabis smoking being banned on campus, leading up to the Oct. 17 legalization of its recreational use. In accordance with provincial legislation which prohibits smoking and vaping cannabis in most public places, smoking marijuana will not be permitted on the Brandon University campus, as the space is also considered public property in Manitoba law. Some students at Brandon University werent pleased with the news. MELISSA VERGE/THE BRANDON SUN Samantha Marshall "If youre able to drink, I dont see why it should be banned on campus," said second-year pre-nursing student Imogen Hyngman. "Youre not being disruptive people smoke cigarettes outside, so you should be able to smoke weed." If there are areas where students are able to smoke, that would be a positive, said senior English major Theodore Farough. "There should be spaces for it," Farough said. "They should probably have restricted areas just like cigarettes." MELISSA VERGE/THE BRANDON SUN Maureen Edwards A new policy thats expected to be approved within the coming weeks could allow exemptions to be granted for medical purposes on a case-by-case basis, said BU dean of students Katie Gross. "All universities across Canada are expecting that the legislation will evolve, so were expecting that in a year, possibly, the provincial government may change their view on that (with) the introduction of oils and ingestibles," Gross said. Even so, some students at Brandon University were happy with the way things are. "Unless its for medical uses, people dont need to be getting stoned before class," said second-year education student Shayanne Bear. "Lots of people might not like the smell of it or whatever, and it could affect other people." MELISSA VERGE/THE BRANDON SUN Adrianna Proulx Second-year nursing student Krystal Gold said that if it were allowed on campus, there may be some students who abuse the privilege. "I think overall its probably a good thing. I think you might have some people who would misuse it," Gold said. "If youre going to do it, just dont do it at school." Other students thought cannabis would hinder peoples ability to learn. "We wouldnt want it around the campus at all because its a learning environment," said second-year physical education student Rirah Cuebas. MELISSA VERGE/THE BRANDON SUN Robert Schmidt Other students were simply on the fence about cannabis smoking being banned on university campus when its recreational use becomes legalized in October. "I see where theyre coming from, but then again people should be able to do what they want to do," said first-year science student Sharon Tan. "Youre paying so much money (to attend university) why ban it on campus when its going to be legalized?" mverge@brandonsun.com, with files from Michael Lee MELISSA VERGE/THE BRANDON SUN Twitter: @Melverge5 We asked BU students: How do you feel about marijuana being banned on campus? Ashley Almdal, a second-year psychiatric nursing student: "I dont think (the ban) is going to stop anybody. Im smoking my marijuana dab pen, it doesnt hurt anybody, its super discreet, the smell goes away instantly and it helps me sleep. I have anxiety attacks all the time, but not to the point where I need to get a prescription, and if Im sitting in my room having an anxiety attack because Im studying and getting overwhelmed, I can take a little bit. It doesnt make me feel like crap in the morning either." Samantha Marshall, a first-year student: "Im not into that so it doesnt affect me, but I guess everyone should have a place to do whatever they want to do. If they cant do it here, they're going to go do it somewhere else, or they're going to break the rules and do it in their rooms." "So long as they are respectful and not affecting anybody else then having specific smoking areas [for marijuana] would be much more suitable than actually eliminating it," said Maureen Edwards, a second year psychiatric nursing student. "It is beneficial for some people to smoke it to help them calm their nerves for anxiety, so I think it shouldnt be banned but it should be limited to certain areas just like it would be for smoking." (Melissa Verge/Brandon Sun) Maureen Edwards, a second-year psychiatric nursing student: "So long as they are respectful and not affecting anybody else, then having specific smoking areas (for marijuana) would be much more suitable than actually eliminating it. It is beneficial for some people to smoke it to help them calm their nerves for anxiety, so I think it shouldn't be banned, but it should be limited to certain areas just like it would be for smoking." Adrianna Proulx, a third-year student: "I think it's a good idea (to ban it) because a lot of people have different opinions on it. I know a lot of people don't like it, so I think it's something that should be banned, especially here at a school. I don't think that it should be a public thing." Robert Schmidt, a first-year student: "There shouldnt be any problem with it. I don't see why it's banned. They already have alcohol inside the cafeteria, they've had a bar before. Students have proven that they can be responsible, so I don't see why this would be any different." Alberto Pozo, a first-year student: "This is my first year, it's so stressful and marijuana helps you calm down a bit. Every day I leave here Im really stressed out. I don't think it should be banned because of stress, it's just like smoking a cigarette pretty much. I get it's different because you get intoxicated off of one, but people are smart enough to not go into classes. I think that's maybe what they're afraid of, that they're going to go to classes stoned." A man charged for his role in a pair of armed break-ins two years ago has been handed a six-year custodial sentence and will be banned from owning weapons for the rest of his life. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 8/9/2018 (1154 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Advertisement Advertise With Us A man charged for his role in a pair of armed break-ins two years ago has been handed a six-year custodial sentence and will be banned from owning weapons for the rest of his life. Anthony James Houle, 21, pleaded guilty Friday to two counts of break and enter with intent to commit an indictable offence, intent to commit an indictable offence while having his face masked, and possession of a weapon contrary to an order. In addition to his six-year sentence and weapons ban, Houle must forfeit the weapon he used in the offence and provide a DNA sample. The joint recommendation from Crown and defence counsels was accepted by Justice Scott Abel, who took into account Houles relative young age and his acceptance of responsibility for his actions, as well as the potential strength of the Crowns case. By pleading guilty to four charges, Houle had his four remaining counts were stayed. "Sir, good luck to you," Abel told Houle at the end of the proceedings. "Take this opportunity to try to do something with your life." On the afternoon of Sept. 25, 2016, Houle and three other men broke into a vacant home on Russell Street, according to the facts as read out by Crown attorney Kaley Tschetter. Armed with a rifle, Houle kicked in the front door while two other men, one of whom armed with a handgun, kicked in the rear door. Realizing the home was vacant, the men immediately fled. Tschetter said police believed the suspects were looking for a specific target, but had broken into the wrong house. At 4:06 p.m. that same day, the four men broke into a home on Park Street, again armed with firearms. This time, Houle kicked in the rear door of the home and threatened the homeowner with a rifle. While this was happening, two of the other men attempted to kick in the front door but were unable to get through. The men were armed with handguns at the time, Tschetter said. Three of the men, including Houle, had their faces covered. Inside the home were a man, woman and an infant. Realizing it was again the wrong address, Houle fled the scene. While police were speaking to the homeowners, Tschetter said they heard shots nearby and saw one of the suspects driving a vehicle. Police followed the vehicle through some back lanes and stopped it before arresting the suspect. Another person was also seen fleeing the vehicle. A search of the vehicle uncovered items consistent with the home invasion, Tschetter said. A short distance away, police located a .32-calibre handgun and an S&W M&P15 semi-automatic rifle. Houles thumbprint was found on the rifle, which had been reported stolen from Dauphin. The rifle was also consistent with slugs taken from a home that had been previously shot at. "I can only imagine the fear that the homeowners of the second home that was occupied must have felt when a number of armed men came into their home, completely unexpected, waving and brandishing firearms at them," Tschetter said. "The fear that they must have experienced in ... a place thats supposed to be their sanctuary, thats supposed to be their castle, where they should be able to feel safest, was violated that day." Tschetter noted that Houle has had five previous convictions for break and enter, but believed the sentence acknowledges the serious nature of the crimes that were committed. "So I think at the end of the day, this six-year sentence thats being recommended is a fair one and I would suggest that the court can adopt that as well." Defence counsel Melania Cannon noted that Houle also plans on someday reuniting with his family. mlee@brandonsun.com Twitter: @mtaylorlee By Eamon Quinn Irish company OCE Technology, which helps debug complex software systems and supplies components used in satellites, has secured investment from a key Chinese supplier to help it launch in the US, where it hopes to secure potential deals in the multi-billion industry that includes Elon Musks SpaceX. OCE, which is based at NovaUCD, was set up five years ago and has already secured contracts across the world, including across Europe, Korea, Japan, Singapore, as well as China, where it supplies parts to the Chinese space programme. It said Chinese stockmarket-listed Zhuhai Orbita Aerospace Science and Technology will inject 200,000 in return for a small equity stake in OCE that will help propel the Irish company into US market. Zhuhai Orbita is already a component manufacturer to OCE and the Governments Enterprise Ireland will retain its long-standing 10% stake in OCE. Tony Cahill, vice-president sales at OCE, said the investment will help spur its next stage of growth, by launching in the US. The firm is in early stage talks with SpaceX and other private companies in the US. Chief executive Barry Kavanagh said the firm develops software and supplies radiation-hardened chip-level components targeted primarily at the space and high-reliability sectors. Components on a satellite costing up to 100m must meet particularly high standards. Focussed on private customers, OCE would not fall foul of the US administrations trade spat with China, it said. By Eamon Quinn The numbers of households in mortgage arrears have fallen again but long-term cases remain stubbornly high and so-called restructured home loans are failing at a worrying rate, official figures show. The Central Bank figures showed that 66,479 residential mortgages were in some sort of arrears by the end of June thats down from 71,833 in the quarter to the end of March. The number of accounts in long-term arrears of over 720 days, or two years, accounted for the vast bulk of the cases and fell to 28,237 from 29,509 cases representing almost 2.5bn in missed payments. The figures cover a period before Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank started selling their non-performing loans to vulture funds. The next batch of figures which cover the period to the end of September will likely reflect the transactions. The sales have the backing of the Government and the Central Bank which say that after 10 years from the onset of the banking and property crisis Irish banks must make concerted efforts to reduce the large amounts of soured loans on their books to European industry norms. Other banks have said that they will consider loan sales in the future. While it is to be expected that there would be improvement in todays mortgage arrears figures from the Central Bank, the really big and long-standing arrears cases remain persistent, said industry group Brokers Ireland, which represents 1,250 sellers. Its financial services director Rachel McGovern welcomed the drop in long-term arrears but highlighted that many loans that had undergone a so-called restructured agreement involved arrears capitalisation. This is not a solution but a kicking of the can down the road mechanism, with the painful day delayed indefinitely. The issue will eventually have to be dealt with, she said. A large slice of mortgages that had undergone restructures had subsequently failed. That points to a lack of realism in the restructures, she said. The Central Bank said 7,857 residential mortgages entered new restructuring agreements in the June quarter, the highest level of new agreements since end-2016. At end June, 87% of restructured PDH [Private Dwelling House] accounts were deemed to be meeting the terms of their arrangement. This means that the borrower is, at a minimum, meeting the agreed monthly repayments according to the current restructure arrangement, said the Central Bank. Paul Joyce, senior policy analyst at the Free Legal Advice Centres, or Flac, said that the jury was out on whether the sale of loans to vulture funds would lead to a flood of repossessions but that there was still cause to worry. He said that the latest figures showed no evidence of a tsunami but that the huge sale of loans in recent weeks as many as 10,000 loans to vulture funds came too late to be included in the latest statistics. Following the recent loan sales, he said that the number of loans which have been in long-term arrears in the hands of vulture funds and so-called non-bank entities will rise very sharply by the time of the next figures. Mr Joyce said that despite falling as a proportion, the number of failing restructured mortgages remains a very high figure. By Darragh Bermingham The Lord Mayor of Cork has slammed the Housing Minister's threat to remove power from local authorities for failing to deal with housing issues. Cork's first citizen, Cllr Mick Finn, instead pointed the finger at the red tape surrounding the delivery of housing projects, claiming that the time between local approval and the granting of funding is too long. Mr Finn pointed to projects in Togher, Ballyphehane, Barrack Street, White Street and High Street as just some of the examples where issues have emerged in Cork, adding that some schemes still haven't started despite being approved by City Hall more than 12 months ago. "It seems that the Minister doesn't trust councils to do the job," Mr Finn said. "There are great projects being put forward and signed off on by Cork councils and theyre being hamstrung by the bureaucracy in the Housing Department where everything is going back and forth, being double, triple and quadruple checked." The Lord Mayor said local authorities havent been given the flexibility to work on the ground. He cited a development of four housing units in Ballyphehane as an example. Expressions of interest were sought in 2015 and they only went on site in May 2018, he said. The procurement process in between all this took three years. The minister can change this with the stroke of a pen, he said. The Deanrock development has seen significant delays since it was signed off on by the council. The development on White Street has started but its been 12 months since approval was given by councillors. Barrack Street and High Street havent started yet, despite the fact that councillors signed off on them over a year ago. I understand there has to be oversight of public monies, but to me, its mired in red tape. Its a small bit rich for the minister to come out and blame councils for this when in fact, its his department, in my opinion, causing a lot of delays and throwing up obstacles. Minister Murphy has written to three Dublin councils threatening to remove some of their powers if they do not immediately tackle the homelessness crisis. He is expected to write to more. We invited the minister for housing to come to Cork not long after he was appointed to discuss some of the housing issues that are prevalent in Cork, said the Lord Mayor. While Dublin has probably the most severe issues, we have a very serious problem with housing and homelessness here in Cork. The Minister is yet to speak to us. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar yesterday denied claims that the Government is seeking to shift blame for the housing crisis to local authorities. This story first appeared in the Evening Echo. A fisherman had to be rescued early today after he fell 5 metres from a cliff in Co Clare. The alarm was raised shortly after 1.00am when emergency services received a report of a person being injured in a fall near Black Head in the north of the county. Myles grew up in Gippsland but her wanderlust for foreign places has always been a driving force. She has long been fascinated by Africa, where she has travelled extensively, often trekking, like her protagonist, in tricky terrain. "The seed for this novel began about 10 years ago when an Australian couple told me their daughter had just gone to Uganda to do research on war-affected children. I could sense their anxiety. There was familial friction and pride mixed with concern; it was palpable and this began something in me. As a parent of three myself, all of whom have travelled overseas, I was drawn to the [fictional] possibilities this offered. I immersed myself in the history and culture of Uganda and went back to Africa for a second, then third time, meeting people who've become inspirational in the writing of this novel." We agree that Australia is often accused of being parochial and inward-looking and of the difficulty of maintaining an interest in socio-political battles away from our borders. But how do we individually and collectively deal with compassion fatigue? Myles is expansive in her reflections. "Such borders are much closer than we think and what happens in other parts of the world is a result of what we do in our corner. We're interconnected in ways that are inseparable. I've always been struck by John Donne's 400-year-old poem, wherein 'no man is an island', for it seems to me that the worst kind of conflict arises when people perceive themselves as 'us and them'. "Losing the capacity to see ourselves as connected limits our ability to empathise, which is why I'm so drawn to imagination and story. For me they energise and sustain the inroad into a hoped-for understanding of how we might best live in this world even when there are problems we can't fix." ICE MOTHER 15+, 106 minutes. Australian Centre for the Moving Image, until Tuesday, September 18 There has been a steady stream of British and American movies in recent years catering to the pleasures and prerogatives of ageing populations, but few of them have the humanist warmth or steady gaze of this wry Czech drama about a widow who puts her life in order and confronts the consequences. Living mainly at the service of her two ungrateful adult sons and their respective families, Hana (Zuzana Kronerova) finds unexpected renewal when she's drawn into her local winter swimming club the icy dips are a shock to the system in more ways than one. Mixing with the likes of Brona (Pavel Novy), a comparative free spirit whose key dependents are his chickens, Hana grasps her second chance. The bit players are drawn with a caricature's broadness, but writer/director Bohdan Slama (The Country Teacher) isn't merely interested in fancy-free triumph, he's willing to dig into why Hana got to this turning point. The true respect Slama pays to his greying protagonists is to consider them fully-formed characters. Ice Mother: a wry Czech drama about a widow who puts her life in order and confronts the consequences. ITALIAN FILM FESTIVAL italianfilmfestival.com.au Kino Cinemas, Astor Theatre, Palace Cinemas Balwyn, Brighton Bay, Como, and Westgarth, Thursday, September 13, to Sunday, October 7 "We're a country that saves human lives, but we can't continue letting everyone in," notes a senior Italian official discussing asylum seekers in The Order of Things (, 18+, 112 minutes), and throughout Andrea Segre's calm on the surface drama part of the extensive program at this year's Italian Film Festival the gaps between beliefs and actions, between hopes and outcomes, are sharply exposed. A senior bureaucrat, Corrado Rinaldi (Paolo Pierobon) is sent to Libya, along with his French counterpart, in a bid to stem the journey of Africans seeking a safe life in Europe, but his vigour for policy is challenged by the trust of Swada (Yusra Warsam), a Somalian refugee he meets at a chaotic detention centre who asks him to pass on her details to waiting family. Segre has long examined the divide between Italy and those living on its margins with films such as 2011's Shun Li and the Poet, but here he contrasts the state and the individual, an approach that speaks equally to Australia as it does to Italy. ** two stars 6.30pm, Eleven The love bubble in which Australia's first legally wed gay couple continues to float about must be the longest in soap history. No honeymoon blues for these two, who even indulge in an impromptu reprise of their wedding waltz among the vineyards (spot the chicken trying to get in on the act). Meanwhile at the resort is a love tryst that dare not speak its name. Undulating hills carpeted in emerald-green grass stretch as far as the eye can see, rows and rows of well-maintained vines breaking up the otherwise endless expanse of green. It's a picture-perfect scene made all the more enchanting by a bright blue sky studded with puffy white clouds. The Douro River weaves in and out of sight, a sparkling blue waterway that coils its way through the lush valley. Our bus driver carefully manoeuvres the spiralling road. Soon we'll be at the base of the valley and kicking back in a cruise boat, bobbing along the river while taking in the vistas from a different outlook. Then there will be port tastings no trip to the Douro Valley would be complete without sampling the goods. Belem Tower, Lisbon. Credit:Getty Images My brother had always raved about Portugal. "Hidden in plain sight" is how he described the compact country. Finally, my husband and I booked our flights. City buzz, wine country, architecture, history and great beaches we were easily sold. Lisbon is where most Portugal escapades start. We spend a few days in the capital, doing everything and not much at all. We wander along cobblestone streets, stopping at pastelarias for pastries and coffee, shopping for knick-knacks, lingering to admire monuments and mansions clad in colourful Portuguese tiles, and popping in to the odd church and fort. With so many beautiful buildings condensed into such a small area it's easy to explore on foot. Simply by wandering along the streets you can't help but see different eras of history Friends and supporters of a Tamil family, who are facing deportation, have marched through the rain to Peter Dutton's Brisbane office. Singing The Seekers hit I am, you are, we are Australian, the protesters first rallied at a crowd-funded billboard, which demanded the family be returned to their central Queensland home in the town of Biloela. Supporters Marie Austin (second left), Saivashiri Balachandran (centre) and Margot Plant (right) are seen with a group of about 100 people who marched to Peter Dutton's office on Saturday. Credit:AAP They then trudged a kilometre to the Home Affairs Minister's electoral office in Strathpine where family friend Marie Austin addressed the crowd of around 100. "The reality is one person holds the power to save this family," she said on Saturday. Two men who were arrested before a man was found dead after he ran from police at a city apartment block on Friday have faced court. Jacky Tran, 25 and Oner Atesok, 33, faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court for a bail application on Saturday after they were arrested at the Eq Tower in A'Beckett St and charged with theft and drug offences on Friday. Mr Tran, from Bulleen, was remanded in custody until Monday so he could organise legal representation for his bail application. Tran faces three charges stealing a car, possessing a drug of dependence and breaching bail. Police accuse Tran of stealing a 2004 BMW X5 worth $10,000 on Friday. They say he was found with gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB. Two police officers were taken to hospital after being assaulted in Richmond on Saturday afternoon. Police say a constable and senior constable were speaking to a man in Victoria Street about 2.10pm when another man started punching the two officers. Sergeant Cameron Scott said capsicum spray was used to subdue the attacker. "The two officers received moderate cuts and bruises and were taken to hospital but have since been discharged," he said. "The offender, a 26-year-old man from Tarneit, allegedly starting punching the officers without warning. Missing seven-year-old boy Xavier Jones has been found safe after a search that lasted more than 12 hours. The boy went missing in Melbourne's north on Saturday evening but was found at 7.45am on Sunday morning, safe and well near the Glenroy skatepark. Channel Nine TV reporter Melanie Slade spotted the young boy while doing live crosses from the area. The young boy reportedly told the journalist that he had slept the night at a friends house, and was seemingly unaware of the commotion his disappearance had caused. Police hold concerns for a missing 28-year-old woman last seen in the early hours of Friday morning. Leah Grande was last seen about 12.25am on Friday walking in an easterly direction along South Street from the Murdoch train station. Leah Grande was last seen about 12.25am on Friday Credit:WA Police She is described as fair skinned, approximately 163cm tall, with a medium build, has long brown hair and blue eyes. She was last seen wearing a black knee length skirt, a black top, a black jacket, black shoes and was carrying a dark coloured handbag. Independent candidate Joe McGirr, a doctor and academic, was on track for a historic win in the seat of Wagga Wagga, as results from Saturdays byelection showed voters had abandoned the Liberal Party in droves. With half the primary votes counted on Saturday night, Dr McGirr was polling ahead of Liberal candidate Julia Ham, who had slipped into third place, as swings above 30 per cent hammered the Liberals in booths across the electorate. Dr McGirr's bid could be hampered by Labor candidate Dan Hayes, who was polling second on primary votes with over half the vote counted, and was expected to benefit from preferences from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party As the results rolled in, Liberal party sources were conceding the results were disastrous for the party, which has held Wagga Wagga for more than 60 years. Los Angeles: George Papadopoulos' fall from one-time foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump to inmate at a US federal prison began with "one or two" gin and tonics at an upscale London bar in 2016 with Australia's then high commissioner to the UK, Alexander Downer. Papadopoulos received a 14-day jail sentence and 200 hours of community service on Friday for lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries before the 2016 election. The judge saying he wanted to send a message to the public about the consequences of impeding an inquiry of national import. US District Judge Randolph Moss said Papadopoulos deserved prison time because he had deceived investigators probing "a matter of grave national importance." He also fined him $US9500 ($13,000) and ordered him to complete 200 hours of community service and one year of probation after his release. Prosecutors argued that Papadopoulos' repeated lies during a January 2017 interview with investigators stymied the inquiry at a critical moment. In part because Papadopoulos misled authorities, they said in court papers, they failed to arrest a London-based professor suspected of being a Russian operative before he left the United States in the following month, never to return. Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor As many as 15 people, including Indian-origin, and five India-based businesses were indicted on Friday in the multimillion-dollar scam which defrauded thousands of US citizens of hundreds of millions of dollars. Seven persons were arrested in the US on Thursday for their alleged involvement in scam that victimised over 2,000 American nationals, resulting in over $5.5 million in losses. Mohamed Kazim Momin, Palak Kumar Patel, Mohmed Sozab Momin, Rodrigo Leon-Castillo, Devin Bradford Pope, Nicholas Alezander Deane, Drue Kyle Riggins, and Jantz Parrish Miller were arrested and arraigned yesterday before a US magistrate, Judge Janet F King, officials said. Seven defendants and five call centres in India were also charged for their alleged involvement, they added. "This indictment and yesterday's arrests demonstrate our commitment to identifying and prosecuting those who hide behind these types of phone scams," said US Attorney Byung J Pak. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, J Russell George said: "This indictment makes clear that the IRS impersonation scam has risen to a new level, with indictments against five call centres and seven co-conspirators in India who allegedly directed their employees to participate in the scam." The Inspector General also noted that since 2013, the IRS impersonation scam has been on a relentless path, claiming more than 14,000 victims who have lost upwards of $71 million to the scammers. The indictment alleged that the defendants were involved in a sophisticated scheme organised by co-conspirators in India, including a network of call centres located in Ahmedabad. Between 2012 and 2016, the defendants perpetrated a complex fraud and money laundering scheme in which individuals from call centres located in Ahmedabad frequently impersonated officials from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in a ruse designed to defraud victims located throughout America. The Indian call centres used various telephone fraud schemes to defraud mainly vulnerable Americans, including the elderly and legal immigrants. Using information obtained from data brokers and other sources, operators allegedly called potential victims while impersonating officials from the IRS or individuals offering fictitious payday loans. The operators would then threaten potential victims with arrest, imprisonment, or fines if they did not pay taxes or penalties to the government, the indictment alleges. If the victims agreed to pay, the call centres allegedly would immediately turn to a network of US-based co-conspirators to liquidate and launder the extorted funds by purchasing prepaid debit cards or through wire transfers, including through MoneyGram and Western Union, to the attention of fictitious names and US-based defendants and their co-conspirators, it said. The five India-based call centres that have been indicted are Excellent Solutions BPO, ADN Infotech Pvt. Ltd, Infoace BPO Solutions Pvt. Ltd., Adore Infosource, Inc., Zurik BPO Services Pvt. Ltd. Apart from Mohamed Kazim Momin, Patel, Mohmed Sozab Momin, Pope, Deane, Riggins and Miller, the others who were indicted include -- Shylesh Kumar Sharma, Dilipkumar Kodwini, Radhishraj Natarajan, Shubham Sharma, Nirav Janakbhai Panchal, Athar Parvez Mansuri, Mohmmad Samir Memon, Rodrigo Leon-Castillo. Earlier, 21 Indian-origin persons in the US and three Indians were sentenced up to 20 years in prison for their involvement in the same fraud and money laundering scheme. Ending speculations, the defence ministry Saturday said the next edition of -- considered Asia's largest aerospace exhibition -- will be held in its traditional venue of from February 20 to 24 next year. Last month, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had made a request to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to select as the venue for Aero India, triggering angry reactions from various political parties in Karnataka. There were speculations that the venue for the mega event may be shifted after the defence ministry indicated that it was examining requests from a number of states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh to host the 12th edition of "The government has decided to hold 2019 in from February 20-24, 2019," the ministry said. Since its inception in 1996, has been hosting the event. The ministry said a number of global defence majors and big investors in the aerospace industry will participate in the five-day event besides leading think-tanks from across the world. "Besides giving a fillip to the domestic aviation industry, it would further the cause of Make in India," the ministry said in a statement. In his request to host Aero India near Lucknow, Adityanath had on August 11 said such a move will give a fillip to the proposed defence corridor in Uttar Pradesh. Days later Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, insisting that Bengaluru would be the "best choice" for the event. "Bengaluru being the hub for defence and aviation majors of the country, is certainly the most suitable place to conduct the show," he had said in the letter. In the budget for 2018-19, the government announced to set up two defence corridors -- one in Tamil Nadu and other in Uttar Pardesh-- to promote defence manufacturing. The corridor in Uttar Pradesh will pass through six districts --- Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, and Chitrakoot. The Maharashtra government has laid down fines ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 150 to curb the menace of open defecation, throwing garbage and spitting in public. In an order issued Friday by the state Urban Development department, which is headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the government said that the offence of would invite a fine of Rs 500 while that for throwing garbage and spitting in public would be Rs 180 and Rs 150 respectively. The fine amount has been levied as per categorisation of areas into classes A, B C and D, officials said. "The government wants local bodies to achieve a target of 100 per cent segregation and disposal of solid waste. Local bodies have now been delegated powers to ensure individuals, societies and organisations cooperate in keeping the state clean," an official from the Urban Development department said. The state government's orders come in the wake of a order on August 31 castigating some states and Union Territories, including Maharashtra, for not framing any policy under the 2016 Solid Waste Management Rule even after the passage of two years. China on Friday agreed to allow Nepal to use four of its seaports and three land ports for third-country trade reducing the landlocked country's dependence on India to conduct commerce. Nepal will be able to access Shenzen, Lianyungang, Zhanjiang and Tianjin, the latter being the nearest seaport at a distance of around 3,300 kms from the Nepalese border, according to foreign ministry sources. Similarly, Nepal has been allowed to use Lanzhou, Lhasa and Xigatse land ports (dry ports) as well. This will provide alternative routes for Nepal to carry out trade. Chinese authorities will provide permits to trucks and containers ferrying Nepal-bound cargo to and from Xigatse in Tibet, as per the new arrangement. The deal has paved the way for Nepal, which had been relying on Indian ports as of now, to diversify its access to seaports and alternative routes for third-country trade. Nepalese traders will be allowed to use any mode of transport - rail or road to access to seaports for third-country trade, said Ravi Shanker Sainju, joint secretary at the ministry of industry, commerce and supplies, who led the Nepalese delegation during talks at the meeting of Nepalese and Chinese authorities on Wednesday and Thursday for the finalisation of the protocol of Transit and Transport Agreement (TTA) with China. At the meeting, both sides decided to access Chinese territory from six checkpoints Rasuwa, Tatopani (Sindhupalchok), Korala (Mustang), Kimathanka (Sankhuwasabha), Yari (Humla), Olangchung Gola (Taplejung). Joint secretary Sainju and Director General of Transport Department of China, Wang Suiping, signed the agreement on Friday morning. It has been agreed that the protocol will be exchanged during upcoming high-level visits between the two countries. The Transit and Transport Agreement with China, signed in March 2016 during Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli's China visit, will come into force once the protocol is exchanged, officials said. The Madhesi agitation in 2015 had forced Nepal to explore trade links with China and reduce its long-term dependence on India. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chairman Jack Ma told the New York Times that he plans to step down from his role at the company on Monday, marking the end of an era at Chinas e-commerce juggernaut. Chinas richest man said that he would remain on Alibabas board of directors as he pursues philanthropic endeavours, the New York Times reported. Ma told Bloomberg earlier this week that he wanted to dedicate more of his time and fortune to philanthropy with the creation of a foundation in his own name focused on education, following in the footsteps of fellow billionaire ... A "wide range" of Apple Inc products including its Watch would likely be hit by the proposed US tariffs, the company told US trade officials, but it did not name the iPhone as among the products affected. AirPods headphones, some of Apple's Beats headphones, and its new HomePod smart speaker also face levies as part of proposed 10 per cent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, according to an unsigned letter the company submitted on Wednesday to US officials as part of a public comment period. "Our concern with these tariffs is that the US will be ... Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East As many as 15 people were killed and 25 others got injured after a bus collided with a truck in southern Afghanistan's Kandahar province on Saturday, local officials said. The accident occurred in Hawoz Madad village of Zhari district at around 6 am (local time). Kandahar provincial governor's spokesperson Aziz Ahmad Azizi told TOLO News that three women and three children were among those killed. Officials further said that those injured were in a critical condition, and were being treated at a hospital in Kandahar city, local media reports stated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kathmandu [Nepal], Sept 8 (ANI): At least six passengers, including a Japanese national, died after an Altitude Air helicopter, with seven people on board, crashed in central Nepal on Saturday. Chief District Officer of Nuwakot District, Uddab Bahadur Thapa, told ANI that the fatalities were confirmed and a female passenger has been rescued. "The chopper was spotted inside a dense forest in a tilted position. The rescuers had to struggle a lot to reach to the chopper. The weather in the area is still adverse and we were struggling hard," he added. Nepal's Civil Aviation Authority said that the missing chopper was spotted in a place called Satyawati, which is situated inside a dense forest area. "The crash site lies at an altitude of 5,500 feet and rescue operation is being attempted, but the adverse weather is hindering the operations," the authority said. Local police has confirmed that the chopper was en route to Kathmandu from Gorkha when it crashed between the border of Nuwakot and Dhading district. The helicopter had airlifted a passenger from a village in Gorkha and went off the radar at around 8 am (local time) after it took off at 7:40 am (local time). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amid debates over a change in venue, the Ministry of Defence has announced that Aero India 2019 will be held in Bengaluru itself from February 20-24. The five-day event will combine a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries with public air shows. Besides global leaders and big investors in the aerospace industry, the show will also see participation by think-tanks from across the world and will provide an opportunity for the exchange of information, ideas and new developments in the aviation industry. Besides giving a fillip to the domestic aviation industry, it would further the cause of 'Make in India'. Over the past few months, reports were rife that the venue for the biennial air show may be shifted to Uttar Pradesh's capital, Lucknow. While Union Minister Ananth Kumar claimed that Uttar Pradesh lacked the necessary infrastructure to host the event, Uttar Pradesh's Aviation Minister Nand Gopal Gupta Nandi averred that the state which is capable of conducting the Kumbh Mela can host the Aero Show as well. Last month, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking his approval to conduct Aero India show-2019 in Bengaluru. Aero India is a biennial air show and aviation exhibition held in Bengaluru at the Yelahanka Air Force Station. It is organised by the Defence Exhibition Organisation under the Ministry of Defence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hollywood's yesteryear superstar Burt Reynolds in his final days, prior to his death was able to lead a peaceful life in a plush Florida estate. According to TMZ, the owner of the estate helped the actor by letting him stay there, as the latter was reeling under a period of financial crisis. In 2015 'The Longest yard' star had sold his home to a friend, Charles Modica, as he wanted to overcome the financial woes he had been suffering for years. Modica while speaking to TMZ said that he bought the estate in order to help Burt stay there. Modica had even charged him a small fee as rent. Burt bought the estate in 1980 for 700,000 USD, in order to live with his then-wife, Loni Anderson. In 2005, when he put it up for sale, the selling price was as high as 15 million USD, but after he actually decided to sell it in 2015 to Modica, the price fell down drastically to 3.3 million USD. The 82-year-old actor passed away on Thursday in America's Florida after suffering a cardiac arrest. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a major breakthrough, the Delhi Police Special Cell on Saturday arrested a member of the banned terrorist organisation of Manipur Kangleipak Communist Party-Peoples War Group (KCP-PWG). The Police nabbed Moirangthem Ranapratap from Manipur's Bishnupur District. He was also wanted by the Investigation Agency (NIA), a reward of Rs 2 lakh on his arrest was also announced by the agency. The 37-year-old, along with his associates, was involved in extortion and extending threats to businessmen and influential people. According to the police, Moirangthem Ranapratap had also directed one his accomplices to set up a base in the capital to carry out unlawful activities and to extend threats to Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh. The self proclaimed general secretary of the terror outfit has been brought to Delhi on transit remand. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After months of speculation, Hollywood actors Denise Richards and Aaron Phypers are all set to tie the knot on Saturday. From kisses on the beach to romantic trips, the pair hasn't been able to hide their affection for one another from the time they started dating in December 2017. The couple will be getting married during the weekend and their wedding will be filmed for the show, 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills', a source told People Magazine. "The two of them are very happy and have settled into life with one another, so now they are pretty focused on getting this very intimate ceremony off the ground. They are just ready to start their married life together," revealed the source. Meanwhile, Phypers, who was married to actress Nicollette Sheridan for six months, formalised his divorce last month. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Vince Vaughn, who has been charged with multiple misdemeanours, including drunk driving earlier in June this year, could now face a possible jail term for almost a year if convicted. In June, police found traces of alcohol in his bloodstream, reported Page Six. It was calculated to be over .08 percent. The 'Wedding Crashers' star, who refused to cooperate with the officer who busted him for driving under the influence of alcohol, was detained and arrested on June 10. The actor is set to attend a hearing in regard to the case in a Los Angeles County Superior Court on September 10. Vaughn might face up to 360 days in a county jail if convicted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal Government has decided to bar the enter or exit of goods vehicles, which have 20 or more wheels from the Kolkata Port area from September 10, a notice from the office of the Additional Commissioner of Police confirmed. The decision has been taken in the view of Majerhat Bridge collapse incident, which claimed the lives of three people and injured many. A letter addressed to the chairman of the Kolkata Port Trust said, "In reference to the decision taken by the Government of West Bengal in view of the impending situation due to collapse of the Majerhat Bridge and the resulting traffic situation, it is requested that all goods vehicles having 20 wheels or more should not be allowed to enter in to or exit from the Kolkata Port Area." However, the letter noted that heavy goods will be allowed to exit the port over the weekend. A notice from the State Transportation Department stated that Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi has imposed a restriction on the movement of goods vehicles having 20 wheels or more across the state with immediate effect, with the exception for the "cases where specific permission is granted by the State Government or its authorised representatives." "It is essential that reasonable restrictions must be imposed on goods carrying heavy vehicles across the state for preventing the untoward incidents resulting front sudden unsustainable damages/collapse of bridges/culverts/flyovers etc," the notice read. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday said that Indology not only brought India and the Czech Republic together, but made an enormous impact in the making of a modern India. Addressing a gathering of students, Indologists and faculty members of Charles University, President Kovind said that Indology helped rediscover India's rich past and triggered a cultural awakening. "It (Indology) enabled India to imbibe and assimilate modernity without letting go of its cultural roots. From Vidyasagar to Vivekananda and Tagore to Mahatma Gandhi, one finds that the socio-cultural modernisation of India was built upon a foundation that emphasised an organic synthesis of the eastern and western thought. Indological studies continue to bind the into that universal family where there are no barriers and no walls," he added. The President underscored that although Indology began almost two centuries ago with the study of Sanskrit texts, its scope widened and spread across today's "The field of Indology exemplifies how specialists across disciplines often come together to offer a deeper understanding of Indian culture and civilization. Remote sensing studies of the Ghaggar-Hakra basin have changed our understanding of the Harappan civilization and the role of a lost river -Saraswati - that once flowed in those plains and was celebrated in Vedic literature. This wonderful cooperation among different disciplines presents a great opportunity to rediscover aspects of ancient Indian wisdom that can solve many of our contemporary problems," he elucidated. President Kovind expressed optimism that Yoga and Ayurveda were receiving overwhelming support and interest in the Czech Republic. He recalled Nobel laureate and national poet Rabindranath Tagore's "thought-provoking speech" at the campus of the Charles University. "As I speak here, I feel proud to be at such a great seat of knowledge. It delights me that Rabindranath Tagore, our national poet and one of the greatest sons of India, once came to this very campus and delivered a thought-provoking speech, captivating many. He is the one who called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, 'Mahatma' or 'the Great Soul', first. I have just had the honour to illuminate the life and legacy of our Father of the Nation and pay my respects," he continued. The President underlined that Indology has a very old tradition in Prague, starting with the establishment of a chair in Sanskrit, at the university in 1850. Reminiscing Tagore's visit to erstwhile Czechoslovakia in the 1920s, President Kovind further said, "Professor Lesny was one of the founding fathers of the Czech school of Indology and a friend of Rabindranath Tagore. He was the first European Indologist who translated Tagore's poetry directly from Bengali instead of using English translations. On the invitation of Professor Lesny, Tagore visited erst-while Czechoslovakia in 1921 and 1926. Tagore's interaction with the scholars in Czechoslovakia left a deep impact on them." The President underscored that the installation of Tagore's bust in Prague and naming a tram station "Thakurova" after him, is a homage to the national poet and his poetic genius. Speaking on the historical ties between India and the Czech Republic, President Kovind said, "It is interesting to trace the history of interaction between our two countries. It goes much before the links established by Indologists. It may amuse you but about millennia back, the Kingdom of Bohemia and India had a flourishing trade in spices and silk. On that shared past, today we have built a strong contemporary partnership." The President also extended an invitation to the Czech Republic leadership to participate in the worldwide celebrations of the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi on October 2. He went on to say that about 500 Indian students are pursuing their studies at various universities in the Czech Republic and most of them are working as lecturers and scientists. While addressing India-Czech Republic Business Event earlier, President Kovind had invited Czech companies to take advantage of the opening of defence manufacturing sector in India and set-up joint ventures to produce for the domestic market. This is the first visit by an Indian President to the Czech Republic in 22 years after former President Shankar Dayal Sharma had visited the European nation in 1996. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A terrorist was killed after Jammu and Kashmir Police foiled a weapon-snatching bid in Achabal block of South Kashmir's Anantnag district. A police personnel also got injured in the incident. He was later shifted to a hospital for medical treatment. The police are yet to ascertain the identity of the terrorist and have mounted a search operation in the area to nab the remaining terrorists who escaped during the shootout. Further information is awaited. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Guwahati : Indias new track and field sensation Hima Das on Friday arrived at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport in Guwahati. The star sprinter landed at the airport at around 1 pm by a SpiceJet aircraft. Hima was welcomed by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, state finance minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and several organizations including All Assam Students Union (AASU) with Assamese traditional Gamosa and Japi. The airport was specially decorated and accorded a red carpet to welcome Hima Das, who made Assam as well as the country proud in the Asian Games. Hima came to her motherland first time after she clinched three medals in recently concluded Asian Games in Jakarta. Thousands of people, Himas friends, lovers reached at the airport to welcome the star sprinter. Assam government has organized a state level felicitation programme to be held at Sankardeva Kalakshetra in Guwahati, where the state government will give her a cash reward of Rs 1.60 crore. Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has revealed her fierce look in a new still from her upcoming period drama 'Manikarnika The 'Rangoon' star, who will be portraying Rani Laxmibai in the upcoming biopic, shared a behind-the-scenes image of her look on social media. Dressed like a warrior, Kangana can be seen with blood on her face.Hollywood action director, Nick Powell is giving her directions as she holds on to a sword, ready for battle. "The Warrior Queen, getting ready to battle. #KanganaRanaut, bloodied & resilient, shoots for #Manikarnika s Action sequences with Hollywood Action Director #NickPowell #ManikarnikaOn25thJan." read the caption. The period drama also features Atul Kulkarni as Tatya Tope and Ankita Lokhande as Jhalkarbai. The film, which was earlier supposed to release in April this year, will now hit the big screens on January 25, 2019. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Tripura Police has seized 2100 kg marijuana worth around 1.5 crores from an oil tanker from near the Assam border on Thursday night. Sharing details of the drug seizure, Benu Madhab Deb, officer in charge of the Dharmanagar police station said, "On the basis of secret information an oil tanker approaching from Agartala was detained at Bagbasha. During search and investigation, we found 2100 kilogram of ganja (marijuana) hidden inside it. The market price of the seized consignment is around Rs 1.5 core." "Taking advantage of the dark, the driver and the cleaner, however, fled from the vehicle in the nearby jungle hence no arrests could be made in the case," he added. As per the information, in last around six months more than 20,000 kg of marijuana has been seized along with a huge quantity of contraband cough syrups, tablets, heroine in Tripura. As much as 65 people have been arrested in connection to drug peddling. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday said that the no-confidence motion against the Democratic Alliance (NDA) government was a futile effort by the opposition parties and they failed miserably in their approach. Addressing a press conference, Sitharaman said, "The opposition parties went ahead with their display of frustration even in the Parliamant and called for a no-confidence motion against the government. The two conditions in bringing the no-confidence motion against the ruling party are, one, if the government has lost its majority, and, two, if the party has become a matter of worry for the public. There were no such conditions whatsoever." Sitharaman also took a potshot at the opposition parties by saying that they are resorting to disruptionist and are deceiving the citizens at large. "Even when we won the no-trust vote in the Parliament, the opposition was in a denial mode and claimed that they never disputed our numbers in the Lok Sabha. This clears our doubt that the opposition parties are resorting to nothing but disruptionist and are not representing the voice of the citizens," Sitharaman added. Calling the grand-alliance by the opposition nothing but an eye-wash, the defence minister in her scathing attack said, "The party chief (Amit Shah) has called the Mahagatbandhan an eyewash, mirage and a lie. He said that the parties which have formed the grand alliance have already been defeated by the BJP even after 2014. The alliance will not make any difference at all." The Narendra Modi government on July passed the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition with an overwhelming majority, with the government getting 325 out of a total 451 votes. Only 126 MPs voted in favour of the motion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The foreign ministers of China and Pakistan, Wang Yi and Shah Mehmood Qureshi, held bilateral discussions on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and other issues of mutual interests. Wang, who arrived in Pakistan for a three-day visit, reiterated China's support for Pakistan's development and agreed for greater strategic cooperation between the two countries, Geo News reported. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said, "Chinese State Councillor Yi underscored Beijing's firm support to Pakistan's socio-economic progress and development." "China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, economic cooperation, cultural and educational exchanges, and regional situation were discussed during the meeting," he added. Prior to the delegation-level talks, the two foreign ministers held a one-to-one meeting at the Foreign Office. Wang also invited Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan to be the guest of honour at the International Import Expo in China. The Chinese Foreign Minister is scheduled to meet Pakistan's President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the National Assembly and the Army Chief. This is the first official visit by a Chinese dignitary since the new government was formed in Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President has invited the Czech companies to take advantage of opening of in India and set-up joint ventures to produce for the domestic market. Addressing India Czech Republic Business Event during the second day of his visit in the central European country on Friday, the President said, "The companies should fulfil the growing requirements of the defence industry in the domestic and global markets with the help of a joint venture. After holding a delegation-level meeting in Prague, President Kovind stressed that there is immense potential for India-Czech defence collaboration to meet the growing requirements of the Indian defence industry. The President further stated that Czech automaker Skoda, and its parent company, Volkswagen, have announced to invest one billion US dollars in India under the 'Make in India' initiative. India and the Czech Republic also signed five MoUs in the field of laser technology, exemptions from visa requirements for diplomatic passport holders and Work Plan for support of Indo-Czech projects in diverse areas of science and technology. In a joint statement issued after the meeting between President Kovind and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman, both the countries agreed to jointly cooperate in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The two sides expressed desire to further strengthen their strategic ties and urged all countries to deny safe haven to terrorists and disrupt terrorist infrastructure, financing and their cross-border movements. This is the first visit of an Indian President to the Czech Republic in 22 years after former President Shankar Dayal Sharma had visited the European nation in 1996. India and the Czech Republic today finalised 5 MoUs including in the fields of laser technology, exemptions from visa requirements for Diplomatic passport holders and Work Plan for support of Indo-Czech projects in diverse areas of science and technology. The two countries also decided to initiate co-operation for peaceful use of In yet another scathing attack over the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre regarding the controversial Rafale deal, the Congress party on Saturday made fresh allegations regarding various aspects of the deal and claimed that the BJP has compromised with security. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has now been caught in a web of its lies of its own making. They have caused a massive loss of Rs 41,000 crore to public exchequer by purchasing the 36 Rafale aircrafts with the same configuration at thrice the price i.e. Rs 526 crore per aircraft during the UPA to Rs 1,670 crore per aircraft during Modi government," Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said in a press conference here. "BJP has delayed the purchase of Rafale aircrafts to Indian Air Force (IAF) by signing a fresh deal with same 'India specific enhancements' as decided during the UPA regime, minus the all important 'Transfer of Technology' and award of Rs 30,000 crore 'Offset Contract' to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). (BJP has) compromised the security by unilaterally purchasing only 36 aircrafts instead of 126 without consulting IAF," he added. Surjewala further stated that air staff qualitative requirements provided for 13 India-specific enhancements during the UPA government, were "radar-enhancements, helmet-mounted display, towed decoy system, low-band jammer, radio altimeter and ability to start and operate from high altitude airfields". Criticising Prime Minister Modi and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for claiming that there was no contract for transfer of technology under the Rafale deal during the UPA rule, Surjewala said, "A release from PIB mentions transfer of technology, licensed production, and lifetime maintenance support for the aircraft. This RFP was issued in 2007." Surjewala further questioned the BJP as to why they called it an "emergency deal" when the first Rafale fighter jet will be delivered by September 2019 and rest would be delivered by September 2022. "These aircrafts would not have India-specific enhancements and all these will get uploaded after 2022. With threats from Pakistan and China looming large, does it not compromise security," Surjewala asked. The Rafale jets were chosen in 2012.Initially, India planned to buy 18 off-the-shelf jets from France, with 108 others to be assembled in the country by the state-run aerospace and defence company HAL. The BJP-led government scrapped the UPA's plan in 2015 and announced that it would buy 36 "ready-to-fly" Rafale jets instead of seeking a technology transfer from France's Dassault Aviation and making the aircraft in India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress president Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Dubai in October, according to sources. However, the date of his visit has not been decided yet Sources also said that the Congress is trying to book a stadium with a capacity of 50,000 during the visit, adding that official communication will be made once the date and venue are finalised. At present, the Congress president is on a 12-day Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, which he started on August 31 via Nepal. Three days prior to this, Gandhi had expressed contentment on his trip to Kailash Mansarovar and said that "a man goes to Kailash when it calls him." He also described the waters of the Mansarovar Lake as "gentle, tranquil and calm." The Gandhi scion's trip to Kailash Mansarovar has been constantly questioned by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who even accused him of being China's ambassador. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turns out, disease-fighting T cells, elicited from vaccines, do not require glucose for their rapid reproduction, which may help the development of immunotherapy for cancer patients, a new study has revealed. Researchers from CU Anschutz, along with colleagues from the Mayo Clinic and the University of Pennsylvania, examined T cells that arose in the body's immune system after they received a subunit vaccination - a vaccine that uses just part of a disease-causing virus. They found that these critical white blood cells, which attack and kill the infection, did not rely on glucose to fuel their rapid division which occurs every two to four hours. Instead, they used another cellular engine, the mitochondria, to support their expansion. "The knowledge that this magnitude of cell division can be supported by mitochondrial function has a number of potential practical implications for the development of future vaccines," said senior study author Ross Kedl. According to Kedl, T cells responding to infection usually depend on glucose for fuel, so do cancerous tumors. When T cells come up against tumors, they end up competing for glucose and the T cells often lose. But when a T cell doesn't need glucose, he noted, it has a better chance of defeating tumor cells. "T cells generated by subunit vaccination are ideally suited for use against cancer in conjunction with drugs that block aerobic glycolysis, a metabolic pathway to which the cancer is addicted. Tumor growth can be inhibited while the T cells are free to attack the tumor instead of competing against it for access to glucose," added Kedl. Lead author Jared Klarquist, explained that scientists have historically studied T cell responses to infection with the idea that if they could understand how the cells respond, they could create better vaccines. Kedl and colleagues had already discovered a non-infectious vaccine method that could induce the same level of T cell immunity as those using infection. Since then, researchers have found that the rules governing T cell responses to an infectious agent are very different from the cell's response to a subunit vaccine. And the fact that T cells derived from subunit vaccines don't require glucose to reproduce is a major finding. "Prior to these findings, it was generally thought that whereas the mitochondria are good at making energy, T cells need glucose to produce the raw materials like proteins, fats and nucleic acids (like DNA) required to turn one cell into two. Knowing how the immune response is fueled after vaccination provides potential opportunities for metabolic or nutritional interventions for boosting a vaccine-elicited immune response," said Klarquist. The researchers are currently exploring how these strategies might positively influence the outcomes of immune-based cancer treatments that are already in the clinic. The study appeared in the Journal of Science Immunology. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A delegation of the United States Department of Defence, led by Defence Secretary James Mattis and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford, met with Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on Friday and discussed several bilateral issues. A statement from the Office of the President, ARG Palace confirmed that the meeting took place in the Gul Khana Palace, where a range of topics of bilateral interest were discussed, Khaama Press reported. Peace and stability in Afghanistan, the U.S. strategy for South Asia and Afghanistan, security and defence sector reforms, upcoming elections in the country, the fight against terrorism and peace talks with Pakistan were some of the topics that were discussed during the meeting. The statement further stated that Mattis expressed his delight over his visit and lauded the National Unity Government the efforts to thwart terrorism and corruption. The US Defence Secretary also hailed the "brave" Afghan forces for their fight against terrorism. He also said that the US will support Afghanistan and stand by its people in their bid to restore peace and stability to the region. President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah reiterated their gratitude for the US' support in several issues in Afghanistan, especially in providing funds and equipment for the Afghan forces. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By REUTERS WASHINGTON, Sept 8: The United States said on Friday it had recalled its top diplomats in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador and Panama over those countries decisions to no longer recognize Taiwan. Washington has expressed concern over the rising number of countries that have cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of China. El Salvador switched ties last month, while the Dominican Republic did so in May and Panama made the move last year. Self-ruled Taiwan now has formal relations with only 17 countries, almost all of them small and less developed nations in Central America and the Pacific, including Belize and Nauru. Swaraj India party president Yogendra Yadav was detained by police in Tiruvannamala on Saturday for protesting against the eight-lane Salem-Chennai expressway. He was taken to a nearby location along with other farmers who were protesting. After being detained, Yadav said "I came to ask farmers if they really want to give their lands. But within minutes, we were detained. They dragged me and others as well." Yadav said he was not allowed to visit the farmers on account of a law and order situation and "creating unrest in the area." Farmers have been protesting against the project which would connect Chennai and Salem. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer met with India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in New Delhi during the MOVE Summit on 7 September 2018. Spiesshofer's talks with the Prime Minister focused on how ABB can support the government's renewable energy targets, and accelerate public transportation's transition to electric power. Spiesshofer's meeting with the Prime Minister comes at a time when India has set an ambitious target of producing 227 GW of renewable energy by 2022, and has launched an initiative to electrically power majority of its public transport vehicles. India is also investing to make its power grid more resilient in the face of growing demand. In India, ABB is the only company with capabilities spanning the entire electricity value chain, from grid infrastructure, to automation and power management, to electrification, including electric vehicle charging. ABB is a digital leader at the forefront of the Energy and Fourth Industrial Revolutions and has been a leader in electrification and e-mobility for well over a century. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government on Saturday declared that the next edition of Aero India will be held in Bengaluru from February 20 to 24 next year, putting to rest speculation about the venue and date of the trade and defence biennial event. "The government has decided to hold Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru from February 20 to 24, 2019," the Defence Ministry said in a statement in Delhi. The 12th edition of the five-day biennial event will be held at the Yelahanka base of the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Bengaluru's northern outskirts. "The trade event will showcase technologies and products of global and Indian aerospace and defence firms, with static and flying display of military and civil aircraft, including fighters, jets, helicopters and air weapons. The announcement comes amid speculation that the government has decided to shift the show to Lucknow where a huge defence corridor linking Agra, Aligarh, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi and Chitrakoot in Bundelkhand region is being built at an estimated cost of Rs 20,000 crore. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too had urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to hold the event ahead of next year's Lok Sabha elections in the state that sends the maximum 80 members to Parliament's Lower House. It was also speculated that the government had decided to advance the show to be held later this year. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had made it clear that no announcement had been made even as "people in many places are asking for (the show to be held in their states)." The Defence Ministry had also received requests from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha and Tamil Nadu to host the next show. But all those apprehensions have been dispelled. The 12th edition will host global leaders and investors in the aerospace industry, think tanks from around the world, providing an opportunity to exchange information, ideas and new developments in the industry, the ministry statement said. "The air show will also give a fillip to the domestic aviation and further the cause of 'Make in India'. The defence production department is committed to ensure a result-oriented air show," the statement added. The Karnataka government welcomed the ministry's decision to hold the air show in Bengaluru only. "It's a great relief that the air show is not moving out of the city, which is also the country's aerospace hub. We thank the Defence Ministry for the right decision," a senior official in the Chief Minister's Office told IANS in Bengaluru. The official confirmation on continuing the air show in Bengaluru came within a month after Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to hold it in Karnataka as in the past two decades. "I seek your intervention for conducting the 12th edition of Aero India-2019 in Bengaluru, where the mega event was held for 11 times biennially since 1996," said Kumaraswamy in a letter to Modi on August 13. "As the hub of defence and aerospace majors in the country, Bengaluru is the most suitable place to conduct Asia's premier air show, as evident from the huge response it got from the world over in the last 22 years," noted the letter. In the 11th edition, held from February 14 to 18, 2017, 549 firms -- both global and Indian -- from 51 countries participated. "Bengaluru has become synonymous with the air show for which the defence ministry and the state government had invested in upgrading infrastructure, including the air base, roads, highways and public amenities," said the letter. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar also said in a tweet on August 13 that Sitharaman had clarified to him that no decision was taken to shift the air show to Lucknow from Bengaluru. --IANS bha-fb-sar/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jack Ma, Alibabas co-founder and executive chairman, has said that he plans to step down from the Chinese e-commerce giant on Monday to pursue philanthropy in education, a changing of the guard for the $420 billion internet company. In an exclusive New York Times interview, the Chinese billionaire said on Friday that his retirement was not the end of an era but "the beginning of an era". "I love education," the Chinese billionaire said, adding that he would be spending more of his time and fortune focused on education. A former English teacher, Ma co-founded Alibaba with 17 others out of his apartment in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in 1999. He built it into one of the world's most consequential e-commerce and digital payments companies, transforming how Chinese people shop and pay for things which fueled his net worth to more than $40 billion, making him China's richest man. Ma is revered by many Chinese, some of whom have put his portrait in their homes to worship in the same way that they worship the God of Wealth. Ma will remain on Alibaba's board of directors and continue to mentor the company's management. He will turn 54 on Monday, which is also a holiday in China known as Teacher's Day. The retirement makes Ma one of the first founders among a generation of prominent Chinese internet entrepreneurs to step down from their companies. Firms including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and JD.com have flourished in recent years, growing to nearly rival American internet behemoths like Amazon and Google in their size, scope and ambition. Last month, Alibaba reported a 60 per cent increase in quarterly sales, even as profits fell. The company's annual revenue totals about 250 billion yuan ($40 billion). For Chinese tycoons to step aside in their 50s is rare; they usually remain at the top of their organisations for many years. In an interview earlier this week, Ma had signaled that he was thinking about focusing more on philanthropy. He cited the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates as an example. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lending major Axis Bank's long serving Chief Executive and Managing Director Shikha Sharma's reign will come to an end on December 31, 2018 and she will be succeeded by Amitabh Chaudhry. On Saturday, the bank announced that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Chaudhry for a period of 3 years, with effect from January 1, 2019 up to December 31, 2021. Sharma has served as the bank's Managing Director and CEO for around 9 years. In this period, she has been credited with the bank's next stage of growth. However, the rise in the bank's NPA levels became a major cause of concern during her tenure. The incoming Chief Executive and Managing Director of the lending major, Chaudhry, 54, is the Managing Director and CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company. In April, the lending major had commenced the "succession process to appoint a new Managing Director and CEO". The company' Board had appointed Egon Zehnder, a global leadership advisory firm, to conduct the succession process and evaluate candidates. On April 9, Axis Bank accepted Sharma's request to be re-appointed for a shorter duration of time, subject to regulatory approval. Sharma had requested to be on a revised re-appointed period from June 1, 2018 up to December 31, 2018. The board had earlier decided to re-appoint Sharma for a period of 3 years from June 1, 2018, subject to approvals. --IANS rv-vsc/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Leading by example, Kulpi block in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district has achieved 99 per cent institutional child delivery by providing state-of-the-art facilities, according to an official. "We achieved almost 99 per cent institutional delivery in the year 2017-2018, as per the Health Management report by the government of India," said Tridip Das, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Health, Diamond Harbour Health District. Explaining the details of their endeavour, A. S. Md. Mahfuz-ul Karim, Block Medical Officer, Health (BMOH), Kulpi Rural Hospital said: "We had to win the faith of the rural community people and women who were comfortable in delivering their babies at home. With the help of the government and Unicef, we addressed the problems of infrastructure, the lack of training, security of the women and spreading awareness with the help of ASHA workers." Kulpi is around 62 kms from Kolkata. According to Karim, the look and feel or the ambience of a rural hospital can do magic in winning the faith of the people. Hence, the transformed labour rooms, postnatal wards, played a major role. "We made sure that just because it is a government hospital, a patient shouldn't lie on the floors and hygiene be neglected," Karim told a group of visiting journalists on Friday. ANANDI, an initiative to promote institutional delivery and Routine Immunization was launched on August 20, 2015, in South 24 Parganas. Unicef provided technical support in conceptualisation, planning, advocacy, monitoring, supportive supervision and overall guidance to the project. While in the entire South 24 Parganas, the institutional delivery rate improved by 20 per cent points (65 per cent in 2014-2015 to over 90 per cent in 2017-2018). Kulpi is one of the blocks that showed remarkable improvement due to the active participation of BMOH, Medical Officers, Staff Nurses, etc. Also, the ASHA workers play an important role in communicating and convincing the pregnant women. All of them together approached people and 'literally hijacked the women' and brought them to show the hospital in order to motivate them. "We will now focus on 100 per cent immunisation coverage," Karim added. Talking about how child-deliveries in a hospital can be very effective to curb malnutrition, country representative of Unicef Yasmin Ali Haque said: "Only 10 per cent of children in India get adequate quality and quantity of food during their weaning period, that is the major step that needs to be improved. A hospital can play a major role here." --IANS bnd/ssp/ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 20 people were killed and scores of others wounded after a bus carrying employees of a firm plunged into a ravine in West Java province on Saturday, officials said. Daeng Sutikna, senior official at the disaster management agency in Sukabumi district, told Xinhua news agency that six out of the 20 died on the spot and the rest succumbed to injuries on the way to or in hospitals. The bus, as part of a convoy of four buses carrying the employees of PT Catur Putra Group, was heading to a tourist destination in Cikidang for rafting, he said. The driver lost control of the vehicle when it was travelling on a Cikidang road at midday and it plunged into the 30-metre ravine. The bus departed from Bogor district of the province, an official said. --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A domestic helicopter of Altitude Air airline with seven people on board went missing in central Nepal on Saturday, officials said. The chopper, en route from Samagaun of Gorkha district to Kathmandu, went out of contact with the air traffic control tower at 8.05 a.m, the Kathmandu Post reported. There were six passengers including a Japanese tourist and five Nepalis on board, said Nima Nuru Sherpa, Managing Director at Altitude Air Pvt Ltd. Though some local media reported about the possible crash in Dhading district, 50 km away from Kathmandu, the authorities could not confirm as the search and rescue operation was underway. Tribhuvan International Airport General Manager Rajkumar Chhetri said that the helicopter was supposed to land in the capital at 8.18 am. --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Michael Cohen's shell company has filed a status report agreeing to tear up the original 2016 agreement with pornstar Stormy Daniels, in which Donald Trump's former lawyer arranged to pay her $130,000 to stay silent about her alleged affair with the President. This so-called "hush agreement" has been at the root of some of Cohen's legal troubles and scrutinised in the criminal investigation that ultimately led to his plea last month, CNN reported. Cohen was Trump's personal lawyer for years. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels. "Today, Essential Consultants LLC and Michael Cohen have effectively put an end to the lawsuits filed against them by Stephanie Clifford aka Stormy Daniels," Brent Blakely, Cohen's lawyer, said on Friday. "The rescission of the Confidential Settlement Agreement will result in Clifford returning to Essential Consultants the $130,000 she received in consideration, as required by California law." As a part of the status report, Essential Consultants -- the shell company Cohen set up to make the payment to Daniels -- requested that she pay back the $130,000 she received. Michael Avenatti, Daniels' lawyer told CNN: "I haven't had a chance to digest it, I just saw it on my email literally right before I came on. "What they're trying to do is they don't want me to get a chance to depose Michael Cohen and Donald Trump..." Cohen has found himself on the wrong side of the law after the FBI raided his office, hotel room and home in April as a part of the Southern District of New York's investigation. Cohen admitted in August to arranging a non-disclosure agreement with Daniels to buy her silence about her alleged affair with Trump. Cohen pleaded guilty to making an excessive campaign contribution, since the $130,000 payment was made in service of the campaign and exceeded the $2,700 federal limit for campaign donations. --IANS ksk (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) DMK President M.K. Stalin on Saturday said the party has decided to hold protests at various district headquarters on September 18 against the state government. Speaking to reporters here after a meeting of party district secretaries and lawmakers, Stalin said the protests were aimed at the "misrule" of the AIADMK government. He said the DMK demands dismissal of the gutkha scam tainted Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar and Director General of Police (DGP) T.K. Rajendran. Stalin said the party also adopted a resolution urging the state government to call a Cabinet meeting and pass a resolution to release the seven convicts in the late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. He said Governor Banwarilal Purohit should immediately order the release of the seven convicts based on the resolution. --IANS vj/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pokhara, Nepal: At least seven persons feared dead when a manual boat capsized at Begnas Lake in Pokhara on Saturday. Among the 9 passengers boarded in the boat, two were rescued alive, two breathed their last while receiving treatment and five have gone missing in the lake. Safely rescued persons are identified Sapana Khanal, 28, and Nisha Paudel. Likewise, the deceased have been identified as Krishna Kumari Bajgain, 55 of Pokhara Municipality-28 and Jamuna Kandel, 42 of Tanahun. Appreciating the Assam Don Bosco University for its effort to make the quality higher affordable, Assam Governor Prof. Jagadish Mukhi on Saturday said the University has brought tremendous value to north-east India. The Governor said this while delivering the key note address in the 7th Convocation ceremony of the Assam Don Bosco University. He said the Assam Don Bosco University deserves praise for making professional and higher accessible to the weaker sections of society. "For all the graduating students, you have worked so hard and come so far to reach this milestone. This day is a celebration for you, your families, your faculty and for everyone at this University who supported you in this journey," Prof. Mukhi said. He said that with a youth population of about 600 million, more than half of India's population are under 25 years old. "As per trends, by 2020, India will have the largest young workforce becoming the world's youngest country with a median age of 29 years," he said, adding the role of youth power will collectively determine the future of the country. A total of 766 degrees were conferred; 177 were from Bachelor of Technology alone. Under the Distance Programme of the University, 328 students from 44 countries were also conferred degrees in various disciplines. Gold Medals under various categories were awarded to 17 outstanding graduates with the highest Cumulative Grade Point Average in each programme. --IANS ah/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Donald Trump adviser whose remarks in a London pub sparked the US inquiry into possible collusion with Russia has been sentenced to 14 days in jail. George Papadopoulos, 31, on Friday told the court in Washington he was a "patriotic American" who made a mistake by lying, BBC reported. He pleaded guilty last October to lying to the FBI about the timing of meetings with alleged go-betweens for Moscow. He was the first former Trump aide arrested in the probe into an alleged Kremlin plot to sway the 2016 US vote. US President Donald Trump reacted by taking an apparent swipe at the cost of the investigation into the former aide. In Friday's sentencing, Papadopoulos was also handed 12 months of supervised release, 200 hours of community service, and a fine of $9,500. He said in court that his "entire life has been turned upside down" and he hoped "for a second chance to redeem myself". Papadopoulos concluded by saying "this investigation has global implications, and the truth matters". The Chicago native was a London-based petroleum analyst before he joined the Trump campaign in March 2016 as a volunteer foreign policy adviser. Papadopoulos soon made contact with a mysterious Maltese academic, Joseph Mifsud. The professor told Papadopoulos the Russians had "dirt" on Trump's Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails". The young political operative told Trump, then a Republican presidential candidate, and other members of the campaign's national security team that he could set up a meeting with President Vladimir Putin ahead of the November 2016 election. A pre-sentencing statement last week read: "While some in the room rebuffed George's offer, Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr Sessions, who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it." Papadopoulos told CNN in an interview aired on Friday that Trump "gave me a sort of a nod" and "wasn't committed either way" about the idea of a meeting with the Russian leader. But he said then-senator and now-Attorney General Jeff Sessions "was actually enthusiastic". Last November, Sessions testified to Congress that he had "pushed back" against Papadopoulos' offer. American authorities were alerted in mid-2016 after Papadopoulos told an Australian diplomat during a drinking session in a London pub about his meetings with Professor Mifsud. The envoy alerted US investigators. When the FBI interviewed him in January 2017, Papadopoulos falsely claimed he had met two individuals with Russian ties before he joined the president's team in March 2016. He had actually met them after joining Trump's campaign. One individual was a Russian woman who Papadopoulos believed had connections to the Russian government. Outside court on Friday, Papadopoulos' lawyer, Thomas Breen, said his client was a "fool" and had acted "stupidly" in lying to the FBI. But the attorney said "the president of the US hindered this investigation more than Papadopoulos ever could". He said Mr Trump had hampered the inquiry by calling it a "witch hunt" and "fake news". --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has said he is expecting a "positive" letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Speaking to reporters on Friday on Air Force One, Trump said that "I know that a letter is being delivered to me, a personal letter from Kim Jong Un to me," Xinhua news agency reported. "It was handed at the border yesterday," Trump said. "It's actually an elegant way... and I think it's going to be a positive letter." "The letter is being delivered to me ... I think it's being brought in by Mike Pompeo," he added. At the conclusion of the historic Trump-Kim summit in June, the two sides issued a joint statement, in which they agreed to improve bilateral relations and work together to build a lasting and stable peace regime on the peninsula. However, the current North Korea-US talks have been stuck in an impasse due to their differences in the scale of denuclearization, US sanctions, and whether to issue a war-ending declaration. Kim told South Korea's envoy on Wednesday that he firmly supports and will be devoted to completely removing the danger of armed conflicts and the horrors of war from the Korean Peninsula and turning it into a cradle of peace without nuclear weapons and free from any nuclear threat. Trump tweeted later on Thursday in response, thanking Kim for making such a statement and noting that "we will get it done together," referring to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Also on Thursday, the US State Department said that special representative for North Korea issue, Stephen Biegun, will travel to the capital cities of South Korea, China and Japan on September 10-15 to discuss the denuclearization of North Korea. Biegun "will meet with his counterparts and continue diplomatic efforts to achieve the final, fully verified denuclearization of North Korea as agreed to by Chairman Kim in Singapore," the State Department said in a statement. --IANS pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', who is now the Co-Chairman of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP), called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi here on Saturday to discuss bilateral ties. "The two leaders discussed the progress in India-Nepal relations, as well as other issues of mutual interest," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement. "The Prime Minister fondly recalled their previous interactions, and thanked Dahal for his valuable contributions in strengthening India-Nepal relations," it stated. Modi also said that India-Nepal relations have received a boost with frequent high-level interactions. Modi last visited the Himalayan nation in August to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) regional group's summit. Earlier in the day, Prachanda met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. Following the meeting, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted that the two leaders "exchanged views on advancing bilateral ties between the two countries". Prachanda arrived here on Thursday on a three-day visit with the aim of improving bilateral relations. After the merger of the CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist), Prachanda is sharing the post of Chairman with another co-chair and Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. He aims to become the Prime Minister after Oli completes his tenure. --IANS ab/ahm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ghaziabad police on Saturday rescued an abducted child, for whom his captors had demanded a ransom of Rs 2 crore, from Delhi and arrested five persons, including a minor. The Senior Superintendent of Police Vaibhav Krishna told the media that on Friday a 12-year-old child was abducted from Bal Bharti Vidya Bhawan School in New Kondli area under the New Ashok Nagar police station area. The SSP said around the time the case was registered, the Khoda Inspector learnt that a child had been kept in a house near Vandana Enclave. The police raided the house early on Saturday and rescued the child. Five abductors were also arrested, said the SSP. The police have recovered two countrymade pistols and three knives from them. --IANS sp/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a student in Hazratbal area of Srinagar city on Saturday, police said. Gunmen fired at Ishfaq Ahmad, a student of Islamic University, in Hazratbal area of the city this evening, said a police officer here. "The victim died on the spot. An identify card recovered from the slain person, he was Ishfaq Ahmad, a student of the university. However, the identity is being confirmed. "The area has been cordoned off for searches to trace the assassins," the officer said. Earlier in the day, unidentified gunmen killed an activist of separatist Hurriyat group led by Syed Ali Geelani in Bomai area of Sopore town. The activist, Hakim-ul-Rehman Sultani, had been recently released from jail. --IANS sq/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Asserting that Hindus neither oppose anybody nor aspire to dominate, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said the community needs to unite to end its centuries of sufferings. Speaking at the 2nd World Hindu Congress here, Bhagwat said the key to unite the world is to control ego and accepting the consensus. "We do not have any aspects of dominance. Hindus do not live to oppose anybody. We even allow the pests to live. There are people who may oppose us. You have to tackle them without harming them," said Bhagwat addressing delegates from across the globe. "Why are we suffering for 1000 years? We had everything but we forgot to practise values. We also forgot to work together. Hindu society has largest number of meritorious people in many sectors. But they never come together, stay together. "Coming together of Hindus itself was a difficult task. Earlier, when our Swayamsevaks would try to organise people, they would say 'a lion never walks in a group', but even that lion or a Royal Bengal tiger who is the king of the jungle... if he is alone, wild dogs together can invade and destroy him...," he said calling upon Hindus to unite. The 2nd World Hindu Congress is being held on the occasion of 125th Anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's historic speech at the Parliament of World Religions in 1893. Talking about uniting the world, Bhagwat cited the example of Lord Krishna and Yudhishthir from the Mahabharata, who he said never contradicted each other. "One of the key values to bring the whole world into a team is to have controlled ego and learn to accept the consensus. "It is time the Hindu society showcased its oneness to the world and went back to its ancient wisdom and values," Bhagwat said. He said that the negative influence of ego should always be avoided. "Of all the main characters, Krishna never contradicted Yudhishthir and Yudhishthir never disobeyed Krishna because it is important to work unitedly, keeping your ego aside," he added. --IANS akk-and/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Hurriyet activist was shot on Saturday by unidentified gunmen in Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore area, police said. The gunmen fired at Hakim-ul-Rehman Sultani from close range in Bomai area. "He was immediately shifted to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival". The slain activist was affiliated with the group led by Syed Ali Geelani and had been recently released from jail. --IANS sq/ksk/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Section 377 of the IPC has been repealed, and actor Manoj Bajpayee, who played the lead role in "Aligarh", is celebrating the fall of the draconian law criminalising homosexuality. Manoj said: "When I played the homosexual professor Ramchandra Siras in 'Aligarh', I realised what true loneliness is. The man's isolation was more of an issue to me than his sexual orientation. I feel the Supreme Court verdict is a triumph for all discriminated and persecuted people of our country -- whether it is segregation on the basis of sexual orientation, or gender, or caste or economical condition. "We all need the law and the government to support the weaker sections. If the professor in 'Aligarh' were alive today, he wouldn't have to die." The actor recalled the struggle he went through while playing the gay professor. "I felt the man's isolation, his need for companionship more than sex. All our friends in the LGBT community need our help and support. This Supreme Court verdict is one major step in normalising the status of gay people. But we are a long way off from giving them their due rights." Contrary to many, Manoj doesn't feel the industry to be particularly homophobic. "There is as much of it in this industry as anywhere else. But I don't think our film industry is specially homophobic. When 'Aligarh' faced so many hurdles, the media stood by us. Although the trailer was given an 'A' certificate and we couldn't show it on television, the channels still invited us to promote the film on music and dance shows. "When we had a special screening, everyone who is someone came forward to see and recommend the film. So I would say our industry is inclusive and liberal to a large extent." Manoj feels the need for films which highlight the problems of fringe communities. "In my new film 'Gali Guleiyan', I play a man who is even more isolated and lonely than the gay man in 'Aligarh'. Such films need support. I am proud to play discriminated characters. What frustrates me is the lack of movie theatres and proper show timings for such films. "I am bitter about the film exhibitors' obsession with mainstream masala films at a time when public tastes are changing radically." --IANS skj/rb/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday summoned Iraq's ambassador in Tehran to protest the burning of the Iranian consulate in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. In a statement, ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi blamed the Basra police for withdrawing from the area around the Iranian consulate on Friday night, amid a week of protests in southern Iraq in which government offices and political party headquarters have also been set on fire. Iran has wielded significant influence in Iraq in the wake of the US' invasion in 2003, particularly in the country's south, but this political power has led Iraqi protesters to direct some of the blame towards Iran for government corruption, unemployment and the lack of basic services such as water and electricity. Iraqi authorities confirmed that at least three protesters died during Friday's protests, raising the death toll to at least 13, while around 50 protesters were wounded in clashes with security forces overnight. On Saturday, three mortar rounds were fired at Basra's airport but landed in an open area, security sources told Efe news. Basra, which sits in the heart of some of Iraq's largest oil fields, has been the scene of anti-government protests since July, which intensified this week as tens of thousands of people in Basra were made ill due water contamination. --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Police has arrested a member of a banned Manipuri organisation who was involved in threatening state Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh. On August 28, Delhi Police apprehended his associate, OinamIbochouba Singh from Kotla Mubarakpur area. His interrogation led to the arrest of Kangleipak Communist Party's Moirangthem Rana Pratap, 37, from Manipur. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Sanjeev Kumar Yadav said Pratap was arrested from Manipur's Bishnupur area on September 4. "Pratap has been involved in several terror activities and extortion cases in Manipur. He was negotiating to surrender but simultaneously kept carrying on his anti-national activities. He is also wanted by the NIA in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act," Yadav said. A reward of Rs 2 lakh was declared for his apprehension by the National Investigation Agency (NIA). "In the second week of August, after proposed agitations by Manipur University Students Union, Manipur Teacher's Association and other groups, for the university's Vice-Chancellor's removal, Pratap circulated a threatening audio message that if the Chief Minister failed to resolve the issue within one month, he will be targeted and killed by their banned terrorist outfit," the officer said. He was earlier arrested in 2005. After getting released from jail, he continued terror activities and in order to evade the police dragnet, he escaped to Nepal. "He continued and managed his terrorist activities in Manipur, while sitting in Pokhra, Nepal. He extorted money from different government authorities, local businessmen, schools etc. by threatening them with demand letters. He was living clandestinely in Nepal since the last five years," the officer said. Along with him, two of his associates -- Inugbam Sanatombi Devi and Pukhrihongbam Ibomcha -- were also arrested. The trio was involved in several terror related activities like lobbing of grenades, shoot-outs, killings, planting of bombs, running extortion networks by intimidating businessmen and politicians etc. One 9 mm pistol and two hand grenades were also recovered from their possession. --IANS mg/mag/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amnesty International on Saturday castigated the Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for doing little to ensure justice and rehabilitation for the survivors of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal violence. On the fifth anniversary of the deadly riots in Muzaffarnagar district that claimed at least 60 lives and displaced over 50,000 people, the Amnesty International India blamed the state government's apathy for seven gang-rape survivors still awaiting justice and the displaced continuing to look for rehabilitation. "The Uttar Pradesh government has forgotten the riot survivors of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. The state has done very little to redress the injustice they have faced. The government's attempt at rehabilitation and compensation has been woefully inadequate", said Asmita Basu, Programmes Director, Amnesty International India. She said justice remained elusive for the seven gangrape survivors who have received little assistance from authorities to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. "There has not been even one conviction in any of the seven cases so far. In 2016, one of the survivors died during childbirth," she said. Quoting one of the survivors, a mother of five, Amnesty International India said the victims have lost all hope of getting justice and are now hoping for survival of their families. "Their rapists are out in the open for years now. Women are scared to pursue their cases and they cannot be blamed for this. There are media reports of compromises being made and of money being offered and accepted by many of the seven families. We need to understand the realities in which these women have survived all these years. They are scared and have lost all faith in the system," said Rehana Adeeb, an activist working with the survivors. THe rights body said an overwhelming majority of families in resettlement colonies lack access to basic services like clean drinking water and drainage facilities. "The Uttar Pradesh government's callous treatment of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli riot survivors is a breach of its commitment to uphold basic constitutional values. The riot survivors have been forced to live in a vicious cycle of poverty and discrimination. The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister must ensure that the voices of the survivors are heard immediately and justice is delayed no further", added Basu. --IANS (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nokia's next flagship " 9" is being speculated to host a penta-camera setup at the back, according to the leaked images surfacing in the media. The images suggest that the rear camera system hosts five lenses, an LED flash and an infrared (IR) focusing apparatus. The roles of these five lenses would be telephoto, black white, colour and multi-lens pixel synthesis, The Next Web (TNW) reported late on Friday. The smartphone, internally codenamed "TA-1094," appears to sport the cameras in a flower-like pattern with one shooter in the centre, surrounded by the others along with an approval-seal from Zeiss. Zeiss has been a long-standing camera partner for phones and the company has also reportedly "applied for a patent on a miniaturised camera zoom system - which looks similar to the one in the leaked photo," the report added. Previously, an image of the " 9" was shared by tech website Slashleaks which also showed a five-camera setup at the back of a blue-coloured Dual-rear cameras have been a trending fashion in recent until Chinese giant launched its "P20 Pro" earlier this year, featuring three secondary cameras. There has been no word from Nokia about the specifications or the launch date of its next flagship smartphone as yet. Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi on Saturday and both the leaders agreed to strengthen the strategic cooperation partnership between the two countries. Wang, who is on a three-day official visit to Pakistan, and Qureshi held a joint press conference at the Foreign Office after having a one-on-one meeting and delegation-level talks, Geo News reported. "Relations with China are an integral part of our foreign policy and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the new government's top priority," said Qureshi. "Pakistan has played a key role in eliminating terrorism and China appreciated Pakistan's sacrifices in the war on terror. We are proud of Pakistan and China's friendship," Qureshi said after the meeting, adding that the friendship had "withstood every test". He said that the purpose of the Chinese Foreign Minister's meeting was to increase communication with the new government. On his part, Wang said: "We want to strengthen relations with Pakistan. Had a positive meeting with Qureshi." This is the first official visit by a Chinese dignitary since the new government was formed in Pakistan. Wang extended an invitation to Prime Minister Imran Khan to be the guest of honour at the International Import Expo in China. "The Chinese Foreign Minister has invited the Prime Minister to visit the country in November," Qureshi said. In addition to meeting Qureshi, Wang will meet Khan, outgoing President Mamnoon Hussain, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa. He is also likely to meet President-elect Arif Alvi. Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said that Wang "underscored Beijing's firm support to Pakistan's socio-economic progress and development". Both ministers resolved to strengthen strategic cooperation and China was assured of Pakistan's continued commitment to the CPEC as a priority project, the report said. Wang Yi had arrived in the capital on Friday. --IANS soni/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Film: Paltan; Director: J.P. Dutta; Starring: Arjun Rampal, Harshvardhan Rane, Gurmeet Chowdhary; Rating: ** For what seems like an intermittent period of acute stock-taking "Paltan" looks like J.P. Dutta's "LOC Kargil" minus the stars. In LOC, we had the likes of Sanjay Dutt, Saif Ali Khan, Abhishek Bachchan Aand Nagarjuna playing soldier. In "Paltan", it's the likes of Arjun Rampal, Gurmeet Chowdhary and Luv Sinha playing soldier-soldier. Recession is upon us. The film is very beautifully shot in a toasted-brown splendor and the background score (by Sanjoy Chowdhary) is effective even when it has to support some of the cheesiest dialogues on valour written outside Doordrashan's "Shaktimaan". But the songs by Anu Malik are insipid re-hashes of what Malik made in Dutta's "Border". Where are the great J.P. Dutta melodies from his war movies? And where are those heartstopping moments of patriotic heroism that made "Border" so unforgettable? In sequence after sequence, we see Indian soldiers indulging in juvenile fistfights across the fence (more barbed than the verbal abuse) as though they were fighting for a spot in the school playground rather than land for the country. The Chinese soldiers are portrayed as buffoons and caricatures. But then that is only to be expected in a film that mistakes border-bashing as patriotism. To his credit, J.P. Dutta manages to make the frames look energized when the soldiers run across the borderline with rifles. However, repetitive shots of border dispute and territorial skirmish make this war film a tedious watch. Among the performers, Harshvardhan Rane acts with passion his part of a hotheaded soldier determined to avenge India's humiliating defeat with China in 1962. But to have Rane and Gurmeet Chowdhary take off their shirts merely because they have the physique is akin to triggering off a war just because the troops are ready. Esha Gupta appears in two shots wearing a white saree. Hard to recognize her fully clothed. Fine actors like Arjun Rampal and Jackie Shroff struggle to keep the proceedings dignified in the midst of maelstrom of hefty hamming. The actors playing the waiting and wailing family members of the soldiers pull out all stops. In an early sequence, a postman delivers sobering news of martrydom in house after house in one housing colony. The sounds of wailing are so clocked to seem like recorded messages . The emotions are thus rendered clinical. The flashbacks are platitudinous to the point of being absurd. In one such romantic flashback Gurmeet Chowdhary's screen beloved nibbles on a large container of gur (jaggery) as he suggests they move into the nearby khet for some serious hanky-panky. I almost expected the above scene with the gur to merge into pun-filled dig at the 'Chini' (Chinese, also sugar). But it seems no one thought of getting clever at the characters' cost. It is not their fault if they are in a film that is relevant but ultimately of no consequence to us. We expected J.P. Dutta to tell us why war is not a viable option for India at any given time. Instead, all we get is repeated shots of the soldier-heroes exercising their soldierly right to be a bully with the neighbours. --IANS skj/pgh/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The reason Pluto lost its planet status is not valid and is erroneous, scientists argued challenging previously held theories. A team led by Philip Metzger, planetary scientist at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, noted that the basis on which Pluto was rejected as a planet has no support in the research literature. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) -- a global group of astronomy experts -- established that to be called a planet, it is required to "clear" its orbit, or in other words, be the largest gravitational force in its orbit. As per the definition, Pluto does not meet the criteria, since Neptune's gravity influences it, and Pluto shares its orbit with frozen gases and objects in the Kuiper belt. "The IAU definition would say that the fundamental object of planetary science, the planet, is supposed to be defined on the basis of a concept that nobody uses in their research," Metzger said. "And it would leave out the second-most complex, interesting planet in our solar system," he added, in the paper published in the journal Icarus. Reviewing scientific literature from the past 200 years, Metzger found only one publication, from 1802, that used the clearing-orbit requirement to classify planets, and it was based on since-disproven reasoning. "It's a sloppy definition," Metzger said, adding "they didn't say what they meant by clearing their orbit. If you take that literally, then there are no planets, because no planet clears its orbit." According to co-author Kirby Runyon, from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, the IAU's definition was erroneous since the literature review showed that clearing orbit is not a standard that is used for distinguishing asteroids from planets, as the IAU claimed when crafting the 2006 definition of planets. "We showed that this is a false historical claim," Runyon said. "It is therefore fallacious to apply the same reasoning to Pluto." The definition of a planet should not be based on properties that can change, such as the dynamics of a planet's orbit, instead, on if it is large enough that its gravity allows it to become spherical in shape, Metzger said. --IANS rt/mag/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A second economist resigned from Prime Minister Imran Khan's Economic Advisory Council (EAC) on Saturday in protest over the removal of renowned academic Dr Atif Mian from the body due to his Ahmadi faith. "With a heavy heart, I have resigned from the EAC this morning," Dr Imran Rasul, a professor of economics at University College London, said in a tweet. "I wish the government and EAC luck in their future work and remain willing to offer non-partisan, evidence based advice that can help improve economic policy making in the country," he said. His resignation came a day after another EAC member Dr Asim ljaz Khwaja, a professor of International Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, resigned hours after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government asked his colleague Dr Atif Mian to step down on Friday, Geo News reported. Dr Atif Mian, a professor at Princeton University and Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy, had been appointed to the body last week and said he was resigning because the government was facing pressure from religio-political parties regarding his appointment. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry had taken to Twitter about Dr Atif Mian's removal, saying: "The government wants to move forward alongside scholars and all social groups, and it is inappropriate if a single nomination creates an impression to the contrary." The appointment of Dr Atif Mian to the 18-member EAC set up to advise the government on economic policy was opposed by some individuals and groups, including Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, who objected to his Ahmadi faith. A social media smear campaign had erupted against Dr Atif Mian's appointment, with many calling for his removal. On the other hand, there were a large number of supporters who defended his appointment on the social media, saying that one's religion should not factor into their professional qualifications or employment. --IANS soni/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to Syria, scheduled for next week, has been postponed, a senior official said on Saturday. "EAM's visit to Syria has been deferred due to the prevailing situation in that country," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in response to a query. "Fresh dates will be decided in mutual consultation with the Syrian side," Kumar said. This would have been the first high-level visit from India to Syria since civil war broke out in that West Asia nation in 2011. Sushma Swaraj was supposed to lead a delegation to hold a joint commission meeting with the Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Moualem. Media reports earlier quoted Syrian Ambassador to India Riad Abbas as saying that the visit would have taken place around September 14. India has supported Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight against the Islamic State terrorist organisation. --IANS ab/anp/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actress Deepika Padukone has urged women to indulge in self-care and to take some time off their various roles for themselves without feeling guilty about doing so. "Women have a tendency of feeling a lot of guilt. We are always trying to be perfect in playing different roles, so I feel it is important to take time for yourself and do it without guilt. Even if women go for a spa session, most women are thinking 'Oh, I have to go pick my kids from school' or 'My husband must be coming home'. "Women are constantly worrying about someone else... But it's okay to take time for yourself and do it without guilt," Deepika said at an event on 'Finding Beauty in Imperfection', organised by Ficci Ladies Organisation (FLO). In a pristine white ensemble and with her hair neatly tied, Deepika gave a motivational talk on how she dealt with depression, and the work being done by her NGO The Live Love Laugh Foundation, which was founded in 2015 and deals with mental health issues. What Deepika was not ready to talk about was the speculation around her November wedding to actor Ranveer Singh. "I am certainly not answering this question... It's an extremely insensitive question to ask at an event like this," Deepika told a scribe who questioned about it. However, the actress was at peace while she spoke how sharing her own experience of dealing with depression was life-changing for her. "Sharing my experience with depression made me feel lighter. It was like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders, I felt transparent with no fear of being judged," Deepika said, adding that it left her happier, more sensitive, aware, and with an understanding of how fragile life is. One of the highest paid actresses of India, Deepika, who started her career with "Om Shanti Om" over a decade ago, says when she had come out to tell the world of her battle with depression, she didn't think of it as being "brave or revolutionary." "I just felt that it was important for me to share something that was very personal to me, something that had changed my life, and something that I felt had a lot of stigma when I was experiencing it. "I remember telling myself and all the people around me during my journey of recovery, and saying that if by sharing my story, I can even save one life... The purpose is that... Having this conversation is itself a huge step in that direction of change that our country really needs to see, and we are definitely headed in the right direction. But we have a long way to go," Deepika said. She outlined the "big difference" between sadness and depression, and said while people suffering depression must be willing to seek help, those around them need to treat them with love and understanding. --IANS rb/nv/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu has left it to party's Telangana unit to decide alliance with Congress and other parties for the Assembly elections in the state. Naidu told the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders of Telangana on Saturday that it's for them to decide on the alliance. He discussed TDP's strategy with the party leaders. Naidu reportedly dropped hints that he would not be in a position to campaign for the party in Telangana. The TDP chief's move comes in the wake of reports that main opposition Congress party is ready to have an alliance with TDP, the Left parties and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) to take on ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Thursday dissolved the state Assembly. The elections are likely to be held by year-end along with four other states. While addressing TDP leaders, Naidu avoided direct reference to the Congress. He remarked that ups and downs were common for TDP in its 35-year history. Naidu claimed that if Telangana is a revenue-surplus state, it was because of the efforts he made during his stint as the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister said that he wants progress and prosperity of both the Telugu states. He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to pitch Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao against him by stating that Rao displayed maturity. Naidu also criticized Modi for the manner in which he rolled out demonetization and claimed that this exercise failed to achieve any purpose and ended up causing inconvenience to the people. TDP's Telangana unit chief L. Ramna and other leaders told Naidu that TDP's support base remained intact in Telangana despite several leaders crossing over to TRS during last four years. TDP bagged 15 seats in 119-member Telangana Assembly in 2014 elections. However, 13 of its legislators have switched loyalties to the ruling party. --IANS ms/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Wire, 7 September 2018 Mounting state repression acknowledges the growing solidarity among the oppressed. The August assault has opened up political possibilities for the opposition in the run up to 2019. The arrest of five human rights activists on August 28 and the strong condemnation this has invited from a wide spectrum of people all over India may become a landmark in the history of Indian democracy, especially given the judicial proceedings which have been triggered. Some implications of this development have already become clear and more will crystallise as the case unfolds. The most conspicuous message that has emerged is the centrality of human rights to a democracy. This is seen by the current dispensation as posing the greatest challenge to their political power. Wave after wave has repressed human rights workers in the country. After G.N. Saibabaas arrest and prosecution, the Bhima Koregaon case has become the launching pad for the next wave. The Elgaar Parishad meeting on December 31, 2017, organised by retired Supreme Court justice P.B. Sawant to ensure goodwill among Dalits and Marathas during the rally commemorating the Bhima Koregaon victory on January 1, has been built up as a major conspiracy case. The first FIR was revised to declare a link between the Dalit initiative and Maoists and five civil liberty activists were arrested, which included the lawyer representing Saibaba: Surendra Gadling. Rona Wilson, one of the main activists in the campaign for the release of political prisoners, including Saibaba, was also arrested. Now the police claim that from their interrogation, the activists arrested on August 28 were identified. Together, they seem to pose such a threat to the regime that charges of a conspiracy against Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been framed a something that is totally denied by the arrested. Who are these activists? Newspaper headlines mentioned that the arrests and raids were conducted on arights activistsa. Indeed Gautam Navlakha, the accomplished journalist and writer who was with Economic and Political Weekly for many years, is a founder-member of the Peopleas Union for Democratic Rights, Delhi (PUDR). He has been part of fact-finding committees and prepared reports on issues such as denial of minimum wages in Bihar, atrocities against Adivasis, false encounters, communal violence, violation of rule of law and human rights in different parts of the country including northeast and Kashmir. Navlakha also contributed to aWho are the Guilty?a, the report jointly produced by PUDR and PUCL on the anti-Sikh carnage of 1984. It reassured the aggrieved Sikh community that there were enough democratic voices in India fighting for truth and justice. The democratic solidarity among people in different parts of India perhaps far surpasses many other bonds. Sudha Bharadwaj, the national vice-president of Peopleas Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has for three decades been living among the workers in mining areas of Chhattisgarh. After obtaining an IIT degree, she decided to work with Shankar Guha Niyogi in the Sahid Hospital attached to the CMMS (Chhatishgarh Mines Mazdoor Sangh) in 1986. After Niyogi was murdered by killers hired by industrialists in 1991 and increased repression by paramilitary and police, Bharadwaj and many other PUCL members began taking up cases of harassed Adivasis. Operation Green Hunt systematically became more violent as the armed forces were deployed to liquidate Maoist cadre and their sympathisers. The Salwa Judum, later declared illegal by the Supreme Court, was used by the government agencies to destroy villages in Maoist areas and relocate them. Binayak Senas arrest in 2007 on similar charges levelled against the current group was also declared illegal by the Supreme Court. The story of Adivasis in Chhattisgarh struggling to protect their land and forest rights from being taken over by corporations with strong arm support by the government is well known. Bharadwaj decided to acquire a law degree from Ravi Shankar University to fight cases of Adivasis. She is now a visiting professor at National Law University, Delhi, offering students her expertise. However, she still spends most of her time personally supervising legal cases in Chhattisgarh courts and police stations. As a rights activist, she has inherited the aura of Shankar Guha Niyogi, who presented creative methods of organising the unorganised and seeking political power for the people of Chhattisgarh through self-rule to pursue a path of equitable development. The women of Chhattisgarh, especially poor Adivasis and Dalit women, women workers of Dalli Rajhara mines and industries around Bhilai today believe that with Sudha didi around, they cannot be exploited. No wonder that one of the strongest protest against her arrest has come from Women against Sexual Exploitation and Repression. Arun Ferreira, Vernon Gonsalves and Anand Teltumbde a who was not present at his house when the police raided it a are also human rights activists of longstanding. So is Father Stan Swamy, the priest in Ranchi who is a strong defender of tribal peopleas rights over natural resources and who has been on the forefront of the movements against displacement. Anand Teltumbde, fabled management guru currently with the Goa Institute of Management, has also been involved in the human rights movement for over thirty years. Currently the secretary of CPDR (Committee for the Protection of Democratic Rights), he is a well-known author of books on the caste question. He is among the top intellectuals of India, much sought after for public events. Varavara Rao, the famous poet has experienced repression many times before. Founder of Virasam (Revolutionary Writers Association), his poetry has given meaning to the aspirations of the oppressed people, their creative labour that has built human civilisation. His lyrics have celebrated the richness and beauty of nature sustained by the Adivasis. Every bout of repression attempted against this 78-year-old poet has made him even more radiant. These activists and their human rights work have fostered Indian democracy, making people believe that through courts and public campaigns, rights promised in the Indian Constitution can be realised. During the Emergency, human rights included civil liberties like the freedom of expression, right to dissent, right to life, right to vote and democratic rights comprising of civil liberties as well as socio-economic rights such as right to minimum wage, education, healthcare, housing, culture, language, dignity irrespective of caste, gender, religion and so on. The human rights movement has evolved together with the growth of the peopleas movements such as the womenas movement, Dalit movement and environmental activism, besides workers and peasant movements. Public opinion in India is divided between appreciating their work and finding ways to take it forward as a means of strengthening Indian democracy, and condemning them as stumbling blocks for Indiaas economic growth or national security. Mounting state repression acknowledges the growing solidarity among movements of oppressed sections for basic rights. This formidable opposition forged by the people is yet to be fully appreciated by political parties, even though all opposition parties have condemned the arrests. If they fully grasp the meaning of the August assault and the political possibilities provided by these arrests and raids a they are likely to multiply in the months before the 2019 elections a then the agenda of all parties will be to work for the realisation of human rights. Manoranjan Mohanty is a former professor of Delhi University and is a member of the Peopleas Union for Democratic Rights. London-based economist Imran Rasul became the second member of Prime Minister Imran Khan's Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to resign after Atif Mian stepped down from the body following a backlash in Pakistan over his Ahmadi faith. "With a heavy heart, I have resigned from the EAC this (Saturday) morning," Rasul, a professor of economics at University College London (UCL), tweeted. "The circumstances in which Atif was asked to step down are ones I profoundly disagree with," Rasul said in a series of tweets. His resignation comes a day after two prominent Pakistani economists resigned from the EAC after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government asked one of them to step down. Atif Mian, a professor at Princeton University and Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy, had said he was resigning because the government was facing pressure regarding his appointment. Terming the reasons for Atif's removal and subsequent resignation as "irrelevant factors", Rasul expressed his disappointment and said it would be hard to replace the Princeton economist. Commenting on the formation of the economic body, Rasul said the body offered a great opportunity for better economic policies but "events these past 10 days have shown the best and worst of Pakistani at the moment". On Thursday, protesting the government's decision to withdraw the nomination of Atif Mian on the EAC, celebrated economist Asim Ijaz Khwaja resigned from the newly-formed body, saying "being a Muslim I can't justify this". Khwaja - who was one of the initial 18 members of the EAC that Mian was part of - announced his decision on Twitter shortly after news spread that Mian was not part of the EAC. The first meeting of the recently reconstituted EAC was presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan. With the resignation of Rasul, all three international economists of Pakistani origin on the council are no longer part of the advisory body. --IANS ahm/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) is facing rebellion from some leaders who are unhappy over being denied ticket to contest the elections to Telangana Assembly. Local TRS leaders in various districts have openly lashed out at the leadership. Two prominent leaders have raised a banner of revolt. Former MP Ramesh Rathod has announced that he is resigning from the party while former minister Konda Surekha has declared that she is ready to contest as an independent candidate. Surekha and Ramesh did not figure in the list of 105 candidates announced by TRS president and caretaker Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao shortly after dissolving the state Assembly on Thursday. The TRS has withheld the names of the candidates for 14 constituencies including Warangal East, which Surekha represented in the dissolved Assembly. Surekha told reporters on Saturday that the TRS leadership has "insulted" a woman leader of the backward classes. She along with her husband, a former legislator, Murali, slammed the leadership for not announcing her candidature. Surekha, who was minister in Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy cabinet in undivided Andhra Pradesh, joined TRS on the eve of 2014 elections. Surekha, a four-time legislator and one of the key leaders in Warangal district, alleged that TRS leadership wants to deny her the ticket. Surekha said she won the previous election with a majority of 50,000 votes. She also claimed that TRS chief had gone back on the assurance to make her a minister. She claimed that she can contest as an independent and win the election as her family enjoys people's support. On the other hand, former Member of Parliament Ramesh Rathod, a former MP from Adilabad constituency, said he would soon decide about joining Congress. Rathod had quit Telugu Desam Party (TDP) to join TRS last year. He was an aspirant of ticket from Khanapur Assembly constituency, but the party has announced Rekha Naik as the candidate. He said he would contest from Khanapur. "Even if KCR contests from Khanapur, I will win the election," he said. --IANS ms/prs (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After two days of delay due to the absence of the Houthi delegation, one of the major warring parties in the conflict in Yemen, the new round of UN-led peace talks collapsed on Saturday. The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths told a press conference here that the world body failed to get the Houthi delegation to the talks, Xinhua news agency reported. Stressing that the UN will sooner or later bring the parties together, Griffiths said the Houthi delegation was actually keen to travel to Geneva for the peace talks, and that he doesn't take this as a "fundamental blockage" in the political process. "They would have liked to get here. We didn't make conditions sufficiently correct to get them here," Griffiths said, adding that it was "too early to say when the next round of consultations will take place". However, he did not go into details on why the Houthis did not show up. Media reports from Yemeni capital Sana'a said that the Houthis will not join peace talks in Geneva until their minute conditions were met, while another report said the Houthi delegation was stranded in Sana'a because the Saudi-led coalition, which controls the airspace, had not given their permission to fly. "The consultation process has started. We had three days of fruitful discussions with the delegation of the government of Yemen as planned and the consultations will continue in Muscat and Sana'a," the UN envoy said, adding that he will travel to the region in the coming days. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) So you mentioned the defensive units and acquisitions part and the S-400 plays into that, but I wanted to start with something more immediate perhaps and the oil from Iran and getting down to zero by November 4th. The Secretary mentioned that thats going to come up, but are we looking for any specific commitments on that coming out of this particular 2+2? Senior state department official: Im sure it will be discussed today. We are asking all of our partners, not just India, to reduce to zero the oil exports or oil imports from Iran, and so Im confident that ... Mounting attack against the BJP on issue, the Congress on Saturday asked the Centre how the price of the fighter aircraft went up when 'India-specific enhancements' for it were the same as were decided during the UPA rule. Seeking replies from Prime Minister and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala asked when the 'associated systems and weapons' were the same as approved by the Indian Air Force during UPA regime, then how did the cost per aircraft had gone up now. Accusing the NDA government at the Centre of "compromising security", the Congress leader asked why did the BJP-led Centre allegedly forego 'transfer of technology' and reduced the number of aircraft under from 126 to 36. "It is now clear that the 'India-specific enhancements' mentioned by Modi and Sitharaman on the floor of Parliament and outside are those which were pre-decided by IAF at the time tender of 126 Rafale fighter aircrafts issued by Congress-led UPA government," Surjewala said. He claimed that air staff qualitative requirements provided for 13 India-specific enhancements during UPA rule, which were radar-enhancements, helmet-mounted display, towed decoy system, low-band jammer, radio altimeter and ability to start and operate from high altitude airfields. "If these specifications had been pre-decided during UPA government and these are the same on which the Modi government is buying Rafale fighter aircraft then why Rs 41,000 crore loss was being caused to public?" Surjewala, who is also an MLA from Kaithal, said. Slamming the Modi government for its claims that there was no contract for transfer of technology under the during the UPA rule, the Congress leader said according to a PIB release, the RFP issued by UPA government completely exposes the "lies" of the prime minister and the defence minister. "It mentions transfer of technology, licensed production, and lifetime maintenance support for the aircraft. This RFP was issued in 2007," he said. "Why did the Modi government forego transfer of technology for manufacture of next generation Rafale fighter aircraft to India through public sector HAL and despite foregoing transfer of technology, how did the cost increase?" he asked. He claimed that the first Rafale fighter jet will be delivered by September 2019 and rest would be delivered by September 2022. "What is more alarming is the fact that these aircraft would not have India-specific enhancements and all these will get uploaded after 2022. With threats from Pakistan and China looming large, does it not compromise security," Surjewala asked. To a question on whether Congress will review the deal if it comes to power in 2019, he said if this government does not constitute a Joint Parliamentary Committee over the issue, a probe would be initiated. Taking on BJP for mocking Congress president on his pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, Surjewala said those who try to "obstruct" the anybody's pilgrimage, they become the part of "curse and sin". A group of 15 students from a Jammu and Kashmir college was mesmerised by the beauty of Taj Majal and Agra Fort during their visit to Agra on Saturday as part of a capacity-building tour organised by the Army. The students, who were accompanied by two teachers, expressed happiness over the opportunity presented to them by the Indian Army to visit such historical places, an Army officer said. The tour was flagged off on September 1 from Nubra Valley in Jammu and Kashmir and made halts at Jammu, Chandigarh and Delhi, the officer added. In Chandigarh, the students visited various educational institutions, including the Army Law College, the NTT College, the PEC and the MCM DAV College. In Delhi, they visited the Jawaharlal Nehru University, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and a few places of historical significance. The students also had an opportunity to interact with President Ram Nath Kovind in Delhi, the officer said. The Army organises a number of such educational awareness and capacity-building tours, mostly for students, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two persons at Buguda in Ganjam district, the police said on Saturday. The incident took place on Thursday night and police rescued the girl in a critical condition the following day from a deserted place near a high school in the town. The two accused were arrested and an auto-rickshaw in which they had taken the minor girl before committing the crime was also seized. Police said one accused, who was known to the girl and had promised to marry her, invited the minor for a visit to the market Thursday evening. As he took the girl to a deserted place, the other accused joined and both took turn to rape her. Medical test of both the accused and the girl were conducted and investigation was on, they said adding that the girl was undergoing treatment at a hospital. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CEO and vice president of an investment firm have been arrested for allegedly cheating several people of over Rs 27 crore, police said Saturday. The firm had got people to invest in its schemes after promising them a monthly interest of 10 per cent, police added. Sumit Kailash Sharma alias Jahan Khan (30) and Sumail Khan alias Sameer (34) of investment firm Quirky Technology were arrested by Saki Naka police Friday while a hunt was on for Rahul Saxena who they claimed was the mastermind of the racket. Sharma is the vice president and Khan is the chief executive officer of the firm, police said. "The company had promised investors 10 per cent interest every month starting March last year. This attracted hundreds of investors, some of whom got this interest payout till July this year," an official said. However, the interest payments stopped abruptly and queries by investors went unanswered, following which some of them approached police, he said. "Investigations have revealed that between March last year and July 2018, the accused opened 14,083 bank accounts in the name of 3,620 investors and transacted Rs 27.50 crore online," the official said. "The office of the company has been sealed and six bank accounts belonging to the company and its partners have been frozen," said Navinchandra Reddy, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone X. A total of 488 investors have approached police and a sum of Rs 15 crore is yet to be recovered from the accused, an official said. He added that a case under relevant sections of the IPC and Maharashtra Protection of Interests of Depositors had been registered and further probe was underway. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India Today, September 7, 2018 On August 26, the Pune police arrested five persons, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao and Vernon Gonsalves, ostensibly in the course of an investigation into incidents at a public meeting on December 31, 2017. The complaint that the police claimed to be acting on had named persons other than these five, and alleged that those others were guilty of creating disharmony between communities. None of the five persons arrested was present at the said public meeting. None of them was named in the complaint. All of them are public persons with long histories of publicly holding governments to account for their actions. Significantly, by the time of the arrests, the police claimed that they were investigating not just the offence of creating disharmony between communities but also terrorism offences under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA). This meant that if the five arrestees were taken into custody, they faced the possibility of long years in jail. One of them, Arun Ferreira, had been picked up in 2007 by the Nagpur police, tortured, and then arrested under the UAPA. On that occasion, they had presented him to the media, with a black hood over his head, as the "Chief of Communications and Propaganda" of a Maoist party. Ferreira spent the next four-and-a-half years in jail. During that period, the police implicated him in 11 other cases. He was finally released only after he was acquitted in 10 of those cases and had got bail in the eleventh. Ferreira was lucky to be released within four-and a-half years, as most others accused under the UAPA spend far longer in jail before being acquitted. And being acquitted after 10, 12 or 14 years in jail under the UAPA, like under the POTA and TADA before it, is the norm, not the exception. For instance, of the 76,036 people arrested under TADA, only 400 were convicted. The point of these extraordinary laws is not to punish the terrorist, the seditionist, the goonda; it is to keep the whistleblower, the dissenter, the inconvenient in jail for as long as the trial lasts. Much of the credit for getting Arun Ferreira released goes to advocate Surendra Gadling. After his release, Ferreira completed his degree in law and has since been defending those who, like him, have been falsely accused. This is just as well because when the police came for him this time around, they had already arrested Gadling. The UAPA is unconstitutional for several reasons. Let me recount a few. First, it casts such a wide net of offences that it makes all kinds of legitimate, constitutionally protected activity an offence: the police can choose who they want to prosecute, when and for what reason. Second, it allows for persons to be held in custody for six months before they get to know the case against them. In comparison, persons accused of murder are entitled to bail if the police do not reveal the entirety of their case within three months. Third, bail is so stringent as to be almost unavailable, this is an affront to the dignity and the presumption of innocence that our Constitution entitles all of us to. The bail provisions contained in the UAPA were also in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. Those provisions were struck down by the Supreme Court in 2017. While doing so, the SC observed that the provisions were "drastic" and "turned on its head the presumption of innocence, which is fundamental to a person accused of any offence". Fourth, it reverses the presumption of innocence and presumes guilt, a guarantee of wrongful imprisonment and false convictions. Fifth, it suppresses the rights to Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Association guaranteed by Article 19 of the Constitution. Under the UAPA, an organisation is a terrorist organisation because the Centre says so. As early as 1952, the SC (in State of Madras versus V.G. Row) struck down provisions of a pre-Constitution law, the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1908, as a violation of the Constitution because that law did not provide for a full-fledged judicial scrutiny of the governments decision to ban associations. Full-fledged judicial scrutiny of the governments decision does not exist in the UAPA. The UAPA is an undemocratic law that allows governments to use the cover of terrorism to stifle dissent. It is unconstitutional. It must go. The author is a Delhi-based advocate A total of 268 cadets was commissioned as officers at a passing out parade at the Officers Training Academy here Saturday. The cadets included those from countries like Bhutan, Afghanistan and Fiji Islands, a press release said. The gentlemen and lady cadets have completed their training in the academy, the release said. General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Command, Lieutenant General Abhay Krishna reviewed the parade and presented various awards including the 'Sword of Honour' to Battalion Under Officer Siddharth Singh, gold medal to Battalion Under Officer Raveena Punia, it said. The cadets, after taking the oath, would be joining in different battalions and regiments, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Punjab Police Saturday claimed to have arrested four people who were allegedly involved in looting Rs 38 lakh from a van of a bank here last month, an official said. Inspector General Police (Border Range Amritsar) S P Parmar said the police have recovered Rs 30 lakh cash, two cars, two automatic pistols, one rifle from their possession. Those arrested were identified as Davinder Singh, Sultan Singh, Palwinder Singh and Beant Singh whereas one of their accomplices Harpreet Singh was yet to be held, said Parmar. A group of armed men had looted Rs 38 lakh from the van here on August 23 at Nangal Pannua village. The accused persons threw chilli powder in the eyes of the driver and decamped with the money. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Afghan official says at least 16 people, including women and children, have been killed in a traffic accident in the country's southern Kandahar province. Aziz Ahmad Azizi, spokesman for the provincial governor, says 25 others were injured Saturday morning when a passenger bus collided into a tanker truck in Zhari district. Azizi said three women and three young children were among those killed in the accident. A number of the injured have been hospitalized in critical condition, he said. Traffic accidents are common in Afghanistan with most accidents on main highways due to reckless driving at high speeds. The bad condition of most roads is another factor. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Ambedkar Saturday condemned RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's statement at the World Hindu Congress in Chicago, US. Speaking at the second WHC on Friday, Bhagwat had said that Hindus had no aspiration of dominance and the community would prosper only when it works as a society. "If a lion is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy the lion. We must not forget that," the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)chief said. "We want to make the world better. We have no aspiration of dominance. Our influence is not a result of conquest or colonisation," he added. The WHC marks the commemoration of the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda's historic speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893 in Chicago. Condemning Bhagwat's statement, Ambedkar, while addressing a press conference here Saturday, claimed that the "dog" reference was for the "Opposition parties" in the country. "I condemn this 'mansikta' (mentality) of Mohan Bhagwat that he has referred to Opposition parties in the country as dogs," Ambedkar said. He said parties have come and gone out of power but this mentality indicated that the ruling dispensation thinks that the Opposition cannot fight them. He claimed that it was this mentality that led to the imprisonment of RSS functionaries in 1949 by then deputy Prime Minister Sardar Patel. The RSS members were released subsequently but the organisation has, ever since, been misusing its freedom, alleged Ambedkar. "I believe people should rethink before bringing them to power again," he said. Ambedkar also took a swipe at the "Ajey BJP" (invincible BJP) slogan coined by the party at its meeting of national office-bearers and state unit presidents held in New Delhi. "They (BJP) were nearly defeated in Gujarat and lost in Karnataka. Now, it is just a matter of two months before results of polls in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram come out," Ambedkar said. He said, having toured some of these places, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could be wiped out if the Congress allied with other parties to fight Assembly polls slated for later this year. "And I see this alliance (between Congress and other parties) happening," he claimed. Speaking on the recent arrests by Maharashtra Police of some activists with alleged links to proscribed Maoist outfits, Ambedkar said he didn't think the people, termed "urban naxals" by the government, had any links to actual Maoists. He alleged that the government had started emphasising on "urban naxals" to weaken the protests taking place in the unorganised and organised sector against its labour policies. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Days after the Conference announced its decision to not participate in the panchayat and urban local bodies (ULB) elections, the party on Saturday threatened to boycott the assembly and parliamentary polls too if the Centre does not take effective steps for protection of Article 35-A. Article 35-A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to the citizens of and bars people from outside the state from acquiring any immovable property in the state. It is facing a legal challenge in the Supreme Court. "How can we go to our workers and ask them to come out to vote? First, do justice to us and clear your (Centre) stand (on Article 35-A). If your plan is that (weakening Jammu and Kashmir's special position), then our ways are separate. Then we cannot have elections. Not only these (urban local bodies and panchayat) polls, but we will also boycott the assembly and parliamentary elections then," NC president said here. He was addressing party workers at a function here to mark the 36th death anniversary of his father and NC founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. The former chief minister said his party was not running away from polls, but wanted the Centre to do justice with the people of first and take effective steps for the protection of the state's special position. "On one hand they (Centre) want to conduct polls here. On the other hand, they want to revoke Article 35-A, Article 370 has been weakened and there are also attacks on the (Jammu and Kashmir) Constitution," Abdullah said. He said the Centre and the state government hurriedly announced the ULB and panchayat polls, which will be held next month in four and eight phases respectively. "First they should have talked to us. They should have called every leader that they plan to conduct polls and asked for our opinion. They did not. The prime minister, like Hitler, announced on 15 August from the Red Fort that elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir," he said. The NC president also trained his guns at Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval over his statement that having a separate constitution for was probably an "aberration". "Their (Centre's) intentions are not right. They never were. The has said that a separate constitution for Jammu and Kashmir is an aberration. I want to tell him from this stage that if the constitution is an aberration, then this accession (of Jammu and Kashmir to India) is also an aberration," he said. "On one hand they tell us that we are their crown, but on the other hand, they put that crown in their feet So, they have to think. They cannot control this state if they cause any further problems here. If they want this state together with the country, then they should stop what they are doing," Abdullah 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.) At least 14 people died and several others were injured when a bus carrying domestic tourists crashed and plunged into a ravine on the Indonesian island of Java, police said Saturday. The crash happened when the bus with at least 30 people on board was heading to a holiday spot in Sukabumi region, West Java. The vehicle was seen speeding downhill and lost control before plunging into a 10-metre-deep ravine. "The general hospital reported that there are at least 14 bodies in the morgue," local police chief Nasriadi, who uses only one name, told AFP, adding that police are still collecting data on the injured. Victims who were injured had been taken to several local hospitals. Police suspect a mechanical failure after finding the vehicle's road-worthy certificate had expired in 2016. The bus was part of a four-bus tour from Jakarta heading to a rafting spot in Pelabuhan Ratu, Sukabumi. Passengers from other buses who arrived safely at the destination told the police they had seen smoke coming from the engine of the bus before it embarked on the journey. Authorities have issued repeated warnings that the route where the accident occurred was not suitable for buses due to the narrowness of the road and multiple tight corners. On Friday, another bus carrying 21 people also crashed in the same region, killing one and injuring the rest. Transport accidents are common in Indonesia, where buses and trains are often old and badly maintained. In February at least 27 people died when a bus with 40 domestic tourists on board hit a motorbike and crashed in Subang region, also in West Java. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The country's third largest private sector lender Axis Bank Saturday appointed Amitabh Chaudhry as Managing Director & CEO from January 1, after incumbent Shikha Sharma steps down at the end of this year. Chaudhry, currently the MD & CEO of HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company, has been appointed as MD and CEO for a period of 3 years, with effect from January 1, 2019 up to December 31, 2021. "The Board of Directors of the bank at its meeting held today has taken on record the approval granted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the appointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank, for a period of 3 years, with effect from I" January 2019 up to 31" December 2021 (both days inclusive)," Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing. Chaudhry will take over from Shikha Sharma after she demits office on December 31, 2018. The bank had selected three candidates to succeed Sharma at its board meeting held in July and had recommended their names for the approval of RBI. "I would like to thank the RBI and the Axis Bank Board for the privilege and honour given to me to lead this great institution. Axis Bank is amongst the leading private sector banks in the country. Together, with the support of the Board and the Axis team, I am confident of continuing the bank's remarkable journey these past 25 years and to contribute to its future growth," Chaudhry said. Chaudhry, 54 years, has been associated with HDFC Life since January 2010. He has been associated with HDFC Life since January 2010. Chaudhry started his career in the Corporate Banking with Bank of America in 1987, where he worked in diverse roles. In July 2017, the board of Axis Bank had approved re-appointment of Sharma, to be her fourth term as MD & CEO begun from June 2018. However in April this year, Sharma had wanted her new term to be reduced to seven months from a three-year tenure without citing reasons, which was accepted by the board of Axis Bank subsequently. It was learnt that the RBI had asked Axis Bank's board to reconsider the decision to re-appoint Sharma as its CEO for the fourth term amid concerns over rising bad loans on the bank's books. She had completed her third term as the bank's head on May 31. "I have spent over nine years with the bank and I shall always look back at my journey with a deep sense of satisfaction and pride. I have particularly enjoyed the opportunity to work with the Axis team in leveraging the myriad opportunities in the financial sector over the last decade. I am sure that under the leadership of Amitabh the bank would soar to greater heights," Sharma said on Chaudhry's appointment. Axis Bank Chairman Sanjiv Misra said, "After an extensive search, my fellow directors and I are pleased to welcome Amitabh as the Bank's MD & CEO. Amitabh has a proven track record and is well-equipped to lead Axis Bank in pursuing its growth ambitions balanced with a strong management." Meanwhile, HDFC Standard Life informed bourses that Chaudhry has tendered his resignation. Its board will meet on September 12 to consider appointment of new MD & CEO, the insurer said. Chaudhry is a B. Tech in (Electronic & Electricals) from the Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani and is an alumnus of lndian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Axis Bank reported a 46 per cent drop in net profit to Rs 701.09 crore for the April-June quarter of the current fiscal due to increase in provisioning for bad loans. The bank had registered a net profit of Rs 1,306 crore in the June quarter of 2017-18. The bank's asset quality worsened as gross non-performing assets (NPAs) rose to 6.52 per cent as on June 30 this year, from 5.03 per cent on June 30, 2017. In absolute terms, gross NPAs rose at Rs 32,662.40 crore as on June 30, 2018 compared to Rs 22,030.87 crore a year earlier. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Lamenting that the Hindus have been suffering for thousands of years, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has asked them to come together and organise themselves, saying "if a lion is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy him". Addressing a gathering of some 2,500 delegates attending the second World Hindu Congress here, Bhagwat, however, said the Hindus have no aspiration of dominance. "The Hindu society will prosper only when it works as a society," he said. "One of the key values to bring the whole world into a team is to have controlled ego and learn to accept the consensus. For example, Lord Krishna and Yudhishtra never contradicted each other," Bhagwat said. Stating that it is very difficult to bring the Hindus together, he said: "Coming together of the Hindus is in itself a difficult thing." "In initial days of our work, when our karkyakartas used to talk to Hindus about organising them, they used to say 'sher kabhi jhund mein nahi chalta' (a lion never walks in a group). But even that lion or a royal Bengal tiger who is the king of the jungle, if he is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy him." Bhagwat said a sense of idealism is good and described himself not as "anti-modern", but as "pro-future". He sought to describe the Hindu dharma as "ancient and post-modern". In this context, he alluded to the war and politics in the Hindu epic Mahabharat, and said politics cannot be conducted like a meditation session, and it should be politics. "To work together, we have to accept the consensus. We are in a position to work together," Bhagwat said at the conference inspired by the Hindu principle 'Sumantrite Suvikrante' or 'Think Collectively, Achieve Valiantly'. He urged the conference attendees to discuss and evolve a methodology to implement the idea of working collectively. He said the Hindu society has the largest number of meritorious persons. "But they never come together. Coming together of Hindus in itself is a difficult thing," he said. He noted that Hindus had been suffering for thousands of years because they forgot to practice its basic principles and spiritualism. "We have to come together," Bhagwat said, noting that all the people need not to register under one umbrella. He noted that the Hindus had been suffering for thousands of years because they forgot to practice its basic principles and spiritualism. Addressing the congress,' Bhagwat highlighted the need for such an action, and how Hindus should work together. He said in Hindu dharma, even a pest is not killed, but controlled. "Hindus don't live to oppose anybody. We even allow the pests to live. There are people who may oppose us. You have to tackle them without harming them," Bhagwat said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The city police said Saturday it is working hard to ease traffic congestion following the collapse of the Majerhat bridge and has assured people of cutting down their travel time by next week. Announcing this after a high-level meeting with senior officers at the state secretariat, Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar said steps were being taken to mitigate travel woes of commuters. People travelling to and from the south-western parts of the city and South 24 Parganas district are having an average delay of one hour to two-and-a-half hours in reaching their destinations. Kumar said that a ban has been imposed on entry of 20-wheeler trucks in the city, while those already inside the city have been asked to leave within two days. Those heavy trucks which were still unloading have been asked to complete their job and leave the city between 10 pm to 6 am. Four old bridges have also been declared closed for loaded trucks and other vehicles carrying goods to avoid any further disaster. These included Belgachhia bridge, Aurobindo Setu, Bijan Setu and Tollygunge Circular Bridge. However, if any vehicle carrying essental commodities is found stuck, it would be brought to the city with police help, senior police officers said. Movement of trucks and the vehicles carrying essential commodities could be a bit relaxed on Saturdays and Sundays, the officers said. Construction of alternative roads are being thought of at the Majerhat area with the help of the Railways and a meeting with the city police and Railway officials have been scheduled on Monday, the Commissioner of Police said. Meanwhile, a meeting was also held at the police headquarters to finalise the traffic movement in the city. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : A conductor with the Tamilnadu State Transport Corporation was arrested and remanded to judicial custody for allegedly misbehaving with college girls on a moving bus, police said. Ayyappan (31) was accused of singing obscene songs and passing lewd remarks on the girl students commuting to college, the police said. The students, unable to bear with the harassment had complained to their college authorities, they said. On Friday evening, Ayyappan allegedly indulged in misdemeanour and the girls got together, caught hold of Ayyappan and handed him over to the police. On learning this, some employees of the transport corporation and trade unionists visited the police station where the conductor was taken to and asked the students to withdraw the complaint. But the students insisted that the conductor be arrested. Following this, a case was registered by the police and Ayyappan was held after enquiry. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dawn, Books & Authors, September 02, 2018 by Aneeqa M. Wattoo In 1927, at the peak of the Independence Movement, American historian Katherine Mayo visited India and soon after published a book called Mother India in which she derided Hindu rituals such as infant marriage and sati [self immolation of widows] and the general status of women in Indian society. Soon notorious for its racist and imperialist connotations, the book evoked fierce criticism from Indian nationalists over the now familiar critique of its depiction of the phenomena of awhite (wo)men saving brown women from brown mena. Today, there is much to reflect upon in post-colonial Pakistan when feminists who draw global attention to cases of gender abuse are warned not to awash their dirty laundry in publica and are routinely labelled anative informantsa and aimperial collaboratorsa. Afiya S. Ziaas brave and insightful book, Faith and Feminism in Pakistan, draws attention to the history, achievements and threats faced by the secular feminist movement in Pakistan today. In this welcome intervention in the field of gender in South Asia, Zia attempts to challenge a dominant historiography that she claims has failed to recognise the potential of feminist movements in Pakistan. Stating that her aim is ato recover the worth, value, contributions and viability of secular feminism in Pakistan both historically and with reference to the futurea , she draws attention to the resilience of secular resistance in the face of the state and of private Islamist franchises. Lamenting the limited research in Pakistan on feminism and womenas movements in Pakistan, Zia points out that much of the literature on this subject employs a false ruptural view of the evolution of feminism in Pakistan as it has been produced after the so-called aWar on Terrora. This has disadvantaged the scope of critical inquiries as previous decades are paid scanty attention in such studies. By employing a holistic historical lens, she refuses to privilege an emphasis on post 9/11 events, which she contends has become a trend in Western academic enquiries into Pakistan. Challenging dominant historiographies of the indigenous feminist movement Her most important argument is her critique of the work of Saba Mahmood, an anthropologist whose book Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject has gained critical acclaim in the West and has arguably produced a shift in a dominant narrative that emphasised the oppressed and subjugated condition of Muslim women globally. Mahmood offered a model of Muslim womenas pietist agency based on her ethnographic study of a womenas piety movement in Egypt. She makes, amongst other claims, the argument that faith and religious activities should be read as representations of womenas subjectivities and agency and, in doing so, challenges the universality of the liberal definitions of freedom and agency. Zia critiques Mahmoodas work for its lasting effects on later scholarship, contending that by turning pietistic practices and expressions into a form of aagencya that ostensibly offers an alternative to Western secular models of agency, Mahmood also asubverts the notion that women should be empowered or motivated to struggle for rights at all.a Zia warns us that this anew pedagogy on Muslim womena and the unprecedented focus on womenas religious identities it has triggered in a post 9/11 world has had two important consequences. While it has practically suppressed a serious translation of theory into actual rights for women in many Muslim societies, it has also triggered a wave of new criticism against secular feminist movements in Muslim countries on a theoretical and academic level. Zia forcefully elaborates upon her distrust of the idea that any right-wing movement, or any reading of Islamic laws, can provide a framework for womenas rights that operates beyond a protectionist and paternalistic logic. She questions the argument propagated by certain Islamist feminists that Islamic law can be accommodating to human rights principles, likening this to a plea for human rights that ultimately depends upon the generosity of interpretations of religious scripture rather than a constitutional basis for rights. Her critical examination of gendered resistance reminds us of Gayatri Spivakas 1988 essay Can the Subaltern Speak?, which problematised the applicability of a universalist notion of agency on South Asian and other contexts. Since then, the concept of agency has been a rather formidable and often unmanageable force for scholars. Recalling Spivak, Zia cautions against the faulty conflation of resistance and agency. Her additional warning is stringent: to extract an indigenous notion of agency a in the guise of pietist or other supposedly redemptive forms a from a dangerous universalist notion, doesnat safeguard it from being co-opted or assimilated by other forces or discourses that can be hegemonic and serve their own parochial interests. Zia is very clear in her critique of faith-based agency as she writes, adocility may be a form of contentment and a viable state of citizenry, but when Islamist women actively pursue patriarchal, conservative, censorious ... anti-women, anti-minority policies ... then their agency should be examined for its effects and impact at the same time, rather than romanticised as different and non-Western.a The author invites the reader to see beyond pietist forms of agency as she devotes several chapters to both collective movements and individual cases in Pakistan where women used their agency in the pursuit of secular ends, often in open resistance to religious cultural notions and religious militancy. Herein lies Ziaas contribution to the current scholarship on this subject. She directs her analytical rigour to study womenas movements that have not garnered serious attention either in academia or in the national consciousness in Pakistan. One such example is that of the Lady Health Workers Programme (LHWP), a government project initiated in 1994 that now employs over 110,000 trained women workers who deliver health services and education about reproductive health and contraceptive use to women in homes across Pakistan. Zia celebrates these womenas resistance towards a heteronormative patriarchal state on two levels. She points out that at one level they been active agents of social change in their communities. They have challenged a powerful public-private dichotomy through their mobility and influence on decisions regarding aprivatea matters such as reproductive and sexual health in the gendered space of the Pakistani home. These contributions have also been noted by other scholars such as Ayesha Khan. Zia goes beyond current research as she draws attention to a less noted aspect of their resistance; in 2010, these women staged a country-wide protest against their negligible stipends, demanding minimum wage, regularisation of their jobs and security from harassment. Zia studies their protest as an instance of womenas framing of their own rights in a universalist, liberal light and their actions as signifying a aperformance of secular virtuesa that stands in direct contrast to Mahmoodas depiction of agendered Islamic virtuesa in other Muslim countries. Another example of a case that received neither national nor much scholarly interest is the Okara Peasant Movement of 1999. This was an unprecedented revolt in its scale and nature as peasant farmers in Okara, including a significant number of women, revolted against the military, triggered by a change in sharecroppersa contracts which would reduce their autonomy and security against sudden evictions. Interestingly, Christian and Muslim women banded together to fight class-based oppression in a rare case of communitarian resistance. Zia uses research done by Rubina Saigol to argue that womenas participation in the consequently formed labour rights group, the Tenants Association of Punjab, has effectively reduced domestic violence in the region. Through their political activism and civic participation, these women represent another example of secular resistance against deeply embedded religious and patriarchal norms. A major achievement of this book is Ziaas use of a vast range of anthropological, political and individual case studies. Analysing sources as diverse as movements such as Al Huda and the LHWP to individual cases such as Aafia Siddiqui, and their effect on the national imagination of the archetype of the aMuslim womana, this book is an ideal read for scholars interested in forming a sound understanding of the scope and history of feminism in Pakistan. For a non-specialist reader, however, the frequent and detailed inclusions of theoretical and historical background in each chapter could distract from the original and valuable insights on offer. Perhaps the greatest strength of her study, though, is how Zia is unapologetically critical in allocating responsibility for the neglect suffered by feminism in Pakistan to agents on both sides of the political spectrum. She repeatedly reminds us that, in some cases, the threat to feminism emanates as much from elite liberal circles as it does from right-wing and nationalist groups. In fact, the wide range of examples she uses places the relationship of class and gender at the centre of any serious examination of feminism and womenas activism in Pakistan, a nexus that has been understudied so far. Ultimately, she succeeds in making a powerful case for why womenas resistance and agency must be staged outside a theocratic framework. By showing that pietiest and docile forms of agency are not adequate or ultimately effective in translating into real progressive changes in womenas lives, she propels us to think more critically about many of our own assumptions and biases about women rights, notions of agency and formulations of resistance, both theoretically and in practical terms. The reviewer holds an MPhil from the University of Oxford in Modern South Asian Studies China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday and discussed various issues of mutual interest, including the USD 50-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). This is the first high-level visit by a Chinese official to Islamabad since the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan assumed office after the July 25 elections. The two leaders exchanged ideas on bilateral relations and discussed regional security and the peace process in Afghanistan, the Dawn reported. "We are proud of Pakistan and China's friendship," Qureshi said after the meeting, noting that the friendship had "withstood every test". Both foreign ministers resolved during the meeting to strengthen strategic cooperation, and China was assured of Pakistan's continued commitment to CPEC as a priority project, the daily said. The Chinese foreign minster also expressed China's wish to help strengthen and stabilise Pakistan's economy. The Chinese foreign office also extended an invitation to Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit the country as guest of honour. Wang had arrived in Islamabad on Friday accompanied by three other cabinet colleagues for a three-day trip. In addition to meeting his Pakistani counterpart, the Chinese foreign minister will meet Prime Minister Khan, outgoing president Mamnoon Hussain, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa. He is also likely to meet President-elect Arif Alvi. The visit by Wang, who is also designated as the State Councillor which makes him the top diplomat of China, comes two days after that of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Pompeo met new Prime Minister Khan and pressed him to take "sustained and decisive measures" against terrorists threatening the regional peace and stability. Ahead of the visit, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying had hoped that the the two sides, through the visit, could consolidate traditional friendship, all-round cooperation and elevate China-Pakistan all-weather strategic and cooperative partnership. Wang's visit also comes amidst reports of unease in Beijing over how the new PTI government would approach over USD 50 billion Chinese investments in various projects under the CPEC connecting China's Muslim-majority Xinjiang province with Gwadar port in Pakistan. Khan in the past had criticised former prime minister Nawaz Sharif for the lack of transparency and corruption in the CPEC projects. Newly-appointed Finance Minister Asad Umar has promised to bring about transparency to the CPEC projects whose details remained closely guarded secrets. India has protested to China over the CPEC, which is being built through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China's trade surplus with the United States ballooned to a new record USD 31 billion in August, rising 18.7 per cent despite a raft of US tariffs imposed over the summer, official data showed Saturday. China's exports rose to USD 44.4 billion in August, a 13.2 per cent increase from the same period last year, customs data showed, even though US President Donald Trump pulled the trigger on taxes of up to 25 per cent on billions worth of Chinese goods. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal Congress Saturday termed the ruling TMC's stand on the September 10 bandh "self-contradictory" and blamed it for compounding the problem of rising fuel prices by imposing VAT on petrol and diesel. State Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the steep excise duty imposed by the Centre on petrol and diesel was an "economic disaster" that had made the lives of common people miserable. On top of that, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government has further compounded the problem by imposing VAT on fuel, he said. "Our appeal to the TMC is to waive off VAT on petrol and diesel which will help in bringing down fuel prices a bit just like Puducherry and Kerala," he told reporters. Asked about the state government's circular asking its employees not to abstain from duty on Monday-- the day of the nationwide shutdown-- Chowdhury said, "This shows their self-contradictory stance." "While they want to ensure the Congress-sponsored Bharat Bandh does not meet with success in West Bengal, they are organising protests against fuel prices hike on that date since they have to publicly protest against the draconian policies of the BJP government at Centre," he said. However, Chowdhury added that being an independent party, TMC can decide what stance it will adopt (on the issue). The TMC had on Friday said that it backed the issues that led to the Opposition parties to call for the shutdown like rising prices of essential commodities, but ruled out its participation. Along with the TMC, the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB), a constituent of the Left Front too decided to stay away accusing major partner CPI(M)'s central leadership of not consulting it before taking the call. However, Chowdhury alleged that the AIFB maybe working under the influence of West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee. "They may be working under the influence of Mamata Banerjee," he said. The WBPCC chief appealed to the people of West Bengal to make the six-hour (from 9 AM to 3 PM) shutdown called by the party successful and register their protests against the 'unprecedented' fuel prices hike. The Congress' state unit President said his party will not follow any disruptive on the day of the bandh and will take out small rallies in different areas. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Embroiled in some cases being investigated by various central government agencies, Congress Lok Sabha member D K Suresh Saturday accused the state and the central BJP leadership of "destabilising" his party's coalition government with the JDS in the state. Suresh released a letter allegedly written by state BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa to the chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes Sushil Chandra on January 10 last year, demanding a probe into alleged irregularities and corruption by him, his minister brother in Karnataka D K Shivakumar and their close associates. Yeddyurappa has rubbished the charges, saying the letter was fake. Accusing the BJP of indulging in of vendetta, Suresh alleged that the central agencies had morphed into "BJP morcha" and were targeting him, Shivakumar and their relatives and friends. "If I have to explain the functioning of the central agencies, they are working like CBI morcha, ED morcha and I-T morcha. These officers are working under tremendous pressure from the central and state leaders of the BJP," Suresh said at a press conference here. Suresh said Income Tax officers had filed four cases against Shivakumar. "When the officers realised that these might not yield the desired results, another attempt was made from back door to mount pressure on Shivakumar and destabilise this coalition government... National and state leaders hatched a conspiracy under Mission-25 (seats) for the Lok Sabha election," he said. "The BJP is using central agencies to "fix the opposition members," Suresh alleged. He said he and his brother were being targeted ever since the saffron party lost the Rajya Sabha election in Gujarat in August last year, when senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel won in a close contest. Shivakumar and Suresh were instrumental in safely lodging the Gujarat MLAs during the Rajya Sabha election amid fear of the BJP poaching on them. The duo were also responsible for taking all Congress MLAs to Hyderabad ahead of the floor test in the Karnataka Assembly by the Yeddyurappa government on May 19, this year. Unable to muster numbers, Yeddyurappa had resigned. In the letter purportedly written by Yeddyurappa, which was released by Suresh, the BJP leader cited alleged irregularities and corruption by Shivakumar, Suresh and their close associates and demanded swift action against the duo if the complaint was found true. The letter ends with a note, "We collectively build better Karnataka and make it good, safe place to reside for citizens." Rubbishing the charges, Yeddyurappa said, "I never wrote any such letter. I do not know why some false allegations are made, whereas it is a fact that I always had a cordial relationship with Shivakumar. I never made any personal accusations against him." Suresh's accusation comes close on the heels of Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy's allegation that Yeddyurappa's son B Y Vijayendra met the principal chief commissioner of Income Tax (Karnataka Goa region) B R Balakrishnan. The income tax department has rejected the charges, saying Balakrishnan did not meet any politician or their family members. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttar Pradesh BJP leader Dinanath Bhaskar on Saturday said Dalits "do not have the courage" to misuse the SC/ST Act. Bhaskar who represents Aurai assembly constituency in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly said the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act was misused by those who were opposed to it. "Dalits do not have the courage to misuse any law," Bhaskar who was one of the founding members of the Bahujan Samaj Party said. "Not only SC/ST law, instances of misuse of anti-dowry laws has (also) been reported," he added. Admitting that some in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were not happy with the amendments made to the Act after violent protests by Dalit groups, Bhaskar said the "anger" was temporary. "Some people in the party are also not in favour... Whenever the head of a family takes a decision, everybody is not happy. Someone gets angry. If there is any such anger in the BJP, it is only temporary manmutaav (estrangement)," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash has directed departmental heads to review content of the website of their respective department and update them, according to an official communication. The chief secretary also directed for the appointment of nodal officer for this work. The directive came after Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued a note to IT Minister Kailash Gahlot over government websites facing problems for the past few months. The directives were issued at a recent meeting with principal secretaries and secretaries. The move intends to provide updated information pertaining to government works to users of department websites. "The chief secretary directed HODs to review their content on websites and update the same...," stated a written communication of irrigation and flood control department to its officials. In July this year, the chief minister had issued a strong note to Gahlot over websites working on and off for the past few months. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi government is working on its plan to induct e-buses and the delivery of first batch of these vehicles is expected to start from second quarter of next year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said Saturday. He also expected that the Delhi High Court will lift its stay on the procurement of 2,000 standard floor buses further boosting public transport in the city. "Our plan for electric buses is ready. I hope delivery of e-buses will start from second quarter of next year," Kejriwal said on the sidelines of a mega tree plantation drive of his government. The Delhi Cabinet in July this year had given an in-principle approval for procurement of 1,000 low-floor electric buses. The Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) has been appointed as a consultant for the procurement process. A senior Transport Department official said that the trial of the e-bus operation is likely to begin after September 15. "Three manufacturers, including one from China, have promised to provide e-buses for the trial run. Their formal consent is expected to be conveyed by mid September," he said. The chief minister also said that the Delhi government was on the verge of buying 2,000 buses when the Delhi High Court stayed it in February this year. Later, the government approached the Supreme Court against the stay order, that has allowed it to purchase 500 buses. "The Supreme Court also directed us to approach the high court. I am hopeful the high court will lift the stay and we will be able to buy 2,000 buses," he said. The buses under public transport in the national capital include over 4,000 run by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and 1,612 standard floor buses operated by the DIMTS. Independent estimates put the number of buses required for public transport needs of the city to around 11,000. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Health authorities in Kinshasa declared the Ebola virus under control five weeks after the latest outbreak left 89 people dead in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The health ministry announced the outbreak on August 1 in North Kivu province and on Thursday revealed that it had spread to Butembo, a city of a million people. But Health Minister Dr Oly Ilunga Kalenga said: "Since August 13, there have been practically no more cases, we can say that the situation has been brought under control at the epicentre (of Mabalako)." The latest outbreak of the virus is 10th to strike DR Congo since 1976, when the disease was first identified and named after a river in the country's north. "To date, we have 129 cases (31 probable and 98 confirmed), 89 deaths and 33 patients cured," Dr Oly Ilunga said. Fears that the disease might spread further had been expressed Thursday after of two deaths in Butembo, a commercial hub and popular transit point for neighbouring Uganda. A woman and one of the medical staff who had been treating her died ini the city. "Even at Butembo, the situation is not critical," the minister told a conference also attended by Congolese professor and leading Ebola researcher Professor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, who urged people to report any sign of the disease. "The Ebola virus is circulating here and in Africa in general ... we must be vigilant," Muyembe said. Complicating the battle against the spread of the disease is the fact it is afflicting an area of Congo wracked by insecurity owing to the presence of armed groups. Even so, Dr Oly Ilunga said teams treating sufferers had enjoyed army and police backing as well as support from the UN mission Monusco. The previous outbreak of Ebola, which left 33 people dead in the northwestern province of Equateur, was decreed over on July 24. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Egyptian court on Saturday upheld death sentences against 75 people, in one of the largest mass trials since the 2011 uprising, and gave a five-year jail term to an award-winning photojournalist. Amnesty International said the sentences, linked to clashes in 2013 between security forces and supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, amounted to "a mockery of justice". Photographer Mahmoud Abu Zeid was among 739 defendants on trial, most of them charged with killing police and vandalising property. The journalist, widely known as Shawkan, was arrested as he covered the clashes that turned into a bloodbath in which hundreds of demonstrators died. The court also confirmed death sentences initially passed in July against 75 defendants, including leaders of Morsi's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood such as Mohamed el-Baltagui, Issam al-Aryan and Safwat Hijazi. Of the 75 defendants facing the death penalty, 44 were in the dock while the rest were tried in absentia. Forty-seven were handed life sentences, while 347 were given 15 years in prison, and 22 minors received 10-year terms. The court sentenced Morsi's son, Ossama, to 10 years in jail, while 215 people were handed five-year prison terms. In a statement, Amnesty condemned Saturday's death sentences and heavy prison terms after what it called a "disgraceful mass trial". The rights watchdog called for a retrial in front of an "impartial court". It said the verdicts were "a mockery of justice", since "not a single police officer has been brought to account". Shawkan, who earlier this year received UNESCO's World Freedom Prize, is expected to walk free within days because of time served, his lawyer said. He was accused of "murder and membership of a terrorist organisation" -- charges that can carry the death penalty -- but has already spent five years in jail. Smiling in the dock, the photojournalist made a "V" for victory sign, while his lawyer, Karim Abdelrady, said he would launch a legal bid to have the conviction overturned. His detention sparked outrage among human rights groups and NGOs who lobbied continuously for his release. A photo of Shawkan -- behind bars with his hands in front of his face mimicking holding a camera -- has circulated widely on social media. Amnesty said he had been convicted "simply for doing his job as a photojournalist and documenting the police brutality that took place that day". Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranks Egypt 161st out of 180 countries on its press freedom index and says that at least 31 journalists are currently detained in the Arab world's most populous nation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Producer Goldie Behl has urged people to be more responsible about the content they share on social media platforms. Behl, husband of Bollywood actor Sonali Bendre, asked the users to not spread or believe in rumours. "I appeal to all to please use social media more responsibly. Let us not believe in rumours and spread them, unnecessarily hurting the sentiments of those involved. Thank you," he tweeted Saturday. The filmmaker's tweet comes after BJP MLA Ram Kadam posted a message Twitter which read "Sonali Bendre, the actress who ruled Hindi and Marathi cinema was no more." He later clarified his tweet writing, "About Sonali Bendre ji. It was rumour. Since last two days... I pray to God for her good health and speedy recovery." Sonali is currently receiving treatment for cancer in New York. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Human Rights Commission of Pakistan September 8, 2018 Press release Lahore, 8 September 2018. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed serious concern over the governmentas decision to withdraw its nomination of Dr Atif Mian for the Economic Advisory Council (EAC). In a statement issued today, HRCP has said: aThere is overwhelming evidence to show that Dr Mian was eminently qualified to serve on the EAC and that his contribution to economic policymaking in Pakistan would have been immensely valuable. The governmentas decision to withdraw this nomination on the grounds that it might prove divisive a merely because he happens to belong to the Ahmadiyya community a contravenes Article 27(1) of the Constitution of Pakistan, which clearly states that ano citizen otherwise qualified for appointment in the service of Pakistan shall be discriminated against in respect of any such appointment on the ground only of race, religion, caste, sex, residence or place of birth.a aHRCP welcomes the governmentas desire, as expressed earlier, to promote inclusivity by carrying with it all social groups. This sentiment, however, cannot be applied arbitrarily or selectively and certainly not at the expense of beleaguered religious communities that are entitled to the stateas protection and to civil societyas support. The withdrawal of Dr Mianas nomination does not augur well. The spate of faith-based attacks this year, not only on the Ahmadiyya community, but also on the Christian, Shia Hazara and Hindu communities, should make it clear that any steps by the state that are seen to legitimize religious discrimination are unacceptable. Defending human rights is necessarily a question of moral courage and HRCP strongly urges the government to avoid any sort of precedent that allows a personas faith to trump all other criteria for public service.a Dr. Mehdi Hasan Chairperson Patidar leader Hardik Patel's indefinite fast for reservation for his community and farm loan waiver entered 15th day Saturday as he continued his agitation from a hospital bed. Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Sharad Yadav and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leader and former Union minister A Raja visited Patel at the hospital and extended support to him. Hardik, who is on a hunger strike from August 25, was admitted to a hospital Friday after his health deteriorated. "...Sharad Yadav-ji came to meet me in the hospital. He has supported my fight for social justice and farmers' right. Quite impressed by him," Hardik tweeted. He also tweeted a photo of Raja arriving at the hospital and said the DMK has declared support for him. Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) spokesperson Manoj Panara said that Hardik's fast continues. "He has not eaten anything but has only had water. Our fight will continue until all our demands are met," Panara said. After meeting Hardik, Yadav said he advised him to start taking food. "I told him that his fight requires him to have strength. So he should start intake of food and water," Yadav told reporters. Hardik was first shifted to the Sola Civil Hospital by his supporters Friday as his health deteriorated, and later to the privately-run SGVP Holistic Hospital. At the Sola Civil Hospital, he was administered glucose. The hospital had said in a release that his vital parameters were normal. Hardik launched his indefinite fast on August 25 from his house here, demanding reservations in government jobs and education for the Patidars and loan waiver for farmers. Later, he added another demand that his close aide Alpesh Kathiria, who was recently arrested in a 2015 sedition case by the Ahmedabad police, be released. The BJP government in Gujarat said Friday that it was open to talks with everybody, while his supporters claimed that it had not reached out to Hardik for talks so far. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tolerance, love, diversity, and inclusion are the facets of Hinduism which embraces people regardless of their faith, Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has said, urging Hindus to instill these values in all generations. Addressing a gathering of Hindus from across the globe on Friday, Krishnamoorthi said Hinduism embodies values such as tolerance and inclusion. "We must teach our children and all generations the values of tolerance, love, diversity, and inclusion which Hinduism embodies. We must recommit ourselves to this highest form of Hinduism and reject any other form. "We must accept every person whoever they are, wherever they come from, and whatever be their religion or faith," Krishnamoorthi said at the second World Hindu Congress here. A devout Hindu, the first-time Congressman from Illinois said he faced pressure from some of his constituents not to attend the mega event. "I must tell you that some of my friends and constituents were very concerned about my presence here today. I take their concerns as serious and sincere," he said, acknowledging the intense pressure he faced. "I decided I had to be here because I wanted to reaffirm the highest and only form of Hinduism that I've ever known and been taught namely one that welcomes all people, embraces all people, and accepts all people, regardless of their faith including all my constituents. I reject all other forms. In short, I reaffirm the teachings of Swami Vivekananda," Krishnamoorthi said. Referring to the September 11, 1893, speech of Swami Vivekananda to the World Parliament of Religions, Krishnamoorthi said that Vivekananda's legacy stretched far beyond those days in Chicago through his influence on Mahatma Gandhi and hundreds of millions who broke the yoke of colonialism. "That legacy found its way back to the US through Martin Luther King Jr. who followed the example of Gandhi and helped tear down walls of discrimination here in America. The movement Swamiji powerfully contributed to enable millions of Americans of all colours, creeds, and faiths to live as equal citizens as never before," he said. "It is because of his legacy of equality and pluralism that I stand before you as a Hindu, as an American, and as a United States Congressman. In doing so, we will honour the true legacy of Swami Vivekananda. We will live out the highest ideals of Hinduism, and ensure that all people everywhere experience the greatest command of our faith, which is Shanti, Shanti, Shanti - Peace, Peace, Peace," he said. Krishnamoorthi said that despite Swami Vivekananda's warnings 125 years ago, there is still too much division, and through it, too much despair even in the world today. "Even here in America ... at times, we have also faltered and unfortunately witnessed discrimination against Hindus, and Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Latinos, African-Americans, and others. "As a Hindu-American, and a spiritual descendant of Swami Vivekananda, it has been my duty to combat that discrimination and bigotry in all of its ugly forms. I do that because I am a Hindu," Krishnamoorthi said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As part of the international outreach programme, an IIT Kharagpur delegation is visiting the US to meet researchers looking for a career in the best higher and R&D institutions in India. "We are keen to engage with bright and promising doctoral students and post-doctoral fellows in the US and discuss academic career options at the Institute," Director P P Chakrabarti, head of the delegation, said in a statement Saturday. He said the institute was striving to enhance its human resource in teaching, learning and research "by providing a fulfilling research and academic ambience to young talents, be it innovative research or developing new methods of teaching and " While the delegation is visiting Washington DC Saturday, it will reach Boston on September 11, Miami on September 12 and Houston on September 13 and Bay Area, California on September 16. The team members will be meeting researchers interested in various academic positions and looking for a career in one of the best higher and R&D institutions in India can meet the team from IITKGP at any of the events. Chakrabarti will also meet the administration of George Washington University Law School with which IIT KGP already has a technical collaboration agreement. He will also hold meetings on academic and research collaboration with the administration of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. Similar meetings will be held with the president of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, chancellors of UC San Diego and University of Houston. Two MoUs will be signed in this regard with UMass Dartmouth and Houston. The director will meet the Indian Ambassador to the USA, Consul Generals of Houston and San Francisco and representatives of the NASA, National Science Foundation and Confederation of Indian Industries as part of the outreach programme, the statement said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) IITs and IIMs will be roped in for the speedy assessment and accreditation of higher educational institutes along with official agencies such as NAAC and NBA, Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar said on Saturday. While the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) and the National Board of Accreditation (NBA) will be expanded, the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) could also join hands and form an accreditation agency to expedite the process, he said. At present, only 15 per cent of the higher educational institutes in the country are accredited. "We have asked IITs and IIMs to come together and create an agency which we can use to expedite the process of accreditation," the minister told reporters on the sidelines of the 4th World Summit of Accreditation here. He said accreditation from now onwards will be based on "learning outcome" and quality of education should be the key parameter for determining the standard of an institute. The minister's comments came against the backdrop of the University Grants Commission (UGC) in August clearing a proposal to allow more accreditation agencies to come into the sphere of accreditation to enhance the existing capacity. Speaking at the event, the minister said 80 per cent of the weightage for accreditation will be given on learning outcome and peer reviews, while the physical verification of the campus and infrastructure could be done through the use of satellites. "An institute which maintains quality will only survive and those who fail to do so will be out of business," he said. Higher Education Secretary R Subramanyam suggested that "no accreditation, no admission" should be taken up as a policy initiative from 2022-23 onwards in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a "New India". Meanwhile, speaking at a panel discussion on International Literacy Day, the minister said the government would be rolling out a scheme where school students can engage themselves in the literacy mission and provide education to people who are illiterates. Illiteracy should be eliminated in four-five years. He rued the fact that even after 70 years of Independence, the country is still talking about basic literacy. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jemima Goldsmith, the UK-based former wife of Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan, has launched a scathing attack on her ex-husband's government for withdrawing the nomination of noted economist Atif Mian from a newly-constituted economic panel "because of his minority faith". Goldsmith, 44, who is prolific on social media, tweeted her disappointment at Khan's apparent bowing to far-right pressure to remove Mian over his Ahmadi faith. Ahmadis are designated non-Muslims in Pakistan's Constitution and their beliefs are considered blasphemous in most mainstream Islamic schools of thought. They are often targeted by the extremists and their places of worship vandalised. "Indefensible & v [very] disappointing. New Pak gov asks renowned & respected Prof of economics to stand down because of his Ahmadi faith," Goldsmith said in a message posted on on Friday. "NB [Note]: The founder of Pakistan, 'Quaid-i-Azam' (Muhammad Ali Jinnah) appointed an Ahmadi as his Foreign Minister," she said. Goldsmith, a leading columnist and campaigner in the UK, went on to re-tweet a second message in reference to this, which quoted Jinnah from 1947 when was created as a result of Partition with "You are free; you are free to go to your temples. You are free to go to your mosques or to any other places of worship in this State of You may belong to any religion, caste creed that has nothing to do with the business of the state," Jinnah's quote reads. Goldsmith, who has two sons with Imran, had been among the first to congratulate him on his victory in the general elections but had also sounded a note of caution in her message back in July. She said at the time: "22 years later, after humiliations, hurdles and sacrifices, my sons' father is Pakistan's next Prime Minister. "It's an incredible lesson in tenacity, belief & refusal to accept defeat. The challenge now is to remember why he entered in the 1st place. Congratulations". The sister of MP Zac Goldsmith is known for her outspokenness. The attack on her ex-husband's methods comes in the wake of mounting criticism of the Imran-led government for giving in to extremist pressures by withdrawing the nomination of the leading economist because he belonged to a minority faith. The move triggered resignations from other members of the Economic Advisory Council, including London-based economist Dr Imran Rasul, who said he "profoundly disagree[s]" with the circumstances in which Mian was asked to resign from the council. "Basing decisions on religious affiliation goes against my principles, or the values I am trying to teach my children," he said. Earlier, Dr Asim Ijaz Khwaja, professor of Finance and Development at the Harvard Kennedy School, had also announced his decision to resign from the advisory council in protest. The first meeting of the recently reconstituted 18-member council was presided over by Imran on Thursday. With the resignation of Rasul, all three economists of Pakistani-origin on the council are no longer part of the advisory body. Succumbing to pressure from the hardliners, the government on Friday withdrew the nomination of noted economist Mian from the newly-constituted Economic Advisory Council, according to media reports. Mian, an Massachusetts Institute of Technology-educated Pakistani-American economics professor at the prestigious Princeton University, was recently named member of the 18-member EAC to advise the government on economic policy. He is the only Pakistani to be considered among Monetary Fund's list of 'Top 25 brightest young economists'. His appointment embroiled in a controversy after it was opposed by several individuals and groups, including the hardline Islamist party Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), who objected to his Ahmadi faith. Five years after a 47-year-old man met with an accident and lost his eyes, a court in nearby Tirupur Saturday awarded a compensation of Rs 1 crore to him. When the case came up for hearing in a Lok Adalat in the court of the second additional district judge in Tirupur, the private insurance company agreed to pay the compensation to K Jayaprakash Bhupathi. Bhupathi, working as a manager in a dyeing company, was riding a motorcycle with his wife on the pillion in March 2013 when he collided with a two-wheeler coming from the opposite direction. A seriously injured Bhupathi was admitted to a private hospital here. He, however, lost both his eyes. A case for compensation was filed in the second additional district judge in Tirupur in June that year and hearing was on since 2016. Bhupathi and representatives of the insurance company attended the proceedings. During negotiations, the insurance company agreed to pay Rs 1 crore as compensation, which was also agreed to by the couple. The cheque for the amount was immediately prepared in the name of Bhupathi and was handed over by Principal District Judge S Alli to his wife. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) IPS officer Surendra Kumar Das, undergoing treatment at a hospital here after consuming some poisonous substance, is in a "very critical" condition, Uttar Pradesh DGP O P Singh said Saturday. Das, 30, an IPS officer of the 2014 batch, who was posted as the Superintendent of Police City (East) last month, was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday after consuming some poisonous substance. "The best medical treatment is being administered to the officer and all efforts are being made by the doctors to save him, Singh, who visited the hospital on Saturday, said, adding that Da's health condition was still "very critical". Dr Rajesh Agarwal, a senior doctor at the private hospital where Das is admitted, said many organs of the officer's body have stopped working. "Blood circulation in one of his legs has also stopped after which doctors started an emergency operation in the makeshift Operation Theatre (OT) in the ICU where he was put on ventilator for respiratory support. A lot of blood loss may take place during the operation and there will be need for more blood," he said. Around 20 constables from the Reserve Police Lines have arrived at the hospital to donate blood for the officer. His guardians have also been informed about his deteriorating condition as well as the risks associated with the operation, Agarwal said. Dr Pranav Ojha, who has arrived here from Mumbai, is supervising a team of doctors treating the IPS officer, he said. Agarwal said the Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) machine, an advanced medical setup used for critically-ill patients of poisoning, is being used to control organs damage and to support heart and lungs to reduce strain on them for the speedy recovery. The extent of recovery can only be gauged after the removal of the ECMO machine, he added. The DGP said district police officials have been asked to remain in regular touch with the doctors and to arrange everything necessary for the IPS officer's treatment. SSP Anant Deo had on Thursday said the officer apparently took the extreme step due to marital discord. Investigations so far indicate that the IPS officer was in acute depression for the past few days and had searched the Google for ways to commit suicide, Deo had said, adding that he consumed sulphas powder that he had asked his domestic help to bring from the market for killing rats. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Hassan Rouhani says Iran routinely receives invitations from the US for talks even as the country is pressured by the US in the form of sanctions. Rouhani said Saturday in a speech broadcast on state TV: "Every day they send us messages in various ways saying let's talk." Rouhani says Iranians will not surrender to the US's "economic war" on Iran, a reference to renewed sanctions resulting from the US pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and Western powers in May. Iran's rial value has been sharply falling since then. President Donald Trump has said the US is concerned about Iran's ballistic missile program and regional influence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Masked assailants hurled rocks and bottles at a Jewish restaurant, injuring the owner, in an apparently anti-semitic attack on the sidelines of a wave of neo-Nazi protest in an east German city, authorities and reports said Saturday. A spokesman for the regional interior ministry said "a politically-motivated act with an anti-semitic background was the most plausible" explanation for the attack in Chemnitz. The city has been convulsed by violent far-right, anti-immigration demonstrations since the killing of a German man, allegedly by asylum-seekers, in late August. Police in Saxony confirmed to the newspaper Die Welt that they had received a complaint of the attack on the "Schalom" restaurant on the sidelines of the demonstrations. A mob of around a dozen people, wearing black with their faces covered hurled rocks, bottles and a metal pipe at the restaurant on August 27, according to reports in Die Welt and the Freie Presse newspaper. Owner Uwe Dziuballa suffered an injury to the shoulder during the attack, the reports said. The restaurant, which was opened in 2000, has been attacked several times before. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Saturday launched a mega tree plantation drive by planting a sapling at the Yamuna floodplain in Usmanpur village, with thousands others joining him in the initiative. The government wants to plant 5 lakh trees and shrubs in the city in a day as part of the drive. Officials said around one lakh students and residents are participating in the campaign at 600 locations across the city to fight air pollution. Kejriwal said studies have shown 70 per cent of pollution in Delhi originated beyond its borders, but "this could not be an excuse to avoid tackling the situation". "Apart from massive plantation, we also need to reduce pollution," he said. A large number of school children attended the tree plantation event held at Yamuna flood plains at Garhi Mandu in Usmanpur. The chief minister encouraged the students to also plant saplings near their house and take care of it. Around 32,000 saplings were planted at the venue of the event, a government official said. The Delhi government's and Forest Secretary A K Singh said the target is to plant 32.5 lakh trees in the current year. So far, around 15 lakh have been planted, he said. Delhi ministers Satyendar Jain and Rajendra Pal Gautam, AAP MLAs and party leader Dilip Pandey also attended the tree plantation campaign. Delhi's Minister Imran Hussaain also planted a sapling at his residence. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy Saturday thanked the Defence Ministry for its decision to continue to hold Aero India-2019 in Bengaluru. "The Central Govt confirmed today that Aero India 2019 will be held in Bengaluru this year too. There was a concern regarding speculations that the biennial air show could be moved out of Bengaluru. I thank the defence ministry for continuing the prestigious show in Bengaluru," the chief minister said in his message on Facebook. The event will take place from February 20 to February 24 next year, which will combine a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries with public air shows, the Defence ministry said in a statement earlier in New Delhi. Kumaraswamy had also earlier shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to shift the venue out of Bengaluru. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committeepresident Dinesh Gundu Rao too thanked union defence ministerNirmala Sitharaman, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Karnataka, for letting the event take place in Bengaluru. He said that many organisations, including Congress, had mounted pressure on the Centre not to shift the venue from Bengaluru to Lucknow. "Bengaluru has become a big brand and this event had become synonymous with Bengaluru across the globe," Rao told reporters. Since its inception in 1996, the event has been held in Bengaluru. However,there were strong speculations that the event may be shifted to Lucknow after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made a request to the defence minister to this effect. He had said that selecting Lucknow as the venue would give a fillip to the proposed defence corridor in Uttar Pradesh. In the budget for 2018-19, the union government announced it would set up two defence corridors -- one in Tamil Nadu and other in Uttar Pradesh-- to promote defence manufacturing. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Syrian Kurdish forces said they clashed with regime fighters in the divided northeastern city of Qamishli on Saturday, leading to the deaths of 18 combatants. The rare flare-up in the Kurdish-majority city near the Turkish border saw 11 regime fighters and seven Kurds killed, the Kurdish security forces said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, reported the same death toll. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vijeyakala Maheswaran, who resigned as a State Minister of Child Affairs from the northern Tamil region, will face litigation over her remarks seeking the revival of separatist outfit LTTE, police said. Maheswaran would be tried under Section 120 of the Criminal Code for instigating public against the state, they said. The decision follows recommendations from the Attorney General issued Friday. In July this year, Maheswaran had said a pubic gathering in Jaffna that due to the deteriorating law and order situation coupled with rising crime graph, people in the Northern province were wishing for the LTTE's revival and return. Her remarks caused an uproar in Parliament with the minister resigning from her post later after talks with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, leader of the United National Party (UNP) of which she is a member. Her remarks were later referred to the Attorney General to probe if she had violated the constitution by publicly promoting the separatist cause of the LTTE. In her first public reaction since her resignation, Maheswaran told a gathering in the North "when you talk on the problems of the Tamil people, the South looks at you as Tigers (LTTE)". "I will fight to get justice delivered to the people despite opposition to my effort. I resigned from my post for the sake of the people", she said. The Opposition demanded that she be sacked from Parliament for "treason for backing the LTTE" which ran a violent campaign to create a Tamil homeland in the North and East. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde has blamed the media for portraying a "dirty" image of politics, evoking sharp reactions from the opposition parties as well as its restive ally Shiv Sena. Addressing a group of students at Wilson College here Friday, Tawde had asked how many of them wanted to join When his question elicited a poor response, the senior BJP minister said, "It is often said that is dirty. This image is created when some stray clippings (of politicians) are played by the media. No doubt the media shows which are true, but some of them are not." Tawde, who is in Delhi Saturday, was unavailable for comment, while two other BJP spokespersons refused to speak on the issue. Slamming Tawde for his remarks, Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde said the media only shows what was happening around. He added that the irresponsible behaviour of politicians reflected poorly on the minds of citizens. "Blaming the media for showing the deteriorating state of in the country today is wrong. Politicians have to introspect about what is causing the standard of politics to fall to new levels everyday," the Nationalist Congress Party leader said. Munde further claimed that the ruling BJP extensively used the media and social media to come to power at the Centre and in Maharashtra in 2014. "When the same media is showing the true face of the BJP now, attempts are being made by the party to silence it," he claimed. Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande said instead of blaming the media, it is the duty of politicians to behave and speak responsibly in public and set an example for students and society. "Tawde ji seems to be forgetting that it is he who has been embroiled in one controversy after the other over his habit of speaking out of turn. When he was asked about his bogus educational degree, the media only did its job. Recently, when there was a tamasha over him agreeing to distribute religious texts in colleges, the media only reported it," she claimed. She said the controversy created by BJP MLA Ram Kadam was not started by the media and it could not be blamed for the widespread condemnation the remarks received. Kadam, during Janmashtami celebrations in suburban Ghatkopar on Monday, had said that he would kidnap girls to help boys get married even if the former had rejected their proposals. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi Police's Special Cell has arrested a 37-year-old member of Manipur-based banned terrorist outfit, Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-PWG), for allegedly threatening and extorting businessmen and influential people, police said Saturday. The accused, Moirangthem Rana Pratap alias Paikhomba, self-styled General Secretary of the banned outfit, was arrested from Bishnupur area on September 4, they said. He along with his associates was allegedly threatening and extorting money from businessmen and influential people, said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Earlier on August 28, Oinam Ibochouba Singh alias Khoirangba, a top commander and self-styled acting chairman of the banned outfit was arrested from south Delhi's Kotla Mubarakpur area, he said. Police said it was Paikhomba, who had directed Khoirangba to go to Delhi and set up a base here to conduct their activities. On his directions, Khoirangba had allegedly given threats to Manipur Chief Minister, the senior officer said. Khoirangba was in the process of setting up a base in Delhi allegedly to carry out anti-national activities. He had allegedly threatened Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and some other ministers, he added Paikhomba is also wanted by National Investigative Agency (NIA) and a reward of Rs two lakh was declared on his arrest by the agency, the officer said. He has been brought to Delhi on transit remand from Manipur, the officer added. KCP (People War Group) was formed in January, 2016 by a combined extremist group of KCP-Poirei faction, KCP-Tamnganba faction and KCP-Paikhomba faction under the chairman of Laishram Ranjit Meetei. In January 2017, the Special Cell arrested the self-styled convener of KCP/PWG Ranjeet Singh Porai alias Rocky and, in August 2017 busted a module of KCP/PWG with the arrest of top leadership including commander-in-chief of KCP-Tamnganba faction Laishram Ranjit Meitei. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh Saturday said the state government has signed an MoU with VFS Global to set up up Citizen Facilitation Centre which would provide 50 services to the public under a single window. Singh said people will get 50 services - ration card, caste certificate, marriage certificate, income certificate, Aadhar, etc - by paying a nominal fee at the Citizen Facilitation Centre. The 50 services will be provided under the Citizen Centric Services Delivery System. Even people can apply for visa for travelling to some pre-determined countries like Germany, Italy, France and Thailand at the Citizen Facilitation Centre. The chief minister said data available with several government departments and agencies will be linked with the Centre to enhance efficiency and reduce corruption. Singh further informed that the Centre will be set up in three months time. The MoU for setting of the Citizen Facilitation Centre was signed by Manipur chief secretary J Suresh Babu and Deb Kumar Bandyopadhyay, Head of Business, South Asia Region, VFS Global Friday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A militant was killed and a policeman injured when a some ultras attacked a police picket in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said on Saturday. Militants attacked a police picket at Achabal late Friday night, a police official said, adding but the attack was successfully repulsed. In retaliatory action, one militant was killed and his weapon was recovered, he said. The identity and group affiliation of the slain ultra is yet to be ascertained, he added. The official said that in the shootout, a policeman sustained injuries and was shifted to a hospital where his condition is stated to be stable. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Cyberabad police here Saturday claimed to have cracked a multi-level marketing money circulation fraud of more than Rs 1,200 crore with the arrest of two people. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Cyberabad police seized Rs 200 crore, a press release said. "Multi Level Marketing (MLM) money circulation scheme fraud of more than Rs 1,200 crore cracked," it said. The two allegedly cheated many people through a company headquartered in Haryana, according to the release. The 'modus operandi' of the accused was running a "binary scheme" in which an individual had to enrol two others who in turn would enrol two more leading to a chain, it said. The victims were cheated by being promised commissions and other benefits, it said. The release quoted Section 3 of Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (PCMCS) (Banning) Act, 1978, which says mere joining in such schemes is an offence. The promoters of the scheme are held liable under Section 420 of IPC as the Supreme Court had said enrolment of members in a binary scheme leads to mathematical impossibility and ultimately cheating, it added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 23-year-old man on Saturday alleged that police forced him to "falsely" testify against seven people for allegedly pelting stones on Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan's vehicle on September 2 in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district. The windowpane of Chouhan's campaign vehicle was damaged in the stone-pelting that took place in Churhat town, about 540 kms from here, and nine Congress workers were arrested the next day for allegedly being behind the incident. Speaking to reporters at the residence of Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the MP Assembly, Ajay Singh, "witness" Sandeep Chaturvedi claimed that a sub-inspector had made him sign a statement "under duress". "Neither did I witness the September 2 (stone pelting) incident at Churhat nor do I know the men arrested in the case," he said. "Around 1.30 am, Sub Inspector Dipak Baghela came to the petrol pump where I work and took me to the Kamarji police station. He asked me to give a statement that these men, whose names were already written on a piece of paper handed to me, had pelted stones at Chouhan's vehicle," he claimed. Chaturvedi alleged that he was thrashed by police after he told them that he did not see the incident and did not know the people named on the piece of paper. "Baghela and other policemen thrashed me and made me falsely testify that Sanjay Singh, Charan Singh, Gaurav Singh, Saurabh Singh, Roshan Singh, Saurabh Dwivedi and Shivendra Singh pelted stones at the chief minister's vehicle," he alleged. "Kamarji police station in charge was mounting pressure on me to falsely testify before the trial court under section 164 (of CrPC)," Chaturvedi claimed, adding that he now feared for his life. When contacted, Sidhi Superintendent of Police Tarun Nayak told PTI that he would not be able to speak on the issue as the probe into it was still underway. Meanwhile, Ajay Singh claimed that the MP government had registered a case in this incident in order to defame him. Singh dared Chouhan to fight Assembly polls from Churhat, from where the former is sitting MLA. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A naturopath was arrested Saturday for allegedly spreading false information through the social media about medicines given by the government to people affected by leptospirosis following the heavy rains last month in Kerala. Jacob Vadakkanchery was arrested by the state CB-CID after a probe was carried out on a directive received by the state police chief from Health Minister K K Shailaja Teacher, police said. They said that Jacob, through his social media posts, questioned the authenticity of themedicines given by the government to prevent leptospirosis (rat fever). Police had earlier warned him against carrying out a false propaganda to create panic among people. The minister had earlier this week asked the Director General of Police Lokanath Behera to initiate action against Vadakkanchery for spreading misleading information on rat fever. The government action against him came amid efforts by the health department to control the spread of leptospirosis reported in many parts of Kerala after the floods last month. Various types of fever, including leptospirosis, has claimed the lives of 11 people in Kerala since August 29. The torrential rains and floods in Kerala since the onset of the Southwest monsoon on May 29 had claimed the lives of 491 people and left a trail of destruction across the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepal's former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' Saturday met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and exchanged views on advancing bilateral ties. Prachanda, who is in India on a three-day visit, had met Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday during which they had discussed the political situation in Nepal, among other issues. "EAM @SushmaSwaraj met former Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' earlier today. Exchanged views on advancing bilateral ties between the two countries," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperon Raveesh Kumar tweeted. The Nepali leader is one of the two chairmen of the Nepal Communist Party, formed by the union of Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) and Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre). Prachanda was the prime minister of Nepal from 2008 to 2009 and again from 2016 to 2017. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday ruled out the possibility of a snap presidential poll in Sri Lanka ahead of schedule. The next election in the country is scheduled to be held between November 2019 and January 2020. Speaking at Nivitigala, a south western region this morning, Sirisena said "the election won't be held even a day earlier than the schedule". Media speculation in the recent days suggested that Sirisena may opt to have a presidential poll after January next year, at the end of 4 years of his 5 year term. He is constitutionally empowered to hold the presidential poll after a lapse of 4 years. He was elected in 2015 as the then common opposition challenger to the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa who had called the election in January 2015, 2 years ahead of the schedule. Sirisena who formed a unity government with the UNP of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe now have deep running differences with Wickremesinghe. He asked the UNP leader to step down early this year and was secretly backing a motion of no confidence to oust the PM. Wickremesinghe easily defeated the motion to oust him with the support of Tamil and Muslim minorities. It is no secret that Sirisena wants Wickremesinghe's ouster so that he could replace him with his own choice. Wickremesinghe was recently replaced as law and order minister after clashes erupted in the Kandy district. Sirisena in 2015 quit the Rajapaksa government to join hands with Wickremesinghe, the then main opposition leader, to defeat Rajapaksa in the presidential election ending his 10-year rule. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tamil Nadu Municipal Administration Minister S P Velumani Saturday rubbished reports alleging nepotism in awarding government contracts and asserted that he has not misused his position. The minister described the charges as baseless. "I have not misused my position or done anything wrong... it is a baseless allegation and without any evidence," he told reporters here. To a query on the release of seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, he said a decision on it has to be taken by Chief Minister K Palaniswami. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Members of various Catholic reformation organisations took to the streets here Saturday to protest the alleged laxity in the probe into a complaint of rape filed by a nun against a Roman Catholic church bishop. Five nuns from a convent in Kottayam, to which the victim belonged, also took part in the demonstration and alleged that she had been denied justice by the church, police and the government as no action has been initiated against the accused, Bishop Franco Mulakkal of the Jalandhar diocese. "We are fighting for our sister. She has been denied justice by the Church, government and the police. We are ready to go to any extent for ensuring justice to our sister," a nun told protesters here, who held placards demanding arrest of Bishop Franco. She sought to know why Bishop Franco has not been arrested despite sufficient evidence against him and also questioned the Church's stand on the matter. "Seventy-four days have passed since the complaint was made against Bishop Franco. The police recorded her statements several times. But the accused bishop was interrogated only once," the nun said. The nuns alleged that police probing the case were trying to sabotage the investigation. Catholic reformation organisations, including the Kerala Catholic Church Reformation Movement (KCRM), took part in the protest, KCRM office bearer George Joseph said He said some outfits, including KCRM, planned to continue the stir till justice was delivered in the case. Meanwhile, an independent MLA attacked the victim nun, allegedly using abusive language against her, for lodging a complaint against the Bishop. Addressing a press conference in Kottayam,Poonjar MLA P C George sought to know why she had not complained in the initial stage of sexual misbehaviour by the Bishop. The nun's family said they would initiate legal action against George for hurting her sentiments. They said that the nun, who planned to hold a press conference tomorrow, called off it, saying she was hurt by Georges abusive charges against her. AICC General Secretary Oommen Chandy said he believed that the law would take its own course in the case. Former Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan came out in support of the nun and urged the government to take steps to redress the grievances of agitating nuns. He said the culprit in the case was an influential person who still remained untouched and it puts the victim nun under pressure. Fr Paul Thelakkatt, a former spokesperson of the Syro Malabar Church, urged the church authorities "to listen to the grievances of nuns who have sacrificed their lives for the cause of Jesus." In her complaint filed at Kuravilangad police station, the victim had alleged that she had received death threats from unknown people two months ago. The nun has accused Jalandhar Bishop Franco of raping and having unnatural sex with her multiple times between 2014 and 2016. A special team probing the case has said that according to preliminary investigation, Bishop Franco abused his position and repeatedly raped the nun. Responding to a petition seeking a speedy probe, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kottayam, K Subhash had informed the Kerala High Court on August 13 that the probe was proceeding effectively and impartially. The police, in a statement based on initial investigation and available evidence, had said it was found that the Bishop allegedly committed unnatural offence and raped the nun against her will. In the statement it was alleged that the bishop confined the nun to a guest room in St Francis Mission Home at Kuravilangad in Kottayam district of Kerala. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Five nuns from a convent in Kottayam took to the streets here Saturday alleging laxity in the probe into a complaint of rape filed by their sister nun against a Roman Catholic Church Bishop. Joining the dharna organised by various Catholic organisations seeking reformation in the church, the nuns alleged that the victim had been denied justice by the Catholic Church, police and the government as no action has been initiated against accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar diocese. "We are fighting for our sister. She has been denied justice by the Church, government and the police.We are ready to go to any extent for ensuring justice to our sister," a nun said addressing the protesters gathered here. She sought to know why Bishop Franco has not been arrested despite sufficient evidence against him. She also questioned the Church's stand on the matter. "Seventy four days have passed since the complaint was launched against Bishop Franco. The police had recorded her statements several times. But accused Bishop was interrogated only once," the nun said. They alleged that the police probing the case was trying to sabotage the investigation. The agitators held placards and demanded the arrest of Bishop Franco. In her complaint filed at Kuravilangad Police Station, the victim had alleged that she had received death threats from unknown people two months ago. In her complaint, the nun accused Jalandhar Bishop Franco of raping and having unnatural sex with her multiple times between 2014 and 2016. A special team probing the case has said as per preliminary investigation, Bishop Franco abused his position and repeatedly raped the nun. Responding to a petition seeking speedy investigation, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kottayam, K Subhash had informed the Kerala High Court on August 13 that the probe was proceeding effectively and impartially. The police, in a statement based on initial investigation and available evidence, had said it was found that the Bishop allegedly committed unnatural offence and raped the nun against her will. The bishop confined the nun to a guest room in St Francis Mission Home in Kuravilangad in Kottayam district of Kerala, the statement had alleged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pune police claimed on Saturday that all the seven organisations, to which some of the left-wing activists arrested recently for alleged Maoist links belonged, were fronts of the banned CPI (Maoist). The police have arrested 10 activists during the probe into alleged Maoist connection behind the Elgar Parishad conclave held in Pune in December last year. According to a media report published on Saturday, only one of the outfits to which eight of the arrested activists belonged was declared as unlawful. A senior Pune police official, however, said all the seven outfits were "formations and front organisations" of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), banned in 2009. The ban on the CPI (Maoist) covered all its offshoots, Pune Joint Commissioner of Police Shivajirao Bodkhe said, citing the Union government's gazette of June 22, 2009. "The Central Government hereby makes an order so as to add that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) and all its formations and front organisations as terrorist organisations," the gazette said. According to the police, arrested Telugu poet Varavara Rao is allegedly connected with the Revolutionary Democratic Front (RDF), which has been declared unlawful in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana for allegedly being a front of the CPI (Maoist). Besides, Gautam Navlakha is allegedly connected with the People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) and Sudha Bharadwaj and Surendra Gadling with the Indian Association of People's Lawyers. Rona Wilson is allegedly connected with the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners, Shoma Sen with the Committee for Protection of Democratic Rights, Sudhir Dhawale with the Republican Panthers and Mahesh Raut with the Visthapan Virodhi Jan Vikas Andolan. Vernon Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira are allegedly associated with the Maharashtra State Committee of the CPI (Maoist), the police have said. Rao, Navlakha, Bharadwaj, Gonsalves and Ferreira were arrested last month, while the five others were arrested in June. Following the arrest of the five activists last month, the Supreme Court had ordered to keep them under house arrest on a petition challenging the police action. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : The ruling CPI(M) and the LDF government are with the woman leader who had raised the allegations of sexual harrassment against party MLA P K Sasi, Law minister A K Balan said Saturday. A leader of the Democratic Youth Federation of India, the youth wing of CPI(M), had raised the sexual charges following which the party had constituted a two member commission, comprising Balan and party MP, P K Sreemathy, both members of the CPI(M) Central committee. "The complainant has given us her grievance and her prayer is for an organisational probe. The party and Commission will go forward in her complaint. But if she was disatisfied with the proceedings, whatever steps she takes (to redress her grievance), the party and government will be with her," Balan told reporters at Palakkad. On opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala's charge that it was improper for a minister, who is part of the government, to probe the charge, Balan merely said there was no question of any impropriety. Meanwhile, Sasi has cancelled his public engagements of saturday citing ill health. The Chairperson of the National Commission for Women Rekha Sharma, said in Delhi Friday that the NCW would send an inquiry team to Kerala to probe the case, if the state police chief does not apprise it about the action taken in the matter within 15 days. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The governments of Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir Saturday signed an agreement to resume work on the Rs 2,793 crore Shahpur Kandi dam project. The two states have decided to complete the project within three years, according to an official spokesperson, who pointed out that the Punjab chief minister had been pursuing the matter aggressively with the central government over the past several months. He had, in a recent meeting with Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, sought early resolution of all issues relating to this project. A delegation from Punjab, comprising Minister for Water Resources Sukhbinder Singh Sarkaria, Chief Secretary Karan Avtar Singh and Principal Secretary Water Resources Jaspal Sibgh, held talks with officials of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and signed the agreement. The agreement was signed in the presence of Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik at the Raj Bhawan in Srinagar, the spokesperson said. The Shahpur Kandi Dam, an inter-state project, was approved by the Government of India as a 'National Project' in February 2008 at a cost of Rs 2,285.81 crore, including the irrigation component of Rs 653.97 crore. Though work on the project started in 2013, it was halted in 2014 due to certain observations raised by the J&K government. In the meantime, the Punjab Government submitted a revised cost estimate amounting to Rs 2,793.54 crore and requested the government of India for inclusion of the project in the prioritised list of the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY)/ Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) projects. The project, when implemented, will enable the up-stream Ranjit Sagar Dam project power station to act as a peaking station, besides having its own generation capacity of 206 MW and irrigation benefit of 37,173-hectare to Punjab and J&K. It will enable the country to fully utilise the Ravi water as per the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, according to the spokesperson. It will deliver power and irrigation benefits to the nation worth Rs 850 crore annually, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Kerala, which was ravaged by floods in August, is ready to welcome tourists from October, a senior official from the southern state said here Saturday. The Kerala Disaster Management Control Room Tuesday had stated that, since May 29, a total of 491 people had died there due to the rains, the maximum number of deaths occurring after August 8. "Kerala tourism is quickly bouncing back from the flood-related damage which has not affected most of the tourist spots, hotels and resorts in the state," P Bala Kiran, director, Kerala's Department of Tourism, told reporters. Addressing a press conference here on the sidelines of the Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF), Bala Kiran said priority was being accorded to the restoration of road links in the state. He also said that that the arrival of tourists had started picking up from August 29. "Airports, road and rail networks are operational. The fourth airport at Kannur in north Kerala will be opened soon," he said, adding that the state's Malabar region would get a fillip due to Kannur airport. Munnar, Thekkady and Wayanad, which were affected due to rains and landslides, are now open for tourists and public as was Eravikulam National Park, he said. Kerala Travel Mart 2018, being held as scheduled from September 27-30, and the 4th edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), the biggest contemporary art event in Asia, will be held from December 12, 2018 to March 19, 2019, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A group of protesters briefly disrupted the proceedings of the World Hindu Congress in Chicago when they started raising slogans demanding the religious leaders at the meet to oppose the Indian government's alleged "actions against religious minorities". Two of the women protesters were arrested Friday evening and local police charged them with disorderly conduct and trespassing. They were released later in the night. Representing the Chicago South Asians for Justice, the two women speaking on condition of anonymity told PTI that they protested during the World Hindu Congress to urge the leaders attending it to oppose the "current actions of the government against religious minorities". The event organisers alleged that the protesters sneaked into the venue through a "fake identity card". The issue has been reported to the police and is being investigated. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and its joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosbale and six other top Hindu religious leaders were participating in a panel discussion on collective efforts for Hindu resurgence when the protesters seated at two different places in the hall suddenly stood on their chairs and started raising slogans such as "Stop Hindu Fascism" and "RSS turn around, we do not want you in town." Taken by surprise, some of the attendees of the conference raised counter slogans, prevented them from raising the banner that they had brought in and in less than a minute were taken out of the plenary hall. The hotel security and local police immediately took the situation under control. Following the incident, security in and around the hotel has been intensified. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu is slated to address the WHC Sunday. "About six of us were at the WHC today. We were there to protest the conference, the organiser, the speakers, and the attendees and their support for the current and historic violence that's been propagated by the RSS and other similar organisations," one of the woman protestors told PTI after being released. "We sat through most of the plenary this evening. There were about six speakers. Two of us were on one side of the room and the rest sat on the other side of the room. We stood up with a banner. We chanted 'RSS turnaround, we do not want you in town'," she said and alleged that they were immediately swarmed and other conference attendees started screaming at them. The two of these women were handcuffed as they came out of the hotel. The police arrested another individual for allegedly spitting on them. "He did that in front of the police," she said. "We mounted our disruption towards the end of the evening plenary session," the second woman protestor said, alleging that some of the attendees in the room snatched the banner from them. Earlier in the day, Avaaz Foundation took out a full-page advertisement in The Chicago Tribune against the WHC. The advertisement cost them around USD 26,000. The foundation on Friday also hired a mobile advertisement van which moved in the vicinity of the hotel. More protests are planned for Saturday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Terming the Rafale fighter aircraft deal "a scam of unimaginable proportion", senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Saturday alleged that the Anil Ambani's Reliance Group got an offset deal worth Rs 21,000 crore as "commission". He compared this to the alleged kickbacks in the Bofors gun deal in the 1980s. Ambani has earlier rejected the allegation. Bhushan charged that the BJP-led government "compromised" on national security, left the Indian Air Force "high and dry", just to accommodate Anil Ambani's company in the deal. "Rafale deal is a scam of unimaginable proportion. Bofors was a Rs 64-crore scam, with four per cent commission paid in that. In this scam, the commissions are at least 30 per cent. The Rs 21,000 crore given to Anil Ambani is just commission, nothing else," he alleged. The Reliance Group, in a statement quoting Ambani's letter to Congress president Rahul Gandhi last month, had said, "Allegations of Reliance benefitting by thousands of crores is a figment of imagination, promoted by vested interests." "Simply put, no contract exists with the Government of India." French company Dassault, which is supplying the fighter jets, has entered into a joint venture with the Reliance Group to meet its offset obligations to create business for Indian firms, following the Rafale deal. Bhushan asked how the IAF has "scaled down" its requirements from the 126 Rafale aircraft it wanted and questioned the "disappearance" of transfer of technology clause from the new deal. Accusing the Centre of hiding behind a secrecy clause, he said a joint parliamentary committee inquiry into the deal as demanded by the Opposition is "totally justified. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on Saturday said her government worked for farmers from farms to mandis and left no stone unturned for their prosperity. At public meetings in Sriganganagar district during her Rajasthan Gaurav Yatra, Raje said the government worked for the strengthening of canal system in the state for ensuring that farmers properly get water for irrigation. She said additional 2.30 lakh hectare area has been covered with irrigation facility in the Indira Gandhi canal and Gangnahar area by her government. Raje said her government leaves no stone unturned for prosperity of farmers and worked for them from farms to Mandis. The chief minister, at a public meeting at Sadulshahar, said that ticket distribution for the upcoming Assembly elections would be based on survey. She said that those who take all along and with unity would be considered for ticket and asked the party workers to work for the candidate who gets the ticket. The chief minister on the occasion also highlighted the works done by her government , particularly for farmers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nalini Sriharan, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assasination case, has forwarded a petition to the Tamil Nadu Home Secretary urging the government to consider her plea for early release. The plea comes two days after the Supreme Court asked the Tamil Nadu Governor to consider the mercy petition of A G Perarivalan, another convict in the 1991 case. A life convict at the Special Prison for Women here, Nalini in her petition recalled that she had made a representation on February 22, 2014 to the government seeking her release under Article 161 of the Constitution. Article 161 deals with the judicial powers of the governor of a state. Her plea for release was in accordance with the state government's 1994 Scheme of Premature Release of Life Convicts, she said. In her petition, which she forwarded through the Superintendent of Prisons here Friday and made available to the media, she said following her 2014 petition, she moved the High Court in 2015 seeking a direction to the government to consider her plea for release. In its order dated July 20, 2016, the Madras High Court had said the authorities were at liberty to consider her representation in accordance with law subject to the outcome of another writ petition in the Supreme Court. The High Court's judgment has been confirmed by a division bench in its order of April 27, 2018, she said. Days ago, "the Supreme Court had disposed," of a related pending petition too, she said. In view of the ruling of the Madras High Court and the apex court disposing of a related plea, Nalini said "my representation dated February 22, 2014 seeking my release under Article 161 of the Constitution in accordance with the said scheme...may be considered and I may be released from prison at an early date." She said she was "fully eligible" to be released under the scheme. The supreme court has disposed of a petition by the Centre regarding a proposal for the release of the convicts, filed by the Tamil Nadu government. The Centre had on August 10 told the apex court that it does not concur with the Tamil Nadu government's proposal to release the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, saying remission of their sentence will set a "dangerous precedent" and have "international ramifications." On January 23, the apex court had asked the Centre to take a decision within three months on a 2016 letter of the Tamil Nadu government written on March 2, 2016, seeking its concurrence on releasing the seven convicts. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on the night of May 21, 1991 at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a woman suicide bomber, identified as Dhanu, at an election rally. Fourteen others, including Dhanu herself, were also killed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi said Saturday the role of youth will collectively determine the future of Indias economic and social transformation as more than half the country's population was under the age of 25 years. "As per trends, by 2020, India will have the largest young workforce, becoming the worlds youngest country with a median age of 29 years. Therefore, the role of youth power will collectively determine the future of India," Mukhi said while delivering the keynote address at the seventh convocation of Assam Don Bosco University near here. The governor called upon the graduating students to reap the opportunity of the young pool of human resources and become a new engine of growth for the country. He also asked the graduating students to remain curious and ask questions to increase the parameter of their knowledge. He also advised them to set a direction for themselves with a purposeful vision and asked them to move forward without the apprehension of being wrong because mistakes can be an opportunity for them to become even better. He asked them to share the lessons they learnt during their stay at the university and help others to become enriched by transferring their knowledge to the underprivileged section of the society. Altogether, 766 degrees were conferred including 13 doctoral degrees in eight disciplines. Under the Distance Programme of the University, 328 students from across 44 countries were also conferred degrees on various disciplines. Declaring the convocation open, the Chancellor of Assam Don Bosco University Fr Januarius Sangma said the students must open themselves to realities, become socially conscious and responsible for the nation and society. Vice Chancellor Fr Stephen Mavely presented a report covering all the significant developments that had taken place in the university during the past one year in the areas of research, academics, infrastructural developments and quality assurance on the occasion. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court judgement decriminalising consensual gay sex is not the end of the fight but the beginning of a new challenge to eradicate discrimination, various bodies have said, stressing the need for working on changing social norms that "ghettoise" individuals based on regressive perceptions of social acceptability and morality. Lauding the judgement, the Population Foundation of India (PFI) said it is a victory for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) individuals and those who have stood with them in a long and hard battle against an "archaic" provision of law, which infringes on an individual's bodily autonomy, sexual rights and identity. The judgement demonstrates the value of collective and persistent community activism, as with persons living with HIV/AIDS, who continue to collectively fight against stigmatisation worldwide to gain equal status on individual rights, it said. "The SC verdict is heartening for PFI as a ray of hope on ensuring freedom of choice, equal rights and access to sexual and reproductive health services without prejudice or discrimination for other marginalised communities," the body said. PFI underlined that progressive changes to law are a necessary precondition, but not sufficient to ensure equal rights in practice. The body said there is a need to work on changing social norms that stigmatise or ghettoise individuals based on regressive perceptions of social acceptability and morality. "We call upon all sections of society to ensure implementation of the law in its true spirit. The judgement needs to be followed through with policies that address the barriers faced by LGBTQ individuals, such as sensitising the medical fraternity, doing away with 'conversion therapies', seeking help on sexual and mental health services, redressal for workplace discrimination and broader legal rights," it said. Others maintained that the judgement is not end of the fight but beginning of a new challenge to eradicate discrimination. Manvendra Singh Gohil, Goodwill Ambassador of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said deep-rooted discrimination against the LGBTQ community in Indian society has shattered lives of LGBTQ people. "In fact, the saddest day in my life was when, I was discriminated and denied rights to ancestral property due to my decision to reveal my sexual orientation to the world. "This decision by SC is not end of the fight but beginning of new challenge to eradicate discrimination. The honourable judges created history by demonstrating to the world all citizens are equal in India," Gohil said. Dr V Sam Prasad, Country Programme Director of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said the Supreme Court scrapped Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), thereby removing the age-old clout of prejudice against the LGBT communities. "This is a historic and the most progressive liberal judgement guaranteeing the equality and protection of rights of these communities and thus ending the stigma prevailing for centuries in India. "However, the battle is far from over as one needs to closely observe the reactions of our diverse society divided by numerous ideologies, belief systems, cultures, and socio-political pressures," Prasad said. The Supreme Court earlier this week struck down parts of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalised consensual unnatural sex, saying it violates the right to equality. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Army personnel allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle inside a camp in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said Saturday. Naik Jasvir Singh (34), posted with the Punjab regiment, shot himself with his service rifle while on sentry duty at Maheshwar camp on Friday, a police official said. He said his colleagues rushed to the scene on hearing the gunshot and evacuated him to a nearby medical facility where he was declared brought dead. The motive behind his taking such an extreme step was not known immediately, the official said, adding inquest proceedings have been initiated in connection with the incident. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A scheduled visit by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to strife-torn Syria next week has been deferred due to escalating tension in the country. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said fresh dates for her visit will be decided in consultation with the Syrian government. "The external affairs minister's visit to Syria has been deferred due to the prevailing situation in that country. Fresh dates will be decided in mutual consultation with the Syrian side," he said. It would have been the first visit by an Indian external affairs minister to Syria after the civil war-like situation broke out in that country. According to reports, Russian fighter planes have mounted fresh strikes on the Syrian province of Idlib, amid a meeting in Tehran among leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey to chalk out a common strategy to deal with the volatile situation in Southern Syria. The Russian military has warned its US counterparts not to get involved in any military operation in southern Syria. India has been maintaining that all parties should exercise restraint and avoid any steps that may further escalate the situation in country. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Two highly anticipated titles in the Contemporary World Cinema section of the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which kicked off here on Thursday, has put the spotlight on Tibet, a part of the world that suffers continuing political repression and does not have a functional movie industry. One of these two TIFF entries, Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam's "The Sweet Requiem", is from India. The world premiere of the director duo's second narrative feature is scheduled for Sunday morning at TIFF Lightbox here. The other, Pema Tseden's "Jinpa", is from China and is produced by celebrated filmmaker Wong Kar-wai. Both films have been shot in difficult terrains. "It is a huge challenge making a Tibetan film because of the absence of an ecosystem supported by a large enough audience base," says Sarin, who is based in Dharamshala, where she and her husband Tenzing Sonam, born in India to Tibetan refugee parents, organize a well-regarded annual festival of independent cinema. "The Sweet Requiem", produced by Sarin and US-based Shrihari Sathe, is about a 26-year-old woman living in exile in Delhi. She is yet to live down the tragic turn that the escape from Tibet across a high mountain pass with her father 18 years ago took. Her chance comes when she stumbles upon the guide who she believes was responsible. "Jinpa", from a Tibetan director with several critically acclaimed feature films under his belt, centres on a truck driver who picks up a traveller who is on the way to avenge the death of his father. Both men are named Jinpa and in the course of the journey, their stories begin to overlap with each other. "Jinpa", a screen adaptation of two stories Tsering Norbu's The Slayer and Pema Tseden's I Ran Over a Sheep, is set to world premiere here on Tuesday. Another film set among Tibetans in exile, German debutant Marvin Litwak's "Pawo", which opened in movie halls Germany in April this year, is being promoted in the Toronto Film Market by Munich-based sales outfit More Films. Litwak is himself a son of an immigrant family from Poland and Austria. "Pawo" tells the story of a young man who, after the death of his father, is jailed after the Great Uprising of 2008 and, following his release, is forced to escape to India. But once there, he has to choose between starting a new life in exile and continuing the struggle for freedom. The film is reportedly inspired in part by the life of Jamphel Yeshi, a Tibetan activist who self-immolated in Delhi a few years ago in protest against the persecution of his people in China. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A trader kidnapped from the neighbouring state of Madhya Pradesh more than a month ago was on Saturday rescued here and his three abductors were arrested, police said. Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarpur, Harpreet Kaur said Sant Bahadur alias Lala, a resident of Sidhi district, was rescued during a raid conducted in Baruraj police station area of the district. He was kidnapped on July 23 last and a tip-off had been received that the abductors had kept him at a hideout here, Kaur said adding that three of his abductors were also arrested from the spot. The arrested accused include Ankit Sharma and Ajit Singh, both residents of Nawada district, and Baruraj resident Shehlan Raza at whose house the abducted trader was kept, the SSP said. Some firearms, ammunition and fake police uniforms have also been seized from the spot, she said. Further investigations were on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Donald Trump on Friday said he does not want to hurt Canada's economy but also warned that if he imposes taxes on cars it would be "devastating" for the neighbouring country. "If I tax cars coming in from Canada, it would be devastating. But I don't want to do that," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "I do use that as leverage in negotiating, where they don't want to give us some points. I say that's ok, I'd rather tax your cars coming in, and I win a lot of points because of it." Trump spoke on route to Fargo, North Dakota, while Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland was meeting in Washington with Representative Robert Lighthizer. They have been trying to reach a deal that would allow Canada to remain in a North American trade bloc with the US and Mexico. After a two-hour meeting, Freeland told reporters that "you could say at this very intense point that we are really in a continuous negotiation." Freeland did not say whether the negotiations would continue later Friday or next week. Lighthizer plans to see European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom next week in Brussels. Larry Kudlow, the top economic adviser to Trump, told Fox Business Network on Friday morning that US access to Canada's protected dairy market is the single issue holding up the negotiations. "I am just saying 'Let go.' Milk, dairy, drop the barriers, give our farmers a break," Kudlow said. Last week, the US and Mexico reached a preliminary agreement to replace the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. But those talks excluded Canada, the third country. The administrations of Phek and Kiphire, the worst affected districts of month-long rain in Nagaland till mid-August, presented reports to a central team here of the damages and the fund required for their repair. The reports, made available to the media, were presented during debriefing of a five-member inter-ministerial central team in Kohima on Friday. Reports from other districts are yet to come, officials said. In a consolidated report of damages in Phek district, a sum of Rs 416.06 lakh is required to repair damages of infrastructure, while Rs 281.34 lakh are needed to rebuild agricultural, animal husbandry and fisheries sector, its Deputy Commissioner Orenthung said. No relief has been received by the district, while two sorties have been made by IAF chopper for supply of essential commodities to Phokhungri and Wuzu villages under Meluri sub-division, he said. He said that the district administration and District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) extended immediate relief of Rs 10,000 each for severely damaged houses and Rs 5000 each for partially damaged houses. Deputy Commissioner and DDMA Chairman of Kiphire, Md Ali Shihab said with more than a month of the district remaining cut-off from all sides due to landslide, the administration was yet to reach remote villages with relief material. Shihab said that the main NH-202 connecting Kiphire to Kohima and Tuensang districts remained cut-off at various locations since July 29 last due to torrential rain with major affected areas being Meluri in Phek district and Yei bridge in Tuensang district. Though the Meluri stretch has now been connected through a bypass road, it is not safe for heavy vehicles, while Yei bridge location in Tuensang road is not yet restored. Due to the bad road conditions, normal supply of essential commodities from Dimapur has been affected severely and the district is facing acute shortage of rice, he said. Kiphire district has around 110 villages and the DDMA is not able to reach maximum villages with relief material due to bad weather condition and damaged roads, he said. Since Kiphire does not produce rice, the villagers in those areas are surviving on local produce kholar (beans) and maize. The deputy commissioner sought immediate attention of the Central government for repair of the National Highway and village roads. The five-member Inter-ministerial central team, led by Joint Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs K B Singh, left for Delhi on Friday after conducting on-the-spot assessment from September 4 to 7. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ride hailing app Saturday said its top executives met Prime Minister Modi and showcased its futuristic aerial taxi service under Elevate. Eric Allison, Head of Aviation Programs, and Nikhil Goel, Head of Product, Aviation met the PM yesterday, on the sidelines of Global Mobility Summit MOVE, and discussed how a multi-modal mobility platform can contribute to the economy, while helping reduce pollution and congestion, Uber said in a statement. During the meeting, Allison apprised the PM "of the potential of Uber Elevate, showcasing the exciting future Uber Air can bring to the region and to the world," it said. Allison also highlighted the importance of a strong foundation for the next generation of innovations, including eVTOLs, carpooling and autonomous vehicles, the statement said. "Uber is committed to partner the government in this mission to forward. I am very excited to be in and to be discussing the future of urban mobility with one of the most visionary leaders in the world today, PM Modi," Allison said. Uber is considering among five global locations (like and France) for its futuristic aerial taxi service and is in talks with regulators in the country to gauge the modalities and constraints of offering such a service that could be launched in the next five years. Uber has already named Dallas and as its first two launch cities in the US and has been on the prowl to select an international city as its third partner. Allison has already stated that the company is looking at large Indian cities like Mumbai, and as potential candidates. The company is also meeting representatives from various ministries like civil aviation, as well as local authorities and thought leaders to explore options. Uber has already said it hopes to start operating demonstrator flights in 2020 and begin commercial operations in 2023 in the three cities, depending on the regulatory clearances. It believes that its aerial service has tremendous potential to help create a transportation option that bypasses congestion, instead of adding to it. The company had said its final decision, which will take about six months, will be based on factors like size of the market, and availability of enabling conditions. Uber Elevate will also take into account a third criteria of local commitment, where it will work with respective governments and communities to make the dream project a reality. Uber plans to use vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft for the service. A fancy video by the company depicts the future scenario where riders book an aerial ride from their and hop onto the VTOLs via helipads atop a high-rise. Unidentified gunmen shot dead a militant belonging to the 'Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind' - an affiliate of al-Qaeda in the valley led by Zakir Musa - here on Saturday, police said. The gunmen fired upon a youth in the Hazratbal area of the city here, resulting in his on the spot death, a police official said. He said the youth has been identified as Asif Nazir Dar, a resident of the Panzgam area of Awantipora in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. Dar was an active militant associated with the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), but later defected to Musa-led Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind, the official said. He said a pistol and two magazines were recovered from the slain militant. An Al-Qaeda affiliated Global Islamic Media Front had on July 27, 2017, announced Musa as the head of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa is a former commander of the HM. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Amnesty International India has said that the survivors of the 2013 communal violence in Muzaffarnagar and Shamli in Uttar Pradesh continue to wait for justice with "little hope" as the state government's attempt at rehabilitation and compensation has been "woefully inadequate". On the fifth anniversary of the riots, the body said Saturday that riot survivors, who were displaced from their homes, still lived in squalor in resettlement colonies and the seven women survivors of gang-rape, who were brave enough to file their complaints, were yet to receive justice. "The Uttar Pradesh state government has forgotten the riot survivors of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. This apathy towards the survivors of one of the most deadly instances of communal violence in recent years is just not acceptable," said Asmita Basu, Programmes Director, Amnesty International India. "The state has done very little to redress the injustice they have faced. The government's attempt at rehabilitation and compensation has been woefully inadequate," said Basu. Basu said seven courageous women from Muzaffarnagar and Shamli filed cases of gang-rape in the face of intimidation and continuing threats. "However, five years later, justice remains elusive. They have received little assistance from authorities to rebuild their lives and livelihoods," Basu said. There has not been even one conviction in any of the seven cases so far. In 2016, one of the survivors died during childbirth, the body said. The statement quoted one of the survivors who spoke to Amnesty International India in August 2018 as saying, "I have now lost all faith. It has been five years since I last filed my complaint." "No one has come to help me or my family for so many years now. What I care for now is the safety of my husband and the survival of my family," she said. The statement quoted Rehana Adeeb, an activist working in Muzaffarnagar, as saying, "Victims have faced social pressure as well as political pressure. Justice has not worked in the way it should have. Their rapists are out in the open for years now. Women are scared now to pursue their cases and they cannot be blamed for this." "There are media reports of compromises being made and of money being offered and accepted by many of the seven families. We need to understand the realities in which these women have survived all these years. They are scared and have lost all faith in the system," the statement said. The body said in all seven gang-rape cases, the police took months to file charges - between six and 14 months in most cases. After that trials have proceeded extremely slowly and in three cases, survivors identified and named the men they said had raped them in their First Information Reports, but turned hostile in court. At least 60 people were killed and over 50,000 displaced in the violence in 2013. Hundreds of families displaced from their villages have been denied the Rs 5,00,000 promised by the Uttar Pradesh government to families from the "worst-affected" villages, for reasons ranging from clerical errors and corruption to inconsistent definitions of a 'family'. An overwhelming majority of families in resettlement colonies lack access to basic services, the body said, adding about 82 per cent of colonies in Muzaffarnagar and 97 per cent of colonies in Shamli are estimated to not have safe and clean drinking water. The body added 61 per cent of colonies in Muzaffarnagar and 70 per cent of colonies in Shamli do not have drainage facilities. "The Uttar Pradesh government's callous treatment of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli riot survivors is a breach of its commitment to uphold basic constitutional values. The riot survivors have been forced to live in a vicious cycle of poverty and discrimination. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister must ensure that the voices of the survivors are heard immediately and justice is delayed no further," Basu said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Officials from President Donald Trump's administration met secretly with Venezuelan military officers to discuss plans to oust President Nicolas Maduro but eventually decided not to help, The New York Times reported Saturday. Trump has been harshly critical of Maduro's leftist regime, as Venezuela has spiraled downward into a grave economic and humanitarian crisis that has sparked violent protests and prompted a wave of emigration into nearby countries. The Times, citing unnamed American officials and a former Venezuelan military commander who took part in the secret talks, said the coup plans stalled. It quoted the White House as declining to provide detailed answers when asked about the talks, but stressing the need for "dialogue with all Venezuelans who demonstrate a desire for democracy." After explosives-laden drones allegedly blew up near Maduro at an August 4 event in Caracas -- he blamed the US, Colombia and his domestic enemies -- the State Department condemned the "political violence" but also denounced what it said were the arbitrary detentions and forced confessions of suspects. US national security advisor John Bolton insisted there was "no US government involvement" in the incident. In August 2017, media reports said Trump asked top advisors about the potential for a US invasion of Venezuela. Around the same time, he said publicly that he would not rule out a "military option" to end the chaos there. The collapse of Venezuela's oil-based economy under the increasingly authoritarian Maduro has led to dire shortages of food and medicine. Maduro has angrily blamed the US for many of his problems. The idea that the Trump administration might have even considered backing a coup attempt seems sure to fuel such charges. Mari Carmen Aponte, who was a top US diplomat for Latin American affairs in the Obama administration, told the Times that "this is going to land like a bomb" in the region. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday rejected concerns that China was burdening Pakistan with debt through its investments in the USD 50-billion China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as he reaffirmed China's all-weather strategic cooperative partnership with the country. Wang's remarks came as he met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and discussed various issues of mutual interest, including the CPEC. Wang, who arrived here on Friday on three-day visit, held one-on-one and delegation-level talks with Qureshi, according to Pakistan Foreign Office. He said that the CPEC helped create more than 70,000 jobs in Pakistan and contributed to the national growth. "The CPEC has not inflicted a debt burden on Pakistan, rather when these projects get completed and enter into operation, they will unleash huge economic benefits...and these will create considerable returns to the Pakistani economy," Wang said. He said Pakistan's 47 per cent debt was due to loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Wang further said that the (CPEC), which is a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative, increased economic growth. Wang's remarks came after some analysts warned of the Chinese debt trap. "We have decided to strive for a greater balance in two-way trade. China will earmark amounts of subsidiaries to encourage imports from Pakistan and will send more tread coalition teams to Pakistan. We will also broaden the market access to Pakistan's competitive agricultural products," he said. Wang said that the two sides decided to complete negotiations on the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) by the end of this year and China would help in developing a local manufacturing center in Pakistan. Qureshi said that Pakistan was committed to the CPEC which is a "proof of how seamless the belt and road initiative can become with the help of all stakeholders." He said Wang extended an invitation to Prime Minister Imran Khan to visit an expo in China in November as a guest of honour. Chinese President Xi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang were also invited to visit Pakistan, he said. The Foreign Office said in a statement that following one-on-one meeting, the two leaders held an in-depth exchange of views on the entire gamut of bilateral relationship including economic cooperation, the CPEC, defence cooperation and cultural and educational cooperation. Wang, who is also the Chinese State Councilor, congratulated Qureshi on his appointment as the foreign minister. While reaffirming the "all-weather strategic cooperative partnership" between the two countries, Wang underlined that Pakistan will always be a priority for China in its Foreign Policy. "The State Councilor reiterated that Pakistan was China's 'Iron brother' and the bilateral partnership served as an anchor for regional peace and stability. China will work with Pakistan to prioritize CPEC projects so as to benefit all regions of Pakistan," the Foreign Office said. Qureshi reciprocated the sentiments of the State Councilor and reaffirmed the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries. He underlined that regardless of political changes, the bilateral relationship will remained as strong as ever. "The Foreign Minister highlighted the significance of the CPEC for the socio-economic development of Pakistan and stressed that it will always remain a national priority for Pakistan," it said. During the meeting, the regional situation also came under discussion. In addition to meeting his Pakistani counterpart, Wang will also meet Prime Minister Imran Khan, outgoing president Mamnoon Hussain, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser and Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Bajwa. He is also likely to meet President-elect Arif Alvi. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Governor K N Tripathi Saturday expressed concerns over the menace of fake and said "planting and promoting" it is a crime against the nation. "Every happening should not be looked into through coloured glasses. Truth must be reported. A reporter must report objectively and should avoid false and concocted jeopardising the future of the country," he said while speaking at the annual Sarat Bose Memorial Lecture. The topic of the Sarat Bose Memorial Lecture was 'The Media Today: Watchdog or Promoter of Fake News?'. "No doubt the media has to be critical, analytical impartial to bring to the notice of the people the functioning of the government," he said. "But planting and promoting fake news is a crime against the nation. Political ideologies and commercial interests are affecting the independence and fearlessness of the media," he said. N Ravi, former editor-in-chief of The Hindu newspaper, while delivering the keynote address cautioned about the ill-effects of fake news. "Fake news is always untrue but it may have an impact of different kind. It could be harmless much of the time, it could be just disinformation or it could have harmful consequences where misinformation is deliberately created to harm a person, social group, community or a country," N Ravi said. Fake news has been more of a problem of social media (platforms) such as WhatsApp, where there have been instances of rumours of child-lifters or cow butchers had led to lynchings, he said. N Ravi, director of Kasturi & Sons Ltd, however maintained that "politicians have been quick to brand a news as fake news which they do not like to undermine the credibility of the media". "Journalism is always a work in a hurry to meet a deadline and many times mistakes are made. Good journalism demands that media owns up its mistake and correct them with equal prominence. This has to be done either through self-regulation and not through any other outside regulation," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Women and Child Development Ministry has invited nominations for this year's National Children Awards given to children with outstanding achievements in the fields of innovation, scholastic achievements, sports, arts and culture, social service and bravery. This national recognition is conferred by the president. The last date to submit nominations is September 30 this year. Elaborating on the awards, Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi said the National Children Awards is an "amazing platform to honour the exceptional achievements of our children and those who strive towards their welfare, development and protection in a way to inspire others". Applications are sought in the categories of 'National Child Awards' and 'National Child Welfare Awards'. The recipients of the 'National Child Awards' receive a medal, a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, book vouchers worth Rs 10,000, a certificate and a citation. The 'National Child Welfare Awards' recognise the work of individuals and institutions who have made a remarkable contribution towards the service of children in the fields of child development, protection and welfare. The recipients receive a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, a citation and a certificate. The Ministry has also launched a logo design contest for the awards. The details of the contest are available on the Facebook and Twitter accounts of the Ministry. Last date to submit entries for the contest is September 23. Further details of the awards are available at www.nca-wcd.nic.in. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Minister Partha Chatterjee on Saturday said the state government is "dead against" the practice of gherao in higher educational institutions. In the last few months, the vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University and the registrar of Presidency University have been gheraoed for days by student unions over admission issues. "We are dead against the practice of gherao of principals, VCs at the slightest pretext," he told reporters, after a meeting with members of the TMC students' wing -- Trinamool Chhatra Parishad here. Chatterjee said former students should refrain from being part of student units of their alma mater. The minister also said that every student should keep in mind that regular attendance of classes is a must. "We will ask the colleges and universities to show no leniency to those who fail to meet the required percentage. We will recommend the authorities to deduct students' marks in semester examination if they fail to meet the minimum percentage figure of attendance," he said. The Calcutta University had in February disallowed some students of the Bengali Department from appearing in semester examinations, after they failed to secure the stipulated 55 per cent attendance. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Francesco Guarascio and Francois MurphyVIENNA (Reuters) - Germany called for more time to agree a European Union tax overhaul to raise levies on large digital firms, although its Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said a solution was needed soon.Under a proposal from the European Commission in March, EU states would charge a 3 percent levy on digital revenues of large firms like Google and Facebook that are accused of routing their profits to the bloc's low-tax states.The plan is opposed by smaller states like Ireland, and by Nordic governments who fear the tax could stifle innovation and ... By Francesco Guarascio and Leigh ThomasVIENNA (Reuters) - A European Union tax overhaul to raise levies on large digital firms needs a thorough debate although an agreement could still be found by the end of the year, Germany's Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said on Saturday.Under a proposal from the European Commission in March, EU states would charge a 3 percent levy on digital revenues of large firms like Google and Facebook that are accused of routing their profits to the bloc's low-tax states.The plan is opposed by smaller states like Ireland, who fear losing revenues, and by Nordic ... A vice-president of HDFC Bank has gone missing under mysterious circumstances from his office in Mumbai. Siddharth Sanghvi (39) has been missing since leaving his office in the Kamala Mills area on the night of September 5. Meanwhile, police has recovered Sanghvi's car from Kopar Khairane area a day after. The rear seat reportedly had blood stains, which have been sent for tests. Prima facie, investigators are considering this to be a case of abduction. According to CCTV footage gathered by the police, Sanghvi left from his office in Kamala Mills at around 7:30 pm on Wednesday, but never reached his home in Malabar Hills. His family filed a missing person's complaint at NM Joshi Marg police station later in the night on 10:00 pm. "He left for work at his usual time... and we have learnt that he left office around 7.30 pm. We could see him walking out of his branch but we could not locate his car while leaving the Kamala Mill premises on any CCTV camera," The Indian Express quoted a police officer as saying. Also, Sanghvi's phone was switched off before he left Kamala Mill premises, according to the police. "We have checked his call data record and found his last location at Kamala Mill. As his wife could not reach him till 10 pm, she came to the police station and registered a missing complaint on Wednesday itself," the officer said. The police has said it is trying to locate Sanghvi. While exchanging a damaged Rs 2,000 or Rs 200 note, you may get nothing or only half their value in refund depending on how badly the note is mutilated or soiled. The Reserve Bank of India has amended its guidelines on exchange of mutilated or torn currency notes which explain how much refund they will be eligible for depending on their state. The new rules will govern the terms of exchange for damaged Rs 200 and Rs 2,000 notes, as well as the Rs 10, Rs 20, Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes released under the new Mahatma Gandhi series. The earlier rules for exchanging damaged currency notes did not apply to Rs 200 and Rs 2,000, and the notes released under the Mahatma Gandhi series due to their smaller sizes. This lack of regulations made people hesitant to accept new high denomination notes with even minor deformities, which led to accumulation of such notes. To counter this problem, the RBI has come out with refreshed rules to include the new notes launched post-demonetisation. The new rules by RBI stipulate that the single largest piece of a damaged or torn Rs 2,000 note must have a minimum undivided area of 88 per cent of the note's original dimension for a full refund and 44 per cent for getting half the value back. In case of the Rs 200 note, the single largest piece or undamaged area must measure 78 per cent of the original note for full refund and 39 per cent for half refund. For exchanging a mutilated Rs 100 note bearing the new Mahatma Gandhi serial number, the full value will be refunded if the single largest piece is 75 per cent of the original size, and half the value will be returned if it is 38 per cent. For full refund on a mutilated new Rs 50 note, the single largest piece has to be 72 per cent of the original surface area of the note, and 36 per cent for half the value. If the notes are damaged beyond the stipulated limit RBI has set earlier, the bearers may even get nothing in return for exchanging them. The new rules have been put into effect right after the gazette notification to this effect was published earlier this week. People can exchange mutilated or defective notes at RBI offices and designated bank branches across the country for either full or half value, depending upon the condition of the currency. Edited by Vivek Punj Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's billionaire co-founder Jack Ma will announce a succession plan on Monday to hand the reins of his sprawling empire to a new generation of leaders but will remain executive chairman for the time being. Ma will announce the plan on his 54th birthday and the handover strategy will stretch over a significant period of time, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) newspaper reported citing a company spokesman. Alibaba declined to comment but pointed towards the SCMP story when asked about Ma's plans. Ma, who co-founded Alibaba in 1999, stepped down as chief executive in 2013. He currently serves as the company's international face at top political and business events. The New York Times reported on Friday that Ma would retire from the e-commerce company on Monday as the former English teacher seeks to focus on philanthropy in education. China's third richest person with a net worth of $36.6 billion according to Forbes magazine, Ma was quoted by the New York Times as saying his retirement was not the end of an era, but the beginning of one. While Ma's plan to gradually step back is a milestone, analysts and industry professionals said it was unlikely his involvement would change significantly. "I don't think it means that much, frankly. He stepped back from the CEO role about four or five years ago and very specifically made a comment about wanting the younger people to lead the company," said Kevin Carter, founder of The Emerging Markets Internet exchange-trade fund. Ma oversees a number of charitable projects in education and environmental fields. He is a cult figure in China's internet industry and has attracted a big following among entrepreneurs and in pop culture. At events, he is often met with screaming fans. TRICKY TIME Ma maintains a prominent international profile, frequently inviting global leaders to the company's Hangzhou headquarters. Last year, he met U.S. President Donald Trump, who described him as "smart" and "open minded". Alibaba was founded by 18 people led by Ma. China's biggest e-commerce firm, it now has more than 66,000 full-time employees, the company's latest annual filing showed. The company had a market value of about $420 billion as of Friday. Ma also controls Ant Financial, which was valued at about $150 billion after a recent fundraising round. The succession plans come at a tricky time for Chinese tech firms. Authorities have increasingly sought to regulate the industry where Alibaba and main rival Tencent Holdings Ltd are battling for consumers. Trade tensions also present a new challenge for Chinese tech firms, especially those like Alibaba which are rapidly expanding overseas. This year, regulators shot down a $1.2 billion bid for money transfer service Moneygram International Inc by Ant Financial on national security grounds, which the company said was related to "geopolitical" changes. Ma's decision also comes as U.S. police investigate an allegation of rape against Richard Liu, head of e-commerce rival JD.com Inc, which has hammered its shares. Liu was arrested and released without charge in the U.S. city of Minneapolis last week. Through his lawyers, he has denied any wrongdoing. Liu is chairman and chief executive at JD.com, and the incident spooked investors as the company has no clear succession plan. Amitabh Chaudhry of HDFC Life has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of Axis Bank. He will assume office after Shikha Sharma completes her tenure as the Axis Bank CEO. "We wish to inform you that the Board of Directors (the Board) of the Bank at its meeting held today has taken on record the approval granted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the appointment of Shri Amitabh Chaudhry as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank for a period of 3 years with effect from 1st January 2019 up to 31st December 2021 (both days inclusive) and the terms and conditions relating to the said appointment, including remuneration," Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing today. Chaudhry was working as the managing director and CEO of HDFC Life Insurance. He has tendered his resignation from the post on Saturday. Speculations of him heading the Axis Bank emerged after he offloaded shares worth Rs 55.77 crore between April and August this year. Chaudhry, 54, started his corporate banking career with Bank of America in 1987, where he worked in diverse roles ranging from Country Finance Officer, Head of Wholesale and GCMG Finance in Asia Division and thereafter as Managing Director and Head Technology Investment Banking, Asia. He was also associated with Calyon Bank as its Managing Director, Head South East Asian Investment Banking and Head Technology Investment Banking. Before joining HDFC Life, Chaudhry has worked with Infosys BPO Ltd in 2003 and was elevated as its Managing Director and CEO in 2006. He was also Head - Independent Validation & Testing Unit (IVS) of lnfosys Technologies Ltd. Chaudhry is a BTech in (Electronic & Electricals) from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani and is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Iron pipes are ready to be shipped out at a port in eastern Chinas Lianyungang, Jiangsu province on Saturday. Photo: VCG Chinas exports to the U.S. and its surplus with its largest trade partner continued to grow in August, despite U.S. President Donald Trumps escalating tariff offensive aimed at reducing the imbalance. Exports to the U.S. grew 13.2% in August from a year earlier to $44.39 billion, with the growth rate accelerating from 11.2% in July. The August trade surplus with the U.S. widened $2.97 billion from July to $31.05 billion, according to Chinese government figures released on Saturday. The surplus was $26.23 billion in August 2017. The Trump administration began levying a 25% tariff on $34 billion worth of Chinese goods in early July, and slapped tariffs on an additional $16 billion of Chinese imports at the end of August, citing the widening trade deficit and Chinas stealing of U.S. intellectual property. On Friday, Trump said he would sanction an additional $200 billion in Chinese goods very soon and threatened to impose higher tariffs on a further $267 billion of Chinese goods if Beijing did not offer concessions soon. Analysts said the rise in exports to the U.S. in August was due in part to a rush by some companies to bring goods into the U.S. before further tariffs were imposed. Worldwide, Chinas trade growth slowed down in August. According to figures of the General Administration of Customs, Chinas export growth rate slowed to 9.8% in August from 12.2% in July, while import growth also moderated, to 20.0% from 27.3% a month earlier. The August growth rate of exports to Japan fell a sharp 8.5 percentage points from July to 3.8%. Exports to Brazil and Russia shrank in August, with both their growth rates down more than 14 percentage points from July. According to the customs data, China imported 6.2 million tons of soybeans in the first eight months of this year, 2.1% less than the same period of last year; imports of automobiles also dropped 2.4% to 780,000 units. Chinese and American officials held another round of talks in Aug. 22-24 in Washington, D.C. No progress was reported. Contact reporter Wu Gang (gangwu@caixin.com) news, latest-news Love Your Sister's Connie Johnson continues to inspire cancer researchers a year after her death. Connie died aged 40 on September 8 last year after battling breast cancer, while taking Australia on a journey to raise awareness of, and funds for, the disease. Friend Amy English was a constant support to Connie, a Canberra mum-of-two who ran Love Your Sister with her brother Samuel Johnson. "I am actually really struggling with it, I cant believe its been a year already,'' Amy said, of losing Connie. "She had such an incredible impact on my life and I miss her so much. I went from spending every day with her to her being gone. I wasnt ready to let her go.'' Amy said she would spend some quiet time thinking about Connie on the first anniversary of her friend's death. "I will probably just have a cheeky Guava Vodka Cruiser - her fave drink - and read through my countless texts and look at photos of us,'' she said. "We had an amazing experience at Jamala Wildlife Lodge with [Connie's] two boys and I have lots of beautiful videos and photos from that day and night that I will reminisce with.'' Associate Professor Elgene Lim is head of the Connie Johnson Lab at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney. He, too, will be remembering Connie on Saturday. "It's hard to imagine a year has passed so quickly. She means a lot members of my lab and broader Love Your Sister community and the residents of Canberra too,'' he said. "Connie continues to be an inspiration to all of us, to researchers, to fellow human beings alike. She was a great ambassador and advocated for cancer research. "And I think, you know she had this fantastic skill I've not encountered, which is the ability to communicate what it means to live with cancer and to voice her struggles, as well, in a very human way.' Professor Lim said the lab was established by funds raised by Samuel Johnson's unicycle ride across Australia, which finished in 2014. The funding was for four years and due to expire soon. He said the institute had access to a range of funding and would not be stopping its work. "We've named the lab after Connie in recognition of Connie and Sam's tireless work towards cancer advocacy and, importantly, Connie represents the group of patients we strive to serve,'' he said. "Regardless of whether there is ongoing funding from Love Your Sister, we will be committed to this cause and committed to Connie's memory.'' Amy English said Connie would be remembered for her cancer advocacy but believed her greatest legacy were her two sons. "She loved Willoughby and Hamilton so much and was so proud of them. She loved being a mum more than anything,'' Amy said. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/f3d1118c-9732-4f9a-93b6-384961ca5560/r0_108_2000_1238_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg news, crime Justine Saunders had just three ambitions when she joined the Canberra police force as a 19 year old. She wanted a job that involved working with people, that wasnt stereotypically female, and that didnt involve working behind a desk. Nearly 30 years later, Assistant Commissioner Saunders, as she is currently known, gazes a bit sheepishly across the vast, polished surface of the desk from which she runs the ACTs police force. It was one of those things I wanted to avoid, she says. But in every other respect, her career has exceeded all of her youthful expectations. She went in hoping to work within the community, and recalls being instantly drawn into what would become a lifelong occupation. Within days of doing community policing, I was working with victims of crime, solving that crime, putting someone before the court or even just solving problems that people were dealing with every day, she says. It was extraordinarily rewarding, and that's what's kept me going. I was absolutely hooked. Since then, she has worked as a cop on the beat, headed up national AFP teams dealing with transnational crime, drugs, people-smuggling, fraud and counter-terrorism, and represented Australia as its police advisor to the United Nations in New York. She was appointed ACTs chief police officer in 2016, and seems to have barely settled in before announcing that shell be going national again, joining the Australian Border Force as a deputy commissioner. It's too soon, she says, but this is how her career has often proceeded. I've never had a plan - my career has been one of following opportunities when they arose, she says, as she prepares to move desks once more. I made a commitment to myself very early on in my career that if an opportunity arose, even if it was something I hadn't seen myself doing or thought I had the skills or attributes to do, that I would do it. "It's through saying yes that I've had the extraordinary career that I have, which has brought me back to my roots in probably the best job I could have ever done. She says nothing quite compares to her experience in New York, where she went into her first meeting, and realised that her new title would simply be Australia. I sat down at that table, and no longer was I 'Commander Justine Saunders', no longer was I a member of the AFP, I was now Australia, and I felt the weight of that, she says. When I joined the ACT as a young constable, walking the beat in uniform around Canberra, did I ever dream I'd be sitting at a table and referring to myself as 'Australia'? Of course, back then, in 1989, she had no inkling of where the job would lead her. She found herself quickly moved to the sexual assault and child abuse unit, where she worked with victims as they navigated the police and court systems. It was a really challenging area to work in, and the privilege to work with those victims, for them to share the most traumatic experiences, and therefore the relationships that you build from those disclosures will stay with me forever, she says. Making a difference in someone's life in a positive way - it didn't get any better than that. But looking back on what was an impossibly blokey workplace in the late 1980s and 1990s, she can see that while it was work she found fulfilling, she was placed in the unit largely because she was a woman. It was all I knew. I was a young woman, so to be honest, I just accepted that this is the way it was. But it was absolutely a male bastion, it was very difficult to manoeuvre your way through as a young policewoman, she says. I wasn't a trailblazer. I went to that unit because that was the one area within criminal investigations that a woman could go and work in. There was recognition that women had the skills to better support victims of crime, child abuse and sexual assault. So that was really the one area that opened the door into criminal investigations, which is where I had an interest. And it wasnt as though she had any female role models; for the first 15 years of career, she was usually the only woman in the room. You just had to gain an appreciation of the environment you were operating in and manoeuvre your way through it, she says. To be honest, I accepted this is the environment I was operating in and I did the best that I could in it. "When I reflect on my early career, I did make a common mistake for women at that time, and that was to gain credibility I felt I needed to fit in, so absolutely I did adopt some male traits. I used to swear, I used to drink beer, I still do. But she always knew she was a good cop. She remembers a case in the mid-1990s involving a fatal shooting in Wanniassa. The victim, a man, was dead by the time she and her colleagues arrived, and, as was often the case for young detectives, they worked through the night to put the case together. By the morning, they had three people in custody. It came to interviewing those that we suspected were responsible, and we brought in a sergeant, a very experienced person, who joined the investigation after having a good night's sleep, she says. I understood that that person would take over the interview and I would corroborate, take notes and so on. So in many ways, I relaxed a bit. But within 10 minutes, the sergeant had drawn a blank, and handed the interview over to her. When I reflect on that murder investigation, it was probably at that point that I realised I could actually be myself, because it was the work that was going to speak for me, it wasn't going to be whether I had that beer at the end of the shift, or whether I bought into the blokey jokes, she says. If I did a good job, I could get ahead and I could make a career of this. I did learn that, but it was the case of, you are working in a male-dominated environment, and therefore you adapt to that environment. I think it does shape you, it changes how you communicate, it did have a big impact. Today, of course, things have changed considerably, and not just because theres a woman at the helm. When I look at the diversity within the organisation, it's vastly different to the organisation that I joined, she says. I find it really rewarding to hear about women's experiences in joining the AFP today, and the fact that they do feel that it's an inclusive workforce, and they do feel valued, and they don't feel or see the barriers that certainly I had when I started. The nature of policing has also changed irrevocably in the decades since she was on the beat. I had 10 years in ACT policing, then worked nationally and internationally for 20 years before I returned, and I saw in some ways, some things hadn't changed at all, she says. The basic principles of policing hadn't changed, what our objectives are insofar as solving problems, enforcing the law, providing a service the community - that hasn't changed. But certainly the nature of crime has changed, the complexity of the environment police are now operating in, and of course, let's be honest, the increased dangers to policing that we certainly didn't see when I was a young constable here. She also realises that she didnt know the name of the Chief of Police at the time; she likes to think that Canberras police force is aware of her now, even though shes already on her way out. /images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/93352ec6-92b3-4ac3-8d2d-230df8e6f1a6/r0_231_4585_2822_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRC) has released an employment notification calling out aspirants to apply for the posts of engineers. 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 122630 per month. The last date to apply for the government job is Oct 6, 2018. Even retired candidates can apply if they are within the age limit prescribed. The engagement will be on contract basis of 1 year for retired employees and 3 years for others. Indian Railways Recruitment 2018 For Dressers At ICF BMRC Recruitment 2018 Vacancy Details CRITERIA DETAILS Name Of The Posts Deputy Chief Engineer, Assistant Executive Engineer, Executive Engineer and Assistant Engineer Organisation Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited Educational Qualification BE or BTech in civil engineering Experience 5 to 15 years Skills Required Engineering skills Job Location Bangalore Salary Scale INR 40000 to INR 122630 per month Industry Railways Application Start Date September 7, 2018 Application End Date October 6, 2018 Maximum Age Limit: 65 years Also Read: Become A Telecommunication Engineer At Konkan Railway How To Apply For BMRC Recruitment 2018 In order to apply for BMRC Recruitment 2018, follow these steps: Step 1 Log on to the BMRC official website. Step 2 Hover over the tab that reads, CAREERS. Step 3 The list of notifications will be displayed on the screen. Step 4 Click on the link against Notification for Contract Appointment - Deputy Chief Engineer,Executive Engineer,Asst Executive Engineer,Assistant Engineer. Step 5 The advertisement will be downloaded. Click on it to open. Step 6 The detailed advertisement will open. Read the details carefully. Step 7: Send your applications to BMRC. BMRC Recruitment 2018 Application Format And Mailing Address Superscribe on the envelope, "Application for the post of *name of the post* and send it to: General Manager (HR), Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited, III Floor, BMTC Complex, K. H. Road, Shanthinagar, Bangalore 560027 Follow the link - http://english.bmrc.co.in/Career to read the detailed official notification. Photo: The Canadian Press Aerial view of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain marine terminal, in Burnaby. Opposition New Democrats say the federal government needs to better define what it means to truly consider the wishes of Indigenous communities before it launches into any new consultations over the stalled Trans Mountain pipeline project. NDP MP Rachel Blaney has asked a Commons committee to examine why a court rejected the Trudeau cabinet's approval of the pipeline expansion and to come up with ways to provide Canadians with more certainty around such major undertakings. Last week the Federal Court of Appeal quashed approval for the project, citing insufficient consultation with Indigenous communities. The Conservative have blamed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the ruling, accusing him of relying on botched consultations to further the pipeline project, which would bring more Alberta crude to port in British Columbia for export overseas. But the Liberals say they were relying on a consultation process used by the previous Conservative government to move the project forward. In its decision, the court of appeal also cited the government for its failure to assess the environmental impact of more tanker traffic off the B. C. coast. Photo: The Canadian Press Alex and Tim Vavilov leave federal court after a bail hearing for their parents. International law does not require Canada to give citizenship to babies born on its soil, the federal government is telling the Supreme Court an argument that could inadvertently bolster a recent Conservative party resolution aimed at stemming so-called birth tourism. Canada is one of fewer than three dozen countries that follow the practice of citizenship based on birthplace and some including Australia and Britain have modified or ended automatic birthright in recent years, the government says in a case that will determine whether the Toronto-born sons of Russian spies are Canadian citizens. "Indeed, no European countries, for example, grant an unqualified automatic citizenship by birth and they have no obligation to do so," the federal submission says. "Only 34 countries grant the automatic acquisition of citizenship through birthplace regardless of parents' nationality or status. This practice is not consistent and uniform enough to ground a rule of customary international law." The federal Liberals adopted a decidedly different tone recently after the Conservatives passed a policy resolution calling on the government to enact legislation to end birthright citizenship "unless one of the parents of the child born in Canada is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada." Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says one of the goals is to end the practice of women coming to Canada simply to give birth to a child that will automatically attain Canadian citizenship. Refugee and human rights advocates have objected, saying there is no evidence of a birth tourism problem to solve and that the Conservative policy would open the door to stateless children being born in Canada. Mathieu Genest, a spokesman for Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, said following passage of the resolution that it's a "shame to see the Conservatives going back down the path established by the Harper government, which seeks to strip away the citizenship of people who have only ever known Canada as a home." Justin Trudeau's principal secretary, Gerald Butts, called the Conservative policy "a deeply wrong and disturbing idea." However, the federal submission to the Supreme Court strongly suggests the notion of automatic birthright is not carved in legal stone. It notes even those states that have chosen to grant citizenship to children born on their soil are not prohibited from applying exceptions. "A review of citizenship entitlements in various countries reveals a multitude of variations and restrictions on automatic citizenship by birth." Federal lawyers play down the concept of automatic citizenship in laying out the reasons the government believes Alexander and Timothy Vavilov the offspring of Russian intelligence agents should not be recognized as Canadian citizens, even though they were born in Ontario. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in December. "In short, nothing in international law requires Canada to bestow citizenship on the basis of birth, much less to give citizenship to children born to parents in the service of a foreign government," the written federal submission says. Photo: The Canadian Press The Justice for Our Stolen Children protest camp is seen near the provincial legislature in Regina on July 3, 2018. A Saskatchewan judge has ordered a group of protesters to remove their teepees from the grounds of the provincial legislature. A Saskatchewan judge has ordered a group of protesters to remove their teepees from the lawn outside the provincial legislature. Protesters started camping at the site at the end of February to bring attention to racial injustice and the disproportionate number of First Nations children in care. A few protesters were removed by police in June but the camp was set up again two days later and officers have held off ever since. The province went to court seeking an order to evict the protesters, arguing the Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp violated bylaws and made it hard to maintain the land across from the legislature. Justice Ysanne Wilkinson agreed, saying society achieves more through order than disorder. "The protesters' claim to a right to encamp around the clock, on a permanent or indefinite basis ... is not one that can be endorsed by this court," she wrote in a ruling released Friday. "The protesters' occupation of the west lawn, in the shadow of the most influential building in the province, although claimed in pursuit of heartfelt grievances, serves in the end to diminish the rights of all others to access the space and to enjoy the same fundamental freedoms and values claimed by the occupiers." She also dismissed an application by six protesters to have their arrests in June declared unlawful. None of the six were ever charged by police. "Police are hereby authorized to arrest, or arrest and remove, any person" who is violating the order to vacate the camp, Wilkinson said. Some of the protesters, occupying about 15 teepees on the site, spoke to reporters later Friday. They plan to stay over the weekend while consulting with lawyers. Robyn Pitawanakwat told CJME radio in Regina that they believe they have permission from the province to stay awhile longer. The camp is important, she added. "People know to come here to find us here. This is a beacon for them, of a different way of interacting with bureaucracy." One of the group's lawyers, Dan LeBlanc, said the protesters have 30 days to decide whether or not to appeal to a higher court. He anticipated the camp would be dismantled before then, although there will likely be discussions about how it should be taken down. "We hope there's some allowances from government to allow the camp to be dismantled in a culturally appropriate way," he said. The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations issued a release saying an appeal is likely and the organization will continue to support the protesters. "It is a terrible day when the provincial government puts a bylaw before families standing up for their rights," said vice-chief Heather Bear, adding she's worried about police ejecting families with children at the camp. Regina police Chief Evan Bray said in a release that he will be taking time to read the decision. "As the Regina Police Service retains discretion as to the manner of enforcement of the Order, there is time to communicate with all parties with the goal of achieving a peaceful resolution," he said. Central Services Minister Ken Cheveldayoff said in a statement that the government expects protesters to abide by the order within a reasonable time. "We are fully supportive of peaceful protests but the act of overnight camping, burning combustibles and erecting structures in the park cannot be done without the proper permits and approvals, as confirmed by today's court order." Even though she married Prince Harry, Meghan Markle wont become a British citizen for at least a few years. She has plenty of time to learn all the answers to the immigration test that shell eventually need to pass. But in the meantime, what citizenship does the new Duchess of Sussex have? Is Meghan Markle Canadian, or is she American? Heres what you need to know. Is Meghan Markle Canadian? Or American? Many people wonder whether Meghan Markle is Canadian. But shes actually American. She was born in Los Angeles, California, according to Biography. However, many people think shes Canadian for a good reason. Her highest-profile acting role was on Suits. And the show filmed in Toronto, the capital of the Canadian province of Ontario. As early as 2011, rumors circulated that cast members including Gabriel Macht would have preferred to shoot the show in New York, where its set, over Toronto. But as The Hollywood Reporter explained at the time, production remained in Canada given generous tax credits on offer here. You cant really argue with that. Did Meghan Markle own a home in Toronto? While filming Suits, Meghan Markle lived in Toronto. The Cut reports that Markle rented a home in Toronto instead of purchasing one. And when she moved to the U.K., the owner of the house put it up for sale. The Cut reported that the home is private and close to a dog park, what more can you ask? According to The Star, the home sold for $1.6 million. (Above its $1.39 million asking price.) Markle lived in the home for at least two years before getting engaged to Prince Harry and moving to the United Kingdom. She rented the two-story home from former Flare magazine fashion director Elizabeth Cabral and her husband, Kevin ONeill. How did Meghan Markle spend her time in Toronto? The BBC reports that Markle lived a very under-the-radar life in Toronto. (At least until she was publicly linked to Prince Harry.) She once said that when she first moved to the city, Suits hadnt even begun airing in Canada yet. So she spent her first two years in Toronto going to yoga studio Moksha downtown and trolling for girlfriends. She now knows several families characterized as Canadian royalty, including the Mulroneys and the Trudeaus. According to the BBC, when she lived in Toronto The American actress would spend time at Trinity Bellwoods Park in the trendy West Queen West neighborhood, dine at restaurants near her home in the Annex, grab groceries at specialty shops in Kensington Market, and have drinks at the private Soho House club downtown. Where did Meghan Markle and Prince Harry meet? The Star reports that many people erroneously believe that Meghan Markle and Prince Harry met at the 2016 Invictus Games. The Duchess of Sussex herself debunked that rumor. Meghan Markle told Vanity Fair in 2017 that the couple met in London through friends in July 2016. The BBC reports that Markus Anderson, the Toronto-based global membership director of Soho House, reportedly introduced Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. By November 2016, Prince Harry had confirmed their relationship in a statement requesting that photographers and reporters stop harassing Markle. Markle reportedly had to have extra security personnel with her on the set of Suits. But she continued to live in her Toronto home. And Harry occasionally visited. The two made their official debut as a couple at the Invictus Games in Toronto in September 2017. And they announced their engagement in November 2017. What is her immigration status? Meghan Markle isnt a British citizen yet, Money reports. Shell have to follow the same immigration process that people who havent married a prince go through. That means that shell need to pass the Life in the U.K citizenship test. The test has 24 questions about British traditions and customs. In fact, its based on an official handbook called Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide For New Residents. She will also need to live in the U.K. for three years before submitting her application, Money explains. In the meantime, shell have to obtain indefinite leave to stay in the U.K. or get a permanent residence card. USA Today notes that its unclear whether Markle will give up her American passport or renounce her U.S. citizenship. But she has already been granted leave to remain in the U.K. However, USA Today reports that Markle will have to spend five years in the U.K. before she can apply for indefinite leave to remain, and then apply for citizenship. Read more: Can the Royal Family Text? How Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, and Other Royals Keep in Touch With the Queen Check out The Cheat Sheet on Facebook! Here are the winners in the 2021 election in Pueblo Five city council seats, five Pueblo D70 seats, 2 Pueblo D60 seats and more were on the line in the Nov. 2 election in Pueblo. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment For a decade of my life I was privileged to lead a church that was very effective at reaching the lost. Through prayer, hard work and a relentless Gospel focus we experienced strong growth primarily due to new believers being added to our church roles. During that time God taught me many hard and valuable lessons that have stuck with me to this day. In the nineteen years since being a pastor I've been blessed to lead a ministry called Dare 2 Share, a ministry that focuses on equipping teenagers to share the Gospel with their peers. In this time I've talked to thousands of youth leaders and preached at many churches, both big and small, across the nation. And I've noticed a pattern in these churches...most of them are not effectively reaching the lost with the Gospel in their own communities. Sure, many of them are effective at other things...teaching God's Word, taking care of the poor, supporting overseas mission work, creating opportunities for believers to use their spiritual gifts, etc. But most are not truly effective at reaching the lost in their own backyards. After countless conversations with church leaders and first hand observations of innumerable Sunday morning services I'm convinced there are 7 reasons why this is the case ... 1. They've lost their "Gospel urgency." In the average church there is not a "whatever it takes" mentality when it comes to reaching the lost with the hope of Jesus Christ. There is not a sense of urgency that flows from the reality of hell for those who don't hear and believe the message of the Gospel. Sometimes this lack of urgency flows out of a theological construct that causes some church goers to conclude that "it's all up to God anyway." Sometimes it flows out of a lack of understanding of the mission and mandate Jesus left for us all in Matthew 28:19 when he commissioned his followers to "go and make disciples of all nations." Whatever the reason for this lack of urgency church leaders need to help their congregations hear the call from above (the Great Commission), the whisper from within (compassion) and the scream from beneath (reality of hell) so that the Holy Spirit can re-ignite their peoples' passion to reach the lost. 2. The leadership doesn't model it. As someone once said, "No tears in the eyes of the writer, no tears in the eyes of the reader." What's true of writing is true of evangelism in the local church. If the pastor, associate pastor, youth pastor and the rest of the church leadership don't have broken hearts for the lost and aren't engaging in Gospel conversations with family, friends, neighbors, baristas, etc. then neither will their congregations. Jesus said in Luke 6:40, "The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher." Bible studying pastors have Bible studying congregations. Program driven pastors have program driven congregations. Evangelizing pastors have evangelizing congregations. This begs the question that if someone does not lead people to Christ should they be a church leader at all? To follow Jesus, according to Jesus' own words in Matthew 4:19 will inevitably result in "fishing for people" (aka "evangelism"). So if we are not fishing for people through evangelism are we really following Jesus? Hmmm... 3. Intercessory prayer is not a true value. "First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:1-4 The very first order of business in conducting a church service (according to Paul's instruction to Timothy anyway) is intercessory prayer for the lost. Why? Because God desires "all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." Sadly, the average church spends more time in church announcements than intercessory prayer. In some churches the high task of intercessory prayer is relegated to a small group of prayer warriors. In this sense pastors delegate the duty of prayer so they can devote themselves to preaching. But when the church came together in Acts 2:42 "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer." And in Acts 6:4 the apostles delegated other duties so that they could devote themselves to "prayer and the ministry of the Word." Do you pray for the lost in church staff meetings, corporate meetings and small groups? If you want to increase your gospel urgency then crank up the intercession frequency on your prayer dial. 4. Evangelism training rarely happens (if at all.) Most churches don't have a consistent way for church members to be equipped in effectively engaging Gospel conversations. Or better yet why not do an annual sermon series on how to share your faith? Why not make it part of the fabric of growing in one's faith just like giving, praying and Bible study? Or why not have ALL your small groups go through a series on evangelism? To help Dare 2 Share has a brand new faith sharing app called "Life in 6 Words." It's a simple swipe through app where people can choose the six words that best describes their lives. Then the believer walking them through the app can swipe through the six words (that begin six sentences) that explain the GOSPEL message. It's a simple, interactive and fun app that can help kickstart faith sharing among your adults and teenagers. Dare 2 Share also provides specific training for teenagers through apps, curriculumand events. On October 13th Dare 2 Share will be hosting Dare 2 Share Live, a live simulcast event in 97 cities across the nation. This one day event will inspire, equip and unleash your teenagers to share their faith. To find out where the closest satellite site is to you check out Dare2sharelive.org. 5. The Gospel is not relentlessly given. After visiting a church in our community a few years ago, the pastor of the church (whom I have known for awhile) texted me after the service and asked me to give him an honest evaluation of the church. My text response was this, "Great service! Friendly people. Good sermon. Great worship. The only thing I'd say is that if I was lost when I came in I'd still be lost when I left (because the gospel was not clearly given)." When you give the gospel consistently in your church meetings then the church members know that any time they bring an unreached person they will hear the gospel. As a pastor I gave the gospel at the end of every sermon and we saw people come to faith weekly. Why? Because people invited friends, family and neighbors to church because they knew that the gospel would be given clearly and consistently. This can also happen in small groups. As a matter of fact there are specific small group strategies like Alpha and Seeker Small Groups that have resources for churches to start small groups that reach out to the lost. 6. The people in our churches don't know their neighbors. I've heard the average home in America described as a castle. The driveway is the moat. The garage door is the drawbridge. And most "kings and queens" of their castles come home every night and, when they pull into their garages, close the drawbridge. What if we really equipped the people of our churches to reach out to the neighbors in their own backyards (literally!)...and next door and across the street! That's why I love what my buddy Dave Runyan is doing with The Art of Neighboring. He asks the hard-because-its-so-obvious question, "What if Jesus meant that we should love our actual neighbors?" This website has tools for your whole church to start getting to know their neighbors. From neighborhood block parties to sponsored movie nights in our side yard my family have used some of The Art of Neighboring strategies to get to know our neighbors better. And it all has led to tons of very natural Gospel conversations. If you want your church to reach the people in your own backyard then unleash the people of your church to get to know their neighbors first! 7. Evangelistic storytelling is not a part of the culture. In churches that are effective at evangelism stories of changed lives and saved souls are told consistently. These stories inject Gospel urgency into the congregation. And it gives church members a sense that reaching the lost with the hope of Jesus Christ can truly change their church and their community. True stories of disciple multiplication help believers move all this talk about evangelism from the "fiction" shelf of their mental library to the "non fiction" section. Think about why we love the book of Acts. It's the stories of changed lives! When we carry on the mission of the early church and share stories along the way then more and more believers get fired up about engaging co-workers, family and friends with the good news of Jesus. What about having a "Missions Moment" in the church service where a story of impact can be told about lives "across the street and around the world" are being changed through the Gospel? My prayer for every church leader reading this is that he/she can glean some insights to practically apply right away. I'd strongly encourage you to start with prayer. As you pray for the lost in your community God will give you the urgency and strategy you need to make evangelism a true value in your life personally and in your ministry publicly. To help you along the way download a digital version of my book, Gospelize your Youth Ministry, for free. Although it is written to youth leaders it could have just as easily been written to church leaders. The values and principles in it will help you "gospelize" your entire congregation based on seven powerful values from the book of Acts. Also, go to Gospeladvancing.org and take a 12 question diagnostic to see what stage of gospelization you are in as a church. Then make use of the tools and training to help you accelerate to the next stage. It's time for your church to reach out to the people in your own backyard. It's time to get fully gospelized. It's time for you to lead the way. Originally posted at GregStier.org. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment How many times have you been on Facebook only to see an inflammatory post that you just felt compelled to comment on? The post might not have been totally off in its reporting but the nuance of it just seemed to miss the mark. So, against your better judgment you, with the best of intentions try to correct the misinformation and then... all Facebook Hell breaks loose. You end up in some fight that goes on for hours or days or longer. Sarcasm is exchanged, shots are fired, meme volleys are launched a band of Internet trolls join in. Finally someone ends up blocked. Your friends think you are a jerk and often the feeling is mutual. Even if this hasn't happened to you you have almost certainly seen it happen to others. Aside from all of the things people love about Facebook like broadened communication, mass amounts of birthday wishes and endless narcissism... hmmpt... I mean selfies Facebook can often feel like the digital version of Fight Club. But if this kind of digital MMA battle has happened to you truth be told it might not be completely your fault. And surprisingly enough it also might not be the fault of the now deemed ass-hat friend that you were just fighting. Why? Because Facebook's system is setup to encourage you to fight with your friends. To understand how this is the case you need to have a basic understanding of how Facebook makes money. Facebook makes revenue by selling ads to companies that want to sell you their stuff. So when you log into Facebook their goal is to get as many relevant ads in front of you as possible so that they can cash in. All this happens very quickly in real time. You get on Facebook and they read all of the info they can from your browser. By this and the data that you already voluntarily gave them permission to when you signed up they have a pretty detailed profile of whom you are and what kinds of things you like. They then use all of this data to feed you ads that make them money. It is obviously more complicated than I am about to describe but, in short, Facebook feeds you ads by rapidly sending your data to servers that then compete on behalf of product suppliers to bid on pitching you their ad. These bids are fractions of a cent but they all add up. The person who won the bid well, that's whose ad you are seeing in your browser. Have you ever had the experience of looking up a product online and then suddenly, and creepily, Facebook puts an ad up in front of you while you are on Facebook? That happened because they are using the data from your browser. And now they have targeted you for a potential product sale. Now don't get me wrong, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with Facebook making money from providing you a product. You are voluntarily choosing to use Facebook. But the problem that we need to acknowledge is that the way the Internet is currently incentivized is through conflict methodology. If a site is making ad revenue off of its viewers and how long they stay on a web page then it behooves them to write click-bait styled titles and rabble-rousing posts in order to get their readers to disagree. Have you noticed that there are more conflict-oriented sites on the Internet than ever before? How you noticed that people are fighting with each other more and more? Have you seen the political climate in the United States lately? It's not an accident people are making money off of you. So how is Facebook at fault for this? Well, it isn't directly their fault if they aren't the ones creating the conflict-oriented content. But let's not fool ourselves into believing that they don't know that this is happening. They have made a point to generally stay out of determining what is virtue-driven and what isn't on their site except where Congress intercedes. Yes, it is true that Facebook has policies and penalties around hate speech and fake news but is also the case that most people claim that these rules aren't clear enough. Beyond that, no one has breeched the question as to if Facebook has an ethical responsibility to ban posts that incite conflict methodology. That may sound complicated but Facebook already bans people for all sorts of minor offenses often without providing recourse for the violator to even understand clearly what rule they broke or the parameters of the rules. According to Wired Magazine, Facebook made 10 billion dollars in profit in the first half of this year alone! Cue the Dr. Evil pinky finger because you would think that some of that money might be able to go into devising ethics that help keep the peace. But don't kid yourself Facebook and conflict-oriented sites don't want you to stop fighting because when you fight they are profiting wildly. Originally published in SuperPosition Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment This past Tuesday was the one-hundredth anniversary of the birth of legendary ABC Radio newsman Paul Harvey. Known for his homespun and perceptive commentaries, Mr. Harvey used to say that "In times like these, it's important to remember there have always been times like these." He was right. Wednesday's anonymously authored New York Times Op-Ed featuring a supposed "senior-member" of the Trump administration decrying internal dysfunction set off an avalanche of criticism, and rightly so. If even a fraction of the claims are true of aides stealing papers from the president's desk to prevent him from signing them the spectacle of rogue individuals secretly attempting to run the country we have a problem. But would it be the first time? Friday's Wall Street Journal featured a fascinating op-ed detailing the aftermath of President Woodrow Wilson's stroke in 1919, which incapacitated him, though to what extent the public never fully knew. Only in the century since have we learned that First Lady Edith Wilson, presidential physician Cary Grayson and private secretary Joseph Tumulty were, in effect, running the country. I mention this not to suggest an equivalency in any shape or form, but instead to highlight the cyclical nature of news, whether factual or fictitious. Case in point: President Trump unleashed a ferocious tweetstorm last week, decrying what he perceives to be a recent frenzy of fakery everything from "fake news" reporting (CNN, NBC) to "fake books" (Omarosa Manigault, Michael Wolff, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward) and "fake internet searching" (Google, Twitter). The merits of the president's charges notwithstanding, both supporters and critics of Mr. Trump would be wise to acknowledge that what we're experiencing today isn't really new news at all, but rather old news with new names attached to it. Yes, today's news cycle is a seemingly never-ending churn of breathless and exclamatory revelations, with each one promising to supersede the last in both might and magnitude. But today's circumstances are far from unprecedented. To quote the writer of the ancient Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun." Disgusted with what he considered slanderous journalism and unfair press, America's second president, John Adams, writing more than 220 years ago, lamented, "There has been more new error propagated by the press in the last ten years than in an hundred years before 1798." A tweetable jab, to be sure. Almost a hundred years ago, just after Woodrow Wilson left office, Warren G. Harding, the Republican candidate for president, ran on a populist platform with the campaign slogan, "America First." Sound familiar? It gets better. A runaway favorite for chief executive, the then-Ohio senator had a problem, however, that threatened his ascent to victory. He had a mistress, Carrie Fulton Phillips, the wife of one of his best friends. Adding to the drama was the fact that she was under federal surveillance and suspected of being a German spy. From some of Harding's letters, historians have concluded that Mrs. Phillips threatened to disclose their relationship, just as the Ohio senator was poised to win the Republican nomination. "Your proposal to destroy me, and yourself in doing so, will only add to the ill we have already done," the future president wrote to Carrie Phillips. In exchange for her silence, he offered her $5,000 a year for as long as he was president. One biographer even claims that the Republican Party paid her an additional $25,000. The news of the affair never got out. With the recent advent of Islamic fascism, it's easy to think domestic terrorism is a recent phenomenon. Yet, anarchists and other misfits have wreaked havoc on U.S. soil since the nation's inception. In May of 1927, 44 people, most of them children, were killed when a deranged a man, upset over a bank foreclosing on his Michigan farm, blew up the local school in Bath Township, Michigan. He was also angered by what he perceived to be high taxes and didn't believe he should be funding public schools. It remains the deadliest school massacre in American history. With the United States voluntarily pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement, environmental activists have been warning of imminent catastrophe. For example, former vice president Al Gore called President Trump's decision "reckless" and "indefensible" and even said it "harmed humanity." Yet nearly 50 years ago, back in 1970, on the eve of the First Earth Day, Denis Hayes, the event's organizer, declared, "It's already too late to avoid mass starvation." At the same time, Life Magazine predicted, "In a decade, urban dwellers will have to wear gas masks to survive air pollution ... by 1985 air pollution will have reduced the amount of sunlight reaching earth by one half." The salacious has always been fodder for all forms of journalism. Factual or fictitious, its authors and consumers have long been conditioned to think that the current day's news is far worse than the previous day's events. Given the long sweep of history, it rarely is. On a recent appearance on "Meet the Press," former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was, unartfully, attempting to explain President Trump's challenge of testifying before a grandy jury when two people have a different recollection or version of events. To the bemusement of NBC's Chuck Todd, Mr. Giuliani declared, "Truth isn't truth." Nearly two-thousand years ago, a Nazarene carpenter named Jesus stood before Pilate, his earthly fate in the hands of the Roman governor. "I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth," Jesus told him. "Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." To which Pontius Pilate retorted, "What is truth?" The familiar refrain rings true: Everything old is new again. The repetitive, cyclical nature of news shouldn't loosen, lessen or turn cynical one's interest in today's affairs. But a healthy dose of historical perspective, as well as an appreciation for the arc and sweep of time and all its accompanying drama, would allow everyone to take a big daily deep breath and better process current events for what they are and what they really mean. In the end, that would be "good news" for all of us. Jim Daly is president of Focus on the Family. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment When having important conversations with unbelievers, you will likely come across folks who seem very sincere in their beliefs. As a matter of fact, they may even appear to hold their beliefs even more sincerely than you do! Does such a person have the right to claim that their worldview is superior? This question works both ways. For example, Christian thinkers often argue that the willing martyrdom of the apostles demonstrates that they sincerely believed Jesus rose from the dead. However, the same Christian thinkers would argue against the idea that Islamic Jihadist martyrdom can be used as evidence for the existence of "Allah" (rather than Yahweh). The uninitiated skeptic will often use the above example to demonstrate that sincerity must not be taken as evidence that a view is correct. And the skeptic would be correct about this, except that in the above case, it is not the sincerity itself of the respective party which determines the "apologetic" value, but rather the circumstances surrounding the events. While the Islamic martyrs die for blind faith and spurious promises, the Christian martyrs died for claims they--and many others--witnessed with their own eyes. They were defending what they knew for certain to be true, and paid with their lives. Below, I'd like to note three observations about the relationship between truth and sincerity--two negative and one positive. #1. Truth does not logically follow from sincerity A non-sequitur is an informal logical fallacy which occurs when the conclusion of an argument does not follow from the premises. In this regard, one should note the lack of a logical connection between these two concepts. So while there are many factors which could discount the above argument concerning the apostles, one of them is not their sincerity. A poignant example is the person who visits their doctor for an annual checkup, only to find out that they have an advanced form of cancer. This person likely sincerely wishes they did not have cancer. In fact, we have medically-documented cases of denial. In such cases, a person may actually convince themselves--sincerely--that the doctor's diagnosis is incorrect. Nevertheless, it's obvious that the patient is misguided. One's sincerity may affect her emotional perception of a given situation, but her sincerity alone is not an indicator of truth and/or falsehood. This sounds obvious, but many miss this point! Again, this often happens as a result of misunderstanding theistic arguments. Another possible cause could be the legitimate misrepresentation of the argument by the theist. When we take the time to think clearly and articulate arguments with intellectual rigor, we can avoid these petty issues which distract us from the point of the discussion--evangelism of the lost. #2. Sincerity is in the eye of the beholder Another legitimate problem with connecting truth-value and sincerity is that one is objective and the other is subjective. Consider the example of an over-zealous husband who wants to surprise his wife by cleaning the house. While many wives would be appreciative of such a task under usual circumstances, consider a woman whose medical condition has rendered her unable to do certain tasks. She may misunderstand her husband's intentions and feel he that he is unappreciative of her condition. By doing what would normally be her task (provided that was their normal mode of operation), he's offended her by making her feel inadequate to keep up her end of the duties. A few things are going on in such a scenario. The truth-value is that something virtuous happened; that is, disorder was turned into order. Objectively speaking, the correct outcome was accomplished. The husband sincerely believed he was doing a good thing; that is, he was excited to surprise his wife with folded laundry, clean dishes, etc. The wife's perception of her husband's actions was the exact opposite of his intent. One could come to the wrong objective conclusion if based on the subjective whims of either the husband or the wife. Therefore, we see a second way in which sincerity is completely disconnected from truth-value. #3. Sincerity can be a positive sign of integrity On the other hand, we can note the positive observation that those who possess sincerity are often concerned with truth and integrity. Although many Muslims are misguided, for example, Christians who interact with them on a regular basis will note that they are some of the most sincere folks you'll ever converse with and are unquestionably concerned with learning the truth. Lest you question the above, consider this excerpt from the testimony of recently-deceased Christian apologist Nabeel Qureshi, a former Muslim: "By age five I had read the entire Qur'an in Arabic and had already memorized many chapters. From that time on, my life as a Muslim was used as a model for all the children in the local Islamic communities. Every morning, as soon as my eyes opened, I recited the prayer that was to be read upon waking, thanking Allah for saving me from the death of sleep and for giving me another day to live. I would then proceed to my morning recitation of the Qur'an, following this with the first of the five daily prayers (salaat). Interspersed were many smaller prayers, such as the prayer recited during ceremonial washing (wudhu), the prayers before reciting the Qur'an, the prayers before the morning salaat (fajr), and the prayers immediately after fajr. Then would come the prayers before eating and after eating. Then there were the prayers upon leaving the home and while walking to the bus stop. Soon afterwards I would find myself sitting in class, reciting prayers which ask Allah to give me knowledge and help me learn . . . etc. All of this by 7:30 a.m. But the prayers did not stop there; a devout Muslim's day is full of the remembrance of God through traditional Islamic methods." One could accuse the practicing Muslim of many things, but not a lack of sincerity. Nabeel was steeped in Islamic apologetics, and by his own admission "loved Islam with all [his] heart." Nabeel's sincerity is just one example which shows that millions of people in the world believe something false in the sincere pursuit of truth. Rather than disparage others or assume because that, since they don't have the truth, they are not interested in it, let's give them the benefit of the doubt by treating them with integrity. Although we realize that the human will is violently opposed to the things of God, we also know that God has made his existence evident in creation (see Romans 1; 2:15, etc.) and that he uses many means to draw the lost to himself. By pointing out how those means point to the truth that our God--Yahweh--exists and desires a loving relationship with any and all who would call on his name for salvation, we honor him and those who have been made in his image. When God begins to open the heart and mind of a lost sinner, the last thing we want to do is close that door by suggesting that he or she is not sincere in their pursuit of truth. Steve Schramm is a preacher, apologist, and writer. He helps Christians defend their faith with confidence and clarity while offering solid answers to religious skeptics on the toughest issues facing our culture. His first book, Truth Be Told: An Apologetics Primer for Independent Baptists, is due out early 2019. Steve is also the Founder and President of The Creation Academy. His weekly blog posts, podcasts, and videos can be found on his ministry website, steveschramm.com. Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment Across the world, there has been much speculation regarding the details of President Trump's "deal of the century," which has yet to be officially released to the public. Many are wondering what the deal aims to promote. Recently, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas removed the mystery surrounding Trump's deal when he announced that the proposal included a confederation between the Palestinians and Jordan. A well-connected Israeli source confirmed what Abbas proclaimed, telling the Haym Salomon Center that National Security Advisor John Bolton presented Trump's deal during his recent visit to Israel. Under the deal, the source claims, Palestinians living in Judea/Samaria, a.k.a. the West Bank, will get Jordanian citizenship and will be in a confederation with Jordan, while Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip will be given the option of being in a confederation either with Jordan or Egypt. Either way, the source claimed that negotiating a Gaza truce is part of the deal. There is a historical basis for Jordan and the Palestinians being in a confederation together. Between 1950 and 1988, residents of Judea and Samaria possessed Jordanian citizenship. Between 1950 and 1967, half of the members of the Jordanian Parliament were from Judea/Samaria. And in 1950, Jordan had annexed Judea/Samaria even though the annexation was never internationally recognized as sovereignty. The 1952 Jordanian Constitution that defined the borders of its country as including both sides of the Jordan River was also never annulled. Furthermore, in the past, the Jordanian leadership recognized the Palestinians as part of their own nation. Jordan's then-prime minister Abdul Hamid Sharaf stated in 1980, "The Jordanians and the Palestinians do not belong to different nationalities." Farouk Kaddoumi of the PLO Political Department said in an 1977 interview with Newsweek,"There should be a kind of a linkage because Jordanians and Palestinians are considered by the PLO as one people." The idea that Jordan is Palestine is not new. In fact, it is still considered the ideal solution by some in Israel. But Abbas is opposed to the confederation idea unless it also includes Israel. And the Hashemites are staunchly opposed to it, believing it will further destabilize their rule as they are a tiny minority imported from Saudi Arabia ruling over a Palestinian majority population. Jordan's king is reportedly against any deal where Jerusalem is not the capital of a Palestinian state. Nevertheless, one must ponder, how can Judea/Samaria and perhaps Gaza be in a confederation with Jordan if the ruling government is opposed to such a deal? While the US cannot impose it, the Jordanian king may not be in power in the near future. Indeed, ongoing demonstrations indicate that Jordanians are increasingly disturbed by Hashemites mismanaging the economy and bowing to foreigners in order to sustain their own government's corruption. Given the domestic opposition the king has faced in recent months, if the Americans stop funding Jordan, the king will plausibly fall. Turkish scholar Nur Koprulu notes that in Jordan, the Muslim Brotherhood is traditionally an ally of the monarchy and has been used by the Hashemites to quash secular and leftist opposition. Should the Hashemites be overthrown, there is hope that a secular Jordanian Palestinian opposed to radical Islam has a shot at ruling the country and resurrecting the idea that Jordan is Palestine, just as Trump's deal of the century envisions. Rachel Avraham is a political analyst based outside of Tel Aviv. She is a contributor to the news and public policy group Haym Salomon Center and author of "Women and Jihad: Debating Palestinian female suicide bombings in the American, Israeli and Arab Media." DANBURY South Street School was locked down Friday as police chased a man suspected of stealing a car through the neighborhood. Authorities said the incident unfolded when someone noticed their stolen car being driven downtown around 2 p.m. Friday. An officer who was in the vicinity stopped the car and the driver, who was described as a young man with a black and red shirt, fled on foot. The suspect was hiding behind the War Memorial before officers located him and he ran across South Street near the school, forcing the lockdown. Several neighbors reported seeing the man run through backyards with police in chase. Several K9 units were called in to assist in the search after the suspect had been lost. Texas, a K9 with the State Police who seems to have an affinity for the Danbury area, tracked the suspect from South Street through to the intersection of Comstock and Liberty streets where he lost the scent, police said. Police were still combing the area hours after the incident hoping to locate the suspect. Car thefts have been on the rise in the area during the past year. Several towns have reported cars going missing or valuables taken from cars. In most cases, the cars were either unlocked or the owners had left the keys in the vehicle. Authorities are stressing that owners lock their vehicles at night and take their valuables with them. Texas was mostly recently in the area last month when he helped to track a 4-year-old boy who was lost for more than an hour in a small community near Candlewood Lake. dperrefort@newstimes.com EAST HAVEN The East Haven Fire Department was recently awarded a $328,000 federal grant that will go toward replacing outdated equipment. Fire Chief Matt Marcarelli and Mayor Joseph Maturo announced that award in a news release Friday. The grant will go directly to the Fire Department and will be used to purchase new self-contained breathing apparatus units and a new breathing air compressor. All of the breathing apparatus units being replaced through this award were purchased in 2005, which exceeds the operational life expectancy of this equipment, Marcarelli said. The money will allow the department to buy 41 new self-contained breathing apparatus air packs and a new breathing air compressor to be installed at headquarters. The 41 units will include new masks, backpacks and two spare cylinders for each firefighter. The new equipment will offer a wide array of advanced safety features to increase the safety and well-being of firefighters and improve interoperability of the departments within the town and beyond, Marcarelli said. Maturo said he encouraged Marcarelli to pursue grant funds whenever possible to reduce financial obligation on the town, which would normally pick up the tab to fund these purchases. This is essential life-saving equipment that will improve firefighter safety and public safety. This funding will help provide those firefighters with important equipment to protect themselves on the job, Maturo said. The award comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agencys Assistance to Firefighters Grant program. East Havens award was the second-highest in Connecticut. Each year we hear about the headaches and gripes related to Burning Man, and yet roughly 70,000 participants make the trek to the Black Rock Desert each year. For those that have never been, the rationale behind setting up camp outside of Gerlach, Nevada for a week can be a bit of a mystery. But a "Doc Team" of volunteer photographers and videographers tries to demystify the event for the uninitiated and chronicle it for those who want to relive the memories. Professional photographer Sidney Erthal is one of those photographers. He attended his 14th burn this year and is co-creator of the best-selling photo coffee table book Burning Man Art on Fire. He has provided SFGATE with photographs of the event in the past, and shared many of his best 2018 shots in the gallery above. The Brazilian-born Erthal found his way to California to study English. After earning a degree in tourism, he "accidentally" ended up in Sausalito, where he had the opportunity to meet people who introduced him to the art of photography. One of the principles of Burning Man is to welcome everyone, Erthal noted. He hopes sharing his photos will help acculturate prospective participants about what to expect from the event. The art theme of this year's burn was "I, Robot," which focuses on the many forms of artificial intelligence that permeate our lives. Burning Man Doc Team photographer Jane Hu contributed her photographs as well this year. "This was my 9th year on the playa," said Hu. "I first started hearing about Burning Man well before that, but it took a few years for me to get over my initial preconceived notions of the event. With the help of some amazing friends, I made the first trip in 2010 and have been heading back there ever since." "I try to go into each year with a different perspective in mind. This year I kept the word "transition" in my head and focused on experiences that better allowed me to process some major life transitions, experiences like flying over Burning Man to see the scale and temporary nature of what we all built together," added Hu. "The art is new, the interactions are new, even the weather conditions are new. Not to mention every year, despite my attempts to see as much as I can, I probably only cover a single digit percentage of what there is to experience." ______________ Douglas Zimmerman is the Online Photo Editor of SFGATE and oversees SFGATE's Instagram. View his latest stories and send him news tips at dzimmerman@sfgate.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. LOS ANGELES (AP) A California jury has found a pipeline company guilty of nine criminal charges for causing a 2015 oil spill that was the state's worst coastal spill in 25 years. The jury in Santa Barbara County reached its verdict against Plains All American Pipeline of Houston on Friday following a four-month trial. The jury found Plains guilty of a felony count of failing to properly maintain its pipeline and eight misdemeanor charges, including killing marine mammals and protected sea birds. The company had faced a total of 15 charges for the rupture of a corroded pipeline that sent at least 123,000 gallons (465,000 liters) of crude oil gushing over Refugio State Beach and out to sea. The spill closed beaches, hurt tourism and fishing, and crippled the local oil business. Plains apologized and paid for cleanup but denied criminal wrongdoing, saying the spill was an unfortunate accident. In a statement following the verdict, Plains All American said: "A jury decision was announced today in the trial against Plains in State Court in Santa Barbara County, California arising out of the accidental release of crude oil from Line 901 in May of 2015. The charges against Plains were brought by the California Attorney General and Santa Barbara County District Attorney following a May 2016 indictment filed against Plains and one of our employees. "Plains is pleased that (i) our employee was dismissed before trial began; (ii) 37 of the initial 46 charges against the company were either dismissed by the Judge or resulted in acquittals or deadlocks by the jury; and (iii) in particular, that the jury did not find any knowing misconduct by Plains with respect to the operation of Line 901. Of the nine counts of conviction, eight were misdemeanors, consisting of one count relating to a 25 minute delayed reporting and seven counts under California's strict liability misdemeanor statutes (six animal takings counts and one discharge count). "Plains' operations with respect to Line 901 met and/or exceeded applicable legal and industry standards, and accordingly, we believe that the jury erred in its verdict on one count where applicable California laws allowed a conviction under a negligence standard. We intend to fully evaluate and consider all of our legal options with respect to the trial and resulting jury decision announced today. "Plains continues to accept full responsibility for the impact of the accident. We are committed to doing the right thing. The verdict reflected no knowing wrongdoing by Plains or our employees with respect to the operation of Line 901, and the testimony established our comprehensive cleanup effort. Numerous witnesses testified that Plains did everything possible to return areas impacted by the 2015 oil release to conditions as good as or better than before the release." You be the federal judge: what sentence for George Papadopoulos after guilty plea to one count of making false statements? | Main | "The Power of Prosecutors" September 7, 2018 US House passes broad rewrite of the federal definition of "crime of violence" without any hearings While a number of seemingly popular federal sentencing reform bills and marijuana reform bills have waited years for a vote in one or another chamber of Congress, the "Community Safety and Security Act of 2018," H.R. 6691, was passed through the US House of Representatives this morning barely a week after its introduction. This new Reason piece provides some details under a full headline that captures the essentials: "House Passes Bill to Reclassify Dozens of Offenses as 'Crimes of Violence': Opponents say the bill, rushed to the floor without a hearing, would dangerously expand what's considered an 'aggravated offense'": Republicans in the House passed a bill this morning that would reclassify dozens of federal crimes as "crimes of violence," making them deportable offenses under immigration law. Criminal justice advocacy groups say the bill, rushed to the floor without a single hearing, is unnecessary, is overbroad, and will intensify the problem of overcriminalization. The Community Safety and Security Act of 2018, H.R. 6691, passed the House by a largely party-line vote of 247152. Among the crimes that it would make violent offenses are burglary, fleeing, and coercion through fraud. "Groups on the right and the left are deeply concerned about the bad policy in this bill and the unfair process through which it came to the floor," Holly Harris, the executive director of the U.S. Justice Action Network, said in a statement to Reason. "At a time when we have bipartisan support for criminal justice reforms that will safely reduce incarceration and better prioritize public safety, passing a bill that does just the opposite makes no sense at all." In April, the Supreme Court ruled in Sessions v. Dimaya that the definition of a "crime of violence" used for federal immigration law conviction under which can lead to deportation proceedings was unconstitutionally vague. House Republicans crafted the bill, they say, in response to the Supreme Court's recommendations in that case. But the criminal justice reform advocacy group FAMM warned that the bill "would label seemingly nonviolent offenses such as burglary of an unoccupied home and fleeing as violent offenses."... The bill was also opposed by the House Liberty Caucus, which released a statement saying that the legislation "expands unconstitutional federal crimes and provides grossly disproportionate consequences for nonviolent offenses."... Rep. Karen Handel (R-Ga.) claims the bill is urgently needed to keep, as its name suggests, communities safe from violent crime. "We don't have the privilege to squabble over hypotheticals that have no bearing on the application of this law," Handel said on the House floor. "I can assure my colleagues this bill is not overly broad. It's not a dangerous overexpansion. Instead, it's a carefully crafted response to the Supreme Court's recommendations." Democrats and criminal justice groups also objected to the speed at which the bill sailed to the House floor. It was introduced just a week ago and did not have a single hearing or markup prior to today's vote. The House Liberty Caucus calls the process "farcical." In a tweet, Jason Pye, the vice president of legislative affairs at the libertarian-leaning group FreedomWorks, writes: "In my view, this bill is mostly politics. I agree that Dimaya requires a fix, but this bill has flaws that could have, and should have, been worked out in committee markup. It's shameful that this bill was handled this way." Especially because the definition of "crime of violence" under federal law matters in lots of arenas beyond immigration, I am hopeful that the Senate will take a more careful and deliberative approach to this issue than has the House. I am also amazed at how quickly complicate legislation can be moved through part of the legislative process when there is a political will to do so (even when it is unclear whose political will is in operation). September 7, 2018 at 06:28 PM | Permalink Comments Here we go again. Politicians bulldozing crap thru to highly elevate sentencing for all. both career & Acca will hit lots of people. Where us the mens rea, criminal intent for violence with fraud. Fleeing, flaky, burgaly, certainly could be. Your a nasry, but if nobody is home or its their shed 100 yards away. Come on.....A 5th grader could do better than this. Sorry, I forgot, its only the Feds. Posted by: MidWestGuy | Sep 7, 2018 9:41:48 PM What's happening there 0.o Posted by: Stella | Sep 8, 2018 7:22:19 AM I have been bitching for years that the term "crime of violence" in the criminal is vague, incomprehensible, and so unconstitutional. Sooner or later the courts are going to confront this fact. Posted by: Daniel | Sep 8, 2018 9:46:07 AM Daniel, As long as it is a term of art (which making it a long list of enumerated offenses would accomplish) it doesn't matter what a typical use of the words would be. The legislature is free to redefine 'bachelor' for the purposes of some statute to mean married midgets under 4'3". Posted by: Soronel Haetir | Sep 8, 2018 11:54:02 PM "(2) that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another" How do you use physical force against property? Sure you can use force to take property from someone, but that's not what it says. Posted by: justme | Sep 9, 2018 11:15:06 AM @soronel Yes, that is the normal response but I don't buy it anymore. Let me argue by analogy. Most rules require public notice, think the Federal Register. But there is an old joke that goes public notice means in the basement of the courthouse, the door guarded by lions, in a locked file cabinet, in folder with poison on it. The point of this joke is that at some point on the chain of causation "public notice" becomes so attenuated from its ordinary meaning, from the cultural expectations that arise when one hears the phrase, that it cannot inspire the loyalty of sane and rational individuals. The phrase "term of art" cannot in itself become a "term of art" for "caret blanche". In short, I don't believe that a legislature can define the term "crime of violence" however it wants. Which isn't to say that the legislature cannot outlaw the underlying behavior; it can. It just cannot invent its own dictionary to mean whatever is clever. Posted by: Daniel | Sep 9, 2018 1:56:33 PM Post a comment 1. Texas Ranger by James Patterson and Andrew Bourelle. Rory Yates job and reputation are at risk when he is accused of killing his ex-wife. 2. The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Patterson. President Jonathan Duncan takes on adversaries at home and abroad. 3. Pieces of Her by Karin Slaughter. When a violent incident reveals her mothers secret past, Andrea Oliver searches for clues to save her. 4. Tailspin by Sandra Brown. A pilot navigates treacherous situations when he attempts to deliver a mysterious black box to a doctor in Georgia. 5. The Outsider by Stephen King. A detective investigates a seemingly wholesome member of the community when an 11-year-old boys body is found. 6. Desolation Mountain by William Kent Krueger. An independent investigation into a deadly plane crash in a remote part of a Native American reservation faces a menace. 7. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. A South Carolina lawyer learns about the questionable practices of a Tennessee orphanage. 8. The Other Woman by Daniel Silva. Gabriel Allon, the art restorer and assassin, fights the Russians to decide the fate of postwar global order. 9. Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng. An artist upends a quiet town outside Cleveland. 10. A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. A Russian count undergoes 30 years of house arrest. Nonfiction 1. Unhinged by Omarosa Manigault Newman. The reality TV star and former White House staffer describes her times and relationship with Donald Trump. 2. The Russia Hoax by Gregg Jarrett. The Fox News analyst makes his case against the FBI investigation between the Trump campaign and Russia. 3. Educated by Tara Westover. The daughter of survivalists leaves home for university. 4. House of Trump, House of Putin by Craig Unger. An investigation into the relationship between the heads of Russia and the United States, and their potential ties to the Russian Mafia. 5. Liars, Leakers and Liberals by Jeanine Pirro. The legal analyst and Fox News host argues in favor of President Donald Trump. 6. The Chapo Guide to Revolution by Chapo Trap House. The podcasters present a satirical guide to American politics and culture. 7. Factfulness by Hans Rosling with Ola Rosling and Anna Rosling Ronnlund. A look at our biases and how the world is in a better state than we might think. 8. Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson. A straightforward, easy-to-understand introduction to the universe. 9. Dopesick by Beth Macy. An in-depth look at how opioids affect Americans across geographic and class lines. 10. The Soul of America by Jon Meacham. The present political climate is contextualized through difficult moments in American history. New York Times Six Galveston County residents may have been exposed to measles after sharing flights through Hobby Airport twice last month with a passenger who tested positive for the disease, county health officials said Friday. "We have contacted all of the six passengers who may have been exposed and notified them of the risk," said Dr. Philip Keiser, Galveston County's local health authority in a statement. "We are checking their vaccination status and monitoring them to see if they develop any symptoms." The Houston Health Department said on Thursday the infected traveler was "contagious at the time of travel" on Southwest Airlines Flight 5 from Dallas Love Field to Hobby and a connecting Flight 9 from Hobby to Valley International Airport in Harlingen on Aug. 21. The passenger returned to north Texas the following day on Flight 665 from the airport in Harlingen to Hobby and Flight 44 from Hobby to Dallas. The infected passenger did not leave the airport during the connecting flights at Hobby and is believed to have only visited an airport waiting area for about an hour each day. Galveston County health officials said that the six county residents shared some of these flights with the infected passenger. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control worked with the Department of State Health Services to locate potentially exposed passengers. None of the six passengers from Galveston County presented symptoms for measles -- which typically begins with high fever, cough, runny nose, rash and red, watery eyes -- but will be self-monitoring through Sept. 12, the latest date that symptoms could arise based on when they were exposed to the disease. If any of the Galveston County passengers experience symptoms, they have been told to immediately go to their medical provider for a follow-up blood test to confirm a measles diagnosis. The Galveston County Health District emphasized that measles is a preventable disease through vaccination, and that anyone not vaccinated should consult their medical provider. Nick Powell covers Galveston County for the Chronicle. Follow him on Twitter and send him tips at nick.powell@chron.com The ninth annual Lake Houston 10K 5K race, may actually be more accurately described as the first-ever Lake Houston 10K 5K 1K. The Chamber decided to partner with Humble ISD to get elementary students involved in the new 1K race this year. We have a lot of kids that do run in the race, so we thought adding a special run for them would be a way to get even more kids and family out there, said Chris ODell, vice president of the Lake Houston Chamber. The Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce invites people of all ages to register for the 2018 Lake Houston 10K 5K race, presented by Serna Insurance, which is scheduled to take place at Kings Harbor on Oct. 13. The Lake Houston 10K 5K is a sanctioned race with international draw. Participants range from competitive runners to casual walkers. Its a sanctioned race, but also a health and wellness event, ODell said. It also showcases the vibrancy of our area as a place people work, live and play. The event serves as a fundraiser for the Chamber to continue its programs, events and community initiatives. In addition to the 1K race, children can enjoy the Kids Zone with inflatables, bouncy houses and several kid-oriented booths. Sponsors will have vendor booths. H-E-B and a few area restaurants will be providing free refreshments to guests. People can pick up event packets at the Kings Harbor lobby of the parking garage, Serna Insurance, or Divergys. For more information, or to register, visit www.lakehouston10k5k.com. mfeuk@hcnonline.com Montgomery County Jail Texas Children's Hospital says it has fired a respiratory therapist who was charged this week with possession of child pornography. Carlo Carreon, 49, was arrested at 1 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 6, according to Montgomery County Jail records. The location of his arrest was not identified. The most recent address for Carreon was in Hebbronville, Texas. Houston police shot and killed an armed man in the head Saturday after they said he barricaded himself inside a Clear Lake townhome, firing shots erratically, and then shooting at officers from the back patio. The man was transported to the hospital, but police later said Saturday evening the suspect had been pronounced dead in an update on Twitter. Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite said police responded to the southeast Houston apartment complex at 16505 Tiffany Court at about 9 a.m. Saturday after neighbors reported hearing gunshots. Officers saw the man, whose name was not immediately released, inside the apartment through a window. He was shouting and acting erratically. "He was blaming the police and blaming loud noises that he's hearing from his neighbors," Satterwhite said. "Obviously a very erratic, emotional moment. It was very loud, very alarming to the officers." Knowing the man was armed, the officers took cover and called for back-up. Police set up a perimeter and cautioned residents to stay clear of the area, which is near Bay Area and Space Center Boulevards in this neighborhood close to NASA. The Tiffany Bay Townhomes complex is advertised as "luxurious townhomes" at "affordable excellence." "We still didn't know if anyone else was inside the apartment if it was a potential hostage situation," Satterwhite said. "It was a very dire situation." A sergeant made contact with the man and asked him to come outside, but instead, the man fired again. Police called the SWAT team. At some point, the man came outside on to the back patio carrying a shotgun and a handgun. "He started shooting directly at the SWAT officer who was right across from him in the apartment complex parking lot," Satterwhite said. "He was set up behind a couple of vehicles and a round went above his head into an adjacent apartment across the way." At that point, the chief said the SWAT officer had "no other choice" but to "neutralize" the shooter. "He was shooting everywhere with reckless abandonment," Satterwhite said. The officer fired twice, hitting the man in the head. A doctor with the SWAT team immediately performed first aid. The chief emphasized that the situation, unfolding in an apartment complex, could have been much worse. The man fired several shots into an adjacent apartment, with about four gunshot rounds skimming the head of an 11-year-old boy who was lying in his bed. "Four rounds went over the little boy's head," Satterwhite said. "Had he sat up in his bed he would have been shot." The chief said the incident was under investigation, and it was not yet immediately clear what precipitated the shooting. Satterwhite said police had been called to the residence several days ago after the man reported a burglary. "We don't know his mental state," Satterwhite said. "But this is not normal behavior and it's just unfortunate but he really gave us no choice and we had to protect the public." lomi.kriel@chron.com @lomikriel Brooke A. Lewis contributed to this report. STAFFORD The Stafford Culinary Arts Program changed TeKylahs Simpson life and gave her the opportunity to travel around the world. Simpsons studied at Stafford MSD since Middle School and enrolled in Chef Courtney Ralls Culinary Arts Program as a sophomore. Simpson, a Stafford High senior, was recently accepted to the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Austin. Chef Ralls helped me a lot and encouraged my dream of owning my own bakery one day, Simpson said. Last March, Simpson traveled to Italy on a Culinary Arts Field Trip, and in March 2019, she will travel with the group to Spain. I am the first person in my family to travel outside of the United States, Simpson said. I really enjoyed the different foods in Italy, especially the Lasagna. Ralls expects to see Simpson continue to succeed as she begins her advanced Culinary Arts training. TeKylah is a driven student, Ralls said. She has added significant value to the Culinary Arts Academy at Stafford High School. TeKylah wants to own her own bakery and there is no doubt in my mind that she will fulfill that dream in the future. Artist, vendor deadline for Arts in the Park this Friday Enjoy an afternoon with family and friends from 3-8:30 p.m. at Arts in the Park on Sept. 22 at Rob Fleming Park. Bring lawn chairs, grab a bite to eat at the food trucks and enjoy live stage performances. This free event features local vendors selling original artwork, children's activities and a live Shakespeare theatre performance of "Much Ado About Nothing" by UpStage Theatre with music by Woodlands Symphony Brass beginning at dusk. Those interested in being a vendor must submit their applications by this Friday, Sept. 14. The vendor booth fee is $50 and includes one 10' x 10' tent, a table and two chairs. Vendors may bring additional stands or items needed to display their wares. Limited space is available. The application can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/2JTz4gs. This year will also feature the inaugural Art Contest at Arts in the Park. Students 18 and younger are encouraged to create their own Shakespeare-inspired masterpiece to enter. Submissions will be on display at the event and winners from each category will be recognized on stage during the festival. Submit artwork, entry form and participant waiver by this Friday, Sept. 14, for a chance to win a prize. Learn more and download the forms at bit.ly/artsintheparkcontest. Flea market booth spaces on sale Saturday The Woodlands Fall 2018 Flea Market will be held from 7-10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, at the Town Center Parking Garage. The garage is located at the southwest corner of Six Pines Drive and Lake Robbins Drive adjacent to The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Tickets for booth spaces will go on sale this Saturday, Sept. 15, from noon to 4 p.m. at the Panther Creek Village Center. Any booth tickets remaining after that date will be available beginning Monday, Sept. 17, at The Woodlands Township Main Office, located at 2801 Technology Forest Blvd., from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Vendor tickets are priced at $50 per booth space. Each booth space consists of two parking spaces and allows entry for two vehicles. A vehicle and trailer requires the purchase of two booth spaces at $100. There will be a charity truck and dumpsters to collect unsold merchandise after the flea market. For more information, visit www.woodlandsfleamarket.org or call 281-210-3976. Arts council names Artist Management Coordinator The Woodlands Arts Council has announced the appointment of Sally Richard as Artist Management Coordinator for the 2019 Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival. Richard serves as the main point of contact for more than 200 artists from around the country who are juried into the annual Festival. The Festival will be held on April 13 and 14, 2019. The Woodlands Waterway Arts Festival is a fine arts festival that attracts hundreds of fine artists to apply from around the country each year. A diverse array of artists, the core of what makes our festival such a success, are juried into our festival and apply through Zapplications, Richard said in a press release. The deadline to apply for the 2019 festival is Oct. 20 and artists can apply online at www.thewoodlandsartscouncil.org. Society for the Advancement of Floral Design to host workshop The Society for the Advancement of Floral Design (SAFD) will have a Thanksgiving-themed workshop and quick meeting at 7 p.m. on Nov. 20 at Cypress Creek Christian Community Center (The Forum) located at 6823 Cypresswood Drive, Spring. It will be held in the Activity Room in the Forum building. Refreshments will be served at 6:30 p.m. followed by the workshop. Demonstrator and teacher will be Alan Masters who will help attendees make a cornucopia design to put on the Thanksgiving table. Participants should bring any floral designing tools they may need. Price for SAFD Members is $35 and non-members $45. RSVP and prepay phone to Joyce Uribie at 281-798-6425 or mail SAFD P.O. Box 683166 Houston, TX 77268-3166. Money must be recieved by Nov. 6. For more information, contact Linda Jackson at 832-454-0330 or by email at safd.houston@yahoo.com. Officials with the Harris-Montgomery Counties Municipal Utility District 386 took the next step in preventing another Hurricane Harvey-like disaster on Thursday at a workshop forum. Members of the MUDs Board of Directors hosted the meeting for more than 70 area residents to discuss flood mitigation strategy for the district that includes the Village of Creekside Park and Harvey-flooded neighborhoods Timarron and Timarron Lakes. Everybody is very engaged right after a flood event, and you see that wane over time houses get rebuilt, people move on with their lives, said MUD 386 board consultant Craig Maske. I would encourage yall to have good memories as we move forward. The board commissioned a working group earlier this summer made up of MUD members, residents and consultants. The groups goal is to determine possible drainage infrastructure improvements and explore solutions to avoid damage similar to that done by Harvey when 6 percent of the homes in the villages two subdivisions flooded. Maske and Board Members Zachary Toups and Christopher Boyer presented a list of 17 solutions ranked by affordability and plausibility including a flood barrier, mass buyouts of homes and right-of-way acquisitions. One idea was to purchase homes flooded, destroy them and then leave the land vacant so if future flooding occurs, no homes would be affected. Everybodys interest is the same, Boyer said. I want to protect my investment. The potential projects identified by MUD 386 officials are set to be funded mostly independently from the $2.5 billion Harris County flood bond that was approved by voters on Aug. 25. An estimated $92.5 million of the funds were allocated to the Spring Creek watershed. For those of you who voted for Prop A, thank you so much, Toups said. That will help us out at some level. Possible fixes The Village of Creekside Park, The Woodlandss newest village, is located entirely in Harris County and suffered most of the damage wrought on the township by Harvey. More than 20 inches of floodwaters from nearby Spring Creek during Hurricane Harvey flooded homes and drew the ire of Creekside Park residents at an October MUD 386 board meeting, where they criticized the MUDs supposed failure to update what they alleged were faulty drainage systems after the Memorial Day flood of 2016. After discussions with the board in October, residents discovered that overflow from the drains in the Timarron Lakes subdivision had damaged dozens of homes in the Timarron subdivision after Harvey. Although the proposed solutions would be paid almost entirely out of the MUDs coffers, several residents were outspoken about the MUD taking the lead in making sure that the bonds slated projects for the Spring Creek watershed are built despite the fact that MUDs in Texas bear no flood mitigation responsibility. Our responsibility is to maintain drainage ditches, said Bob Leilich, a Grogans Point resident and president of Montgomery County MUD 1, who has been working with MUD 386 officials to secure funding for Spring Creek-specific projects. However, I believe it is our moral responsibility to do what we can, Leilich added. Leilich said Montgomery County MUDs 1, 7, 46, 60 and Harris-Montgomery Counties MUD 386 have pledged $400,000 toward engineering for a reservoir on Spring Creek, one of the primary projects outlined in the Harris County flood bond and a leading candidate for curbing flooding from Spring Creek. However, any plans for a possible dam on the waterway are decades from reality. Harvey was not the worst flood The Village of Creekside Park has seen a slow-moving storm dropped up to 30 inches of rain on Montgomery County in October 1994 and was used as the flood of record until Harvey brought water into homes for the first time since. The drainage system was not designed for what we saw in Harvey or on Memorial Day 2016, Maske said. Do nothing Maske stressed the proposed projects were only in the discussion phase, but the most-discussed options removing the Kuykendahl Road bridges, a mile-long water barrier where Timarron Lakes backs up to Spring Creek and right-of-way acquisitions to provide a bypass for water curving around the creek, all present their own challenges. Boyer said whatever plan the board chooses, it needs to be affordable, implementable, not increase the risk of flooding up or downstream and contribute to long-term resilience to flooding in the area. Where we are today, the board is making the decisions, were just a working group, Boyer said. The group used computer models to determine which options would be most effective in mitigating flooding from the creek and found that 72,000 cubic feet per second flowed under one of the Kuykendahl bridges. To lower the water level in a flood similar to Harveys, the MUD would have to construct a system that reduced that number by 20,000 cubic feet per second. Everybody will get water in their yard, but we wouldnt lose any houses, Boyer said. Everything is conceptual, thats another level down in the weeds, Maske said the proposed mile-long barrier behind Spring Creek would have to be built out in a way that it would completely surround the neighborhood and keep overflow on the creek side and injunctions would keep the right-of-way from ever being built. The models are based on the flood depths caused from Harvey and the 1994 flood, maxing out at about 24 inches and could prove futile if Spring Creek sees an even bigger rain event in the future. Like in all planning studies, Maske said, the option to do nothing exists as well. But to ignore the fact that another, possibly worse wall of water could make its way down Spring Creek and into the San Jacinto River, destroying homes and ruining lives, is unacceptable, he added. When God was trying to destroy the Earth, he didnt use an earthquake, or a tornado what did he use? Maske said. Floods. The Canadian-campaigned trotting mare Dream Together continued her winning ways in the $40,000 fourth leg of the Miss Versatility Series contested on Friday night (September 7) at Tioga Downs. Trained by Luc Blais and owned by the Determination stable of Montreal, Que., Dream Together notched her third straight win stateside following early August victories in Hambletonian Day's Dr. John R. Steele Memorial and the Joie De Vie Stakes at Tioga. With Rick Zeron catch-driving, Dream Together defeated pacesetter NF Happenstance and Caprice Hill by four lengths in 1:52.3, trotting her final quarter in :27.4. NF Happenstance trotted past a two-hole spot to take the lead from early leaver Pink Pistol by the :27 quarter mark and cruised through middle splits of :55.4 and 1:24.1. Meanwhile, even-money favourite Ice Atraction moved first-up from third at the midway point with Dream Together on her back. The bettors' choice failed to gain ground prompting Dream Together's three-wide rush that landed her in the winner's circle. Dream Together finished third in her local leg at Woodbine Mohawk Park that opened the series back in May and was won by her stablemate and defending champion Emoticon Hanover (not entered in leg four). The four-year-old Muscle Hill-Danae mare now boasts a career record reading 12-7-7 from 34 starts and earnings totalling $733,444. Sent postward at odds of 7-2, she returned $9.70 to her backers at the betting windows. A pair of $13,000 Opens were won by trotter Warrawee Preferred (Jim Taggart Jr.) in 1:56.1 and pacing mare Culinary Delight N (Larry Stalbaum) in 1:52. Some might dread getting older, but one nonprofit in The Woodlands doesnt seem to mind and is aging gracefully. For its 45th birthday, leaders of the tireless non-profit Interfaith of The Woodlands have planned a party complete with balloons and confetti, but have also added a way for community members to participate in the celebration. From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 5, the organization is hosting a Day of Caring. Itll be a community-wide drive with a goal of collecting 45,000 pounds of food in the parking lot at 4242 Interfaith Way, The Woodlands. Missy Herndon, Interfaiths CEO, said their goal was to create an event that would allow all southern Montgomery County residents, regardless of age or economic background, to take part. The donated food is planned to go into their food pantry, which services almost 19,000 individuals per year. Interfaith hasnt always had a food pantry, however. In 1973, Interfaith was known as The Woodlands Religious Communities, Inc., and Herndon said its purpose was to ensure that every family who moved into the community had a spiritual home. (The goal) was to ensure that all faiths were represented, and to ensure that no matter where you came from or what your background was, you were able to find a place you were comfortable in, Herndon said. George Mitchell created the organization the year before he founded The Woodlands and while he may have founded it, The Rev. Don Gebert was the first executive director. Gebert still lives in the community, and Herndon said they hope to see him at the Day of Caring event. Herndon said that the mission of caring for the community has remained the same throughout the years, yet it has certainly expanded beyond the original vision. Initially, we were ensuring there were spiritual homes for everybody, but as those people came we began caring for them in a different way, Herndon said. Here we are 45 years later and we are a unique organization whose presence is to build a loving and caring community through service. As The Woodlands grew, Interfaiths programs have also expanded according to the communitys changing needs. Beyond the manicured lawns, theres a lot of need. We serve those individuals who are in crisis, whether its job loss or major expenses they werent expecting, Herndon added. The hometown nonprofit now provides family, senior and employment services in addition to running a food pantry, clinic and school. For the next 45 years, Herndon said she knows that Interfaith will stay true to its mission. It may not be me sitting here in 45 years, but its in the foundation of the community to care for people, Herndon said. jane.stueckemann@chron.com The Woodlands Fire Department recently unveiled an experimental uniform dryer, which was theorized, designed and constructed by one of its own. One of the challenges all fire departments across the United States faces is drying of the heavy duty firefighting gear, often referred to in the profession as bunker gear or turnout gear. The official name is usually Personal Protection Equipment and includes a helment, a hood, protective pants and jacket as well as gloves and boots. Fire Chief Alan Benson, of The Woodlands Department, said during fires and other incidents, the advanced protective gear becomes both wet and covered with potential contaminants such as ash or residue from what has been burning. TEXAS CELEBS: See where they got their start, where they are now Cleaning the PPE outfits often means the gear cannot be worn again until it is fully dried out, which creates a challenge if another fire incident occurs soon after another incident because most fire departments have only one set of PPE for each firefighter due to the high cost of the gear. Recently, Benson said, The Woodlands Fire Department bought a second PPE hood for every firefighter in the department, but purchasing a completely new set of PPE for every person in the department is not financially feasible. Cleaning up after fires is critical to the health of firefighters, Benson noted, and the department has taken measures to help firefighters clean up properly, from taking showers to other methods. We purchased some wipes, and we have a program which requires them to do a gross decon of all their personal gear, Benson said. We did a two and a half hour class, which teaches you how to properly clean your face and gear. Once firefighters get back from a scene, the PPE gear is placed in a heavy duty washing machine, Benson explained. We require them to wash their gear, theyre called extractors, they are heavy duty washing machines. We have one at every station now. They are required to wash all their gear, Benson said. But drying the PPE is one issue all departments face, and that is where one resourceful firefighter stepped in to help. We have our own MacGyver here, Chris Polnick, Benson said. Chris is amazing. He produced this prototype, I think it can do two sets (of PPE) at a time. The experimental dryer is based at the departments Station No 4, and the device consists of a blower that shoots air through numerous plastic plumbing pipes that have had a series of circular holes cut into them. The PPE gear is placed over the tubes, the machine is turned on and air blows rapidly through the various parts of the PPE, drying it quickly and efficiently, Benson added. Theyre still tweaking it, but it blows air through it. Everyone is raving about it because it can dry your gear in like two hours, Benson said. (Polnick) is a great asset to our department, he comes up with stuff like this. He truly is MacGyver. BEIRUT - Syrian and Russian warplanes launched dozens of airstrikes on Syria's northern province of Idlib on Saturday, a monitoring group said, intensifying pressure on the country's last rebel stronghold after crisis talks yielded no progress. At least seven civilians were dead after at least 80 airstrikes around the province's southern edge, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said the violence was the "most intense" in weeks, with helicopters also dropping barrel bombs packed with shrapnel. Pro-government forces have massed on the edges of Idlib, wedged into Syria's northwest along the Turkish border. Syrian and Russian officials - key allies in Syria's long conflict - appear to be preparing for an all-out assault to retake the area for good. But there are deep fears that an attempt to reclaim Idlib could touch off major bloodshed and a humanitarian crisis among the area's 3 million civilians, half of them displaced from elsewhere in Syria. At a meeting in Tehran on Friday, the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey failed to agree on a cease-fire to halt the violence. Although on different sides of the war, Turkey and Russia share an interest in preventing the situation from unraveling. Turkey worries the violence could send hundreds of thousands of fleeing civilians to its border. Russia is wary of being drawn deeper into a bloody battle as it tells international partners that Syria is stabilizing and open for reconstruction. The Observatory said Saturday that some 2,000 people were already on the move from areas being bombed, heading deeper into Idlib province. Al-Qaeda-linked rebels, known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, control more than half of Idlib, and much of the Russian and Syrian government rhetoric has focused on a need to defeat the group. It is also home to a Turkey-backed coalition known as the National Liberation Front, as well as civilians who have left their previous homes instead of agreeing to "reconciliation" agreements with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Many fear conscription or arrest. The state-run Al-Ikhbariya TV said Saturday that the Syrian government was retaliating against rebel shelling on a government-held area south of Idlib. The barrage late Friday in Mhradah killed at least nine civilians, according to state media. The reports could not be independently verified. "Renewed fighting in Idlib could produce suffering to rival the human misery seen in Aleppo, Eastern Ghouta and Raqqa," said Fabrizio Carboni, regional director for the Near and Middle East at the International Committee of the Red Cross, in reference to the bloodiest battles of the seven-year war. There were no signs that any side was backing down. "We consider it unacceptable when the protection of the civilian population is used as a pretext for letting terrorists avoid a strike," said Russian President Vladimir Putin at a news conference in Tehran on Friday. Emad al-Moujahid, a spokesman for HTS, described his organization as "part of the Syrian society" and vowed "military surprises" against Syrian and Russian forces. Dan Haar A Connecticut politician is calling on a Texas-based media company to change its debate qualification rules so he can spar other candidates for governor on Wednesday. Oz Griebel, who is running as an independent candidate, issued a statement Saturday asking Nexstar to change its requirement that candidates must receive at least 10 percent support in a reputable poll to participate. The sad truth is that women in business must always be on the lookout for people who will try to discredit them. The opposition could come in the form of a direct challenge to your authority or a sneak attack to damage your reputation with your clients, your customers, your bosses and peers. Ask any woman in any line of work, and she'll tell you how simple it is for a carefully planted seed of doubt or a well-placed bit of gossip to jeopardize her position by raising questions about her professional competence or her effectiveness in her business. Watching your back, unfortunately, is an inescapable part of the track to success. When it comes to protection from sneak attacks, you have to go it alone. Related: If Another Woman Is Being Rude or Uncivil to You at Work, Here's What You Can Do Sniper alert: king snakes, queen bees and mean girls While working in big corporate law, I took on a high-stakes case requiring a team of associates and one junior partner. Unfortunately, all the junior partners were fully booked. Arriving to the "rescue," another senior partner volunteered to "help" me. No sooner had he signed on than he announced to me that he'd be taking lead on the entire case. I doubt that he saw his actions as an attempt to push me aside. He was simply doing what powerful men do: He was conflating his involvement with being the boss. I didn't take his attempt to usurp me lying down. But, dealing with these sniper attacks is tricky business. A well-placed male enemy with deep connections in the old boys' network is no small matter. If you're not careful, one back-room political maneuver by a jealous rival could knock you off the rung you earned with your merit and grit. For all the attacks that may come from men, however, what is often more unexpected is an attack from another woman. Whether arising from naked ambition or from the perception that there can be only one "queen bee" in the company, a back stab from within your own tribe carries its own unique sting. Related: How to Present an Authentic Self at Work as a Woman While taking lead on a case for a Fortune 100 client, I pulled in several junior partners, including one woman. Within two weeks of bringing her on board, she was trying to poach the client. Her actions blindsided me. Fortunately, I had a 15-year relationship with the client, and she had zero chance of succeeding. Still, being double-crossed by someone who should be your ally is difficult to forget. "Queen bee syndrome" describes a woman who has succeeded in her own career only to pull up the ladder behind her. It can also describe a woman who treats her female subordinates more critically than their male counterparts. I've long maintained that this corrosive phenomenon is rooted in the misguided perception that there is only room for one woman at the table, but I was surprised to learn that research now theorizes that queen bees are simply trying to emulate the men in an attempt to fit in. Queen bees are trapped in a vicious cycle, according to one recent study. As they rise in their careers, they distance themselves from junior women, legitimizing and perpetuating the very gender discrimination that they faced while advancing their careers in male-dominated organizations. According to the study, queen bee behavior is a response to misogyny and the social-identity threats that women encounter in businesses controlled by men. Related: 9 Ways Successful Group Networking Empowers Women Entrepreneurs "Queen bees" may control the hive, but they're not the only women standing in the way of progress. "Mean girls" are women who undercut or bully out of a desire for supremacy, jealousy or in response to a perceived slight, real or imagined. A 2010 study conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute found that female bullies directed their hostilities toward other women 80 percent of the time. In contrast, male bullies are equal opportunity bullies. A 2011 study of 1,000 working women conducted by the American Management Association found that 95 percent of these women felt they had been "undermined by another woman at some point in their careers." The fine art of career self-defense Protect yourself from attack with these five strategies: 1. Maintain constant vigilance. It's not helpful to become paranoid or to spend your entire professional life looking for slights or attacks. It does, however, make sense to expect that an attack could come at any time and to guard against exclusions, putdowns and lies before they go too far. 2. Build alliances. Countering sabotage is much easier if you've already established genuine working relationships. Well-placed allies, including people senior to you, can tip you off to threats and come to your defense if needed. Don't neglect your broader network either. Leverage your contacts to build alliances beyond your own organization. Related: It's Time for Women to Stop Apologizing So Much 3. Don't let it slide when you are attacked. Your enemies need to know that you can't be trifled with -- you're tough as nails and will staunchly defend your position against their sabotage. Call out your attackers. Be direct. Make it clear that you're not inviting debate; you're simply explaining that you're fully up to speed and that sabotage won't go unpunished. You'll be surprised how effective open confrontation can be. 4. Keep it professional. Counter-sabotage and underhanded tactics rarely work. Stick to the high road no matter how tempting the low road may be. When the truth comes out -- and it will -- you want to be able to hold your head high. Your integrity will distinguish you from those who have tried to undermine you. 5. Go above and beyond in proving yourself. Women are held to higher performance standards than men. Starting on Day One, deploy all the skills women have -- talent, grit, emotional intelligence, femininity and strong relationships -- to build your standing with your organization. That way you'll be in as strong a position as possible when someone questions your character or suggests that you can't cut it in terms of performance. Perhaps you'll be the rare woman who makes it through her career unscathed by sniper fire. But, it's smarter to assume that you won't and prepare yourself accordingly. Related: How to Protect Your Career From Those Who Try to Undermine You Free Webinar: 3 Women Share Their Best Tips on Leadership, Growth, and Success Fundraising While Pregnant: How to Raise $20 Million for Your Startup #LikeAGirl Copyright 2018 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved Shebang N, guided by 'countryman' Dexter Dunn, won the $16,000 distaff pacing feature on a special Friday evening card at Harrahs Philadelphia, gaining into a 27.4 last quarter to win in 1:53.2 in weather that forced three short delays in the races due to hard rain and lightning. Dunn and the victorious daughter of Mach Three went up to the lead shortly out of the first turn, then yielded to race favourite Rob Them Blind. Shebang N was content to sit until the stretch sprint, then showed sharp acceleration to get by the favourite by a neck for trainer Nifty Norman and the Robert Cooper Stables LLC. The victory was the fourth in a row for Shebang N, and her driver Dexter Dunn has also been hot as well at Philly. After not getting the best of stock upon returning to the southeast Pennsylvania oval (he won two races here in 2011) and not tasting success in his first 20 local drives, the 29-year-old New Zealander certainly has turned things around -- his win in the feature was his seventh in 19 starts here since that unremarkable beginning. In the $14,500 co-featured pace for distaffs, the Artzina mare Use Your Noodle and driver Victor Kirby also found a pocket trip the route to the winner's circle, catching millionaire pacesetter Regil Elektra to also win by a head in 1:52.1, with her last quarter in :28 in the off going. Use Your Noodle, trained by DeShawn Sample for Nanticoke Racing Inc., Henry Faragalli III, Arthur Feeney, and Trevor Johnson, now has earned $285,315. In a $14,000 trot, the Muscle Hill colt Fleet Admiral, a full brother to Ariana G, was handled patiently by driver Josert Fonseca, moving from midpack at the quarter and grinding his way to the lead by the half, then stepping home safe from his opposition in a 1:55.2 mile. Fleet Admiral has now won three in a row for trainer Jimmy Takter and owners Marvin Katz, Al Libfeld and the S R F Stable. The Liberty Bell stakes series returns on the Sunday card, which begins at 2:05 p.m., as will the remainder of the cards raced on Sunday through meets end on December 16. Three-year-old colts of both gaits will contest half of the 14 races set for Sunday in Liberty Bell series racing, with four divisions for the pacers and three for the trotters. (With files from PHHA/Harrah's Philadelphia) State Rep. Ron Reynolds turned himself in to the Montgomery County jail on Friday to begin serving a prison sentence for barratry, or ambulance chasing, according to jail records. Reynolds was found guilty in November 2015 of engaging in a scheme to illegally solicit potential clients for his law firm. He was sentenced to one year in jail, but had been out on bond since then. In November 2017, a Texas appeals court upheld the conviction of Reynolds, noting that there was sufficient evidence to convict Reynolds and that the trial judge did not violate any rules relating to the introduction of evidence. Reynolds filed a petition to the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals, but they refused in May to review it , which ultimately upheld his 2015 conviction, according to assistant district attorney Lisa Stewart. Stewart, along with Joel Daniels, originally served as prosecutors in Reynolds trial in Montgomery County court. Reynolds revoked his appeal bond so that he could serve in the 86th legislative session, according to a statement released by his office. Reynolds expects to be absent from work for four to six months and he is confident that his misdemeanor conviction will be overturned, the statement said. Stewart said that Reynolds original appeal bond hearing was set for Sept. 19, but he asked the court to move it to Friday. In 2015, Montgomery County jurors found that Reynolds illegally teamed with a convicted felon, Robert Valdez, to obtain client referrals for his personal injury law firm. Under the scheme, prosecutors said, Valdez obtained police reports following vehicle crashes, contacted the drivers who werent at fault, referred them to Reynolds, and took payment from Reynolds in exchange. Before the 2015 ruling, he accused the Montgomery County legal system of having racial bias. In our criminal justice system, when youre an African-American you dont always get the benefit of the doubt, Reynolds said at the press conference in November 2014 outside the Fort Bend County Justice Center. I had the benefit of high-powered attorneys because Ive been a successful attorney, I was able to spend over six figures defending myself from these unfortunate charges that were brought against me. But what about the average citizen, what about the average person of color who doesnt have the financial means, who is not an elected official? What about them? Thats what this is about. The Missouri City Democrat has served as a state representative since January 2011. He is the first African-American representative in Fort Bend County elected since Reconstruction. He graduated from Texas Southern University with a degree in public affairs and then went on to receive his doctor of jurisprudence from Texas Tech University School of Law. Reynolds law license was suspended by the Board of Disciplinary Appeals after his 2015 conviction, but he was not disbarred because his conviction was appealed. Claire Reynolds, public affairs counsel for the state bar of Texas, said in an email that the next step will be to set a hearing before the appeals board, so they can rule on the request for Reynolds to be disbarred, now that his conviction is final. The hearing has not yet been set. On Friday, Reynolds office issued a statement saying that he looks forward to continuing to fight for his constituents during the upcoming session. Jacob Carpenter contributed to this report. Riding a surge of renewed political engagement, a host of challengers have unseated or produced nail-biting races for congressional incumbents in 2018 primaries. That trend has skipped Connecticut. The state is home to three members of Congress who have enjoyed some of the longest tenures in office without a primary challenger from their party. U.S. Rep Rosa DeLauro of Connecticuts 3rd District has not participated in a primary since she was first elected to Congress in 1990. DeLauro is tied with U.S. Rep Nita Lowey of New York for going the most years without a primary opponent of any member of Congress in the nation, according to a New York Times analysis. U.S. Reps. John Larson, Joe Courtney and Jim Himes have not had in-party challengers in a decade or more. In fact, none of the Connecticut congressional delegation has faced a Democratic rival on primary night while in their current office. They attributed their continued support to their work in Washington and their district. DeLauros dominance In nearly three decades, the closest thing DeLauro has had to a Democratic opponent came this year. Milford Alderman Bryan Anderson declared in September 2017 that he would run for DeLauros seat, before she announced she would seek re-election. In April 2018, months before the August primary, he folded his campaign. Noting that many House Republicans are not seeking re-election, Anderson withdrew to give the Democrats and Rosa the best chance possible this year, he said Saturday. If the Democrats are able to take the House, she will chair the Appropriations Subcommittee for health, education, labor and personnel, Anderson said. She should have the opportunity to be chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee. Hopefully the district will benefit if she is chair. No primaries The state's U.S. representatives and senators have not faced primary opponents since they assumed their current offices. That means no in-party challenge for: U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro: 28 years, 14 elections U.S. Rep. John Larson: 20 years, 10 elections U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney: 12 years, 6 elections U.S. Rep. Jim Himes: 10 years, 5 elections U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty: 6 years, 3 elections* U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal: 8 years, one election U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy: 6 years, one election *A primary for Esty's seat took place in 2018 because she is not seeking re-election. See More Collapse DeLauro said she is proud Democrats and Republicans keep electing her. I have been fortunate to have received the highest percentage of the vote compared with every winning Connecticut candidate for federal office, House and Senate in the last six elections over 10 years, she said in a statement. I hope that means that the people of the 3rd Congressional District respect how hard I work for them. No comers Also high on the national list of representatives who have passed long stretches without primaries are Larson and Courtney of Connecticuts 1st and 2nd Districts, respectively. Larson has not had a Democratic challenge since he was first elected to Congress in 1998. He is tied for third longest stretch without a primary, the New York Times found. Larson said hes been unopposed because he has maintained his roots in the district and gets political results. Ive lived in the same house in East Hartford for the past 35-plus years and my kids grew up in town, just like I did, Larson said in a statement. I still shop at Padulas on Franklin Avenue in Hartford and catch up with friends over a chili dog at Augie and Rays in East Hartford. Courtney has not seen a primary challenge since 2006, when he won his seat. He ties for fifth longest without an in-party challenge in the nation, the Times reported. U.S. Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticuts 4th District has not participated in a primary since he was first elected in 2008. Elizabeth Esty, who represents the 5th District in the U.S. House, did not have a primary challenge after she won her seat in 2012. A Democratic primary for her seat did occur in 2018, when Esty decided not to seek re-election after an alleged abuse scandal in her office. Meanwhile across the country, at least five Republicans and two Democrats lost their seats to primary opponents in 2018. If you look at the upstart campaigns (Ayana) Pressley in Boston and (Alexandria) Ocasio(-Cortez) in New York and elsewhere it certainly is encouragement to me that so many who are looking to challenge the status quo have found some degree of success, said Anderson. I take comfort in that. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- One man is arrested in connection with a joint federal and local drug investigation after state troopers chased his car and a Cleveland Heights police officer shot at him, officials said. No one was injured in the shooting or crash. Cleveland Heights Police Chief Annette Mecklenburg declined to answer any questions at the scene after making a short statement. She did not identify the officer or the man taken into custody. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Cleveland Heights police were conducting an investigation into drug dealers Friday when an Ohio State trooper tried to stop the man's car about 10:30 a.m., Mecklenburg said. The man sped away and later crashed on East 152nd Street and Waterloo Road, police said. Two men jumped out of the car and ran. The officers ran after them and the Cleveland Heights officer fired a single shot at the men, Mecklenburg said. The bullet missed and the men kept running until they got to East 185th Street and Schenley Avenue in Collinwood. Dozens of police officers swarmed the area. Cleveland Heights police, state troopers and DEA agents were at the scene. One man was arrested behind a home on Schenley. The officers led him in handcuffs to an ambulance and he was taken to a nearby hospital for precautionary reasons. Officers believed the second man ran into another home on Schenley. A state patrol SWAT team in full body armor loaded into a Shaker Heights police tank and drove up to the home. The officers searched the home and did not find the second man, who remains at-large. Cleveland police's homicide detectives will investigate the police officer who fired the shots to determine if he followed proper procedures. If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Friday's crime and courts comments section. Knowing that Judge Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation as a Supreme Court justice is all but assured, have Democrats been over the top in his raucous confirmation hearing this week in which they asked that the hearing be postponed -- and when dozens of protesters were arrested and Kavanaugh himself appeared to turn his back on the father of one of the students killed in the Parkland shooting? Or are Democrats on point in concerns that documents are being withheld, improperly classified as confidential, or delivered so late it's impossible to review them, and that, more broadly, the Supreme Court nomination process has been hijacked in partisan ways that prevent an honest review of a nominee's record and views? Is Kavanaugh the smart, personable, easy-to-work with guy portrayed by Condoleezza Rice, with whom he worked in the George W. Bush White House, and an exceptionally bright legal talent whose appellate rulings already have influenced the high court, as Sen. Rob Portman noted? Or is President Donald Trump's nomination of Kavanaugh -- someone whose opinion on the propriety of investigating the president flipped after his participation in the Monica Lewinsky investigation of Bill Clinton -- the result, in effect, of a president hand-picking a justice who might rule favorably in his own potential case, as his campaign and associates are being investigated and he himself has been implicated in confessed campaign misdeeds? Then there's Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion. Is Kavanaugh, as many believe, the fifth vote to overturn Roe as promised by Trump during his presidential campaign? Despite Kavanaugh's recent assertion to Sen. Susan Collins of Maine that he regards that ruling as settled law, he himself has noted there really is no such thing in Supreme Court jurisprudence since the justices can and have discarded prior opinions. Underlying much of the animosity is what the Democrats feel was the shabby way President Barack Obama's 2016 nominee, Merrick Garland, was treated by Senate Republicans, who refused even to schedule confirmation hearings on him. Republicans counter that the American people effectively offered their referendum on the subject by electing Trump president and giving him the ability to name the next Supreme Court justices. Kavanaugh, by the way, had praised Garland as "supremely qualified," and when asked pointblank in these confirmation hearings whether he had "the greatest respect" for Trump, avoided answering. Our editorial board roundtable offers its perspectives and we welcome your thoughts in the comments. Thomas Suddes, editorial writer: Democrats have every right to raise questions, and Republicans have every right to parry them. In part, politics is theater, and these hearings are melodrama. But unless somebody uncovers something truly questionable about Judge Kavanaugh, age 53, he will soon be Justice Kavanaugh -- for life. Ted Diadiun, editorial board member: The Democrats and their supporters are embarrassing themselves in a way that rivals President Trump's unrestrained tweets -- which wouldn't have seemed possible. With every screaming protester who has to be carried out of the Senate hearings; with every attempted twisting of Kavanaugh's written words; with every attempt to paint this good man as racist or misogynist, they are rallying against them the very people they will have to persuade in the next election. Democrat Cory Booker's grandstand play of flouting Senate rules by releasing documents he said were marked confidential but in fact had already been released is Exhibit A. But more sinister is the attempt by him and his colleagues to hang incendiary words written by Kavanaugh out there with no context in an attempt to disparage and mislead. As one example cited by The Wall Street Journal, Booker highlighted a Kavanaugh email titled "racial profiling," without explaining that it was a discussion by Kavanaugh post-9/11, in which he wrote that he generally favored security measures that are race-neutral. Another addresses a notation on a proposed op-ed claiming that legal scholars across the board consider Roe v. Wade to be settled law. Kavanaugh correctly noted that not all legal scholars believe that. It was an observation of fact, not a statement of personal opinion, but that has not stopped his opponents from using it as "proof" that he would vote to reverse abortion rights. The tactics being used are deplorable and dishonest, and should have the opposite effect of what Kavanaugh's opponents are trying to achieve. Victor Ruiz, editorial board member: I applaud the Democrats for standing up to an administration that is tearing down our democracy's checks and balances on a daily basis. Let this be a reminder to all that elections have consequences. Lisa Garvin, editorial board member: The explosive Kavanaugh confirmation process is a circus of the GOP's own making. The party's refusal to release thousands of documents, and withholding thousands more until the eve of the hearings is dirty pool, plain and simple. Democrats have two words for you: Merrick Garland. Turnabout is fair play. Mary Cay Doherty, editorial board member: Understandably, Democrats wish this SCOTUS pick was theirs to make. But it's not. Gallery protesters are disruptive and uncivil under the alleged banner of free speech; a right that the Left invokes frequently, but extends to others reluctantly. Grandstanding Democratic senators clamoring for more documents are wasting time. Kavanaugh's record, accolades from colleagues, and thousands of submitted documents prove that he is an excellent candidate - he's just not a liberal. The 2016 Merrick Garland "hearings that never happened" have left Democrats itching for retribution, but this is not that opportunity. Confirm Kavanaugh and move on. Eric Foster, editorial board member: The truth is the Democrats must rant and rave because they have no actual power to influence the process. If the Senate were controlled by Democrats, I am sure Brett Kavanaugh would be getting the "Merrick Garland treatment" as we speak. Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, cleveland.com: No matter how terrifically nice and smart Brett Kavanaugh might be, his nomination is sadly the result of a specific RFP from President Trump seeking to bar the door against any attempt to hold him liable for possible misdeeds, by nominating a jurist who's become openly skeptical about probing a sitting president. This attempted perversion of constitutional checks and balances should concern all Americans. Have something to say about this topic? * Use the comments to share your thoughts. Then, stay informed when readers reply to your comments by using the "Follow" option at the top of the comments, and look for updates via the small blue bell in the lower right as you look at more stories on cleveland.com. * Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication. * Email general questions about our editorial board or comments on this editorial board roundtable to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com. Alibaba's co-founder and executive chairman, Jack Ma, said he planned to step down from the Chinese e-commerce giant on Monday to pursue philanthropy in education, a changing of the guard for the $420 billion internet company. A former English teacher, Mr. Ma started Alibaba in 1999 and built it into one of the world's most consequential e-commerce and digital payments companies, transforming how Chinese people shop and pay for things. That fueled his net worth to more than $40 billion, making him China's richest man. He is revered by many Chinese, some of whom have put his portrait in their homes to worship in the same way that they worship the God of Wealth. Mr. Ma is retiring as China's business environment has soured, with Beijing and state-owned enterprises increasingly playing more interventionist roles with companies. Under President Xi Jinping, China's internet industry has grown and become more important, prompting the government to tighten its leash. The Chinese economy is also facing slowing growth and increasing debt, and the country is embroiled in an escalating trade war with the United States. In an interview, Mr. Ma said his retirement is not the end of an era but "the beginning of an era." He said he would be spending more of his time and fortune focused on education. "I love education," he said. Mr. Ma will remain on Alibaba's board of directors and continue to mentor the company's management. Mr. Ma turns 54 on Monday, which is also a holiday in China known as Teacher's Day. More from The New York Times: Richard Liu of JD.com was arrested on a rape allegation, police say Alibaba had a bright quarter, despite clouds over China's economy The unlikely ascend of Jack Ma, Alibaba's founder The retirement makes Mr. Ma one of the first founders among a generation of prominent Chinese internet entrepreneurs to step down from their companies. Firms including Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu and JD.com have flourished in recent years, growing to nearly rival American internet behemoths like Amazon and Google in their size, scope and ambition. For Chinese tycoons to step aside in their 50s is rare; they usually remain at the top of their organizations for many years. The departure of Mr. Ma is likely to jolt China's internet industry, which has been reeling from the arrest last weekend of Liu Qiangdong, the billionaire founder of the online retailer JD.com. Mr. Liu, who goes by Richard Liu in the English-speaking world, was arrested on a rape allegation in Minneapolis during a business trip. He was released and has since returned to Beijing, where JD.com is based. For Alibaba, Mr. Ma's retirement completes a transition of power to other executives. Mr. Ma stepped down as Alibaba's chief executive in 2013; the company's current chief executive is Daniel Zhang, who is a candidate to succeed Mr. Ma. Yet Mr. Ma had remained active as the face of the e-commerce firm, as well as an architect of its long-term strategy. He owns a 6.4 percent stake of Alibaba, according to securities filings. Mr. Ma, a natural salesman and charismatic leader, co-founded Alibaba with 17 others some of them his students out of his apartment in Hangzhou in eastern Zhejiang province in 1999. IRVINE, CA - Nearly every cross-current of the 2018 campaign for Congress collides in California's 45th House district. The district sits in historically-conservative Orange County, ancestral bedrock of Reagan-esque conservatism. But growing Asian and Latino communities have swelled the non-white share of the population to nearly half. In 2016, Donald Trump became the first Republican presidential candidate in 80 years to lose Orange County. The district brims with the sorts of highly educated suburban voters who have been repelled by Trump's conduct across the country. Its median income of more than $90,000 ranks among the nation's highest. The economy is booming. Orange County retains its traditional aversion to tax increases. The Trump tax cuts offered a mixed blessing, reducing rates but also curbing valuable deductions for state and local taxes. In a year of surging political activism by women, voters will choose between two female candidates: Republican incumbent Mimi Walters, a former investment executive, and Democratic challenger Katie Porter, a law professor and protege of liberal firebrand Elizabeth Warren. Each has raised more than $2-million for a fight the Cook Political Report rates a tossup. It's among ten California contests critical to the Democrats' hopes of gaining the 23 seats they need for control of the House. Former President Barack Obama will stump in Orange County on Saturday to rally support for Porter and several other Southern California Democratic hopefuls. I sat down this week with both candidates - Walters in Washington, Porter in Irvine - to discuss major themes of the races. What follows are condensed excerpts of the conversations. ON THEIR CONTRAST IN PHILOSOPHIES WALTERS: I come from a conservative district and my opponent identifies herself with many of the liberal policies of Elizabeth Warren. She is an Elizabeth Warren protege. She was a law student of hers at Harvard. She is on the same page with Elizabeth Warren as far as wanting universal healthcare. She identifies with Elizabeth Warren as wanting to abolish ICE, open borders. And these are just policies that will not sit well in the district. Universal healthcare is not popular in the district at all. PORTER: I spent my whole career fighting for families to have a fair shot in the economy, and standing up for them when they when they were cheated by big banks or by predatory lenders. So I think it's really important to be a champion for a fair economy, an economy that works for all, that gives small business a level playing field against the largest corporations, and an economy that creates opportunity for every American. What we've seen under Mimi Walters is just the opposite. Raising taxes on middle class Orange County families, right here in her own district, not doing anything to address the rising cost of college, the pressures of paying for childcare, and voting to destabilize our health care system by voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no plan to protect those with preexisting conditions. ON EFFECTS OF TRUMP'S ECONOMIC POLICIES WALTERS: Well I think you have to look at the times that I'm in the district. I just came back. I was there for five weeks. And talking to my constituents about the tax reform package. It's very popular. I have people coming up to me and thanking me for supporting the tax reform package. We see growth over the last four quarters. People have their 401(k)s more valuable than they were. We have the stock market at all-time highs. I was talking with some business owners, small business owners, and they were telling me that the biggest challenge they have right now is finding labor. And so now we have a labor shortage. These are good problems to have. But I think the tax reform package overall has had a very, very positive effect on my district. We may have a few (paying more). But 90 percent of Americans are going to see a benefit. And remember, many people who are in the, let's say $200,000-$500,000 range, they had the alternative minimum tax. We've done away with it. You're looking at a $2000 tax credit for children now, You're doubling the first $12,000 of a person's income, it's now going to be tax-free. So I believe that the low income people will definitely see a positive effectiveness. Middle class as well. PORTER: There are three other Republicans in Orange County in Congress, and they all voted "No" on Trump's tax plan because they knew it punished California families and was going to create a financial shock at people's pocketbooks in April 2019. Families here are worried about that. They don't have the resources to pay $8,000 or $9,000 or 10,000 more in taxes. This is a really powerful contrast between Mimi Walters and me. She's concerning herself with people at the very top of the income bracket, people making half a million dollars a year, people making a million dollars a year, people who are living off the stock market. I'm concerning myself with working, middle class families here in Orange County who go to work every day, who are trying to put money into their 401k, but it's hard to find that money when they're trying to pay for child care, living in a high cost of living area, trying to save up to buy a house in an area where housing affordability is a crisis. WHAT A DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS WOULD BRING WALTERS: Well I think you're going to see this country move more toward socialism under Nancy Pelosi. Now Nancy Pelosi does a very good job of representing her people in San Francisco. But they simply are not on the same page as the constituents of my district in the 45th district. It's a much more conservative district. Universal healthcare, single-payer, opening the borders, not protecting the people who come into this country, (not) making sure that we don't have terrorists come into this country to hurt our citizens. You know government's number one job is to make sure that we protect people who are here. We have to have border enforcement and strong borders. PORTER: When the Democrats take control in 2019, the American people are going to be looking to us to be a check on some of Trump's reckless impulses, to provide stability and calm, and to go to work in a serious way on the most pressing issues facing Americans. We have the student loan crisis facing a generation of students and their parents in this country. We have concerns about globalism and competing in the world economy and having fair trade deals. We have to do something about climate change. I teach business law. We need to have rules of the road that make capitalism functional, that make it work. This is about making sure that we're creating opportunity for families, that we're balancing what businesses want to do for a profit motive with making sure that we have opportunity. Every country needs to have border control. But what we've seen under Trump is ripping parents apart from children, and Mimi Walters has failed to speak up forcefully against that. We need to be strengthening our health care system, not weakening it for the benefit of big pharmaceutical companies and powerful health insurance companies. I support Medicare for all because I think it's going to deliver the best quality and affordable care that we can get in this country. WHETHER TRUMP IS DANGEROUS AND HOW CONGRESS SHOULD REACT WALTERS: No I do not believe that. I think he has a very good team around him. I believe he's doing what he thinks is right. I think the Mueller investigation is important and it needs to play out. Hopefully it will get wrapped up soon. And I think that's why we have special prosecutors, to look into these kind of things to make sure that nobody meddles in our elections. Putin is not our friend. So we need to be mindful and let it play out. I can't be held responsible for his actions. I can only be held responsible for my own actions. The one thing about this president, he certainly communicates with the people of this country and lets them know what he thinks. There's processes in place to make sure that if there is corruption, then it will play itself out. But what I'm focused on making sure that I deliver my promises to my constituents. I made a commitment to help move this country in the right direction and I'm focused on those policies that will make sure that we will do just that. I don't always agree with our president. For instance, I don't agree with the tariffs. And when I don't agree with them I speak up. So I am more interested in delivering the promises that I made to my constituents when I ran for Congress. I think at the end of the day my constituents are going to look at the results and see that the economy is doing better. That they have jobs, that they have more money in their pocket. PORTER: I think that some of Trump's actions represent a real threat to our democracy. We need to support the special investigation and his independence and allow him to find facts. The American people deserve the truth. They need to know what happened, and whether Trump or others around him have committed crimes. Part of Congress's job is to be a check on the presidency. If you're not asking the right questions, if you're not looking at the evidence of the corruption, you won't see it even when its there. That's where we have a real danger in what Mimi Walters is doing. She is refusing to stand up for the people of Orange County and refusing to see the corruption that's right in front of her. ON RISING TRUMP-ERA ACTIVISM AMONG WOMEN CNBC's couldn't resist patting himself on the back for his prediction that if Friday's job results were strong, they would embolden President Donald Trump to intensify his administration's trade war with China. Sure enough, the better than expected jobs report was followed by another warning from Trump to China. The president told reporters Friday that he was "ready" to place tariffs on another $267 billion worth of Chinese goods on top of the $200 billion worth of goods already under scrutiny. "Why does this matter? Because the president's predictability on trade has created a 'good news is bad news' dynamic," the "Mad Money" host said Friday. "Good news for the economy causes the White House to ratchet up trade tensions, which is viewed as bad news by the stock market." Given the tit-for-tat history of the U.S.-China trade debacle, Cramer figured that the Chinese government would issue a response to Trump's barb over the weekend. "You should expect a response from China over the weekend, and that does not bode well for Monday's thinly traded session," Cramer warned. (Monday is the second day of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year.) He added that shares of big industrial and technology companies with business in China would likely suffer the consequences. "Be ready for a bit of a sell-off. Might be a good buying opportunity if the pain spreads beyond the Chinese-focused stocks," the "Mad Money" host said, turning to his weekly game plan: Monday: Sonos On Monday, Cramer will have his eye on smart speaker maker Sonos for clues on how its business folds into broader trends around the "connected home." "I've been pretty critical of this connected speaker play because the company's been around for ages and it still doesn't have a consistent history of profitability," he said. "Some people think it's the next Roku have you seen that thing? I don't think it is. I think it's Sonos." Tuesday: Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom Tuesday will bring a flurry of economic data from United States allies and trading partners. With tariffs in focus, Cramer will monitor Germany's ZEW survey, which tracks investor morale and growth outlooks, Japan's growth index and the U.K.'s labor report. "Believe me, I don't want to have to pay attention to any of this stuff," he confessed. "But when you're in a trade war with pretty much everyone in the world and that is the situation, don't kid yourself you want to know what kind of cards the other side is holding." Wednesday: VF Corp analyst meeting, Producer Price Index VF Corp: Apparel maker VF Corp's plan to spin off its underperforming jeans division into its own public company left some questions unanswered, so Cramer will be watching the company's Wednesday analyst meeting. "I think the stock's worth buying ahead of the meeting," he said. "I'm betting management tells a good story about how the breakup will actually create value." Producer Price Index: The Bureau of Labor Statistics will release its Producer Price Index (PPI) report, which measures the average change in prices for U.S.-made goods. "We're not going to like many of these numbers going forward because when you combine a roaring economy, which we do have, with new tariffs, you get a toxic inflationary brew that the Fed must feel compelled to stop, and the way they do that, of course, is [by] rais[ing] interest rates," Cramer warned. Thursday: Consumer Price Index, Kroger, UPS analyst meeting Consumer Price Index: Cramer felt the same about the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as he did about the PPI, warning investors that the two reports together could light a fire under the Fed. "At this point, these two are just accidents waiting to happen," he said. "Yeah, I'm a little cautious." Kroger: Supermarket giant Kroger has made a serious comeback since its Amazon-Whole-Foods-related lows, and with almost no tariffs on its products, the company could really deliver when it reports earnings on Thursday, Cramer said. "Like so many other retailers, they actually figured out how to listen to their customers and get them the products where they want, when they want, how they want," he said. "If you own any, please don't sell it. It's going in the right direction." UPS: The United Parcel Service will hold what Cramer called "one of the most important analyst meetings of the year" as Wall Street worries about the mail service giant's performance. "I don't think so. UPS is a terrific e-commerce winner," Cramer said. "It would be a mistake to ring the register ahead of this. As a matter of fact, you might want to buy some before and maybe buy some after." Friday: Dave & Buster's Entertainment An earnings report from experiential play Dave & Buster's will round out the week. "I've been a major fan of the stock," Cramer said. "Dave & Buster's is a consistent long-term winner in a world where so many large-format retailers are pulling back. If you own a strip mall, you can swap out one of them losers for a Dave & Buster's and that'll bring in a lot more traffic for the whole place. I expect a good number." Conclusions This week's sell-offs in the technology sector rattled investors so much that Cramer hesitated to recommend buying tech stocks with U.S.-China trade tensions seemingly re-ignited. "I think there are better places to invest at the moment. You want domestic companies with even less international trade exposure," he said. "Tech is not immune." And when it comes to Trump, the "Mad Money" host asked viewers to keep in mind that the president might not be as unpredictable as they may think. "Bottom line? Just like I predicted, the president took advantage of a strong employment number and blasted the Chinese again in fact, he blasted them a lot harder than even I expected him to," he said. "You can set your clock to it now. This is the new normal. Good news for the economy can turn into bad news for the economy after 280 characters or less." WATCH: Cramer's tariff-cautious game plan Apple CEO Tim Cook (R) and Apple chief design officer Jonathan Ive (L) look at the new Apple iPhone X during an Apple special event at the Steve Jobs Theatre on the Apple Park campus on September 12, 2017 in Cupertino, California. Getty Images Apple is holding a big event at its new headquarters on Sept. 12 where it's expected to announce several new products. The iPhone has always been the highlight of Apple's September product showcase, but Apple will likely announce a new Apple Watch, new versions of the iPad Pro and more. Here's what we're expecting Apple to reveal next week. Three iPhones, including the iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max Customers check the new iPhone X in London. Getty Images Top Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said in November 2017 that Apple will release three new iPhones this year, and subsequent reporting throughout 2018 suggests he's going to be right. According to reports, Apple will release a successor to the iPhone X with the same-sized 5.8-inch display, an even larger model with a 6.5-inch screen and a third more affordable iPhone with a 6.1-inch LCD display. The 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch models will use more expensive and colorful OLED panels like the iPhone X, Kuo said. The phones will also feature new L-shaped batteries that should equate to longer battery life, according to Kuo. 9to5Mac recently published what it claims is a leaked image of the phones. The naming might change a bit. According to 9to5Mac, Apple will call the iPhone X successor the "iPhone Xs" and will call the larger model the "iPhone Xs Max," which means it will drop the "Plus" moniker it has used for its larger iPhones since the iPhone 6 Plus was introduced in 2014. Kuo has also reportedly said that Apple will include up to 512GB of storage in the iPhone Xs and iPhone Xs Max twice what any current iPhone offers stainless steel frames, Apple's new A12 processor, dual 12-megapixel cameras for portrait pictures and three color options (black, white and gold). The iPhone Xs will start at $800 while the iPhone Xs Max will start at $900, Kuo said. The phones are expected to ship in September. The low-cost LCD model with a 6.1-inch screen -- and no known name -- will start at $600, according to Kuo. It will reportedly include the same A12 processor in Apple's more expensive iPhones, but lower storage options, less RAM, a single 12-megapixel camera, a lower resolution screen and a smaller battery. It's said to ship in five colors including gray, red, white, blue and orange. Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty has suggested this model won't ship until October. All three iPhones will have Face ID, according to Kuo, which means you'll unlock the iPhone by looking at it instead of using a fingerprint and a home button. All of the iPhones will run with Apple's new iOS 12 software, which will also roll out to older iPhones. Some highlight features include Siri shortcuts, a new Do Not Disturb mode, controls that let you see how long you use certain apps, new notifications, custom Memoji and more. New iPad Pro Apple Apple launched a new iPad earlier this year but it hasn't yet introduced a new version of its iPad Pro. It's expected to launch a new version of the 12.9-inch model and a new 11-inch model this fall, possibly during the iPhone event. Code inside Apple's new iOS 12 software suggests that Apple will remove the home button from the iPad Pro, as it did with the iPhone X and will with all of its new iPhones. That means it will support Face ID, according to Bloomberg, and will allow Apple to fit more screen on the front of the iPad, allowing it to appear to run from edge-to-edge and top-to-bottom, since the lack of a home button will allow for thinner bezels (the black areas around a display). Apple will presumably update the iPads with newer and faster processors, too, but little else has been reported about the new tablets, which means there's some room for surprises. Mac and MacBook MacBook Air Source: Apple Bloomberg said last month that Apple is planning to release a couple of new Macs sometime this fall, so Apple might unveil them during its iPhone event. Bloomberg said Apple will launch a new affordable version of the MacBook, possibly a new MacBook Air. This is good news for fans of the MacBook Air, which has been refreshed with new processors but hasn't seen a major design update in years. It's unclear how Apple will price it, however, since the MacBook Air's affordability has largely been attributed to a display that's not as good as the more expensive MacBook and MacBook Pro Retina screens. The same report said Apple will also launch a new professional version of the Mac Mini, Apple's small computer that ships without a display. It hasn't typically been targeted at "pro" users, but could allow Apple to sell a powerful computer at a lower price, again since it doesn't have a screen. Apple Watch Series 4 Apple Apple will release two new versions of the Apple Watch with larger screen sizes and higher resolutions than the current models, according to Kuo. That means the new Apple Watch should be able to show more information on the display at once, or potentially make it easier to read smaller text. 9to5Mac has an image it says is the new Apple Watch Series 4, which shows the bigger screen. Apple has been developing new sensors for monitoring health through the Apple Watch, CNBC has previously reported, but we don't yet know what sorts of new health-tracking features Apple might add with new hardware in this year's model. WatchOS 5, which will ship on the new Apple Watch and will roll out to older watches this fall, includes smarter Siri features, automatic workout tracking, a walkie-talkie feature that lets you call Apple Watches, support for podcasts, new workout competitions and more. AirPower Apple Former President Barack Obama speaks to students at the University of Illinois where he accepted the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government on September 7, 2018 in Urbana, Illinois. Democrats appear hopeful of gaining some GOP-held House seats in California in the November midterm elections. But a campaign rally planned for Saturday with former President Barack Obama may say a lot about what obstacles remain for them in flipping traditionally red congressional districts that President Donald Trump won in 2016. All seven of the congressional candidates expected to join Obama at the rally in Anaheim are from Republican-held districts that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in the 2016 presidential election. Yet several districts that Trump won have GOP incumbents seen as vulnerable and Democratic challengers rising in the latest polls. But Democratic candidates in those other districts were not invited to participate in Saturday's rally. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which organized Saturday's event, stood by its decision to have just the seven candidates, but a spokesman didn't elaborate. The GOP has a 23-seat majority in the House. However, Democrats are hoping to pick up enough GOP-held seats in California and other close races around the nation to wrest back control of the chamber they lost in the 2006 midterm elections. During a speech Friday in Illinois, Obama called for Americans to vote in November, saying "our democracy depends on it." Obama also said his successor, Trump, is "the symptom, not the cause" of division in the nation. Democratic candidates scheduled to attend Saturday's rally include Josh Harder, T.J. Cox, Katie Hill, Gil Cisneros, Katie Porter, Harley Rouda and Mike Levin. Five of the seven are from Southern California districts, while two are from the Central Valley region that historically has skewed conservative. Still, there are other districts in the state where GOP incumbents have seen Democratic challengers rising in the latest polling. They include the Central Valley-based 22nd District, where Democrat Andrew Janz, a local prosecutor, is facing off against Republican Rep. Devin Nunes. Nunes, an eight-term incumbent who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, may be starting to lose some support in the district due to distractions. Those distractions include the Trump-Russia investigation and what one local newspaper last month called a "list of unflattering Nunes news events over the summer," such as using campaign donations to purchase Celtics tickets and personal trips. The latest polling shows Nunes ahead by 5 percentage points against Janz, according to a poll conducted in late July of 400 likely voters in the district by Democratic polling company Tulchin Research. By comparison, a poll conducted shortly after the June primary by Public Policy Polling, a left-leaning polling firm, found Nunes with a wider, 8-point lead. Experts consider Janz the strongest challenger Nunes has faced since he went to Congress in 2003. They say Janz has been able to create a larger base of support and more fundraising capabilities and could benefit from Hispanic voter turnout and Democratic-leaning independents in November. Even so, Janz wasn't included in the Obama campaign rally. Obama also hasn't endorsed him for the congressional race. Heather Greven, a spokesperson for the Janz campaign, was contacted for this story and referred calls to the DCCC for comment on why the Central Valley candidate wasn't invited to the Anaheim rally. "We are staying focused on talking to voters in CA-22, not jet-setting to and from fundraisers across the state," Greven said in an email response. Then again, Obama won California in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections but lost several districts in the lower Central Valley, including the 22nd District, to Republican challengers. Agriculture is a leading industry in the San Joaquin Valley, and water is a hot-button issue. Some farmers blame Democrats and environmentalists for diverting water to protect endangered fish rather than to help grow crops. As president, Obama offered some drought relief for agribusiness in the Central Valley, but some farmers insisted it didn't go far enough. Another Republican incumbent slipping in polling is Rep. Duncan Hunter in the San Diego County-based 50th District. Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar, a business owner, has been gaining in recent polling amid Hunter's legal problems over allegedly using campaign funds for personal expenses. A Tulchin poll reported this week showed the embattled five-term congressman essentially tied with his challenger Campa-Najjar. Both had 46 percent in the internal poll conducted for the Democrat, while the undecided number was 8 percent. A SurveyUSA poll before the June primary had Hunter leading by more than 30 points against Campa-Najjar. The incumbent won re-election in the 2016 general election with nearly 64 percent of the vote and defeated a challenger in 2014 with more than 70 percent of the vote. On Saturday, a spokesman for Campa-Najjar's campaign told CNBC the former president's office had "personally invited" the candidate to attend the Anaheim event "as a special guest." Trump won the 50th District in 2016 against Clinton, but Obama carried it in 2008 when he ran against the late Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona. -Updated with comment from campaign of Democratic congressional candidate Ammar Campa-Najja. There is little doubt that the Department of Defense needs help from Silicon Valley in order to compete with China in the race for artificial intelligence. The question is whether Silicon Valley is willing to cooperate and whether President Donald Trump's combative nature risks damaging the vital partnership. Last week reports surfaced that Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis had warned Trump that the United States is not keeping pace with the ambitious plans of China in artificial intelligence. On Sept. 5, 2018, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testify during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill concerning foreign influence operations' use of social media platforms. Drew Angerer | Getty Images Instead, Trump attacked Google, Facebook and Twitter on Twitter last week, accusing the tech giants of intentionally suppressing conservative news outlets supportive of his administration. More than that, he aggravated the rift between the government and tech industry. "Just when we need to have the government and the tech industry working together, they're fighting one another. Our enemies couldn't have asked for a better scenario," said Vivek Wadhwa, a fellow and adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering, who researches growing technologies. The president's outburst comes at a time when the tech industry has proved hesitant to support national security efforts. An article in the New York Times this week quoted the CEO of Palantir the secretive Silicon Valley big data firm that has key government contracts exhorting his fellow tech leaders to show their patriotism. When called to testify in front of Congress this week concerning election meddling and online content, executives from Google declined the invitation. The company offered its top lawyer, Kent Walker, to testify, but at the last minute lawmakers said they would not accept any official but Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Facebook and Twitter executives made face but were criticized for their delay to cooperate when the election scandals emerged back in 2016. "If you look at the history, tech companies which were engineering companies often had close collaboration with the U.S. government and military. I think we see less of that in the information technology world," said Bart Selman, president-elect of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. Tech employees have turned increasingly political Complicating matters more so, tech employees throughout the left-leaning Silicon Valley have moved from apathy to activism in the past few years. In recent months thousands of tech workers from top companies, including Google, Salesforce, Amazon and Microsoft, have led large-scale internal rebellions against their employers over contracts with the government. Employee outrage has largely stemmed from the sale of technology, particularly AI, for military application. The response from the top has been mixed. In June, Google announced that it would not renew one of its contracts, known as Project Maven, with the Pentagon. The project utilized Google's AI technology to improve drone strikes in the battlefield. However, executives from Salesforce, Microsoft and Amazon refused to cede to employee demands and did not terminate their contracts. Elsa Kania, an adjunct fellow at the Center for a New American Security, a think tank that explores policy related to national security and defense, said she believes that regardless of whether executives take employee demands seriously, the reluctance from employees is "concerning." In order for the United States to hold its lead over China, she said it is "vital for the military to learn from and take advantage of the expertise and perspective" from Silicon Valley. "It appears that China's leading companies and leading universities may be more willing to work with the military, whereas their U.S. counterparts are seemingly less willing," said Kania. While the press was focused on Elon Musk smoking weed during an appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast this week, the tech billionaire and outspoken thinker on the dangers of AI also noted in the interview that an advantage China holds over the U.S. is high-level politicians who are knowledgeable on science. After cruising to four-year highs earlier this year, crude oil has hit the skids. Since hitting $70 a barrel for the first time since 2014 in May, prices have been range-bound, but it could soon snap out of that range, according to energy expert Robert Raymond. "We've sort of achieved [a recovery to the $70] level probably a little faster than we thought we would have relative to declines in Venezuela and Mexico and parts of China and so the production side of the equation has actually rolled over a little faster than we thought it would," Raymond, investment strategist at hedge fund RCH Energy, told CNBC's "Futures Now" on Thursday. Global inventories have since drawn down to border on "critical levels" as demand remains robust, explained Raymond. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) spare capacity, which measures their bandwidth to ramp up production to cushion price fluctuations, is below 3 percent of total global demand. Lower spare production levels restricts how able OPEC is to respond to spiking prices. Oil companies' re-investment and capital expenditure levels are also signaling a potential squeeze in supplies, he adds. "The industry, for the last three years, has been chronically underinvesting and continues to do so at a rate of only 60 percent of cash flow being reinvested in the form of capex," explained Raymond. "The last time that happened [was] in 2004 and '05 which precipitated a spike to $147 a barrel." Oil producers tightened their belts during crude oil's sell-offs in 2014 and 2015, in an attempt to minimize losses. Exxon Mobil, for instance, reduced its exploration expenses in 2014 by 15 percent and by another 9 percent in 2015. Crude oil's next move also depends on how things shake out in the Trump administration's trade disputes, the analyst said. "As we get more clarity on what happens with global demand, and to some degree that's sort of tariff related right out of Washington, I think that ultimately is the tell in terms of which way we go here," he said. "If some of this gets resolved in a relatively amicable or healthy way then the global demand curve holds together, then I think we have a real risk as we head into 2019 and beyond of materially higher prices," he added. Oil demand growth is expected to rise by 1.64 million barrels a day to 98.83 million barrels a day this year, according to OPEC estimates. It should rise again to reach 100.26 million barrels a day in 2019. The U.S. should not see a proposed European levy on internet giants as an attack against the country, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told CNBC on Saturday, while taking the opportunity to chide America on its trade war. A European Commission proposal would impose a 3 percent tax on big companies like Google, Facebook and Amazon, who derive a big chunk of their revenues from within the continent. On Saturday, the French minister suggested that it was in fact America that had launched an attack on Europe, by adopting a more aggressive trade policy that targets European imports with tariffs. "I had the impression that we are not the ones who attacked the United States," Le Maire told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick. "When you are looking at the trade situation, I have the impression that this is the United States that has decided to put tariffs on European goods, not the contrary." He added: "I would like to also underline that fair taxation is not taxation against the United States. The purpose of that taxation is to have a fair and efficient taxation at an international level." Le Maire, alongside German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, said in a statement on Saturday that he would propose a "sunset clause" to the planned EU tax on the digital turnover of big companies, in a bid to reach compromise with other European countries. Italy's economy is in such a fragile state that even a minor recession could be very dangerous, according to a former director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Italy's coalition government is poised to present its 2019 budget next month, setting out its economic and financial plans for the coming year. The event is likely to be closely monitored by investors, with many concerned Italy's euroskeptic leaders will stick to contentious spending plans and exacerbate the country's growing budget deficit and massive debt pile. "The problem with Italy is that I don't think it can even stand a minor recession," Italy's former prime minister designate, Carlo Cottarelli, told CNBC's Steve Sedgwick at the Ambrosetti Forum in Italy on Saturday. For a few days in June, Cottarelli director of the IMF's fiscal affairs department from 2008 to 2013 and nicknamed "Mr. Scissors" for his pro-austerity views appeared to be on the brink of becoming Italy's interim prime minister. However, a political compromise between the right-wing Lega party and left-leaning Five Star Movement saw these two groups form a coalition government instead. Gauke plans to scrap fault-based divorce Objective is to reduce antagonism BBC Only first step to reforming family law Sir Paul Coleridge, The Times Johnson 1) Statement confirms he has separated from his wife Fault-based divorce is set to be scrapped as the biggest shake-up of family laws in 50 years seeks to end the blame game between couples. Spouses would also lose the right to contest the breakdown of a marriage under plans being drawn up by David Gauke, the justice secretary. The proposal fulfils a key demand of Family Matters, a campaign begun last year by The Times and the Marriage Foundation urging reform of divorce and other family laws. At present a spouse who wants to file for divorce must either provide evidence that their partner has committed adultery, behaved unreasonably or deserted, or wait two years if both sides agree or five if they do not. The Times Former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and his wife Marina Wheeler have confirmed they have separated. In a joint statement, they said they are now in the process of divorcing, after the Sun newspaper broke the news of their splitHe and Ms Wheeler said: Several months ago, after 25 years of marriage, we decided it was in our best interests to separate. We have subsequently agreed to divorce and that process is under way. As friends we will continue to support our four children in the years ahead. We will not be commenting further. BBC Show of unity with his daughter Daily Mail Boris and the blonde The Sun Voters give their verdict Daily Mail Johnson 2) A showman in the tradition of Disraeli, declares Gimson Johnson 3) Allies fight back as activists shrug off the news History tells us that every so often, the Conservative Party finds itself enthused by a showman who can raise peoples spirits in a way which sober, solemn leaders cannot. The greatest of these showmen was Benjamin Disraeli. In his youth, Disraeli seemed, and in many ways was, a ridiculous and disreputable figure. He encumbered himself with enormous debts by setting up a newspaper which immediately failed and by promoting South America mining shares which turned out to be worthless. Then, adding insult to injury, he wrote a satirical novel in which he mocked the investors whose money he had just lost. Yet he became one of our great Prime Ministers, and the only person who could charm Queen Victoria out of her mourning for Prince AlbertThis is the Tory tradition in which Boris Johnson now takes his place. His career may well end in failure: Lord Randolphs certainly did. But it will take a lot more than a divorce to Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. Andrew Gimson, Daily Mail Conservative Party activists have shrugged off news that Boris Johnsons wife is seeking a divorce as his allies denied claims that it was leaked to clear the way for a leadership runPaul Goodman, editor of the website Conservative Home, said that Mr Johnsons latest marital turbulence would have limited consequences. As far as the activists are concerned most of them have already discounted this in his share price, he said. The Conservative Party isnt the model of tongue-clicking finger-wagging say it was at the time of [John] Profumo in [the early Sixties]. It could dent his ratings a bit but I doubt it could break them. The Times Johnson 4) The Burka probe should be dropped says Forsyth Bradley retains the confidence of the PM Boris Johnson has received multiple communications from the Tory inquiry into his newspaper column on the burka. I understand that the former Foreign Secretary received an initial letter asking him if he wished to say anything in his defence. Those with knowledge of the inquiry say that he responded to that with a vigorous defence of free speech and the need for politicians to be able to take part in these debates.In truth, this absurd exercise should be dropped. The Tories having an inquiry into the newspaper column of a backbench MP is ridiculous. If it is still dragging on by conference, it could become yet another thing that causes trouble there. James Forsyth, The Sun Theresa May has given her backing to Karen Bradley despite her comments about a lack of knowledge of Northern Ireland politics when she took the job. The Northern Ireland Secretary said initially she did not know nationalists did not vote for unionist parties or vice-versa in elections. Mrs Bradley also said she did not fathom some deep-rooted NI issues. Downing Street refused to be drawn on the criteria used by the Prime Minister to appoint ministers. BBC Ireland confirms there will be no border checks Daily Express >Today: ToryDiary: Bradleys Northern Ireland problem is in the present not her past Hancock claims pharmaceutical companies are charging the NHS extortionate sums Interview with Matt Hancock The Times Truss looks for 4 billion in savings to pay for extra pension costs Matt Hancock insists that he is not going to let big pharmaceutical companies hold the NHS to ransom as he negotiates over a new deal on drug prices for the health services. In an interview with The Times, Mr Hancock uses some of the most aggressive language ever directed by a health secretary towards drug companies as he condemns profiteering on products that rely on government-funded research and NHS patient data. Mr Hancock also makes a broader criticism of corporate behaviour in the decade since the financial crisis, saying that voters are sick of big companies trying to rip off taxpayers and that such behaviour makes it harder to defend a market economy. The Times The Chancellor is threatening a 4 billion cut to frontline services to pay for a rise in pension costs for public sector workers. Government departments face a mammoth bill as people live longer. In a Commons document, Treasury Minister Liz Truss said: The early indications are that the amount employers pay towards the schemes will need to increase. She says the Treasury will support departments with any unforeseen costs for 2019-2020. But she notes: Further discussions will be taken forward as part of the Spending Review. The Sun No help for White Van Man as dismal Chancellor Hammond plans to take cash at every turn The Sun Says Enough funding for free childcare Hinds insists Brexit 1) Rees-Mogg proposes calling in a Dutch customs guru to help The education secretary, Damian Hinds, has insisted nursery schools have enough funds to deliver 30 hours of free childcare even though many are struggling and some have been forced to close as a result of the flagship policy. The minister said his officials would keep the costs that nurseries faced under review but that for now the funding levels were fixed. The governments offer of 30 hours for three- and four-year-olds has been a boost for many working parents but has been criticised by providers who argue that the allotted funding does not cover the full cost. Damian Hinds, The Guardian Brexiteer Tory MPs led by Jacob Rees-Mogg have hired a Dutch customs guru to solve the Irish border headache. Hans Maessen, the ex-president of the Dutch customs association, is drawing up the alternative solution to the Prime Ministers troubled Chequers blueprint. The border-expert has been secretly advising the Brexit hardline ERG group of MPs led by Jacob Rees Mogg. They plan to declare an all-out assault on Theresa Mays plans for Britain to carry on collecting customs taxes on behalf of Brussels ahead of the Conservative Party conference next month. The Sun May is tied to Chequers. If she cant be flexible, she will go down with it Asa Bennett, Daily Telegraph Ignore Rees-Mogg says EU Commissioner The Guardian Canada plus Brexit? We can do so much better than that Ben Kelly, Daily Telegraph >Yesterday: Brexit 2) Dont vote Labour if you want to leave the EU says Adonis Brexit 3) Barnier agrees to link trade to divorce bill Labours Lord Adonis says Brexit supporters should vote Tory as Labour will back a second referendum. Speaking on LBC he said he was confident Labour will change its stance on Brexitand back remaining in the European Union.He responded to a question from Thomas in Worthing who asked the panel which party should he vote for as a liberal-minded, disabled Brexiteer. He replied: If you are a Brexiteer, I hope you wont vote for the Labour Party because the Labour Party is moving increasingly against Brexit. The Sun The EUs chief Brexit negotiator has softened his stance on a key Brussels red line, it emerged last night, and is willing to link the UKs 39 billion divorce bill with a trade deal. The significant concession by Michel Barnier, who had previously insisted there should be no link between the two major issues, came after a series of one-on-one meetings with new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab. Mr Raab has been demanding a link between the payment of the Brexit bill, which has been set at 39 billion, and a commitment from the EU to a future trading relationship. Privately, ministers believe it would be almost impossible to persuade MPs to sign off on the divorce bill this autumn without any trade guarantees or clear detail about what the UK would receive from the EU in return. Daily Mail Brexit 4) We must get a deal warns Freeman IDS rejects the Boles option Daily Express To make Brexit a moment of renewal, we must harness and unleash the millennial spirit of empowerment and innovation and drag our nation from the twentieth century into the twenty-first. And if we fail to grasp this opportunity? To allow the fifth largest economy on earth to crash out of the largest trading bloc on earth without a deal would be one of the worst leadership failures in modern political historyThe burden of proof for showing how we can leave the EU without damaging the prospects of those who were promised greater prosperity lies with the advocates of Brexit. George Freeman, Daily Telegraph >Today: Penny Mordaunt on Comment: The twelve new rules of politics Brexit 5) Oborne predicts the timiing will help May The timetable for Brexit works against a change of prime minister. Let me explain. First, there will be a Cabinet meeting next Thursday to discuss Brexit strategy. Mrs May will demand ironclad loyalty from her ministers. I predict she will get it. For ministers realise what is at stake particularly as the PM is due to meet fellow European leaders in Salzburg on September 20. This Austrian summit offers her a vital opportunity to appeal over the heads of Brussels chief Brexit negotiator, the intransigent Michel Barnier and his recalcitrant colleagues. I have been told that Mrs May calculates her proposals will meet with a far warmer reception from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other national leaders. I believe she will be proved right. Peter Oborne, Daily Mail Umunna tells Corbyn to call off the dogs The price of criticising Momentum activists The Times McDonnell starts a speaking tour The Guardian Iranian regime has infiltrated Labour Party Labour MP Chuka Umunna has accused leader Jeremy Corbyn of driving centre-left MPs like himself out of the party. The MP a leading member of the cross-party Peoples Vote for a second EU referendum urged Mr Corbyn to call off the dogs. In a speech, the MP will say so-called moderates face a clear and present danger of being run out of the party by hardline factions. A Labour Party source called the speech incoherent and inaccurate. BBC Iran has infiltrated Labour, one of the partys pro-Israel MPs has warned after journalists from its state broadcaster joined the party and then filmed a members-only meeting in her constituency. Press TV, which is banned from broadcasting in Britain, was able to film the moment a no confidence vote was passed against Joan Ryan because its journalists were permitted to join the Labour Party as a member several months ago, The Telegraph understands. On Friday Ms Ryan, chairman of Labour Friends of Israel, demanded that Iranian propagandists from the news channel be ousted from the Party, describing their actions as appalling and greatly concerning. Daily Telegraph Interview with Joan Ryan Daily Telegraph Vote of no confidence passed against Nottingham East MP Chris Leslie Nottingham Post Labours nightmare has no end in sight Leader, Daily Telegraph Roberts: Churchill would realise the irony and horror of Labours anti-Semitism Parris: Cable should go straight away Churchill understood the many ironies and paradoxes of Zionism, principally that the most vicious self-hating anti-Zionists are often Jewish (step forward the Jewish Voice for Labour group), and that Israel is always expected to defend itself using a far more elevated and self-denying set of rules of engagement than any of its enemies, despite their openly calling for its destruction. It was part of the glory of the Greatest Englishman that he was brave and eccentric enough to ignore the mores of his class and background and actually liked Jews. Perhaps it was partly because clearly unbeknownst to Mr Corbyn Jews virtually invented the concept of irony. Andrew Roberts, Daily Telegraph So farewell, then, Sir Vincent? Not so fast, my Lib Dem friends. Vince Cable has knee-capped his own leaving party, and the Lib Dem leaders announcement yesterday was by no means a route map to the exit. Old men like Sir Vince are in no hurry. No need to push me, Im on my way and wont be around to trouble you for much longer is a time-honoured ruse for hanging on. This was more of an indefinite postponement. Everyone knows its time for Vince Cable to go. He is 75. It hasnt worked. He could be almost 80 at the next general election. Cables stock-in-trade, an appearance of mildly tetchy rationality, fails to rise to the moment in our history. Were in the deep, swift-flowing stream before the rapids begin, and the white water boiling with new Brexit action is just around the rivers bend. Sir Vince lacks the quickfire ingenuity needed. Matthew Parris, The Times A new Leader wont solve the Lib Dems problems Sebastian Payne, Financial Times News in brief Carrington, An Honourable Man by Christopher Lee Lord Carrington has eluded his biographer. In a bit over 500 pages, Christopher Lee offers us a wealth of period detail, stretching back to Pitt the Younger, who in 1796 elevated his banker, Robert Smith, to the peerage as the first Lord Carrington. Much of the period detail is delightful, but it is the sixth Lord Carrington, who lived from 1919 until July this year, in whom we are most interested. He is known, and will remain known, for resigning as Foreign Secretary in 1982, when Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands. With signal incompetence, the Foreign Office and the intelligence services failed to foresee the invasion, while the British Government, led by Margaret Thatcher, managed to convey the impression in Buenos Aires that Britain no longer cared what became of the islands, and would certainly not fight to get them back. Carrington took the blame for these failures. In political terms, it was exactly the right thing to do, for it cleared the air and meant the nation could go to war undistracted by bickering at Westminster. The 1922 Committee wanted blood, and roughed Carrington up when he appeared before it, at the same time taking revenge on him for his leading role in bringing black majority role to Rhodesia, which a considerable number of backbenchers regarded as an act of treachery. The press was up in arms too, and because Carrington was not in the Commons, and had indeed never been in the Commons, he could not defend himself properly. People will lament for decades, perhaps centuries to come that politicians no longer behave in the honourable manner of Carrington, who took responsibility for his departments mistakes, although these were not his direct and personal fault. All this is known, or if not known, can be found in Lees book, where on page 445 we also find a Swiss diplomat who served in Buenos Aires during the war accusing the then British ambassador, Anthony Williams, of withholding information from London on the grounds that he wanted to settle and make his career in the Argentine after he retired. Carrington told Lee he found it difficult to believe that Williams was trying to ingratiate himself in a treasonable way. Lee refrains, as he all too often does, from coming down on one side or the other. My own guess is that the ambassador believed, as most of us do, what he wanted to believe, and only realised too late he had got it wrong. Lee got to know Carrington well, and writes in his preface: He wishedthat this book should not be published in his lifetime, partly so that I should not feel inhibited in preparing the manuscript. He often apologised for living on That was considerate of Carrington, but unfortunately, Lee still feels inhibited, tells us next to nothing about what it was like getting to know his subject, and instead makes this infuriating admission: It was only shortly before his death that he started to compile, for his family and not for publication, a series of vignettes of people that he had known. We had an agreement that most of these, certainly the most intimately observed, should remain closed books. They will in due course go into the archive of his papers held at Churchill College, Cambridge. Is it not possible that having written these vignettes, almost all of which are presumably of people long dead, Carrington hoped they would be published, rather than consigned to a filing cabinet? He himself, brought up as a modest, reticent and well-behaved member of the upper class, could not do that. But he could dangle them in front of his biographer, who with any luck would know a good thing when he saw it. And Carrington had a mischievous side to his character which seldom appears in this book, where for most of the time he does not come into focus. We are told how humorous he was, and how he could charm people through dreary events, without being given many examples of this. Laughter sustained him through the long official life which unfolded after the war, from junior agriculture minister under Winston Churchill in 1951 to the secretary-generalship of Nato from 1984-88. It rendered his gentlemanly code of conduct bearable, indeed enjoyable, rather than a priggish imposition. I recall watching an interview with Carrington in which he described wearing, for a ceremony he was carrying out in the early 1960s as First Lord of the Admiralty, the strangely unglamorous uniform designed for the holder of that office by Churchill; and hearing a lady in the audience say how very democratic it was of the Navy to get a sick bay attendant to perform the role. Having failed, in a cursory internet search, to track down that piece of film, I rang the documentary maker Michael Cockerell, who said it was not one of his, but wondered whether the famous Chairman Hua story, dating from the period between 1979 and 1982 when Carrington was Foreign Secretary, is in the book. It is, and goes as follows: In all the time he knew Thatcher, he only once made her laugh. When foreign leaders came to see her, they would be sat in the Cabinet Room and she would start speaking immediately and never let anyone, however important, get a word in. Carrington would pass notes to her saying, for example, He has come five hundred miles, dont you think you could let him say something? Thatcher would take no notice. One day, Chairman Hua of China arrived and Thatcher made the mistake of asking him, as they were about to sit, what he thought of the world situation. Fifty minutes later the Chairman was still telling her exactly what he thought. Thatcher was extremely irritated and started tapping the table with her ring a regular sign that she was displeased. The Chairman droned on. Carrington was amused by this and passed her a note which read, Youre talking too much as usual. Whereupon she burst out laughing, much to the puzzlement of Chairman Hua who was in the middle of a discourse on the nuclear holocaust of Russian hegemony. In Cockerells version of this anecdote, Thatcher and Carrington both get the giggles, which is better, because more subversive. From Eton, Carrington in 1937 to his lasting regret decided to go straight to Sandhurst, rather than to Oxford. Lee is very good on the training he received, which instilled an extraordinary degree of discipline, without including much about modern warfare. For the rest of his life Carrington could not bear unpunctuality. In 1939, he joined the family regiment, the second battalion the Grenadier Guards, where his commanding officer told him he must not marry until he was 25, must not wear a grey top hat before the June race meeting at Epsom, and must hunt two days a week in Leicestershire. He nevertheless obtained permission to get married at the age of 22 to Iona McClean. They were very happy, except when parted by the war, when they wrote every day to each other. Lee quotes the whole of one letter in which Carrington tries to cheer her up, and notices also how much more difficult life is for some of his comrades: I have seen people out here who never have a letter or anything from someone they really care about. Nor have they anything to come back to after the war. I know I have & am very lucky. Of post-war politicians, Carrington particularly admired his fellow Grenadier, Harold Macmillan, who again knew how to alleviate suffering with laughter, and who for long periods was entirely out of sympathy with the Conservative Party. Towards the end of his life, Carrington, who had served as Party Chairman in 1972-74, told Lee: Ive always hated the Conservative Party nothing made me hate it more than being Chairman of it. Individual members all right. Collective so awful. Look at it now. Going down the plug hole. He could be right, of course. But maybe those Tory backbenchers who hated him sensed that he hated them back. Lee just calls him a Whig, a label which does not explain what was really going on in Carringtons mind. These occasional glimpses of passion, and indeed of radicalism, make the rest of the book frustrating. Like George Washington, a more famous figure who hid his feelings behind a code of conduct, Carrington is too often reduced to a set of virtues. Cllr Joel Charles is the Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group on Harlow Council. We should never become complacent about our opponents and their ability to mobilise numbers on the ground to get out their vote. I think the local elections in May proved that the Conservative campaigning machine is stronger than our critics thought. It is no surprise to the thousands of Conservative activists knocking on doors all-year-round that we achieved the results we did. If we are going to learn lessons ahead of the next tranche of local elections and, indeed, the next General Election, now is the time to do it. Momentum organisers and their activists are constantly refining their voter targeting and use of campaigning resources to maximise electoral impact. They regularly organise training sessions for their activists across the country. Our local activists are faced with an evolving landscape, one that is even more adversarial because the radical left are infiltrating every tier of the constituency Labour Party machine and pushing negative tactics on the ground. Frank Fields resignation has laid bare the battles being fought between moderates and radicals in Labour heartlands. None of us are under any illusions that the coming months will see crucial decisions made as part of the Brexit talks with the European Union. Now more than ever, we need to pull together, share ideas and campaign hard to build a stronger ground war machine that learns lessons from the past. I think our Party has an opportunity to embrace new ways of campaigning to stop the increasingly emboldened hard-left in its tracks. This can be achieved by embracing the new town Conservative approach. For 15 years I have fought Labour street-by-street in Harlow. It is not traditionally a true-blue district but a new town Conservative style of campaigning broke that consensus many years ago. The breakthrough came in 2008 when I was first elected to Harlow Council the Conservative Group took control of the district for the first time in the towns history. Robert Halfon was elected soon after in 2010. This year we gained Staple Tye from the Labour Party, beating their hard-left Parliamentary Candidate by a single vote. These results were not achieved overnight by any means. We knock on doors all year round, often in the evenings when most people are in, send out targeted estate letters and surveys to understand local priorities. In Harlow, we fight elections every year as the district council holds elections in thirds. We have observed the growing influence of the hard-left over the past few years and have developed an effective approach to beat them. We focus our election campaigns on four or five messages that complement national priorities. On the doorstep during the last local elections, solid Conservative voters wanted to know about our plans for Brexit and the economy, but floating and soft Labour supporters consistently raised questions about the cost of living and the NHS. Building a clear campaign narrative that balances local and national priorities is crucial, anchored by punchy campaign themes so that voters get used the same set of messages. Say it, say it again and then repeat it. Be positive too. Do not engage with opposition messages, that is their job. Of course, there is no silver bullet for campaigning, we need to use every means possible door stepping, telephoning, leaflets, adverts, social networks, surveys, newspapers. While CCHQ sends out targeted national messages on social media, we use our own digital feeds to send out locally targeted posts and infographics about our campaigns. Of course, social media is no substitute for canvassing and leafleting, but investing time in a local digital campaign footprint complements other election activity. What will make a difference to national election campaigns is a focus on supporting and building more targeted community messages to win over voters. Selecting candidates early helps because campaigners can build a more local campaign, relating better to voters on the ground. But we need to be more ambitious than that. Its time to invest more resources in activist training, developing a new breed of grassroots campaigners leading the Conservative charge. To deliver more locally focused campaigns, the Party should: Encourage candidates to join community action groups, tackling litter hotspots and clearing neglected community spaces for people to enjoy; Invest in locally targeted social media advertising across all platforms dont just rely on the national campaigns; Engage more with local charities, faith groups and resident organisations; Focus election campaigns around four or five positive messages. Lead the narrative locally and avoid getting bogged down by responding to the oppositions priorities; Help candidates organise more community hall events to engage with voters directly; and Get more involved in community activities to find members and volunteers to build a groundswell of local support. We need to build an activist pool that can take on the ranks of Momentum members that flood constituencies at election time. The next General Election will be a fight between us and a hard-left Labour Party that will bankrupt our country if they win power. If we do not change our approach now and focus on community campaigning to build a real impetus for future Conservative gains, the success and prosperity of future generations will be at risk. Its time to invest in a good pair of trainers We complain about our politicians being arrogant and dishonest. But Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland Secretary, is in trouble for her candour and modesty. Interviewed for The House magazine she said: I freely admit that when I started this job, I didnt understand some of the deep-seated and deep-rooted issues that there are in Northern Ireland. I didnt understand things like when elections are fought for example in Northern Ireland, people who are nationalists dont vote for unionist parties and vice-versa. So, the parties fight for the election within their own community. Actually, the unionist parties fight the elections against each other in unionist communities and nationalists in nationalist communities. Thats a very different world from the world I came from. There are certainly many Conservative MPs who will have gained a stronger grasp of Ulster politics. On the other hand there will be many others who might well be just as baffled as Bradley was when she took up her new job in January. A Sinn Fein politician has attacked her for being a slow learner. But her comments provide no evidence for that. On the contrary, elsewhere in the interview she puts emphasis on the work she has done to get into the policy detail and that she is thoroughly absorbed in her role, finding Northern Ireland wonderful. This is not to suggest that all her decisions have been right. Or rather her indecision. Nor that she has as much authority to resolve matters as she might like. Bradley is very much a loyalist to the Prime Minister and given the sensitivities over the reliance on the votes of MPs from Democratic Unionist Party for a majority in the House of Commons there will be particular constraints from Downing Street. Progress in getting the Northern Ireland Assembly functioning has proved slow. Stormont was suspended 20 months ago. Her decision to cut the salaries of its members by 13,000 each until it starts to operate again might concentrate minds. Let us hope so. Without direct rule (which in the absence of devolution the DUP has called for) or a functioning assembly, matters are being left to drift. Then there is the issue of Brexit. Both Bradley and Theresa May appear to have a sincere anxiety that withdrawal from the European Union could risk a break up of the United Kingdom by prompting a majority in Northern Ireland to back a united Ireland. Earlier this year the Prime Minister told Jacob Rees-Mogg that we cannot be confident that the unionists would win a referendum on the border. These are warnings that Bradley has endorsed. But experts on Northern Ireland that we have spoken to see no evidence that this should prove to be the case. As Henry Hill points out the opinion polling indicates a continued clear majority in Northern Ireland for staying in the UK. There was also the strong showing by the DUP in the General Election last year. If there were to be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic with customs checkpoints and so forth, that would certainly be highly unpopular and problematic. But such a scenario is complete fantasy even under a WTO no deal Brexit. It would not be established on the UK side of the border. Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach, says the Irish Republic wont have one on their side either. The EU says they would not seek to impose it. As Mark Wallace has patiently explained there is already a border which Irish and British customs authorities would carry on in the same way they do today. There is nothing dishonourable in Bradleys modesty at the daunting and complex challenges she found herself facing. But a more confident, assertive and positive tone about the prospects for Northern Ireland would now be welcome. We are analyzing the site. Please wait a few seconds.. 76% Website topcreativedesigns.com uses latest and advanced technologies like: JQuery. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of 117359 bytes (114.61 kb uncompressed). This CoolSocial report was updated on 2019-09-28, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. 100% Website wrestlingmonica.com uses latest and advanced technologies. It supports HTTPS. The main html page has a size of . This CoolSocial report was updated on 2021-08-29, you can refresh this analysis whenever you want. Brookfield resident Tina Heidrich said the black bear that ventured into her front yard was after bird feeders. Heidrich, who lives on Carmen Hill Road, said she looked out a window and noticed a feeder missing from one of her trees. Then she she spotted the bear and the bird feeder. He was lying down and eating from it, she said. Then he got up and tried to climb up the tree to get to another bird feeder, from which the bear also ate. The August buffet marked the second time Heidrich spotted a bear this year; the first was in April. She said she reported the incidents to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Heidrich said she knows bird feeders can attract bears and that shes likely to urge her husband to take theirs down. Most black bears in Connecticut that find their way into peoples yards are usually drawn in by bird feeders or trash, according to data collected by DEEP between 2002 and 2017. Fed bear, dead bear The data tracked damage caused by bears that residents reported to DEEP. In 2017, DEEP received 291 reports of bird feeders, along with 380 trash bags or bins, damaged by bears in Connecticut. Those numbers have been in the hundreds going back at least seven years, the data shows. A fed bear is a dead bear, said a tweet from Paul Colburn, a certified graduate of DEEPs Master Wildlife Conservationist program. The number one and two causes of bears being put down are bird feeders and unsecured garbage. Those items, along with outdoor pet food, compost piles, fruit trees and berry-producing shrubs are considered bear attractants. Please take down the bird feeders, DEEP spokesman Chris Collibee said. Bird feeders should be removed from early spring through late fall. And if a bear pays a visit to a bird feeder in the winter, the agency said, residents should immediately take the feeder down. Bears that associate food with people may become aggressive and dangerous, DEEP said. This may lead to personal injury, property damage and the need to destroy problem animals. Other attractants Heidrich said the sound of a truck spooked the bear while it was eating from the bird feeders in her front yard. She said that after the bear was startled, it headed toward her house, and she was afraid it would catch a whiff of the barbecue on the second-story deck and head for that. But he just walked into the woods, she said. DEEP encourages residents to thoroughly clean grills and store them in a garage or shed after use. To ensure the smell of garbage isnt luring in bears, DEEP suggests residents avoid taking the trash out until morning. Add a few cap-fuls of ammonia to trash bags and garbage cans to mask food odors, DEEP said. Keep trash bags in a container with a tight lid and store in a garage or shed. In 61 reports in Connecticut in 2017, DEEP data showed that damage was done to livestock or pets though it did not specify if these incident resulted in injury or death. Bears may attack sheep, pigs, goats, fowl and llamas. Attacks on horses and cattle are less common. Bears will rarely hurt cats or dogs, but they will go after pet rabbits in outdoor hutches. Livestock can be protected by electric fencing or by a secure building at night, DEEP said. Beehives can also be protected with electric fencing, or with reinforced wire. Growing population Catching a glimpse of a bear in Connecticut has grown increasingly common. Bears were eradicated from the state in the mid-1800s, and started making a comeback by the late 1980s. They returned, in part, because of the abandonment of farmland in the late 1800s. In the 1980s, wildlife experts found evidence there was a resident bear population in the state. Since then, annual sighting reports have drastically increased alongside the states bear population. Each year, bear sightings are reported from about 140 of Connecticuts 169 towns. Connecticut has a healthy and increasing bear population with the highest concentration in the northwest region of the state, DEEP said. Between Aug. 2, 2017, and May 21, 2018, there were 4,209 reported sightings of black bears in Connecticut, according to state data. There are between 6,000 and 8,000 bears roaming New York, the states Department of Environmental Conservation said; 50 to 60 percent can be found in the Adirondack region, 30 to 35 percent inhabit the Catskill area and 10 to 15 percent are in the central-western region. Data from the New Jersey Fish and Wildlife division shows from Jan. 1 to Aug. 20, there were 643 reports of bears in that state 152 of which were actual sightings and 491 of which were reports of damage/nuisance. This total number is down just over 13.5 percent from 2017. To report a black bear sighting in Connecticut, call 860-424-3011 or report it online at https://bit.ly/2BYEcB3. BRIDGEPORT Bridgeports Emergency Operations Center wants residents to be prepared for possible disasters including hurricanes, tornadoes and even a possible zombie apocalypse. When disaster strikes, residents should stay calm and follow their emergency protocol, said Scott Appleby, director of director of emergency management and homeland security. But in order to follow emergency protocol, residents must have a plan in place. With September being National Emergency Preparedness Month, Appleby said this is a great time for individuals, families, businesses and schools to get prepared. People tend to prepare after an incident, he said, adding that once that sense of urgency to be ready fades away, so does the feeling of needing to be prepared. Appleby said residents need to know what to do, where to go and who to call when an emergency strikes. Good resources to follow can be found at www.bridgeportct.gov and www.ready.gov. Right now, the EOC is tracking Hurricane Florence as it makes its way toward Bermuda. Employees take turns popping in to monitor the path and wind speed of the hurricane in real-time. On Tuesday well start to look at it more seriously, Appleby said on Thursday. By Tuesday, he said, the hurricane will be closer to the east coast and predictions will be easier to follow. Hurricane season runs from June 1 to Nov. 30 each year, and this years season has been a mild one. Appleby said that isnt necessarily unusual; some years will be more active, others will be calmer. He said families, individuals, schools and businesses should have emergency kits set up and ready to be used at any time. Those kits should have supplies to last for at least three days, which is usually how long it will take the city to get a plan together. Every kit will be different, Appleby said. In those kits, residents should keep the essentials including non-perishable food, flashlights, a radio and water, about one gallon per person per day. And since its not just natural disasters that Bridgeport residents should be ready for, the EOC will host its Emergency Preparedness Day on Sept. 29, with a zombie apocalypse theme. Its important to be ready for anything, said Terron Jones, who works alongside Appleby in the citys EOC. During emergency preparedness day, which will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Seaside Park, there will be stations where residents can learn from several local agencies about how to ensure they are ready for any disaster. Mayor Joe Ganim said the best way residents can help each other and the city prepare is to volunteer. The volunteers work under the purview of the EOC. Jones said volunteers are taught basic training in several topics, including shelter management, traffic control and medical aid. You can never be too prepared, Ganim said. Contributed Photo / Contributed Photo BRIDGEPORT Shaun Mitchell never attended Yale University, but one of his former students does. As such, the award winning Central High School English teacher has another honor to add to his collection: a 2018 Yale Educator Award. Metro-North Railroad is under fire for branch line performance that has left some commuters with no more than a 64 percent chance of arriving at work on time. The Waterbury Branch in July was on time 64 percent of the time, while the New Canaan Branch was on time 78 percent and the Danbury Branch 87 percent, a Hearst Connecticut Media review shows. Riders on Shore Line East a separate rail service that runs trains to New Haven from points northeast of the city and offers connections to Metro-North have also suffered, with service that was punctual only 72 percent of the time in July. Performance is affecting ridership, said Jim Gildea, chairman of the Connecticut Commuter Railroad Council. When you have a 65 percent chance you will not get to work on time, thats a problem, said Gildea, who rides the Waterbury Branch. We have never seen performance this bad. Metro-North and state officials acknowledged trains are late and attributed delays to ongoing upgrades of the system and equipment breakdowns. The recent trend of late trains on the New Haven Line, including the Waterbury, New Canaan and Danbury branches, has primarily been the result of extensive, ongoing upgrades to our infrastructure, Metro-North said in a statement. In a recent letter to the state Department of Transportation, 12 lawmakers including state Rep. Themis Klarides, R-Derby and the House minority leader demanded action and an explanation. As you know on time performance impacts ridership; when residents dont feel like they can rely on rail, they will take their car into work again clogging up Connecticut roadways, the lawmakers told DOT Commissioner James Redeker. This is clearly shown with an almost 2 percent decrease in ridership when compared to earlier months, the legislators noted. This is unacceptable performance. Redeker said commuters will have to live with the delays for now as workers toil to improve the railroad. The construction activities that are taking place are necessary and long overdue, Redeker said. The service delays to accommodate this aggressive rebuilding program will ultimately lead to a more reliable, more comfortable train service. Angry commuters The late trains are drawing the attention of commuters, who are taking to Twitter to vent their frustrations. SLE (Shore Line East) is a disgrace, theyre hemorrhaging riders because the state is incompetent, Ray Lucibello tweeted last week. Decades of stealing from transportation coming back to haunt them, and now citizens will literally pay for it with expensive tolls (new taxes), Lucibello added. Frederick Moore tweeted Whats the surprise?, referring to poor branch service. When I am feeling paranoid some days I think there is a competition by DOT to see whether @shoreLineeast or WBL (Waterbury Branch Line) is the worse commute, noted E.C. Schroeder in a Twitter post. The data backs up concerns expressed by commuters. The Waterbury Branch, which runs to Bridgeport, started the year with a 94 percent on-time record. But by May the on-time rate dropped to 86 percent, and in August riders had a 69 percent chance of making it to work on time. The line served 312,000 riders last year. The Danbury Branch varied from an on-time performance rate of 85 percent in January to the 90 percent range between March and May, and back to 86 percent in June. The line carried nearly 700,000 passengers last year. Shore Line East riders had a 72 percent chance of being on time in July, compared to an 88 percent chance in July 2017. The smallest of the commuter lines, Shore Line East, which is owned by the DOT, served about 2,000 riders a day last year. The far larger New Haven Line, which Metro-North runs from New Haven to Grand Central Terminal, posted a performance rate ranging from a high of 95 percent in April to a low of 82 percent in July. Nearly 37 million riders used the train last year. There is also some evidence that performance is impacting ridership. For example, year-to-date ridership on the Danbury and Waterbury lines is down by just under one percent when compared to last year. The New Canaan Line is up 1.4 percent. Improvement and delay Gildea said the poor performance could have been avoided, pointing out the state promised aggressive improvements to the Waterbury Branch three years ago. Although the $2.8 million project was supposed to be finished this year, Gildea said DOT only recently approved money to design the work. They lack foresight and vision, Gildea said of DOT. There is not enough equipment for the branches, not enough diesels. They have not made the necessary infrastructure investments they should make. Gildea added, They will say Waterbury or Danbury has not lost that much (ridership), but it takes a few months for ridership to decline. There has been construction and speed restrictions for years now. Its a smokescreen masking a more serious issue. Judd Everhart, a DOT spokesman, said the reason for the spike in late trains is straightforward. Two out of three late Waterbury Line trains are the result of a late train connection from the New Haven Line, Everhart said. The performance on the New Haven Line is the result of an aggressive capital investment program that has taken multiple tracks out of service throughout the 72 miles of railroad between Grand Central Terminal, he noted. Everhart said major projects include a track undercutting program in Rye, N.Y., bridge work in Greenwich and Stamford, replacement of boarding platforms at Noroton Heights and new railroad interlocking in Norwalk. These projects are addressing decades of under investment, but have significant negative impacts on service, Everhart said. We realize we could have done a better job at getting the word out about the construction program and we are working with Metro-North on a special notice to customers to explain the recent performance and what to expect ahead, he added. Metro-North said breakdowns on the branch lines has also impacted performance, as well as construction projects and implementation of the Positive Train Control safety system. We have experienced a decline in the performance of our diesel locomotives operating on the Danbury and Waterbury branches. Metro-North said. To improve the performance of our fleet, we are beginning a program to overhaul locomotives over the next four years. The railroad added We appreciate your patience and understanding as we carry out these critical projects. Our track and infrastructure work will not only make our system safer; it is also an investment in the future reliability of our system, which is something that you rightfully expect and deserve. bcummings@ctpost.com MILFORD Whoever killed the man whose torso was found in Milford 24 years ago wanted to make sure the victim would not be identified. On March 24, 1994, a public works employee spotted a military-style duffel bag off the side of Old Oronoque Road, along the Housatonic River. Inside, the employee found a hotel-style comforter wrapped around what he thought was human bone. He called police. Police found a male torso in the bag, with the head, arms and legs nowhere to be found. The torso was dressed in shorts and put into several layers of plastic bags tied tightly with shoelaces. At first, investigators thought the bag washed ashore from the river, but a closer look showed it was never in the water and had to have been thrown from the roadway. The killer knew what they were doing, said Detective Mitchell Warwick, referring to how the mans limbs were severed from the torso. He said whoever cut the legs, arms and head from the torso had knowledge of human anatomy. Maybe it was an avid hunter who knew just where to cut, Warwick said. Warwick has been the lead detective on this cold case for three or four years, he said in an interview, surrounded by old news clippings and photos about the murder. A case goes cold once all leads at the time are exhausted. What police know Investigators quickly noticed a piece had been carved out of the recovered torso. It was likely a tattoo or a birthmark, something that could have helped us identify him, Warwick said. Dive teams searched the river and cadaver dogs searched the area after the discovery, to no avail. They just couldnt find the rest of the body, Warwick said. Investigators figured out that the victim was likely around 5 feet 5 inches tall, 25 to 30 years old and weighed somewhere between 130 and 140 pounds, Warwick said. From there, the departments best chance to ID the body was DNA. A sample was taken from the torso and run through a database for potential matches. None were found. Since the arms, legs and head were missing, police werent able to definitively determine the cause of death. But the person was likely killed from a head injury, Warwick said. Skeletal remains were also found nearby on Oronoque Road two years earlier, but Warwick said police dont believe the cases are related. The torso was found about 24 to 48 hours after the man was killed, Warwick said. A look at the evidence Warwick said the man was killed before his torso was dumped. And since the spot where the remains were found was in a secluded part of the city, police say the suspect or suspects must have had knowledge of the area. Its not some place you would just stumble across, Warwick said. He said people are known to fish in that area. There is a wooded lot on the corner of the street, which comes to a dead end, with a gas company at the end of the road. People have been known to dump garbage and drink in the same area, Warwick said. Police hoped that since they were unable to to track down the murder victims identity through DNA, they might catch a break through the evidence found with the body. After deciding the comforter was probably from a hotel, police scoured all local hotels and checked to see if any of them used similar comforters to the one found with the torso. It was a comforter for a single or double size bed, Warwick said. There was no brand name on anything. Though police had some leads after investigating the comforter, it didnt yield any beneficial results. The same was the case for the investigation into the duffel bag. Halted progress Without some kind of further information, Warwick said the department is at a standstill on the case. The evidence found on, with and around the murder victim remains in the Milford Police Departments evidence room and will stay there until the case is closed. The DNA stays in the system and constantly searches for a potential match, Warwick said. Anyone with any information on the case or who thinks they might know the victims identity can call Milford police at 203-878-6551. An occasional series that looks at unsolved homicides, or cold cases, in Bridgeport, Fairfield and beyond. Riding a surge of renewed political engagement, a host of challengers have unseated or produced nail-biting races for congressional incumbents in 2018 primaries. That trend has skipped Connecticut. The state is home to three members of Congress who have enjoyed some of the longest tenures in office without a primary challenger from their party. U.S. Rep Rosa DeLauro of Connecticuts 3rd District has not participated in a primary since she was first elected to Congress in 1990. DeLauro is tied with U.S. Rep Nita Lowey of New York for going the most years without a primary opponent of any member of Congress in the nation, according to a New York Times analysis. U.S. Reps. John Larson, Joe Courtney and Jim Himes have not had in-party challengers in a decade or more. In fact, none of the Connecticut congressional delegation has faced a Democratic rival on primary night while in their current office. They attributed their continued support to their work in Washington and their district. DeLauros dominance In nearly three decades, the closest thing DeLauro has had to a Democratic opponent came this year. Milford Alderman Bryan Anderson declared in September 2017 that he would run for DeLauros seat, before she announced she would seek re-election. In April 2018, months before the August primary, he folded his campaign. Noting that many House Republicans are not seeking re-election, Anderson withdrew to give the Democrats and Rosa the best chance possible this year, he said Saturday. If the Democrats are able to take the House, she will chair the Appropriations Subcommittee for health, education, labor and personnel, Anderson said. She should have the opportunity to be chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee. Hopefully the district will benefit if she is chair. DeLauro said she is proud Democrats and Republicans keep electing her. I have been fortunate to have received the highest percentage of the vote compared with every winning Connecticut candidate for federal office, House and Senate in the last six elections over 10 years, she said in a statement. I hope that means that the people of the 3rd Congressional District respect how hard I work for them. No comers Also high on the national list of representatives who have passed long stretches without primaries are Larson and Courtney of Connecticuts 1st and 2nd Districts, respectively. Larson has not had a Democratic challenge since he was first elected to Congress in 1998. He is tied for third longest stretch without a primary, the New York Times found. Larson said hes been unopposed because he has maintained his roots in the district and gets political results. Ive lived in the same house in East Hartford for the past 35-plus years and my kids grew up in town, just like I did, Larson said in a statement. I still shop at Padulas on Franklin Avenue in Hartford and catch up with friends over a chili dog at Augie and Rays in East Hartford. Courtney has not seen a primary challenge since 2006, when he won his seat. He ties for fifth longest without an in-party challenge in the nation, the Times reported. U.S. Rep. Jim Himes of Connecticuts 4th District has not participated in a primary since he was first elected in 2008. Elizabeth Esty, who represents the 5th District in the U.S. House, did not have a primary challenge after she won her seat in 2012. No primaries The state's U.S. representatives and senators have not faced primary opponents since they assumed their current offices. That means no in-party challenge for: U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro: 28 years, 14 elections U.S. Rep. John Larson: 20 years, 10 elections U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney: 12 years, 6 elections U.S. Rep. Jim Himes: 10 years, 5 elections U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty: 6 years, 3 elections* U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal: 8 years, one election U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy: 6 years, one election *A primary for Esty's seat took place in 2018 because she is not seeking re-election. See More Collapse A Democratic primary for her seat did occur in 2018, when Esty decided not to seek re-election after an alleged abuse scandal in her office. Meanwhile across the country, at least five Republicans and two Democrats lost their seats to primary opponents in 2018. If you look at the upstart campaigns (Ayana) Pressley in Boston and (Alexandria) Ocasio(-Cortez) in New York and elsewhere it certainly is encouragement to me that so many who are looking to challenge the status quo have found some degree of success, said Anderson. I take comfort in that. For Subscribers A $13.50 minimum wage in Pa.? Who is eligible Gov. Tom Wolf's minimum wage order could impact thousands of workers and raise average salaries at companies taking state incentives to more than $50,000. COATESVILLE Community members and local activists met with 6th District Democratic congressional candidate Chrissy Houlahan and former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Gabby Giffords, D-Ariz. for an anti-gun violence roundtable discussion at the New Life in Christ Fellowship church Friday afternoon. Houlahan and Giffords were joined by Giffords husband, former astronaut and retired Navy Captain Mark Kelly, and Dan Helmer, an Iraq and Afghanistan War veteran and vice chair of VoteVets, a political action committee that supports veterans interests. Houlahan, who is a retired Air Force captain, said fighting gun violence has been a key issue in her campaign for Congress, and she can bring a unique perspective as a veteran. She said she supports policies such as universal background checks, closing the gun show loophole, keeping guns away from domestic abusers, allowing the Centers for Disease Control to research gun violence and reinstating a ban on assault weapons. Weapons of war dont belong in the hands of civilians, she said. Houlahan is running against Republican candidate Greg McCauley, an attorney, for the congressional seat being vacated by retiring Republican Rep. Ryan Costello. Helmer asked participants in the discussion to share their experiences of how gun violence has affected their lives and those they know. He said the first time he lost someone to gun violence was when a friend and fellow soldier was shot and killed while serving in Iraq, but he could take solace in the fact they knew what they signed up for. However, he said Americans shouldnt accept gun violence as a part of daily life. We shouldnt accept having a war zone here in our streets and our classrooms, he said. Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in 2011 in which she was shot in the head during an outdoor town hall-style gathering, encouraged voters to take action at the ballot box this November by voting for candidates who will fight for gun reform. She said Americans are living through scary times with racism, sexism, lies and violence, but people must stand up for what they believe in. Do you have the courage to fight? she asked. Stand with me. Vote, vote, vote! On Election Day, your voice matters. Please join your voice with mine. Kelly said partisanship has gotten worse in government, but Giffords was a representative who could work in the middle, and he believes Houlahan will also be someone who can work with both sides to get things done. Veterans are natural problem-solvers, he said. Giffords and Kelly currently operate a political action committee, called Giffords, that supports candidates and elected officials in favor of gun reform. Kelly said their organization is bipartisan, and is supporting both Democrats and Republicans throughout the county who seek gun reform. Dan Williams, pastor of New Life in Christ Fellowship, and a Democratic candidate for state representative in the 74th District, said gun violence affects the lives of many young people here in the city of Coatesville, but he noted that a majority of gun owners and non-gun-owners support regulations on guns. Williams is running against Republican candidate Amber Little-Turner. Michelle Roberson of Westtown told the story of how her 18-year-old daughter, Bianca Roberson, was shot and killed last year in a road rage incident after she had recently graduated high school. Her killer pleaded guilty to third-degree murder earlier this week. She said a brief second of anger led to her daughters death since the killer happened to have a gun with him. She said she is pushing people to get out and vote, and she believes young people will make a difference, and hopefully the new generation can correct mistakes where older generations messed up. We cant just do nothing, she said. Coatesville Police Sgt. Rodger Ollis said he basically wears a gun on his person all the time, but he realizes its a huge responsibility, and he believes in responsibility when handling guns. Two Henderson High School students also spoke about their experiences with gun violence. Before moving to the West Chester area, Taylor Turner had lived in Florida, and was previously a freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, which was the site of a mass shooting in February in which a gunman killed 17 students and staff. One of the victims, 17-year-old Helena Ramsay, was a friend of Turners. Taylor said she got more involved in politics after that, and she attended the March For Our Lives demonstration in Washington, D.C. to call for tighter gun laws, and she also canvassed for Houlahan. She said students are afraid at schools, and talked about how fire alarms during a recent fire drill led students to fear there may be an active shooter at the school. We shouldnt have to be scared in our schools we shouldnt have to be afraid to go outside, she said. Taylor wont be old enough to vote in this years election, but she said many high school students are getting registered to vote, and the issue of gun violence has brought a lot of kids to get involved in politics that normally wouldnt. Camille Parkinson, a classmate of Turners, said her family has been impacted by gun violence, and she was also acquainted with Bianca Roberson. Being safe in school is a human right, but its being taken away, she said. Parkinson said she wont be old enough to vote this year, but she also canvassed for Houlahan. Our generation is ready to fight to get the laws changed, she said. Gun violence affects everybody. Members of local anti-gun violence groups Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Gun Sense Chester County were also present to speak out on the issue. According to statistics provided by Giffords: 1,467 people are killed by guns in Pennsylvania every year, which is one death every six hours; the annual cost of gun violence in the state is $8.5 billion or $665 per resident. Houlahan said she wants to bring a sense of hope to this issue, and many veterans who are running this cycle want to make a difference in fighting gun violence. Im really excited about the possibility of making a difference on an issue that I think is pretty commonly held as something that we can affect change on, she said. At this point if you look at some of the common-sense things that were talking about doing, whether its closing loopholes, whether its background checks, whether its basic research, I think those are relatively speaking universally accepted as being reasonable approaches to a problem thats increasingly worrisome, particularly violence against our children. Saturday, September 8, 2018 ABA Journal, Florida Coastal Still Out of Compliance With Accreditation Standards, ABA Legal Ed Council Says: The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has affirmed its findings that Florida Coastal School of Law is out of compliance with certain accreditation standardsincreasing the likelihood that the matter will be settled in court. The decision rebuffs an appeal from Florida Coastal, which the ABA originally found out of compliance in October of 2017. The council found after a March hearing that it had come into compliance with one of the standards but maintained that most of the problems it had identified still existed. Prior TaxProf Blog coverage: https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2018/09/aba-florida-coastal-law-remains-out-of-compliance-with-law-school-accreditation-standards.html Employees of Delhi Development Authority (DDA) have donated their one days salary for helping flood affected people in Kerala. The payment for an amount of Rs 1,20,13,744/- (Rupees One Crore Twenty Lacs Thirteen Thousand Seven Hundred & Forty Four only) has been made vide cheque bearing No.191355 dated 4.9.2018 drawn on Central Bank of India, Vikas Sadan, New Delhi-110023 in favour of Prime Minister National Relief Fund. Mexico on Friday said bilateral trade with India is expected to grow at least 30 per cent in 2018 to about USD 11 billion. Trade with India has grown "immensely" in the last few years, from about USD 6.39 billion in 2013 to USD 8.37 billion in 2017, Melba Pria, Ambassador of Mexico in India said at an interactive session here organised by Bengal Chamber. "We are only scratching the surface in terms of trade with India. There is potential to grow our bilateral trade manifold ... We expect bilateral trade to rise by at least 30 per cent this year (2018), mainly on the back of rising oil prices ... And hope to double it in times to come," she said. In 2017, Indian exports to Mexico stood at USD 5.02 billion and imports from the country was at USD 3.35 billion. Pria said the potential areas for bilateral trade include auto parts, software and IT, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, engineering goods and minerals. In terms of foreign direct investments, the envoy said total FDI inflow from Mexico to India is around USD 118 million since 2000. Mexican investment in India in 2017 was to the tune of USD 18 million, she said. Pria, however, said India is a "better trader" than Mexico as it has diversified its business with the Latin American nation. "The case is not the same with Mexico as some of India's trade policies are still closed," she added. President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday invited Czech defence companies to take advantage of the opening of defence manufacturing sector in India and set-up joint ventures to produce for the country and for rest of the world. President Kovind after holding talks with his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman said there is immense potential for India-Czech defence collaboration to meet the growing requirements of the Indian defence industry. During the meeting, they took stock of the ongoing defence co-operation, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. The two countries signed five MoUs including between the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India and the Czech Academy of Sciences; on work plan for support of Indo-Czech projects in diverse areas of science and technology; on visa waiver agreement for diplomatic passport holders and between ELI Beamlines and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in the field of Laser Technology. President Kovind, who arrived here Thursday on the final leg of his three-nation European tour, said India values the Czech Republic as an important trade, technology and investment partner. "The Czech strengths in manufacturing and advanced technology make it a natural fit to partner Indian growth and next-generation development," he said. He said Czech major Skoda Auto and its parent company Volkswagen have announced plans to invest USD 1 billion in India under the 'Make in India' initiative. President Zeman and I committed today to write a new chapter in our trading relations," he said. He said India-Czech Joint Economic Commission meeting to be held next month at the Ministerial level, will deliberate in detail and take steps to enhance trade and investment cooperation and diversify the partnership into new areas. "India and the Czech Republic share historical, warm and friendly relations. My state visit is aimed at deepening our economic relations spread over trade, technology and investment collaboration. In our discussions, President Zeman and I, reviewed progress in our bilateral relations and discussed the roadmap for the future," he said. "I sense high enthusiasm in the business community on both sides to engage and build robust partnerships in sectors such as defence, high-tech manufacturing, heavy engineering, automotive industry and civil aviation," he said. The president said there is high enthusiasm in the business community on both sides to engage and build robust partnerships in sectors such as defence, high-tech manufacturing, heavy engineering, automotive industry and civil aviation. "I thank the Czech side for recognising the need to enhance the mobility of Indian professionals and students into the Czech Republic to upscale economic partnership. We look forward to the launch of Special Procedures for Highly Qualified Employees meant for India in October 2018," he said. He said the two countries look forward to initiating co-operation for peaceful use of nuclear energy between the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership, India and a relevant institution on the Czech side. "We emphasised the importance of cooperation on defence and security. We committed to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. I thank President Zeman for his express support for an early adoption of Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism at the UN. We also agreed to further deepen our multi-lateral partnership." He thanked the Czech side for supporting India's claim for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and its membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. Three Indian naval ships reached Trincomalee for the sixth edition of the SLINEX 2018 -- a bilateral naval exercise between India and Sri Lanka -- which began on Friday. The inaugural ceremony of the exercise was held on board Sri Lankan Navy's SLNS Sayurala and was attended by Rear Adm Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Indian Navy's Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, and Sri Lankan Navy's Rear Adm S A Weerasinghe, Commander Eastern Naval Area and Rear Adm Ananda Kumar Guruge, Flag Officer Commanding Naval Fleet, a statement by the Indian Navy said. Earlier, Indian naval ships Kirch, Sumitra and Cora Divh entered Trincomalee to participate in the sixth edition of the SLINEX 2018 from September 7 to 13, it said. In addition to three ships, one ship-borne integral helicopter and two maritime patrol aircraft Dornier are participating from the Indian side, while the Sri Lankan Navy is represented by SLN Ships Sayurala, Samudra and Suranimala. The exercise is being conducted in two phases. The first is the 'harbour phase' from September 7 to 10 at Trincomalee during which the participants will engage in professional, sporting and social interactions, the statement said. The 'harbour phase' will be followed by the 'sea phase' from September 11 to 13 in the Bay of Bengal off Trincomalle and will include gun firings, communication procedures, seamanship as well as navigation evolutions and helicopter operations. The SLINEX series of bilateral maritime exercises were initiated in 2005 and since then five successful engagements have been conducted. BSF Director General KK Sharma on Friday said the West Bengal Government is slightly friendly to the Rohingyas moving from different parts of the country to the State and has set up camps for 70 families. there has not been any large-scale influx of Rohingyas into India (from Bangladesh). Whatever Rohingyas are already there in the country, are also under pressure at some places; so they are going to West Bengal, a State which is slightly friendly with them, Sharma said in a joint Press conference with his Bangladeshi counterpart Maj Gen Md Shafeenul Islam, Chief of Border Guards Bangladesh. They (West Bengal Government) have set up camps for Rohingyas coming from within the country and not from Bangladesh. We got it (Rohingyas presence in West Bengal) inquired and there were about 70 odd families who had come from various places within India, Sharma further said. The Intelligence Bureau in a report to the Union Home Ministry has said that the 70 families have been settled in North 24 Parganas district with the help of NGOs besides support from the local MLA and MP, Intelligence sources said. The BSF had conducted an enquiry in conjunction with the IB to ascertain the presence of the Rohingyas in West Bengal. Denying any large-scale influx of Rohingyas fleeing from Myanmar to Bangladesh into India, the BSF DG said, We are alive to the situation. We are aware that a large number of Rohingyas are assembled there in Bangladesh and from time-to-time some small groups did try to enter India, but I am very happy to say that we did not let them succeed. So, I am very happy to say the BSF has successfully contained the influx of Rohigyas and we have not allowed any intrusion so far. This has also been verified by our sister security agencies, the BSF DG asserted. Replying to questions on movement of Rohingyas along the Indo-Bangla frontier, BGB Chief Maj Gen Md said his Force is very much alert to prevent unauthorised movement of Rohingyas in their country and towards the border areas. There are a large number of Rohingyas along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border and all the security agencies including BGB are keeping them confined to the area allocated to them. But yet, in very few cases, they are slipping out of the camps and we are finding them in some other parts of Bangladesh. Our security forces are very much alert and as we detect them, we get them back to our camps again. We are very keen on keeping them in the designated camps, the BGB DG said. The joint Press conference by BSF and BGB chiefs was held after conclusion of the biannual talks between the two border guarding forces. The Bangla delegation was on a six-day visit to India for the talks. The Centre views the presence of Rohingyas as a security threat and considers them as illegal immigrants and not as refugees. The Centre is in favour of deporting them but the Supreme Court has stayed the move following petitions against the move. There are about 40,000 refugees settled in different parts of the country including Jammu & Kashmir. The Rohingyas have been involved in terror cases including the Bodh Gaya blasts. INSET The first smart fence pilot project (Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System) that envisages deployment of laser fences and technology-enabled barriers to plug vulnerable gaps along Indias borders is set to be formally launched by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh later this week, the BSF DG said, adding the gadgets will be deployed along 2,400-km frontier with Pakistan and Bangladesh in the future. The first pilot project of the CBIM system or smart fence is already in place and working in Jammu. The home minister will formally launch it on September 17... But this is a tentative date. On the eastern side in Dhubri, across the Brahmuptra, we have installed technical solutions on a stretch of 55-60 kilometers because there is no possibility of erecting a (physical) fence there, the BSF chief added. Party chief to stay put till 2019, organisational polls deferred; BJP says Mahagathbandhan moves meant to hoodwink Coining for itself the term ajeya BJP (invincible BJP) and dubbing the Oppositions bid to forge Mahagathbandhan as a dhakosla (eyewash) and a bhraanti (illusion), the ruling party on Saturday vowed to return to power in 2019 with a larger mandate and gave its president Amit Shah an extended run till the general elections by deferring its organisational polls. For his part, Shah pointed to the BJPs growing clout in the country and of India in the global league under Prime Minister Narendra Modi who, he said, leads the nation from front unlike his predecessor Manmohan Singh. Hitting out at the Congress, Shah also said while the BJP believed in Making India, the Congress trusts in Breaking India. Shah, whose three-year term ends in January next year, will lead the party in the Lok Sabha election in 2019 and its organisational polls are likely to be suspended till then as it will focus on the electoral challenge on hand, party sources said. Organisational polls in an election year have often been deferred in the past as well to allow the incumbent president, his team of office-bearers and workers to focus on polls, they said. Exhorting the workers and party leaders in the National Executive Meeting here, the first after the passing away of its patriarch Atal Bihari Vajpayee, to work for achieving greater goals, the party president said the BJP would return to power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and also do well in Mizoram, where elections are due at the year-end. In Telangana also, Shah said, the party will go full steam. Delivering the inaugural address in the meeting which was attended by all the top leaders, including the Prime Minster, State Chief Ministers, State presidents and most of the members of the National Executive, Shah said the party would contest the 2019 poll on the plank of good governance of the Modi Government from 2014 to 2019. Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman briefed the Press on the details of Shahs address to the highest decision-making body of the BJP. Hitting out at the Opposition for indulging in disruptive politics, he said each of the Mahagathbandhan parties has been defeated by the National Democratic Alliance in 2014 and thereafter too, and the BJP has captured 75 per cent of geographical area in the country with 19 States already under its belt with good majority. While asking party men to prepare for the general elections, he urged them to focus on voters verification process which is underway in the country and also to challenge what he called P Chidambaram & company with full facts in hand. The BJP asked the workers to counter Oppositions rumour mongering against the party about restoration of the SC/ST Act provisions. Shah spoke on the National Register of Citizens besides the Citizen Amendment Bill, 2016. He said now all persecuted minorities, including Buddhist, Sikhs, Jains and Christians in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, would be given asylum/refuge in India. He said this would be done without any hesitation. Shah had replaced Rajnath Singh as the party president soon after it came to power in May 2014 as Singh quit his post following his inclusion in Modis Cabinet. He was then elected as the president in January 2016. The BJPs constitution allows its president to serve two consecutive full terms of three years each. As such, Shah can be elected to the post for one more term. Shah paid glowing tribute to Vajayee whose contribution to the party, he said was impossible to mention. He said Vajpayee was the first premier who restricted the size of the Union Cabinet, created DONER Ministry for the North-East states, conducted nuclear explosion in 1998 and created new States of Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. It was the Atal-Advani combination that brought party to power from a poor two tally of MPs in the Lok Sabha in 1984, he said. Shah recounted a range of economic programmes and policies which were given shape by the Modi-dispensation in over last four years which also deleted over here lakh bogus companies in the country. The BJP president said the Government had conducted Rs 11,000 crore e-purchases which would otherwise would have cost the country an estimated Rs 33,000 crore. He accused the Congress of playing hypocritical politics on triple talaq and urban naxalism and congratulated Maharashtra CM on the latter issue. The meeting is to pass an economic and political resolution detailing Modi-Governments achievements in last four-years. A 37-year-old member of Manipur-based banned terrorist outfit Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-PWG) was arrested by Delhi Polices Special Cell from Bishnupur in Manipur for threatening and extorting businessmen and influential people in Delhi. The terrorist was also wanted by the National Investigative Agency (NIA) and a reward of Rs 2 lakh was declared on his arrest by the agency. He has been brought to Delhi on transit remand from Manipur. The accused identified as Moirangthem Rana Pratap, alias Paikhomba, is a self-styled general secretary of the banned outfit, said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Special Cell. He along with his associates was allegedly threatening and extorting money from businessmen and influential people, said the DCP. Earlier on August 28, Oinam Ibochouba Singh alias Khoirangba, a top commander and self-styled acting chairman of the banned outfit, was arrested from south Delhis Kotla Mubarakpur area. He had allegedly threatened Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and some other Ministers. During interrogation Paikhomba confessed about his involvements in terrorist activities in Manipur and recently he shifted his base from Nepal to Bareilly. It was Paikhomba who had directed Khoirangba to go to Delhi and set up a base here to conduct their activities. On his directions, Khoirangba had allegedly given threats to Manipur Chief Minister. Paikhomba used to extort money from different Government authorities, local businessman, private schools by threatening them with demand letters sent through over-ground-workers (OGWs) in Manipur. The OGWs used to collect the extortion money from victims and further distributed the same between different offices of the banned outfit. He was living clandestinely in Nepal for the last five years, in order to evade his arrest, said the DCP. He joined militancy with daydreaming to earn easy and huge money and live with a lavish lifestyle. Further investigation is on, the DCP added. KCP (People War Group) was formed in January, 2016 by a combined extremist group of KCP-Poirei faction, KCP-Tamnganba faction and KCP-Paikhomba faction under the chairman of Laishram Ranjit Meetei. In January 2017, the Special Cell arrested the self-styled convener of the KCP-PWG, Ranjeet Singh Porai alias Rocky, and in August 2017 busted a module of the KCP-PWG with the arrest of top leadership including commander-in-chief of the KCP-Tamnganba faction Laishram Ranjit Meitei. Petrol price in the national Capital on Saturday crossed the Rs 80 mark for the first time ever as rupee depreciation made imports costlier. Petrol price was raised by 39 paise a litre and diesel by 44 paise per litre, according to price notification issued by State fuel retailers. The increase pushed the petrol price in Delhi to Rs 80.38 per litre. Diesel rate touched its highest level of Rs 72.51 a litre. In Mumbai, a litre of petrol costs Rs 87.77 and diesel comes for Rs 76.98, the notification said. Fuel prices in Delhi are the cheapest among all metros and most State capitals due to lower taxes. Mumbai has the highest tax rates among the metros. Opposition parties have called for a nationwide Bharat Bandh on Monday to protest against the spiralling fuel prices. The spike in prices has renewed calls for cut in excise duty but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has remained non-committal, saying international oil prices are volatile. In a little over three decades between 1978 and 2011 a whopping 10 million additional hectares of land became flood-prone area in India. While 40 million hectares of land were prone to floods till 1978 as per the Rashtriya Barh Ayog (RBA) that studied figures since 1953, the 12th Plan working group on flood and management subsequently increased the area to 49.815 million hectares in 2011. As per the RBA report, 7.33 million hectares in Uttar Pradesh and 4.26 million hectares of land in Bihar are prone to flood. Similarly, 3.70 million hectares of land in Rajasthan, 3.26 million hectares of land in Sikkim, 3.15 million hectares in Assam, 2.70 million hectares in West Bengal and 2.35 million hectares in Haryana are prone to flood, the report said. And the addition of flood-prone areas, as per the 12th Plan working group, has been spread across several States like Bihar, Haryana, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Assam among others. While studies have pointed to construction of dams in Indo-Gangetic rivers to be mitigating the hazards in recent decades, the Water Resources Ministry has informed Parliament that the main reasons for floods are high intensity rainfall in short duration, poor or inadequate drainage capacity, unplanned reservoir regulation and failure of flood control structures. Intense rain during the monsoon season causes rivers like Brahmaputra, Ganga and Yamuna to swell their banks, which, in turn, flood the adjacent areas, the Ministry maintained. A separate study carried out by the National Remote Sensing Centre of ISRO found that 15 districts of Assam, 10 each of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, nine of Odisha and six of West Bengal get submerged by floods for varying percentage. For its part, the National Disaster Management Authoritys (NDMA) flood vulnerability index lists Punjab and Haryana as the States most vulnerable to floods. Punjab is followed by West Bengal, Bihar, UP, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Assam, Gujarat and Odisha. According to the Met Department, the country received 718.7 mm rainfall against the normal of 768.9 mm till September 8, this year. As many as 110 districts have recorded excess rainfall during this years monsoon. Despite that the rain deficit stood at 7 per cent this year. In 2018, as many as 500 people have been killed and over 10 lakh displaced in Kerala due to floods and landslides in the State. The impact of the floods in Kerala is yet to be completely assessed, though the Government estimates that rebuilding would require about Rs 30,000 crore. Officials said the NDMAs study is based on parameters such as areas actually flooded during 1950 to 2016, areas vulnerable to flood and metropolitan and large cities that fall in flood-prone areas. On a scale of 10, Punjab has been assessed as facing the highest flood hazard risk of 6.67, followed by West Bengal 6.43, Bihar 6, UP 4.76, Andhra Pradesh 4.49, Haryana 4.12, Kerala 3.88, Assam 3.84, Gujarat 3.38 and Odisha 2.73. As per the Home Ministry data, as many as 1,400 people have died due to rain, landslides and floods in 10 States so far in the monsoon season. As many as 254 people died in Uttar Pradesh while West Bengal witnessed the death of 210 people due to floods. The toll in Maharashtra was 139 while it was 52, 50, 37, 29 and 11 in Gujarat, Assam, Uttarakhand, Odisha and Nagaland respectively. Paltan *ing: Jackie Shroff, Arjun Rampal, Sonu Sood, Gurmeet Choudhary, Harshvardhan Rane, Siddhanth Kapoor, Luv Sinha, Abhilash Chaudhary, Esha Gupta Rated: 2/10 It is unfortunate that any movie on Army jawans, our unsung assets who put their lives in line to give us safe frontiers, falls flat on its face and, worse still, makes you feel guilty for not being evoked into instant patriotism for your country. JP Duttas Paltan, which has hit the halls at an awkward time (it is not even the month of August or January), is surprisingly clueless about what the purpose of the film is. In the cold and barren land around Nathula where the entire movie sits, has a kind of static that adds to the proceedings. The only glorious thing about it is the fact that it is based on true martyrs who lost their lives when India recorded its solo victory against China by repulsing them at the Nathula pass. Dutta brings to that screen the Paltan in quite an insipid manner, failing to capture the emotional appeal behind those war heroes. The problem is that he has copied the same template as that of Border, the film with which he hit the jackpot. Its the same kind of story, same premise and the same concept of going back to the gaons of every hero who is certain to be martyred. This worked with Border for two reasons. First, because it was a novel way to build a connect with the subject and two, something totally unconnected with the film itself. If one would recall, it was the first show of Border in which the horrific Uphaar cinema hall fire tragedy unfolded, killing many people. Border vicariously benefitted from the popular outpouring for the incident and ran to houseful shows for weeks because the distress of the tragedy was a constant companion of the film. Paltan, helmed by Arjun Rampal as a wishy-washy England returned colonel who looks much too sophisticated and urban to be a hands-on Armyman, struggles with many issues, one of them being boredom around the stories Dutta tries to build but fails miserably in doing so. Either the characters are too effusive and overly patriotic or they are inept at evoking enough realism into their clashes with the Chinese on the other side of the border. The skirmishes look almost frivolous till the bombardment actually starts towards the end and Jackie Shroff as the commander out to avenge the 1962 chicanery of the Chinese looks quite the man out of place, only symbolising the impotence of an Army governed by its political masters. Some TV stars and other usual suspects in Army fatigue frothing with patriotic screams do not make for a good movie and Duttas effort looks too tired to be on the go and too familiar to bring in interest. Senior police and security officials of five States of eastern region on Friday discussed ways to control various inter-State crimes and stressed on improving mutual coordination in controlling inter-state naxal activities, organized crime, opium trade and cattle smuggling. The decisions were taken at Eastern Regional Police Coordination meet at police headquarter in Ranchi in which senior officials of Jharkhand, Chhatisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar participated. The officials discussed ways to increase mutual coordination so that joint operation against the left wing extremists (LWE) members active in more than one State could be intensified. The imminent naxal activities in the bordering rural areas particularly prior to the assembly election in Chattisgarh and the preventive measures were also discussed in the meeting. The participants also agreed to exchange intelligence information down to the local police station level on various matters including inter-state bank and jewelry shop robbers. Jharkhand DGP DK Pandey who chaired the meeting informed the participants about his States plan to eliminate extremism by the end of the year. He emphasised on the need to keep close watch on extremist movement on the inter-state borders. The DGP said that police could also make tactical changes in the anti-extremists operation to make strong blow to the LWE groups. The DGP stressed on the need for controlling cyber crime saying that sale of mobile phone SIM cards in the bordering districts of Jharkhand and Bihar must stop at any cost. He suggested that like the meeting on coordination, a regional meet on cyber crime was also needed. The DGP said that regular coordination meeting should be held at the level of SP, DSP, inspector and officer-in-charge of the states. He said that there should free flow of information among the police officers of the state on crime related issues. He proposed the formation of inter-state interrogation teams to question accused persons. Speaking on the occasion Special DG (Middle Zone) Kuldip Singh, stressed on strengthening intelligence system at local level to make the anti-naxal operations more effective. ADG, Law and Order, Bihar, Alok Raj, requested the Jharkhand police to curb the smuggling of alcohol from Jharkhand to Bihar. After the meeting ADG Operation RK Mallick informed the media persons the officials also reviewed the implementation of decisions taken in the previous meeting. On cyber crime he said that number of calls from Jamtara district which is known as cyber hub has decreased while it has increased from neighbouring districts of Bihar like Gaya and Jamui. Several senior police officials from Jharkhand including ADG CID Ajay Kumar Singh, IGs of participating states, para-military forces, apart from senior officers of Seema Suraksha Bal, Intelligence Bureau and Enforcement Directorate were present in the meeting. n Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi on Saturday asked the Collectors of Keonjhar, Jajpur, Bhadrak and Kendrapada districts to alert field functionaries and administrative officials as the Baitarani, Kharasrota rivers and their tributaries created flood on Saturday. Sources said the Baitarani river was flowing at 18.47 metre above the danger mark of 17.83 metre on the day at Akhuapada in Bhadark district till last reports came in. Meanwhile, around 400 villages under 70 gram panchayats in the district lay submerged in flood water. Besides, road communication in many parts of the district was snapped as several main roads in various blocks were flooded. The riverside villages under Dasarathpur, Bari, and Binjharapur blocks of Jajpur district were reeling under flood woes. At least 50,000 villagers in the district were affected. The CDMO along with other doctors and para-medical staff visited the flood-affected villages to take stock of the health conditions of the people. Many farmers were worried as the floodwater damaged their paddy crops. SRC Sethi informed that Bhandaripokhari, Dhamnagar, Tihidi, Basudevpur and Chandabali blocks of Bhadrak district; Anandpur, Ghasipura and Hatadihi blocks of Keonjhar district and Ali and Rajkanika blocks of Kendrapada districts, besides several parts of Jajpur, are likely to be severely affected due to a possible flood. The SRC asked the Collectors of the districts to stay prepared to meet any eventuality and depute mobile teams for close watch on vulnerable river and canal embankments. Sethi also asked them to make necessary arrangement for evacuation of people residing in low-lying areas. He also directed them to ensure functioning of control room round the clock. Besides, the SRC asked the Collectors to cancel holidays of employees of the affected blocks as per requirement. In a humanitarian gesture, the staff and management of construction giant Larson and Taubro (L&T) has donated Rs 5.45 crore in the Chief Ministers relief fund for the heavy rain-affected people of the State. A cheque was handed over to the Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Saturday by the representatives of the company. CM welcomed the kind gesture and thanked the management and employees of the company. The chief executive, Hydel Power Development and chief, Special Initiative, L&T Construction, Vikas Khitha, vice-president and chief corporate affairs of Company Kuldeep Goyal, general manager and head, Utility Power Distribution, R Balasubramanium represented the company on the occasion. n The National Human Rights Corporation (NHRC) has called for a report from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) regarding the distribution of electricity in seven districts of Jharkhand. The seven districts include Giridih, Koderma, Chatra, Hazaribagh, Bokaro, Koderma and Dhanbad. Based on a complaint filed with the NHRC on August 6, it has asked DVC to submit a report within four weeks of its perusal dated August 9. The order was passed by a single member bench of Jyotika Karla, Member NHRC. NHRC had received a written petition from Madan Mohan Priya, an advocate based in Delhi from Giridih district of the State highlighting the issue. According to the petition, electricity is a basic human right and DVC has been selling electricity to other states thus making a huge profit. It also stated that DVC is responsible for providing electricity in seven districts of Jharkhand, as per the Damodar Valley Corporation Act 1948. But, the DVC is not performing its statutory duties with more than 1,16,35,374 people living without this basic human rights. Priya is his complaint has stated that an email was sent to the Damodar Valley Corporation Chairman dated on June 6 and no action was taken in this regard. The email also mentioned that DVC is violating its statutory duties towards its command districts in Jharkhand. The command districts including Giridih have not been getting proper electricity since November 15, 2000. The complainant also said that load shedding has been a persistent problem in Giridih for several years. The whole district is immersed in darkness soon after sunset with thieves taking advantage of the situation. People from all walks of life are victims of the situation with their normal life being hampered. Students are also suffering a lot with their annual exams approaching. In the prevailing summer months, people have also been falling ill frequently due to lack of electricity, he has stated. Priya in his petition has requested the National Human Rights Corporation to approach the Jharkhand High Court in order to protect the human rights of the residents of these seven districts because an unprecedented condition of violation of human rights needs immediate attention. The environment in which a house finds itself contributes fundamentally to the feel and ambience of what we call a home. Up in the hills and the mountains, houses generously lend themselves to this aspect because the outside and the inside are always in a conversation with each other, the mountains of becoming synonymous with home While debating an appropriate title for this article, I once again committed the error of thinking positively about the word homeliness for the nth time. For some unknown reason, dictionaries equate homeliness with the unattractive, the non-beautiful, and the inelegant, although another meaning does try to compensate by referring to being homely in the sense of being unpretentious. I have often wished that such confusion regarding the word never existed in the first place, so that homeliness would simply and unambiguously imply something warm, happy, cheerful, and beautiful in a kind of wholesome totality. For home is a precious word and idea, even as it may mean different things to different people. Amply romanticised in culture since the beginnings of history and often intrinsically tied to the concepts of belonging and identity, home fundamentally indexes the lived notions of comfort, ease, safety, and bonhomie. Homes make us as much as we make our homes. I first became conscious of home as a special concept during my childhood when my fathers transferrable job began introducing me to different parts of the Himalayas of North India. For as long as I can remember, home has struck as a fertile, multilayered notion, that invariably speaks in different degrees and intensities through a variety of markers. While the entity of the house is possibly the most obvious transmitter of home, the environment which the house finds itself in a neighbourhood, a locality, a village, a town, a city equally, if not more, contributes to the feel and ambience of home. Hilly regions generously lend themselves to this aspect because the outside and the inside are always in a conversation with each other. Views from ones windows matter as an essential part of the house itself, as does the last ray of the sun peeling away from the flank of a distant hill, so that pahaad (mountains) routinely become synonymous with ghar (home). India being a largely tropical country dominated by plains, heights continue to signify a much loved and often revered other. Hill people themselves are conscious of this aspect, and it is common to find countless summits serving as homes to Gods and Goddesses and the powers beyond. I am yet to meet a person who hasnt smiled at hearing that I belong to the hills, specifically Shimla. Over the years, I have come to cherish this instinctive response, delighting in how the name of a hill station sends my listener on a memory trip to some or the other hills for a few seconds. Jahaan ki yaadein ab bhi taaza hain (whose memories are still fresh), as they invariably add. Conversely, I am yet to meet a person from the hills who doesnt exude a sense of satisfaction at voicing his or her connection with the highlands. This is true of not only the Himalayas but also of people belonging to other raised terrains. Mihir Vatsa, a friend and poet from the Hazaribagh plateau in Eastern India, makes me aware of similar claims to what might be called landscape intimacy or topophilia in his beloved upland, whose folk too bear witness to a ghar ki feeling (feeling of home). It is almost as if hills and mountains themselves prompt you to think of them in distinctive yet familiar terms, terms that naturally mature in the currency of home. Hill stations came into existence with the consolidation and expansion of the British empire in the Indian subcontinent. The heat and dust of the plain-based cities triggered the cartographers and travellers of the East India Company (and then of the Crown) to search for cooler climes that lay in high areas spreading across the length and breadth of the colony. By the middle of the 19th century, well-known hill stations, such as Shimla, Darjeeling, Mussoorie, Ooty, and Nainital, had started gaining attention in popular consciousness, established as they were in the image of a home away from home. These stations were consciously meant to evoke the ambience of the British countryside, natural and cultural, so that European templates of architecture and social customs got transposed to a foreign territory to generate something new in the lens of the familiar. Unlike the precolonial mountainous establishments that sprouted along rivers in valleys (Kullu, Chamba, Kangra, to name a few) water being the fundamental source for the seeding of civilisations colonial hill stations shifted the very imagination of urban geography, preferring to germinate at the top of mountains and along ridges. Such positioning was synonymous with making grand statements about imperial might and supremacy, and because hardly any hill station was designed for the native, indigenous population, the latter got shoved aside to the haphazard tiers sloping down the hills. Interestingly, however, native-born discrimination originating much before the arrival of the British came into play as well, and the haphazard tiers themselves developed a hierarchical pattern, so that the topmost layer would be occupied by the higher castes and those at the bottom by the untouchables. From a distance, therefore, a typical Indian hill station would echo not only colonial splendour and oppression through its magnificent buildings that filigreed the ridges, but also Indian bias wrapped up in a sore, unplanned look a testimony to imperial indifference towards urban planning for the common Indian. As my brother describes this predicament, hill stations bore the look of a beggar wearing a crown. Post-Independence, however, has been a different story, as all colonial hill stations have metamorphosed into as Indian towns and cities as any other. The transformation is a complex one, full of fascinating points and idiosyncrasies that can easily fill a book. The most telling of these is the deepening of the affectionate claim of home by the common indigenous population, for most of whom such spaces embody freedom, joy, and satisfaction. From once being the prerogative of the whites, hill stations have come a far way even though some people continue to associate places like Shimla and Mussoorie with an elite atmosphere, owing to the few famous Indians residing there: This actor, that artiste, and that erstwhile maharaja. But like much else, this elite has itself become the stuff of local folklore, so that it is not uncommon to find the non-elite shedding light on the hill life of the creme de la creme with a vivacity typical of friendly storytelling. Hence, the generation of the ubiquitously found highland phrase: Everyone knowing everyone. But the invention of such sentiment has also to do with the relatively smaller size of the hill stations to those of the cities, as well as with the lanes and trails that crisscross the hills to connect with the Mall Road the lifeline of all major hill stations, which daily conduit the movement of their residents and visitors. Connections blossom on these Malls that play home to delightful architecture and a host of shops, restaurants, offices, and bakeries. Yet another colonial legacy, bakeries too thrive with their own indigenisation, and it is a pleasure to see people of all classes and hues buy cakes, pastries, breads, savouries and the other so-called foreign dishes with the same warmth and sometimes explicit excitement as purchasing the other, more Indian stuff. When visitors from the plains return to their abodes, they fondly recall the eventful treks they had across these Malls in thrilling and occasionally hyperbolic terms: Itnaa chaley hum! (We walked so much!). For Mall par jaana must hai! (It is a must to go to the Mall) is almost an innately felt duty, as all roads lead to the Mall! The freedom of movement along the connector of the Mall democratises a colonial legacy on an everyday basis, but such democratisation comes with its own interesting oddities. At a time when major cities of the country have been renamed to preserve an indigenous ring (Calcutta to Kolkata, Bangalore to Bengaluru, Bombay to Mumbai), Shimlas Mall continues to be known as the Mall (like other hills stations), even though post-Independence it was recast as Lala Lajpat Rai Marg after the famous Indian leader whose statue still dons the town-centre. Then again, the Ridge, Shimlas largest public space presided by the Christ Church and the Gaiety Theatre, retains its name despite the decades-old change to Nehru Maidan. Notwithstanding outdoor pleasures, the house still remains a most compelling symbol of the feeling of being at home in hill stations. The much-touted aphorism that a house is built by bricks, but a home is built by hearts perhaps needs a little tweaking in the case of highlands because the phrase presupposes a necessarily inferior status for material ingredients in contrast to heartfelt emotions. Materiality, however, matters. Anyone even remotely interested in architecture and urban planning can provide an insight into the tones, densities, textures, and indeed, feelings associated with the elements of building, be they brick, stone, metal, wood, glass... you name it. Like the local artisans of the time, the colonisers of the 19th century also carefully assessed the materials and designs that went into the making of their houses. But for all their foreign look and appeal, Shimla houses developed on a fine intermixing of Himalayan and British aesthetics. The indigenous dhajji dewari timber-framed structures undergirded by stone and earth infill were melded with the floor plans of European Romantic era cottages to issue something new, something unseen in the history of architecture. A friend and famed Shimla historian Raaja Bhasin warmly labels the cross-currents of Shimla buildings as that dearly loved, adopted child mine, but not mine. When the celebrated traveller of British India, Emily Eden, arrived in Simla in the late 1830s for the first time, it was after settling in her new house Stirling Castle atop Elysium Hill that she pronounced the still-nascent town as the best part of India. In her judgment, the comforts of domesticity effortlessly flowered into a larger, general perspective on quality and well-being, and it is this relationship that I still witness in the old-time residents of Shimla in the contemporary age. Since the time I turned into a cultural ethnographer and photographic archivist of my hometown, I have had the wonderful privilege of entering many different households of Shimla-waasis that thrive with countless stories and provide material anchorage to the sense of identity. While houses essentially signify the personal, they simultaneously grow into a testimony of the social. Such is their aesthetic diversity that each of them contributes to the making of the character of Shimla. As a word, character continually impregnates the concept of a hill town, as if the house itself urges us to put it on par with humans like a sentient entity. My collection of peoples personal histories frequently begins and returns to some or the other component of home: When was it built, how was it built, which room provides the best warmth, which window lends the best view, where did the fireplace exist, when did the particular table and dinner set get purchased, and so on. While many of these houses belong to the rich, a number of them are also inhabited by the middle class, the latter tracing their ownership to the fall in the prices post-Independence when buying or building an individual house with a small, open patch wasnt such an expensive venture. Today, as space shrinks, population explodes, and urban planning wreaks havoc with its outlandish imagination, these houses have entered the realm of imagination, evoking cosiness, stability, and quietness that are otherwise becoming things of the past. Perhaps their claim to imagination has to do with the simple fact that they fit into the template of a quintessential house, complete with gables mirroring the triangles of the background mountains, large windows, brick and stone chimneys, and hipped and ridged roofs, which all of us learned to draw when we were small. As French philosopher Gaston Bachelard beautifully put in his classic work, The Poetics of Space (1958), the intimacy of the house guides us back into our childhood, and childhood is certainly greater than reality. Cinema often cashes in on this connection, two fine examples being Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Black (2005) and Imtiaz Alis Tamasha (2015). While Black depicted the growth of a young, physically challenged girl in amiable edifices such as Woodville Palace and the Punjab Circuit House, Tamasha traced the journey of a dreamer and storyteller using another colonial era property perched near the towns famous Christ Church. Such is the visual and affective power of Shimla homes that when you visit the Film City in Mumbai (which I did some years ago), a Shimla house greets you there as well, sequestered in a leafy, elevated corner, and made to stand in as a surrogate of a real hill structure. But along with its visual currency, an archetypal, imaginary hill home perhaps also embodies a sense of rhythm that further bespeaks harmony in an almost musical manner. For the interconnected feelings of well-being and intimacy arent just what can be seen but also realised in the mould of a melody. German writer Goethes famous maxim, Music is liquid architecture; architecture is frozen music, perhaps requires a keen consideration, for it is this equation that the typical image of a highland haven repeatedly plays out through its intimate claims to space. The recent long advertisement for Saregama Carvaan, a modern electronic version of the erstwhile humble radio replete with Hindi film songs of yore, too uses an enchanting ancestral home, Sunnymead, belonging to a dear Shimla friend, Madhavi Sanghamitra Bhatia. Deeply sentimental, the commercial literally conjures the music of living in the hills as the passage of time leads to the loss of a loved one (a wife and a mother who is fond of singing) paving way for the advertised product, with the house imparting its own elegant harmony to the harmonies of the transistor. As the music softly lulls the bereaving husband to sleep and sows the seeds of newer beginnings for the son, the voiceover concludes with a nod to yaadein (memories) emitted by the transistor. For, after all, it is in the acts of memory-making, musical and otherwise, that the intimacy of being at home eventually crystallises. The writer is finishing a PhD in English Literature and Material Culture Studies at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge Nepal will not join the first-ever joint military drill among the armies of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) members, to be hosted by India next week, an advisor to the Prime Minister said here on Saturday. Kundan Aryal, Press Adviser to Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, told Xinhua news agency that Nepal will not join the joint military drill to be organized in Pune from September 10-16. "Nepal will not participate in the BIMSTEC joint military drill. This is the official decision of the government," he said, without giving details about the reasons behind the decision. Official sources told Xinhua that the decision was made by the Nepali government amid growing criticism from multiple quarters over the country's participation in the first ever military drill among the armies of BIMSTEC members. BIMSTEC founded in 1997 is a regional bloc grouping India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.a The BJP national executive meeting is set to begin Saturday afternoon in which the party is expected to articulate its response to the opposition's combined attack on the government over the rise in oil prices and also formulate its strategy for the state assembly polls and the Lok Sabha elections. The two-day meeting will be attended by its key leaders from all states and Union territories besides its national leadership. It comes against the backdrop of signs of unrest among upper castes, a core support base of the saffron party, over its push for pro-Dalit laws to woo the backward community. Party president Amit Shah inaugurated the meeting of its national office bearers Saturday and it will be followed by the national executive meeting which will be inaugurated jointly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah. Shah will give the inaugural address while Modi is scheduled Sunday to give the valedictory speech. The ruling party is likely to highlight the central government's steps for "social justice" and "economic successes" besides its schemes aimed at empowering the poor. Significantly, it has chosen the Ambedkar International Centre, which works to promote the works and ideas of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, for hosting the meeting, a symbolism for its Dalit outreach. However, it will have to do a balancing act as groups claiming to represent the upper castes, its core vote bank, have been protesting the government's decision to restore the original and stringent provisions of a law on atrocities against Dalits and tribals, after the Supreme Court had relaxed those. The groups had called a "Bharat Bandh" Thursday. Senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra has gone on record seeking a rethink on the law, which non-Dalits/tribals claim is often misused. The issues of the National Register of Citizens, passage of key bills -- including the one to restore the original provisions of the law on atrocities against Dalits and another that accorded constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) -- in Parliament will also come up for discussion at the national executive meet, the sources said. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters the executive will discuss all the topical issues. He, though, did not elaborate further. It will be the first such meeting of the party following the death of its stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The executive will pay tribute to the former prime minister, Hussain said. The sources said the hike announced by the government in the Minimum Support Price for a number of farm produce and the rise in the economic growth in the last quarter to 8.2 per cent would also find a mention, besides the ongoing "Gram Swaraj" campaign to cover the poor with a host of welfare programmes. Modi has often cited his government's pro-poor programmes and push for laws to empower the Dalits and Other Backward Classes as an evidence of its work for "social justice", a theme likely to be picked by the BJP national executive. The BJP is likely to present itself as a party that has promoted the interests of the backward classes -- a constituency it has constantly been wooing to big electoral successes since 2014. Party leaders said the government's "honest" image and "successful" handling of the economy, besides the Hindutva credentials of the organisation, would keep its core constituency tethered to it in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. They added that the likely alliance of its rivals such as the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party and other regional parties would be a red herring for the upper castes. The BJP national executive is meeting almost after a year. A wary China on Friday welcomed the first 2+2 Dialogue between India and the US but remained silent on the landmark security pact under which Indian military will have access to critical and encrypted American defence technologies. The Communications, Compatibility, Security Agreement (COMCASA) was signed on Thursday after the 2+2 talks External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had with US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis. The COMCASA will allow India to receive high-end military communications equipment from the US and will also help get real-time encrypted information from the US. Asked about Chinas reaction on the Indo-US talks and COMCASA agreement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, I have seen the reports about the 2+2 consultation between the United States and India. China is happy to see the normal development of bilateral relations between the US and India and hopes that they will do more to contribute to regional peace and stability in the process of developing bilateral relations, she said. She, however skirted any response to the question on India and US signing the COMCASA. On the India-US call for maritime freedom in the Indo-Pacific region Hua said, About the security navigation in the sea, we uphold the legal rights entitled in the international law and we also hope parties can do real things to ensure freedom of navigation. During the the 2+2 talks, India and the US expressed commitment to work together and in concert with other partners toward advancing a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region. American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved. 326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at [email protected] | (844) 978-6257 MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security. Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of oil and gas properties. It operates through three segments: Exploration and Production, WES Midstream, and Other Midstream. The company explores for and produces oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). It is also involved in gathering, processing, treating, and transporting oil, natural-gas, and NGLs production, as well as the gathering and disposal of produced water. The company's oil and natural gas properties are located in the United States onshore and deepwater Gulf of Mexico; and Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Colombia, Peru, and other countries. As of December 31, 2018, it had approximately 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas. Read More Bank of Montreal provides diversified financial services primarily in North America. The company's personal banking products and services include checking and savings accounts, credit cards, mortgages, and financial and investment advice services; and commercial banking products and services comprise business deposit accounts, commercial credit cards, business loans and commercial mortgages, cash management solutions, foreign exchange, specialized banking programs, treasury and payment solutions, and risk management products for small business and commercial banking customers. It also offers investment and wealth advisory services; digital investing services; financial services and solutions; and investment management, and trust and custody services to institutional, retail, and high net worth investors. In addition, the company provides life insurance, accident and sickness insurance, and annuity products; creditor and travel insurance to bank customers; and reinsurance solutions. Further, it offers client's debt and equity capital-raising services, as well as loan origination and syndication, balance sheet management, and treasury management; strategic advice on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, and recapitalizations, as well as valuation and fairness opinions; and trade finance, risk mitigation, and other operating services. Additionally, the company provides research and access to markets for institutional, corporate, and retail clients; trading solutions that include debt, foreign exchange, interest rate, credit, equity, securitization and commodities; new product development and origination services, as well as risk management advice and services to hedge against fluctuations; and funding and liquidity management services to its clients. It operates through approximately 1,400 bank branches and 4,800 automated banking machines in Canada and the United States. The company was founded in 1817 and is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. Read More BNP Paribas SA provides a range of banking and financial services in France and internationally. It operates through two divisions, Retail Banking and Services, and Corporate and Institutional Banking. The company offers long-term corporate vehicle leasing, and rental and other financing solutions; and digital banking and investment services, cash management, and factoring services to corporate clients, as well as wealth management services. It also provides credit solutions for individuals under the Cetelem, Cofinoga, Findomestic, AlphaCredit, and Opel Vauxhall brands; savings and protection solutions, including insuring individuals, and their personal projects and assets; and asset management, private banking, and real estate services. In addition, the company offers global market services, including investment, hedging, financing, research, and market intellingence across asset classes; security services comprising clearing, custody, and asset and fund services, as well as corporate trust, and market and financing services; and corporate trade and treasury, debt financing, specialized financing, strategic advisory, mergers and acquisition, and equity capital market services for institutional and corporate clients. The company was formerly known as Banque Nationale de Paris and changed its name to BNP Paribas SA in May 2000. BNP Paribas SA was founded in 1848 and is headquartered in Paris, France. Read More The Boeing Co. is an aerospace company, which engages in the manufacture of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. It operates through the following segments: Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space and Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment includes the development, production, and market of commercial jet aircraft and provides fleet support services, principally to the commercial airline industry worldwide. The Defense, Space and Security segment refers to the research, development, production and modification of manned and unmanned military aircraft and weapons systems for global strike, including fighter and combat rotorcraft aircraft and missile systems; global mobility, including tanker, rotorcraft and tilt-rotor aircraft; and airborne surveillance and reconnaissance, including command and control, battle management and airborne anti-submarine aircraft. The Global Services segment provides services to commercial and defense customers. The Boeing Capital segment seeks to ensure that Boeing customers have the financing they need to buy and take delivery of their Boeing product and manages overall financing exposure. T Read More JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a financial holding company. It provides financial and investment banking services. The firm offers a range of investment banking products and services in all capital markets, including advising on corporate strategy and structure, capital raising in equity and debt markets, risk management, market making in cash securities and derivative instruments, and brokerage and research. It operates through the following segments: Consumer and Community Banking, Corporate and Investment Bank, Commercial Banking, and Asset and Wealth Management. The Consumer and Community Banking segment serves consumers and businesses through personal service at bank branches and through automated teller machine, online, mobile, and telephone banking. The Corporate and Investment Bank segment offers a suite of investment banking, market-making, prime brokerage, and treasury and securities products and services to a global client base of corporations, investors, financial institutions, government and municipal entities. The Commercial Banking segment delivers services to U.S. and its multinational clients, including corporations, municipalities, financial institutions, and non profit Read More Weve extensively covered the exploits of Florida Man, but this week, its Colorado Woman making the news. According to the Vail police, a woman in a months-long feud with her elderly neighbors is believed to have filled their gas tank with smoked salmon. Heres more from The Vail Daily: The neighbors live next to each other in a duplex and have been feuding for months over the usual neighbor stuff parking, loud music and cable TV. Vail Police got involved when an elderly man called to report that when he tried to gas up his minivan at the West Vail Shell, he removed his filler cap to discover that the nozzle was stuffed with when he thought was canned salmon. Alas, no, it was smoked salmon, a Vail Police officer discovered when he was summoned to the scene of the crime. The piece goes on to discuss how the police officer then talked to the neighbor in question and discovered that she had served smoked salmon for dinner the night before and had leftovers, but she denied knowing anything about the smoked salmon stuffed into her neighbors gas tank and could not imagine how it got there. (The officer is properly skeptical of that remark.) Beyond that, the elderly couple said they were annoyed about her loud music during the day, and she said she was annoyed that they had Comcast dig up her yard for a utility cable without her permission (the officer noted that they have a utility easement and dont need her permission). All in all, this ended in no charges, but with the police warning the woman in question to let her neighbors live in peace. They did wind up with a $211 repair bill, though, and have since hired attorney Sarah Baker, who told the paper This incident may have high humor value, but it is one incident in a much larger story that is really disturbing to my client, the elderly neighbor to whom it is happening. And thats certainly true; months of alleged troubling behavior and property damage is definitely problematic. But this is still a pretty funny story. And really, the biggest crime here may be the waste of the smoked salmon. [The Vail Daily; photo from Wikipedia] 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 Delphi Energy Corp. (DEE.TO) 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 Delphi Energy Corp. (DEE.TO) wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved. 326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at [email protected]rketbeat.com | (844) 978-6257 MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security. Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research. CoreLogic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides property information, insight, analytics, and data-enabled solutions in North America, Western Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Property Intelligence & Risk Management Solutions (PIRM) and Underwriting & Workflow Solutions (UWS). The PIRM segment combines property information, mortgage information, and consumer information to deliver housing market and property-level insights, predictive analytics, and risk management capabilities. It also offers proprietary technology and software platforms to access, automate, or track the information and assist its clients with decision-making and compliance tools in the real estate and insurance industries. This segment primarily serves commercial banks, mortgage lenders and brokers, investment banks, fixed-income investors, real estate agents, MLS companies, property and casualty insurance companies, title insurance companies, government agencies, and government-sponsored enterprises. The UWS segment combines property, mortgage, and consumer information to provide comprehensive mortgage origination and monitoring solutions, including underwriting-related solutions, and data-enabled valuations and appraisals. This segment also provides proprietary technology and software platforms to access, automate, or track the information and assist its clients with vetting and onboarding prospects, and meeting compliance regulations, as well as understanding, evaluating, monitoring property values. It primarily serves mortgage lenders and servicers, mortgage brokers, credit unions, commercial banks, fixed-income investors, government agencies, and property and casualty insurance companies. The company was formerly known as The First American Corporation and changed its name to CoreLogic, Inc. in June 2010. CoreLogic, Inc. was incorporated in 1894 and is headquartered in Irvine, California. Read More Manulife Financial Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides financial products and services in Asia, Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Wealth and Asset Management Businesses; Insurance and Annuity Products; And Corporate and Other segments. The Wealth and Asset Management Businesses segment provides mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, group retirement and savings products, and institutional asset management services through agents and brokers affiliated with the company, securities brokerage firms, and financial advisors pension plan consultants and banks. The Insurance and Annuity Products segment offers deposit and credit products; individual life, and individual and group long-term care insurance; and guaranteed and partially guaranteed annuity products through insurance agents, brokers, banks, financial planners, and direct marketing. The Corporate and Other segment is involved in property and casualty insurance and reinsurance businesses; and run-off reinsurance operations, including variable annuities, and accident and health. It also manages timberland and agricultural portfolios; and engages in insurance agency, portfolio and mutual fund management, mutual fund dealer, life and financial reinsurance, and fund management businesses. Additionally, the company holds and manages oil and gas properties; holds oil and gas royalties, and foreign bonds and equities; and provides investment management, counseling, advisory, and dealer services. Manulife Financial Corporation was incorporated in 1887 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Read More Wall Street analysts have given iShares Russell 3000 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 3000 ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Medtronic Plc is a medical technology company, which engages in the development, manufacture, distribution, and sale of device-based medical therapies and services. It operates through the following segments: Cardiac and Vascular Group; Minimally Invasive Technologies Group; Restorative Therapies Group; and Diabetes Group. The Cardiac and Vascular Group segment consists of products for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of cardiac rhythm disorders and cardiovascular disease. The Minimally Invasive Technologies Group segment focuses on respiratory system, gastrointestinal tract, renal system, lungs, pelvic region, kidneys, and obesity diseases. The Restorative Therapies Group segment comprises of neurostimulation therapies and drug delivery systems for the treatment of chronic pain, as well as areas of the spine and brain, along with pelvic health and conditions of the ear, nose, and throat. The Diabetes Group segment offers insulin pumps, coninuous glucose monitoring systems, and insulin pump consumables. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Read More DTE Energy Co. operates as a diversified energy company, which engages in the provision of electricity and natural gas sales, distribution and storage services. It operates through the following segments: Electric, Gas, Non-Utility Operations, and Corporate & Other. The Electric segment engages in the generation, purchase, distribution and sale of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers in south-eastern Michigan. The Gas segment engages in the purchase, storage, transportation, distribution and sale of natural gas to residential, commercial and industrial customers throughout Michigan and the sale of storage and transportation capacity. The Non-Utility Operations segment engages in gas storage and pipelines, power and industrial projects, and energy trading. The Corporate & Other includes various holding company activities, holds certain non-utility debt, and holds energy-related investments. The company was founded in January 1995 and is headquartered in Detroit, MI. Read More Wall Street analysts have given Invesco Preferred 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 Invesco Preferred ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Stantec Inc. provides professional consulting services in the area of infrastructure and facilities in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company provides consulting services in engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management, and project economics. It also offers water, transportation, and public works; transportation planning and traffic engineering; and resource assessment, mine development, reclamation, hydrology, and geotechnical and infrastructure engineering services, as well as urban planning, traffic assessments and optimization, environmental impact assessments, and public consultation services. In addition, the company provides structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and hydraulics engineering services. It serves urban regeneration, infrastructure, education, public and private sector, tourism and leisure, and waste and water sectors, as well as office and commercial, residential, and retail and town centers. The company was formerly known as Stanley Technology Group Inc. and changed its name to Stantec Inc. in October 1998. Stantec Inc. was founded in 1954 and is headquartered in Edmonton, Canada. Read More TransMontaigne Partners L.P. provides integrated terminaling, storage, transportation, and related services. The company operates through Gulf Coast terminals, Midwest terminals and pipeline system, Brownsville terminals, River terminals, Southeast terminals, and West Coast terminals segments. It offers its services for companies engaged in the trading, distribution, and marketing of light and heavy refined petroleum products, crude oil, chemicals, fertilizers, and other liquid products. The company operates 8 refined product terminals in Florida with approximately 7.0 million barrels of aggregate active storage capacity; a 67 mile interstate refined products pipeline; 2 refined product terminals with approximately 5 million barrels of active storage capacity; and 5.4 million barrels of aggregate storage capacity. It operates 1 crude oil terminal in Cushing with an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 1.0 million barrels; 1 refined product terminal located in Oklahoma City with aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 0.2 million barrels; 1 refined product terminal located in Brownsville with an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 0.9 million barrels; and a 16 mile LPG pipeline from its Brownsville facility to the U.S. border. In addition, the company operates a 174 mile bi-directional refined products; 7.1 million barrel terminal facility on Houston Ship Channel; 12 refined product terminals with approximately 2.7 million barrels of aggregate active storage capacity, as well as operates a dock facility; 22 refined product terminals located along Colonial and Plantation pipelines with an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 11.9 million barrels; and 2 refined product terminals with active storage capacity of approximately 5.0 million barrels. TransMontaigne Partners L.P. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of World Fuel Services: AHT Services LLC, ANY-G B.V., ANY-G Services B.V., AVCARD Holding Company (BVI) Ltd., AVCARD Services (BVI) Ltd., Advance Petroleum LLC, Air Petro Corp., Alta Fuels Llc, Alta Transportation LLC, Altitude Ventures Holding Inc., Amelia Holding AB, Amsterdam Software B.V., Ascent Aviation Group Inc., Associated Petroleum Products, Associated Petroleum Products Inc, Avinode AB, Avinode Aktiebolag, Avinode Group AB, Avinode Inc., Baseops International Inc., Bergen Energi AB, Bunkerfuels, CarterEnergy Corporation, Casa Petro S.R.L., Chrome Club Inc., Colt Aviation Holdings LLC, Colt International, Colt International Europe SARL, Colt International LLC, Colt International das Americas Servicos de Aviacao Ltda., Colt Risk Management Services LLC, Ecuacentair Cia. Ltda., Energie-Tankdienstgesellschaft Bremen mbH, Falmouth Oil Services Limited, Falmouth Petroleum Limited, Gib Oil Limited, Hellenic Aviation Fuel Company S.A., Henty Oil Limited, Henty Shipping Services Limited, Indianhead Oil, JCP Brazil LLC, K T M Inc., KTM Inc, Kinect Consulting LLC, Kinect Energy AS, Kinect Energy Denmark A/S, Kinect Energy France Sarl, Kinect Energy Germany GmbH, Kinect Energy Green Services AS, Kinect Energy Hungary Kft, Kinect Energy Inc., Kinect Energy Markets AS, Kinect Energy Netherlands B.V., Kinect Energy Pty Limited, Kinect Energy Spot AS, Kinect Energy Sweden AB, Kinect Energy UK Limited, LFO Holdings Limited, Lakeside Oil Company Inc, Linton Fuel Oils Limited, MH Aviation Services (Pty) Ltd., MS Europe B.V., MS Lebanon LLC., MS Technology Solutions Costa Rica Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, MSTS Consorzio, MSTS Holding LLC, MSTS Payments LLC, Marine Energy, Multi Service Aero B.V., Multi Service Comercio S. de R.L. de C.V., Multi Service Egypt, Multi Service Holding B.V., Multi Service Middle East FZ-LLC, Multi Service Pre Paid Solutions B.V., Multi Service Private Label B.V., Multi Service Pty Limited, Multi Service Singapore PTE. LTD., Multi Service Technology Solutions, Multi Service Technology Solutions Inc., Multi Service Technology Solutions Inc. / Jordan LLC, Multi Service US Holding LLC, NCS Fuel IQ Limited, NCS UK Holding Co. Limited, NCS US Inc., Nature Port Reception Facilities Limited, Nordic Camp Supply ApS, Nordic Camp Supply B.V., Nordic Camp Supply Estonia OU, Norse Bunker AS, Oil Shipping (Bunkering) B.V., Oil Shipping Korea Limited, Orchard (Holdings) UK Limited, Orchard Energy Limited, PAPCO Inc., PAX Distribution LLC, PT Oil Shipping Trans Indonesia, PT Servicios de Guatemala Limitada, Papco, PayNode AB, Pester Marketing Company, Petro Air Corp, PetroServicios de Costa Rica S.R.L., Petromundo Internacional S.R.L., Redline Oil Services Limited, Resource Recovery of America Inc., SchedAero Inc., Schedaero AB, Servicios Auxiliares de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Servicios Ecuatorianos de Energia-Secsa CIA. LTDA, Servicios WFSE Ecuador C.L., Servicios de Combustible Atlanticos S.R.L, Shell Oil Gibraltar, South Minnesota Lubes, TGS Petroleum Inc, TM Hawkins Brazil LLC, Tamlyn Shipping Limited, Tank and Marine Engineering Limited, Texor Petroleum Company, The Hiller Group Incorporated, The Lubricant Company Limited, Tobras Distribuidora de Combustiveis Ltda., Tramp Group Limited, Tramp Holdings Limited, Tramp Oil & Marine (Argentina) S.R.L., Tramp Oil & Marine (Chile) Limitada, Tramp Oil & Marine Limited, Tramp Oil (Brasil) Ltda., Tramp Oil Germany GmbH, Tramp Oil-Schiffahrts-und Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co., Trans-Tec Mundial S.R.L., U.S. Energy Engineering Inc., U.S. Energy Services Inc., UVair fuel business, WF Lubricants S.L., WFL (UK) II Limited, WFL (UK) Limited, WFL Mozambique LDA, WFS & J Company Limited, WFS (Guam) Limited, WFS Agencia de Naves Limitada, WFS Commercial Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., WFS Danish Holding Company I ApS, WFS Danish Holding Partnership K/S, WFS UK Holding Company II Limited, WFS UK Holding Company III Limited, WFS UK Holding Partnership II LP, WFS UK Holding Partnership III LP, WFS UK Holding Partnership LP, WFS US Holding Company I LLC, WFS US Holding Company II LLC, WFS US Holding Company III LLC, WFS US Holding Company IV LLC, WFS US Holding Company IX LLC, WFS US Holding Company V LLC, WFS US Holding Company VI LLC, WFS US Holding Company VII LLC, WFS US Holding Company VIII LLC, WFS US Holding Company X LLC, Watson Petroleum, Western Aviation Products LLC, Western Petroleum Company, Wilhelmsen Marine Fuels (WMF), World Fuel CX LLC, World Fuel Capital Limited, World Fuel Cayman Holding Company I, World Fuel Cayman Holding Company III, World Fuel Cayman Holding Company IV, World Fuel Cayman Holding Company V, World Fuel Commodities Services (Ireland) Limited, World Fuel Gas and Power Limited, World Fuel PG Trading Limited, World Fuel Services (Australia) Pty Ltd, World Fuel Services (Bahamas) LLC, World Fuel Services (Costa Rica) Limitada, World Fuel Services (Denmark) ApS, World Fuel Services (Hong Kong) Limited, World Fuel Services (KG) LLC, World Fuel Services (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., World Fuel Services (New Zealand) Limited, World Fuel Services (Panama) Limited Liability Company Sociedad De Responsabilidad Limitada, World Fuel Services (Singapore) II Pte. Ltd., World Fuel Services (Singapore) Pte Ltd, World Fuel Services (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, World Fuel Services (Taiwan) Limited, World Fuel Services (Uruguay) S.A., World Fuel Services Argentina S.R.L., World Fuel Services Aviation Limited, World Fuel Services Belgium BVBA, World Fuel Services CZ s.r.o., World Fuel Services Canada ULC, World Fuel Services Chile Limitada, World Fuel Services Company LLC, World Fuel Services Corporate Aviation Support Services Inc., World Fuel Services Europe Ltd., World Fuel Services European Holding Company I Ltd., World Fuel Services Finance Company S.a.r.L., World Fuel Services France SAS, World Fuel Services Inc., World Fuel Services International (Panama) LLC, World Fuel Services Italy S.r.L., World Fuel Services Japan G.K., World Fuel Services Kenya Limited, World Fuel Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., World Fuel Services Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited, World Fuel Services Peru S.R.L., World Fuel Services Private Limited, World Fuel Services Regulatory Holdings LLC, World Fuel Services Trading DMCC, World Fuel Services Turkey Petrol Urunleri Dagitim Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, World Fuel Singapore Holding Company I Pte Ltd, World Fuel Singapore Holding Company II Pte Ltd, and Yacht Fuel Services Limited. The following companies are subsidiares of Dominion Energy: 96WI 8me LLC, Alamo Solar LLC, Align RNG Arizona LLC, Align RNG Arizona-Snowflake LLC, Align RNG California LLC, Align RNG California-Corcoran LLC, Align RNG Grady Road LLC, Align RNG LLC, Align RNG Magnolia LLC, Align RNG North Carolina LLC, Align RNG North Carolina-Bowdens LLC, Align RNG Utah LLC, Align RNG Utah-Milford LLC, Align RNG Virginia LLC, Align RNG Virginia-Waverly LLC, Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Azalea Solar LLC, BOE Holdings Inc., Blackville Solar Farm LLC, Blue Ocean Energy Marine LLC, BrightSuite Home LLC, BrightSuite Inc., BrightSuite Solar CT Inc., BrightSuite Solar SC Inc., BrightSuite Solar VA Inc., Buckingham Solar I LLC, CEA Americus LLC, CEA CO-Fort Morgan LLC, CEA Clovis LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Colorado LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Georgia LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Idaho LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Nevada LLC, CEA Dairy RNG New Mexico LLC, CEA Dairy RNG Texas LLC, CEA Greely LLC, CEA Mason LLC, CEA TX-Dimmitt LLC, CID Solar LLC, CNG Coal Company, CNG Power Services Corporation, Carolina Gas Transmission Corporation, Catalina Solar 2 LLC, Clean Energy Asset USA LLC, Clean Energy Enterprises Inc., Clipperton Holdings LLC, Consolidated Natural Gas Company, Correctional Solar LLC, Cottonwood Solar LLC, Cove Point LNG LP, Cove Point LNG Limited, DE Arlington Solar LLC, DE Fluvanna Solar LLC, DE Hanover Solar LLC, DE Henrico Solar LLC, DE King William Solar LLC, DE Louisa Solar LLC, DE Newport News Solar LLC, DE Powhatan Solar LLC, DE Virginia Beach Solar LLC, DECP Holdings Inc., Dairy RNG Holdings LLC, Dairy RNG NY LLC, Dairy RNG NY-Curtin LLC, Dairy RNG OH LLC, Denmark Solar LLC, Dominion ACP Holding Inc., Dominion Alternative Energy Holdings Inc., Dominion Atlantic Coast Pipeline LLC, Dominion Capital Inc., Dominion Cogen WV Inc., Dominion Energy Fuel Services Inc., Dominion Energy Gas Distribution LLC, Dominion Energy Generation Marketing Inc., Dominion Energy Inc., Dominion Energy Kewaunee Inc., Dominion Energy Marketplace LLC, Dominion Energy Nuclear Connecticut Inc., Dominion Energy Overthrust Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Payroll Company Inc., Dominion Energy Questar Corporation, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline LLC, Dominion Energy Questar Pipeline Services Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings II Inc., Dominion Energy RNG Holdings Inc., Dominion Energy Services Inc., Dominion Energy Solar CA LLC, Dominion Energy Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy South Carolina Inc., Dominion Energy Southeast Services Inc., Dominion Energy Technical Solutions Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies II Inc., Dominion Energy Technologies Inc., Dominion Energy Terminal Company Inc., Dominion Energy Wexpro Services Company, Dominion Equipment III Inc., Dominion Equipment Inc., Dominion Fairless Hills Inc., Dominion Fowler Ridge Wind LLC, Dominion Gas Projects Company LLC, Dominion Generation Inc., Dominion Greenbrier Inc., Dominion High Voltage Holdings Inc., Dominion High Voltage MidAtlantic Inc., Dominion Investments Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline Holdings Inc., Dominion Keystone Pipeline LLC, Dominion MLP Holding Company III Inc., Dominion Mt. Storm Wind LLC, Dominion Nuclear Projects Inc., Dominion Oklahoma Texas Exploration & Production Inc., Dominion Person Inc., Dominion Privatization Florida LLC, Dominion Privatization Georgia LLC, Dominion Privatization Holdings Inc., Dominion Privatization Kentucky LLC, Dominion Privatization Maryland LLC, Dominion Privatization Pennsylvania LLC, Dominion Privatization South Carolina LLC, Dominion Privatization Texas LLC, Dominion Privatization Virginia LLC, Dominion Products and Services Inc., Dominion Projects Services Inc., Dominion Resources Capital Trust III, Dominion Retail Gas Holdings Inc., Dominion Solar Construction and Maintenance LLC, Dominion Solar Gen-Tie LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings I LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings II LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings III LLC, Dominion Solar Holdings IV LLC, Dominion Solar Projects A Inc., Dominion Solar Projects B Inc., Dominion Solar Projects C Inc., Dominion Solar Projects D Inc., Dominion Solar Projects I Inc., Dominion Solar Projects II Inc., Dominion Solar Projects III Inc., Dominion Solar Projects IV Inc., Dominion Solar Projects V Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VI Inc., Dominion Solar Projects VII Inc., Dominion Solar Services Inc., Dominion State Line LLC, Dominion Voltage Inc., Dominion Wholesale Inc., Dominion Wind Development LLC, Dominion Wind Projects Inc., ESCT-SA-Suffield LLC, Eagle Holdco Solar LLC, Eagle Solar LLC, Eastern Shore Solar LLC, Enterprise Solar LLC, Escalante Solar I LLC, Escalante Solar II LLC, Escalante Solar III LLC, Four Brothers Solar LLC, Fremont Farm LLC, Granite Mountain Holdings LLC, Granite Mountain Solar East LLC, Granite Mountain Solar West LLC, Greenbrier Marketing Company LLC, Greenbrier Pipeline Company LLC, Greensville County Solar Project LLC, Hardin Solar Energy LLC, Hecate Energy Cherrydale LLC, Hecate Energy Clarke County LLC, Hope Gas Inc., Imperial Valley Solar Company (IVSC) 2 LLC, Indy Solar Development LLC, Indy Solar I LLC, Indy Solar II LLC, Indy Solar III LLC, Innovative Solar 37 LLC, Iron Springs Holdings LLC, Iron Springs Solar LLC, Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas, Maricopa West Solar PV LLC, Moffett Solar 1 LLC, Moorings Farm 2 LLC, Mulberry Farm LLC, Mustang Solar LLC, PSNC Blue Ridge Corporation, PSNC Cardinal Pipeline Company, Pavant Solar LLC, Phone House, Pikeville Farm LLC, Prairie Fork Wind Farm LLC, Public Service Company of North Carolina Incorporated, QPC Holding Company LLC, Questar Corporation, Questar Energy Services Inc., Questar Field Services LLC, Questar Gas Company, Questar InfoComm Inc., Questar Southern Trails Pipeline Company, Questar White River Hub LLC, RE Adams East LLC, RE Camelot LLC, RE Columbia Two LLC, RE Kansas LLC, RE Kent South LLC, RE Old River One LLC, Richland Solar Center LLC, Ridgeland Solar Farm I LLC, SBL Holdco LLC, SCANA, SCANA Communications Holdings Inc., SCANA Corporate Security Services Inc., SCANA Energy Marketing LLC, SCANA Pharmacy LLC, SRFI LLC, Scana Corporation, Scott-II Solar LLC, Seabrook Solar LLC, Selmer Farm LLC, Siler Solar LLC, Sol Madison Solar LLC, Somers Solar Center LLC, South Carolina Fuel Company Inc., South Carolina Generating Company Inc., Southampton Solar LLC, Summit Farms Solar LLC, Sussex Drive Solar Project LLC, TA - Acacia LLC, TWE Myrtle Solar Project LLC, The East Ohio Gas Company, Trask East Solar LLC, Tredegar Solar Fund I LLC, VP Property Inc., Virginia Electric And Power Company, Virginia Power Fuel Corporation, Virginia Power Nuclear Services Company, Virginia Power Services Energy Corp. Inc., Virginia Power Services LLC, Virginia Solar 201 Projects LLC, Wakefield Solar LLC, Wexpro Company, Wexpro Development Company, Wexpro II Company, Wilkinson Solar LLC, Wrangler Retail Gas Holdings LLC, and Yemassee Solar LLC. Tailored Brands, Inc. (NYSE:TLRD) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March, 18th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.54) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $690.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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%. Tailored Brands's revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.28) earnings per share. View Tailored Brands' earnings history. The Southern pays an annual dividend of $2.64 per share and currently has a dividend yield of 4.22%. SO has a dividend yield higher than 75% of all dividend-paying stocks, making it a leading dividend payer. The Southern has been increasing its dividend for 20 consecutive years, indicating the company has a strong committment to maintain and grow its dividend. The dividend payout ratio of The Southern is 81.23%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable. Based on earnings estimates, The Southern will have a dividend payout ratio of 74.58% next year. This indicates that The Southern will be able to sustain or increase its dividend. View The Southern's dividend history. 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 16 Wall Street research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Deutsche Wohnen in the last twelve months. There are currently 9 hold ratings and 7 buy ratings for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street research analysts is that investors should "hold" Deutsche Wohnen stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in DWNI, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares. View analyst ratings for Deutsche Wohnen or view top-rated stocks. The following companies are subsidiares of Barclays: Adler Toy Holding Sarl, Aequor Investments Limited, Alymere Investments Limited, Alynore Investments Limited Partnership, Analog Analytics, Analog Analytics Inc, Analytical Trade Holdings LLC, Analytical Trade Investments LLC, Analytical Trade UK Limited, Archstone Equity Holdings Inc, Ardencroft Investments Limited, B D & B Investments Limited, B.P.B. (Holdings) Limited, BB Client Nominees Limited, BBAIL SAS, BCAP LLC, BIFML PTC Limited, BMBF (No.24) Limited, BMI (No.9) Limited, BNC Brazil Consultoria Empresarial Ltda, BNRI ENG 2013 Limited Partnership, BNRI ENG 2014 Limited Partnership, BNRI ENG GP LLP, BNRI England 2010 Limited Partnership, BNRI England 2011 Limited Partnership, BNRI England 2012 Limited Partnership, BNRI Limehouse No.1 Sarl, BNRI PIA Scot GP Limited, BNRI Scots GP LLP, BPB Holdings SA, BVP Galvani Global S.A.U., Barafor Limited, Barclay Leasing Limited, Barclaycard Funding PLC, Barclaycard International Payments Limited, Barclays (Barley) Limited, Barclays Aldersgate Investments Limited, Barclays Alzin Investments S.a r.l., Barclays Asia Limited, Barclays Asset Management Limited, Barclays BR Investments S.a r.l., Barclays BWA Inc., Barclays Bank (Suisse) S.A., Barclays Bank Delaware, Barclays Bank Ireland PLC, Barclays Bank Ireland Public Limited Company, Barclays Bank Mexico S.A., Barclays Bank PLC, Barclays Bank UK PLC, Barclays Bayard Investments S.a r.l., Barclays Bedivere Investments S.a r.l., Barclays Bordang Investments S.a r.l., Barclays Brasil Assessoria Financeira Ltda., Barclays CCP Funding LLC, Barclays Cantal Investments S.a r.l., Barclays Capital (Cayman) Limited, Barclays Capital Asia Holdings Limited, Barclays Capital Asia Limited, Barclays Capital Canada Inc., Barclays Capital Casa de Bolsa S.A. de C.V., Barclays Capital Derivatives Funding LLC, Barclays Capital Effekten GmbH, Barclays Capital Energy Inc., Barclays Capital Equities Trading GP, Barclays Capital Finance Limited, Barclays Capital Futures (Singapore) Private Limited, Barclays Capital Holdings (Singapore) Private Limited, Barclays Capital Holdings Inc., Barclays Capital Inc., Barclays Capital Japan Securities Holdings Limited, Barclays Capital Luxembourg S.a r.l., Barclays Capital Mauritius Limited, Barclays Capital Nominees (No.2) Limited, Barclays Capital Nominees (No.3) Limited, Barclays Capital Nominees Limited, Barclays Capital Principal Investments Limited, Barclays Capital Real Estate Finance Inc., Barclays Capital Real Estate Holdings Inc., Barclays Capital Real Estate Inc., Barclays Capital Securities Client Nominee Limited, Barclays Capital Securities Limited, Barclays Capital Securities Mauritius Limited, Barclays Capital Trading Luxembourg S.a r.l., Barclays Claudas Investments Partnership, Barclays Claudas Investments S.a r.l., Barclays Commercial Mortgage Securities LLC, Barclays Converted Investments (No.2) Limited, Barclays Corporation Limited, Barclays Direct Investing Nominees Limited, Barclays Directors Limited, Barclays Dryrock Funding LLC, Barclays Electronic Commerce Holdings Inc., Barclays Equity Holdings Limited, Barclays Equity Index Investments S.a r.l., Barclays Europe Client Nominees Designated Activity Company, Barclays Europe Firm Nominees Designated Activity Company, Barclays Europe Nominees Designated Activity Company, Barclays Executive Schemes Trustees Limited, Barclays Financial LLC, Barclays Financial Planning Nominee Company Limited, Barclays Funds Investments Limited, Barclays Funds and Advisory Japan Limited, Barclays Global Service Centre Private Limited, Barclays Global Shareplans Nominee Limited, Barclays Group Holdings Limited, Barclays Group Operations Limited, Barclays Group US Inc., Barclays Index Finance Trust, Barclays Industrial Development Limited, Barclays Industrial Investments Limited, Barclays Insurance Guernsey PCC Limited, Barclays Insurance Services Company Limited, Barclays Insurance U.S. Inc., Barclays International Luxembourg Dollar Holdings S.a r.l., Barclays Investment Management Limited, Barclays Investment Solutions Limited, Barclays Investments & Loans (India) Limited, Barclays Korea GP Limited, Barclays Lamorak Investments S.a r.l., Barclays Leasing (No.9) Limited, Barclays Leto Investments S.a r.l., Barclays Long Island Limited, Barclays Luxembourg EUR Holdings S.a r.l, Barclays Luxembourg Finance S.a r.l., Barclays Luxembourg GBP Holdings S.a r.l., Barclays Luxembourg Global Funding S.a r.l., Barclays Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Barclays Luxembourg Holdings SSC B, Barclays Marlist Limited, Barclays Mauritius Overseas Holdings Limited, Barclays Mercantile Business Finance Limited, Barclays Merchant Bank (Singapore) Ltd., Barclays Nominees (George Yard) Limited, Barclays Nominees (Guernsey) Limited, Barclays Nominees (Jersey) Limited, Barclays Nominees (Manx) Limited, Barclays Oversight Management Inc., Barclays Payment Solutions Inc., Barclays Pelleas Investments Limited Partnership, Barclays Pelleas Investments S.a r.l., Barclays Pension Funds Trustees Limited, Barclays Principal Investments Limited, Barclays Private Asset Management (Monaco) S.A.M, Barclays Private Bank, Barclays Private Clients International Limited, Barclays Receivables LLC, Barclays SAMS Limited, Barclays Securities (India) Private Limited, Barclays Securities Japan Limited, Barclays Security Trustee Limited, Barclays Services (Japan) Limited, Barclays Services Corporation, Barclays Services Jersey Limited, Barclays Services LLC, Barclays Services Limited, Barclays Shea Limited, Barclays Singapore Global Shareplans Nominee Limited, Barclays Switzerland Services SA, Barclays Tenedora De Immuebles SL., Barclays Term Funding Limited Liability Partnership, Barclays UK Investments Limited, Barclays US CCP Funding LLC, Barclays US Funding LLC, Barclays US GPF Inc., Barclays US Investments Inc., Barclays US LLC, Barclays Unquoted Investments Limited, Barclays Unquoted Property Investments Limited, Barclays Wealth Management Jersey Limited, Barclays Wealth Nominees Limited, Barclays Wealth Services Limited, Barclays Wealth Trustees (India) Private Limited, Barclayshare Nominees Limited, Barclaytrust Channel Islands Limited, Barcosec Limited, Barsec Nominees Limited, Blossom Finance General Partnership, Branchcall Computers (Pvt) Limited, Braven Investments No.1 Limited, CP Flower Guaranteeco (UK) Limited, CP Newco 1 Limited, CP Newco2 Limited, CP Newco3 Limited, CP Propco 1 Limited, CP Propco 2 Limited, CP Topco Limited, CPIA Canada Holdings, CPIA England 2008 Limited Partnership, CPIA England 2009 Limited Partnership, CPIA England No.2 Limited Partnership, CPIA Investments No.1 Limited, CPIA Investments No.2 Limited, CRE Diversified Holdings LLC, CREW Tahoe Holdings LLC, CREW Tahoe LLC, Calthorpe Investments Limited, Capton Investments Limited, Carnegie Holdings Limited, Central Platte Valley Management LLC, Chapelcrest Investments Limited, Charles Schwab Europe, Claudas Investments Limited, Claudas Investments Two Limited, Clydesdale Financial Services Limited, Cobalt Investments Limited, Compania Regional del Sur S.A., Compania Sudamerica S.A., Condor No.1 Limited Partnership, Cornwall Homes Loans Limited, Crescent Crown Land Holding SPV LLC, Crescent Legacy LLC, Crescent Plaza Residential L.P., Crescent Plaza Residential LLC, Crescent Plaza Residential LP LLC, Crescent Real Estate Member LLC, Crescent Resort Development LLC, Crescent TRS Holdings LLC, Crescent Tower Residences GP LLC, Crescent Tower Residences L.P., Curve Investments GP, DBL Texas Holdings LLC, DMW Realty Limited, Desert Mountain Development LLC, Desert Mountain Properties Limited Partnership, Develop Training Group Limited, Dorset Home Loans Limited, Durlacher Nominees Limited, EWRD Summit LLC, Eagle Financial and Leasing Services (UK) Limited, East West Resort Development V L.P. L.L.L.P., East West Resort Development VII LLC, Equity Limited Partnership, Equity Value Investments No.1 Limited, Equity Value Investments No.2 Limited, Erimon Home Loans Ireland Limited, Expobank, FIRSTPLUS Financial Group Limited, Finpart Nominees Limited, First Assurance, Foltus Investments Limited, Full House Holdings Limited, Gallen Investments Limited, Global Dynasty Natural Resource Private, Globe Nominees Limited, Gracechurch Services Corporation, Grays Station LLC, Grupo Financiero Barclays Mexico S.A. de C.V., Hawkins Funding Limited, Heraldglen Limited, Holding Stuttgarter Strae GmbH, Hurley Investments No.1 Limited, Imalivest Mineral Resources LP, Investors In Infrastructure Limited, J.V. Estates Limited, JV Assets Limited, Kirsche Investments Limited, LTDL Holdings LLC, La Torretta Beverages LLC, La Torretta Hospitality LLC, La Torretta Operations LLC, Lagalla Investments LLC, Leonis Investments LLP, Liability Partnership, Long Island Assets Limited, Long Island Holding A LLC, Long Island Holding B Limited, MK Opportunities GP Ltd, MK Opportunities LP, MVWP Investors LLC, Maloney Investments Limited, Marbury Holdings LLC, Menlo Investments Limited, Mercantile Credit Company Limited, Mercantile Leasing Company (No.132) Limited, Meridian (SPV-AMC) Corporation, Mintaka Investments No. 4 Limited, Mira Vista Development LLC, Mira Vista Golf Club L.C., Mountainside Partners LLC, Murray House Investment Management Limited, Naxos Investments Limited, Nile Bank, North Colonnade Investments Limited, Northstar Mountain Properties LLC, Northstar Trailside Townhomes LLC, Northstar Village Townhomes LLC, Northwharf Investments Limited, Northwharf Nominees Limited, OGP Leasing Limited, Oakes Millers Ltd, Ownership Trustee Limited, PIA England No.2 Limited Partnership, Palomino Limited, Pecan Aggregator LP, Pelleas Investments Limited, Pelleas Investments Two Limited, Pippin Island Investments Limited, Preferred Liquidity LLC, Preferred Liquidity Limited Partnership, Procella Investments LLC, Procella Investments No.1 LLC, Procella Investments No.2 LLC, Procella Investments No.3 LLC, Protium Finance I LLC, Protium Master Grantor Trust, Protium Master Mortgage LP, Protium REO I LP, R.C. Grieg Nominees Limited, RVH Limited, RVT CLO Investments LLP, Razzoli Investments Limited, Real Estate Participation Management Limited, Real Estate Participation Services Limited, Relative Value Holdings LLC, Relative Value Investments UK Limited, Relative Value Trading Limited, Roder Investments No. 1 Limited, Roder Investments No. 2 Limited, Ruthenium Investments Limited, SPM GP Limited, Securitized Asset Backed Receivables LLC, Servicios Barclays S.A. de C.V., Societe Civile Immobiliere 31 Avenue de la Costa, Solution Personal Finance Limited, Southern Peaks Mining LP, Standard Life Aberdeen, Surety Trust Limited, Surrey Funding Corporation, Sussex Purchasing Corporation, Sutton Funding LLC, Swan Lane Investments Limited, TPLL LLC, TPProperty LLC, Tahoe Club Company LLC, Tahoe Club Employee Company, The Logic Group Enterprises Limited, The Logic Group Holdings Limited, Third Energy Holdings Limited, US Real Estate Holdings No. 2 Limited, US Real Estate Holdings No.1 Limited, US Real Estate Holdings No.3 Limited, US Secured Investments LLC, Union Center LLC, United Counties Bank, Verain Investments LLC, Walbrook Group Ltd, Wedd Jefferson (Nominees) Limited, Wessex Investments Limited, Westferry Investments Limited, Wilmington Riverfront Receivables LLC, Woolwich Homes Limited, Woolwich Plan Managers Limited, Woolwich Qualifying Employee Share, Woolwich Surveying Services Limited, Woori BC Pegasus Securitization Specialty Co. Limited, and Zeban Nominees Limited. Edgewell Personal Care Company is a manufacturer and marketer of personal care products in the wet shave, sun and skin care, feminine care and infant care categories. As of September 30, 2016, the Company had a portfolio of over 25 brands. It manages its business in four segments: Wet Shave, Sun and Skin Care, Feminine Care and All Other. Its Wet shave products are sold under the Schick, Wilkinson Sword, Edge, Skintimate, Shave Guard and Personna brand names. Its Sun and Skin Care products are sold under the Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Wet Ones and Playtex brand names and offers Wet Ones, portable hand wipes category, and Playtex household gloves, the branded household glove in the United States. Its Feminine Care segment markets its products under the Playtex, Stayfree, Carefree and o.b. brands and markets pads and liners. Its All Other segment includes infant care, pet care and miscellaneous other products. Read More American Consumer News, LLC dba MarketBeat 2010-2021. All rights reserved. 326 E 8th St #105, Sioux Falls, SD 57103 | U.S. Based Support Team at contact@marketbeat.com | (844) 978-6257 MarketBeat does not provide personalized financial advice and does not issue recommendations or offers to buy stock or sell any security. Our Accessibility Statement | Terms of Service | Do Not Sell My Information 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research. GlaxoSmithKline Plc is a healthcare company, which engages in the research, development, and manufacture of pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceuticals; Pharmaceuticals R&D; Vaccines and Consumer Healthcare. The Pharmaceuticals segment focuses on developing medicines in respiratory and infectious diseases, oncology, and immuno-inflammation. The Pharmaceuticals R&D segment focuses on science related to the immune system, the use of human genetics and advanced technologies, and is driven by the multiplier effect of Science x Technology x Culture. The Vaccines segment produces pediatric and adult vaccines to prevent a range of infectious diseases including, hepatitis A and B, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella, polio, typhoid, influenza, and bacterial meningitis. The Consumer Healthcare segment develops and markets brands in the oral health, pain relief, respiratory, nutrition and gastro intestinal, and skin health categories. The company was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Middlesex, the United Kingdom. Read More Augusta Gold Corp., a junior exploration company, engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in the United States. It primarily explores for gold, silver, and other metals. The company holds interests in the Bullfrog gold project located in the north-west of Las Vegas, Nevada. It also owns, controls, or has acquired mineral rights on Federal patented and unpatented mining claims in the state of Nevada for the purpose of exploration and potential development of metals on a total of approximately 7,800 acres of land. The company was formerly known as Bullfrog Gold Corp. and changed its name to Augusta Gold Corp. in January 2021. Augusta Gold Corp. was incorporated in 2007 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. Read More Guggenheim Enhanced Equity Income Fund is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Guggenheim Partners Investment Management, LLC. It is co-managed by Guggenheim Funds Investment Advisors, LLC. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. The fund employs quantitative analysis with a long/short strategy and global asset allocation strategy to create its portfolio. It seeks to benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the S&P 500 Index and the CBOE S&P 500 Buy-Write Index. The fund was formerly known as Old Mutual/Claymore Long-Short Fund. Guggenheim Enhanced Equity Income Fund was formed on August 25, 2005 and is domiciled in the United States. Read More John Wood Group PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides consulting, project management, and engineering solutions to energy and built environment worldwide. It operates through four segments: Asset Solutions Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia; Assets Solutions Americas; Technical Consulting Solutions; and Investment Services. The company offers operations solutions, including maintenance, modifications, commissioning and decommissioning, and aftermarket services, as well as industrial services, such as painting, insulation, scaffolding, rope access, E&I, asbestos removal, and civil and earthworks services; engineering, procurement, and construction management; plant operations and life extension; technology solutions; supervision and management services; fabrication and inspection services; and construction and field services. It also provides environment and infrastructure solutions comprising environmental studies and compliance, environmental remediation, public infrastructure, and geotechnical and materials services; clean energy solutions; mine planning and design, mineral processing and metallurgy, mineral resources and project assessment services; and automation and control solutions, such as asset protection and facility and process automation solutions, as well as simulation, learning, and virtual systems. In addition, the company offers subsea and export systems, including subsea, umbilical, riser, and flowline design, as well as planning, design, and development of marine terminals and pipelines; and hull and marine services. It serves oil and gas, infrastructure, industrial and manufacturing, mining, power, and government sectors. John Wood Group PLC was founded in 1912 and is headquartered in Aberdeen, the United Kingdom. Read More At Landsec, we strive to connect communities, realise potential and deliver sustainable places. As one of the largest real estate companies in Europe, our A11.8 billion portfolio spans 24 million sq ft (as at 30 September 2020) of well-connected retail, leisure, workspace and residential hubs. From the iconic Piccadilly Lights in the West End and the regeneration of London's Victoria, to the creation of retail destinations at Westgate Oxford and Trinity Leeds, we own and manage some of the most successful and memorable real estate in the UK. We aim to lead our industry in critical long-term issues A- from diversity and community employment, to carbon reduction and climate resilience. We deliver value for our shareholders, great experiences for our customers and positive change for our communities. Read More Nuveen Arizona Quality Municipal Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Nuveen Investments, Inc. The fund is managed by Nuveen Asset Management, LLC. It invests in the fixed income markets of Arizona. The fund invests in municipal securities and other related investments the income, exempt from regular federal and Arizona income taxes that are rated Baa or BBB or better and having an average maturity of 18.66 years. It employs fundamental analysis with bottom-up stock picking approach to create its portfolio. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the Standard & Poor's (S&P) Arizona Municipal Bond Index and Standard & Poor's (S&P) National Municipal Bond Index. The fund was formerly known as Nuveen Arizona Premium Income Municipal Fund. Nuveen Arizona Quality Municipal Income Fund was formed on November 19, 1992 and is domiciled in the United States. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Molina Healthcare: Aetna & Humana - Medicare Advantage, Affinity Health Plan, AmericanWork Inc., Better Health Network, Camelot Care Centers Inc, Children's Behavioral Health Inc., Choices Group Inc., College Community Services, Dockside Services Inc, Family Preservation Services Inc., Family Preservation Services of Florida Inc., Family Preservation Services of North Carolina Inc., Family Preservation Services of Washington D.C. Inc., Family Preservation Services of West Virginia Inc., Florida NetPASS LLC, Hclb Inc., Magellan Complete Care, Maple Star Nevada Inc., Maple Star Oregon Inc., Mercy CarePlus, Molina Clinical Services LLC, Molina Healthcare Data Center Inc., Molina Healthcare of Arizona Inc., Molina Healthcare of California, Molina Healthcare of Florida Inc., Molina Healthcare of Georgia Inc., Molina Healthcare of Illinois Inc., Molina Healthcare of Iowa Inc., Molina Healthcare of Louisiana Inc., Molina Healthcare of Maryland Inc., Molina Healthcare of Michigan Inc., Molina Healthcare of Mississippi Inc., Molina Healthcare of Nevada Inc., Molina Healthcare of New Mexico Inc., Molina Healthcare of New York Inc., Molina Healthcare of North Carolina Inc., Molina Healthcare of Ohio Inc., Molina Healthcare of Oklahoma Inc., Molina Healthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., Molina Healthcare of Puerto Rico Inc., Molina Healthcare of South Carolina LLC, Molina Healthcare of Texas Inc., Molina Healthcare of Texas Insurance Company, Molina Healthcare of Utah Inc., Molina Healthcare of Virginia Inc., Molina Healthcare of Washington Inc., Molina Healthcare of Wisconsin Inc., Molina Holdings Corporation, Molina Hospital Management LLC, Molina Information Systems LLC dba Molina Medicaid Solutions, Molina Medical Management Inc., Molina Pathways LLC, Molina Pathways of Texas Inc., Molina Youth Academy, NextLevel Health Illinois, Pathways Community Corrections Inc., Pathways Community Services LLC, Pathways Community Support of Texas Inc., Pathways Health and Community Support LLC, Pathways Human Services LLC., Pathways of Arizona Inc., Pathways of Delaware Inc., Pathways of Idaho LLC, Pathways of Maine Inc., Pathways of Massachusetts LLC, Pathways of Oklahoma Inc., Pathways of Washington Inc., Providence Community Services, Providence Human Services, Raystown Developmental Services Inc., The Game of Work LLC, The RedCo Group Inc., Total Care Medicaid plan, Transitional Family Services Inc., Unisys -Health Information Management, and YourCare Health Plan. Nabors Industries Ltd. engages in the provision of platform work over and drilling rigs. It operates through the following segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. The U.S. Drilling segment includes land drilling activities in the lower 48 states and Alaska, as well as offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Canada segment consists of land-based drilling rigs in Canada. The International segment focuses in maintaining a footprint in the oil and gas market, most notably in Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Argentina, Colombia, Kazakhstan, and Venezuela. The Drilling Solutions segment offers drilling technologies, such as patented steering systems and rig instrumentation software systems that enhance drilling performance and wellbore placement. The Rig Technologies segment comprises Canrig, which manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools. The company was founded by Clair Nabors in 1952 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. Read More The North West Company Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the retail of food and everyday products and services to rural communities and urban neighborhood markets in Canada, Alaska, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean. The company's Canadian operations comprise 118 Northern stores, which offers food, financial services, and general merchandise; 5 NorthMart stores that provides fresh foods, apparel, and health products and services; 25 Quickstop convenience stores that provides ready-to-eat foods, and fuel and related services; 5 Giant Tiger junior discount stores, which offers family fashion, household products, and food; 2 Valu Lots discount center and direct-to-customer food distribution outlet; 2 Pharmacy and Convenience stores; 1 Solo Market store for rural market; and 1 North West Company motorsports dealership offering sales, service, parts and accessories for Ski-doo, Honda, Can-am and other premier brands. The Canadian operations also provides contract tele-pharmacist services to rural hospitals and health centers; water and air-based transportation services; and produce and fresh meats to independent grocery stores. Its International operations include 27 Alaska Commercial Company stores that provides food and general merchandise to remote and rural regions; 12 Cost-U-Less mid-size warehouse stores, which offers discount food and general merchandise; 5 Quickstop convenience stores; 8 Riteway food markets; and 1 Cash and Carry store. The North West Company Inc. was founded in 1668 and is headquartered in Winnipeg, Canada. Read More Wall Street analysts have given Nuveen New Jersey Municipal Value 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 Nuveen New Jersey Municipal Value Fund wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Footasylum plc engages in the retail and wholesale of footwear, apparel, and accessories in the United Kingdom and internationally. The company sells fashion streetwear and sportswear for men, women, and kids under approximately 300 brands, such as Nike, Adidas, Pre London, Society Sport, and Gym King; and owns brands comprising Kings Will Dream, Condemned Nation, Alessandro Zavetti, and Zavetti Sport, as well as retail brands, including Footasylum, Drome, and SEVEN. It operates through approximately 65 stores; and an online platform. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Rochdale, the United Kingdom. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of PerkinElmer: Analytica of Branford, Applied Biosystems, Arnel Inc., ArtusLabs, Beijing Huaan Magnech Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Longrun Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Beijing Meizheng Testing Lab Co. Ltd., Beijing OUMENG Biotechnology Co. Ltd., Bio Evolution SAS, Bioo Scientific Corporation, Biosense Picolabs Inc., Biosense Technologies Pvt Ltd., Caliper Life Sciences, Caliper Life Sciences Inc., Cambridge Research & Instrumentation Inc., CambridgeSoft, Ceiba Solutions, Chengdu PerkinElmer Medical Laboratory Co. Ltd., Chromo G.A. SAS, CisBio US Inc., Cisbio Asia Pacific Ltd, Cisbio Bioassays SAS, Cisbio China Ltd., Cisbio Group SAS, Cisbio KK, Cisbio.com, DNA Laboratories Sdn. Bhd., Dani Analitica S.r.l., Dexela, EUROIMMUN (Hangzhou) Medical Laboratory Diagnostics Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN (South East Asia) Pte Ltd., EUROIMMUN (Tianjin) Medical Diagnostic Technology Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN AG, EUROIMMUN Brasil Medicina Diagnostica Ltda., EUROIMMUN Diagnostics Espana S.L.U., EUROIMMUN France SAS, EUROIMMUN Italia Diagnostica Medica S.r.l., EUROIMMUN Japan Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostics (China) Co. Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostics Canada Inc., EUROIMMUN Medical Laboratory Diagnostics South Africa (Pty) Ltd., EUROIMMUN Medizinische Labordiagnostika AG, EUROIMMUN Polska Spolka z o.o., EUROIMMUN Portugal Unipessoal Lda., EUROIMMUN Schweiz AG, EUROIMMUN Turkey Tibbi Laboratuar Teshisleri A.S., EUROIMMUN UK Ltd., EUROIMMUN US Inc., EUROIMMUN US Real Estate LLC, Geospiza, Guangzhou EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostic Products Co. Ltd., Hangzhou EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostic Products Co. Ltd., Horizon Discovery, Immunodiagnostic Systems, Integromics S.L., Jiangsu Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., LabMetrix Technologies, Labtronics, ManCell SAS, Nexcelom Bioscience, NovaScreen Biosciences Corporation, Opto Technology, Orchid Biomedical Systems Pvt Ltd., Oxford Immunotec, Pediatrix Medical Group - Newborn Metabolic Screening Business, Perkin Elmer Chile Ltda., Perkin Elmer Italia SpA, Perkin Elmer Sdn. Bhd., Perkin Elmer Yuhan Hoesa, Perkin Elmer de Mexico S.A., Perkin-Elmer Argentina S.R.L., Perkin-Elmer Instruments (Philippines) Corporation, PerkinElmer (Hong Kong) Ltd., PerkinElmer (India) Pvt Ltd., PerkinElmer (Ireland) Ltd., PerkinElmer (Schweiz) AG, PerkinElmer (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund L.P., PerkinElmer (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer (UK) Holdings Ltd., PerkinElmer Analytical Solutions B.V., PerkinElmer Automotive Research Inc., PerkinElmer BVBA, PerkinElmer CV Holdings LLC, PerkinElmer Cellular Technologies Germany GmbH, PerkinElmer Danmark A/S, PerkinElmer Diagnostics Global Holdings S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Diagnostics Holdings Inc., PerkinElmer Espana S.L., PerkinElmer Finance Luxembourg S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Finland Oy, PerkinElmer Genetics Inc., PerkinElmer Germany Diagnostics GmbH, PerkinElmer Global Diagnostics S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Global Financing S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Global Holdings S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Health Sciences (Australia) Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer Health Sciences B.V., PerkinElmer Health Sciences Canada Inc., PerkinElmer Health Sciences FZ-LLC, PerkinElmer Health Sciences Inc., PerkinElmer Health Sciences Pvt Ltd., PerkinElmer Healthcare Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer Holding Luxembourg S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Holdings Inc., PerkinElmer Holdings Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer IVD Pte Ltd., PerkinElmer Inc., PerkinElmer Informatics Inc., PerkinElmer Instruments (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer International C.V., PerkinElmer Investments Ky, PerkinElmer Israel Ltd., PerkinElmer Japan Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer LAS (Germany) GmbH, PerkinElmer LAS (UK) Ltd., PerkinElmer Life Sciences International Holdings, PerkinElmer Limited, PerkinElmer Ltd., PerkinElmer Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer Nederland B.V., PerkinElmer Norge AS, PerkinElmer Oy, PerkinElmer Polska Sp z o.o., PerkinElmer Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer SAS, PerkinElmer Saglk ve Cevre Bilimleri Ltd., PerkinElmer Shared Services Sp z o.o., PerkinElmer Singapore Pte Ltd., PerkinElmer South Africa (Pty) Ltd., PerkinElmer Sverige AB, PerkinElmer Sweden Health Sciences Holdings AB, PerkinElmer Taiwan Corporation, PerkinElmer VertriebsgmbH, PerkinElmer chemagen Technologie GmbH, PerkinElmer do Brasil Ltda., Perten Instruments, Perten Instruments (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Perten Instruments AB, Perten Instruments France SASU, Perten Instruments GmbH, Perten Instruments Italia S.r.l., Perten Instruments of Australia Pty Ltd., RHS Ltd, RayAl Ltd., Shandong Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Shanghai Haoyuan Biotech Co. Ltd., Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co. Ltd., Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co. Ltd., Signature Genomic Laboratories, Solus Scientific Solutions Inc., Solus Scientific Solutions Ltd., Surendra Genetic Labs, Suzhou PerkinElmer Medical Laboratory Co. Ltd., Suzhou Sym-Bio LifeScience, Suzhou Sym-Bio Lifescience Co. Ltd., Tulip Diagnostics, Tulip Diagnostics Pvt Ltd., Vanadis Diagnostics, Vanadis Diagnostics AB, ViaCell, ViaCord LLC, VisEn Medical, VisEn Medical Inc., Wallac Oy, Wellesley B.V., Xenogen Corporation, ZeLab SAS, and chemagen Biopolymer-Technologie AG. The following companies are subsidiares of PPG Industries: AIPCF V Texstars Blocker Inc., AkzoNobel, Alermac Inversiones S.A. de C.V., Alpha Coating Technologies LLC, Alpha Coatings Inc., Broad Range Development Limited, Brown Brothers Distribution Limited, CG Holdings Manufacturing Co., Centro de Investigacion en Polimeros S.A. de C.V., Chemfil Canada Limited, Chorlton Trade Paints Limited, Comercial Mexicana de Pinturas S.A. de C.V., Comex, Comex Industrial Coatings S.A. de C.V., Consorcio Comex S.A. de C.V., Cristacol S.A., Cuming Microwave Corporation, Deutek SA, Dexmet Corporation, Dexmet Holding Corporation, Distribuidora Kroma S.A. de C.V., EPIC Insurance Co. Ltd., Eberle Design Inc., Empresa Aga S.A. de C.V., Ennis Canadian Holding Company, Ennis Flint Soluciones Seguras Para Trafico, Ennis Highway Traffic Technology (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Ennis Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, Ennis Paint Australia Holding Pty Ltd, Ennis Paint Boya Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S., Ennis Paint Canada ULC, Ennis Paint Germany GmbH, Ennis Paint Netherlands Holdings LLC, Ennis Paint U.K. Holding Company Limited, Ennis Prismo Italio S.r.l., Ennis Traffic Safety Solutions Pty Ltd, Ennis Flint Mexico, Ennis Flint New Zealand, Ennis Flint New Zealand Holding Pty Ltd, Ennis-Flint, Ennis-Flint Africa (Pty) Ltd, Ennis-Flint Inc., Foshan Bairun Chemicals Co. Ltd., Fpu Industrial S.A. de C.V., Grupo Comex S.A. de C.V., Hemmelrath Automotive Coatings (Jilin) Co. Ltd., Hodij Coatings B.V., Homax Products, Industria Chimica Reggiana I.C.R. SPA, Johnstones Paints Limited, Kalon Investment Company Limited, Kalon South Africa Proprietary Limited, Manchester Thermoplastics LLC, Masterwork Paint, MetoKote Canada Limited, MetoKote Corporation, MetoKote Mexico Holding Inc., MetoKote UK Limited, MetoKote de Mexico S. de RL de CV, PPG AC - France SA, PPG ALESCO Automotive Finishes Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PPG AP Resinas S.A. de C.V., PPG Aerospace Materials (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PPG Architectural Coatings (Puerto Rico) Inc., PPG Architectural Coatings Canada Inc., PPG Architectural Coatings Ireland Limited, PPG Architectural Coatings Italy S.r.l., PPG Architectural Coatings UK Limited, PPG Architectural Finishes Inc., PPG Asian Paints Private Ltd., PPG COATINGS SINGAPORE PTE. LTD., PPG Canada Inc., PPG Cieszyn S.A., PPG Coatings (Hong Kong) Co. Limited, PPG Coatings (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., PPG Coatings (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Thailand) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Tianjin) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings (Wuhu) Company Ltd., PPG Coatings (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., PPG Coatings B.V., PPG Coatings Belgium BV, PPG Coatings Danmark A/S, PPG Coatings Deutschland GmbH, PPG Coatings Europe B.V., PPG Coatings Manufacturing SARL, PPG Coatings Nederland BV, PPG Coatings S.A., PPG Coatings South Africa (Pty) Ltd., PPG DYRUP S.A., PPG Deco Czech a.s., PPG Deco Polska sp. z.o.o., PPG Deco Slovakia s.r.o., PPG Deutschland Business Support GmbH, PPG Deutschland Sales & Services GmbH, PPG Distribution S.A.S., PPG Europe B.V., PPG Finance B.V., PPG France Business Support S.A.S., PPG France Manufacturing S.A.S., PPG Guadeloupe SAS, PPG Hellas S.A., PPG Hemmelrath Coatings Inc., PPG Hemmelrath Lackfabrik GmbH, PPG Holdco SAS, PPG Holdings (U.K.) Limited, PPG Holdings Argentina USA LLC, PPG Holdings Latin America USA LLC, PPG Iberica S.A., PPG Iberica Sales & Services S.L., PPG Industrial Coatings B.V., PPG Industrial do Brasil - Tintas E. Vernizes - Ltda., PPG Industries (Korea) Ltd., PPG Industries (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., PPG Industries (UK) Ltd, PPG Industries Argentina S.R.L., PPG Industries Australia PTY Limited A.C.N. 055 500 939, PPG Industries Colombia Ltda., PPG Industries Czech Republic s.r.o., PPG Industries Delfzijl B.V., PPG Industries Europe Sarl, PPG Industries France S.A.S., PPG Industries International Inc., PPG Industries Italia S.r.l., PPG Industries Kimya a Sanayi VE Ticaret AS, PPG Industries LLC, PPG Industries Lipetsk LLC, PPG Industries Middle East FZE, PPG Industries Netherlands B.V., PPG Industries New Zealand Limited, PPG Industries Ohio Inc., PPG Industries Poland Sp. Z.o.o., PPG Industries Securities LLC, PPG Industries de Mexico S.A. de C.V., PPG Italia Business Support S.r.l., PPG Italia Sales & Services S.r.l., PPG Japan Ltd., PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes Canada LP, PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes U.K. LLP, PPG Kansai Automotive Finishes U.S. LLC, PPG Luxembourg Finance S.aR.L., PPG Luxembourg Holdings S.aR.L., PPG Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Mexico S.A. de C.V., PPG Packaging Coatings (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PPG Paints Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PPG Performance Coatings (Hong Kong) Limited, PPG Powder Coatings (Shanghai) Limited, PPG Romania S.A., PPG SSC Co. Ltd., PPG Switzerland GmbH, PPG Trilak Kft., PPG Vietnam Co. Ltd., PRC-DeSoto Australia Pty Ltd., PRC-DeSoto International Inc., PT. PPG Coatings Indonesia, Painter's Supply, Paintzen, Peintures de Paris SAS, Plasticos Envolventes S.A. de C.V., Polymeric Systems Inc., Prismo Road Markings Limited, ProCoatings B.V., ProCoatings BV, Protec Pty Ltd. A.C.N. 007 857 392, Reno A&E LLC, Revocoat France SAS, Revocoat Holding SAS, Revocoat Iberica SLU, Revocoat S.A.S, Road Infrastructure Investment Holdings Inc., SEM Products Inc., Sealants Europe SAS, Sierracin Corporation, Sierracin/Sylmar Corporation, Sigma Marine & Protective Coatings Holding B.V., SigmaKalon (BC) UK Limited, SigmaKalon Group, SigmaKalon Middle East B.V., Sikar (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Spraylat International Ltd, Texstars LLC, The Crown Group Co., The Crown Group Inc, The Homax Group, Tikkurila Group, Traffic Safety Intermediate LLC, Traffic Safety Parent LLC, United International Business NV, Vanex Inc., Vernisol S.p.A., Versaflex, Viasa S.A. de C.V., Whitford, Whitford B.V., Whitford Corporation, Whitford Jiangmen Ltd., Whitford Ltd. (HK), Whitford Ltd. (UK), Whitford Pte. Ltd., Whitford S.r.l., Whitford Worldwide Company LLC, Worwag Coatings, and Zaganite Industries Pty Ltd. The following companies are subsidiares of Accenture: 2nd Road, 2nd Road Pty Ltd., ?What If!, ?What If! China Holdings Ltd, ?What If! Holdings Limited, ?What If! Innovation Singapore Holdings Pte, ?What If! Limited, ?What If! Shanghai Co. Ltd, ?What If! USA LLC, ACN Consulting Co Ltd, AD Dialeto Agencia de Publicidade SA, AD.Dialeto (Digital Agency acquired by Accenture), AGS Business and Technology Services Limited, ASM Research Inc., ASM Research LLC, ATAN, Accenture (Beijing) Mobile Technology Co Ltd, Accenture (Botswana) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (China) Co Ltd, Accenture (Shenzhen) Technology Co. Ltd., Accenture (South Africa) (Proprietary) Limited, Accenture (South Africa) Pty Limited, Accenture (UK) Ltd, Accenture 2 Business Process Services S.A., Accenture 2 LLC, Accenture A/S, Accenture AB, Accenture AG, Accenture AS, Accenture Africa Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Holding B.V., Accenture Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, Accenture Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Azerbaijan Ltd, Accenture BPM Operations Support Services S.A., Accenture BPM S.C.R.L., Accenture BV, Accenture Branch Holdings B.V., Accenture Bulgaria EOOD, Accenture Business Services for Utilities Inc, Accenture Business Services of British Columbia Limited Partnership, Accenture Business and Technology Services LLC, Accenture C.A, Accenture CAS GmbH, Accenture Canada Holdings Inc., Accenture Capital DAC, Accenture Capital Inc, Accenture Central Europe B.V., Accenture Chile Asesorias y Servicios Ltda, Accenture Cloud Services GmbH, Accenture Cloud Software Solutions Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions Australia Pty Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions LLC, Accenture Cloud Solutions Ltd, Accenture Cloud Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd, Accenture Co Ltd., Accenture Communications Infrastructure Solutions Ltd, Accenture Company Ltd, Accenture Consulting Services Ltd Tanzania, Accenture Consultores de Gestao S.A., Accenture Consultoria de Industria e Consumo Ltda, Accenture Consultoria de Recursos Naturais Ltda, Accenture Credit Services LLC, Accenture Customer Services Distribution SAS, Accenture Customer Services Limited, Accenture Danismanlik Limited Sirketi, Accenture Defined Benefit Pension Plan Trustees Ltd, Accenture Defined Contribution Pension Plan Trustees Ltd, Accenture Delivery Poland sp. z o.o., Accenture Dienstleistungen GmbH, Accenture Digital France Holdings SA, Accenture Digital Holdings GmbH, Accenture East Africa Limited, Accenture Ecuador S.A., Accenture Egypt LLC, Accenture Enterprise Development (Shanghai) Co Ltd., Accenture Federal Services LLC, Accenture Finance (Gibraltar) III Ltd, Accenture Finance GmbH, Accenture Finance GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Finance II GmbH, Accenture Finance II GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Finance II Ltd, Accenture Finance Limited, Accenture Finance and Accounting BPO Services S.p.A., Accenture Finance and Accounting Services Srl, Accenture Flex LLC, Accenture GP LLC, Accenture Ghana Limited, Accenture Global Holdings Ltd., Accenture Global Services Ltd, Accenture Global Solutions Ltd, Accenture GmbH, Accenture HR Services Ltd, Accenture HR Services S.p.A., Accenture Healthcare Processing Inc., Accenture Holding GmbH, Accenture Holding GmbH & Co. KG, Accenture Holding GmbH in liquidation, Accenture Holdings (Iberia) S.L., Accenture Holdings B.V., Accenture Holdings France SAS, Accenture Holdings plc, Accenture Hungary Holdings Kft, Accenture Inc, Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company (Accenture Endustriyel Yazylym Cozumleri Limited irketi), Accenture Industrial Software Limited Liability Company (Accenture Endustriyel Yazlm Cozumleri Limited Sirketi), Accenture Industrial Software Solutions Kft, Accenture Industrial Software Solutions SA, Accenture Insurance Services LLC, Accenture Insurance Services SAS, Accenture Insurance Services SpA, Accenture International BV, Accenture International Capital SCA, Accenture International LLC, Accenture International Limited, Accenture International Sarl, Accenture Japan Ltd, Accenture Korea BV, Accenture LLC, Accenture LLP, Accenture Lanka (Private) Ltd, Accenture Limited, Accenture Ltd, Accenture Ltda, Accenture Maghreb S.a.r.l., Accenture Managed Services SRL, Accenture Managed Services SpA, Accenture Management GmbH, Accenture Middle East B.V, Accenture Middle East BV, Accenture Minority I BV, Accenture Minority III Ltd, Accenture Mozambique Limitada, Accenture Mzansi (Pty) Ltd, Accenture NV/SA, Accenture NZ Limited, Accenture Newco LLC, Accenture Nova Scotia Unlimited Liability Co., Accenture OOO, Accenture Operations Sp. z o.o., Accenture Outsourcing SRL, Accenture Outsourcing Services, Accenture Outsourcing Services S.A., Accenture Oy, Accenture Panama Inc, Accenture Participations BV, Accenture Participations II Limited, Accenture Peru S.R.L, Accenture Peru S.R.L., Accenture Post Trade Processing SAS, Accenture Post-Trade Processing Limited, Accenture Process Ltd, Accenture Product Lifecycle Services, Accenture Properties, Accenture Pte Ltd, Accenture Puerto Rico LLC, Accenture S.A., Accenture S.C., Accenture S.L., Accenture S.R.L., Accenture SAS, Accenture SG Services Pte Ltd, Accenture SRL, Accenture Saudi Arabia Limited, Accenture Sendirian Berhad, Accenture Service Center SRL, Accenture Services (Mauritius) Ltd, Accenture Services AB, Accenture Services AG, Accenture Services AS, Accenture Services GmbH, Accenture Services Ltd, Accenture Services Morocco SA, Accenture Services Oy, Accenture Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Services S.r.l., Accenture Services SRL, Accenture Services Sp. z o.o., Accenture Services Sp. z.o.o., Accenture Services and Technology Srl, Accenture Services fur Kreditinstitute GmbH, Accenture Services s.r.o., Accenture Servicos Administrativos Ltda, Accenture Servicos de Suporte de Negocios Ltda, Accenture Solutions Co Ltd, Accenture Solutions Private Limited, Accenture Solutions Pte Ltd, Accenture Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Solutions Sdn Bhd, Accenture Sp. z o.o., Accenture Sp. z.o.o., Accenture SpA, Accenture State Healthcare Services LLC, Accenture Sub II Inc., Accenture Sub Inc, Accenture Sub LLC, Accenture Systems Integration Limited, Accenture Sarl, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Accenture Tanacsado Kolatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag KFT, Accenture Technologia, Accenture Technologia Consultoria e Outsourcing S.A., Accenture Technology Infrastructure Services Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions (Dalian) Co Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions (HK) Co. Ltd., Accenture Technology Solutions (Thailand) Co. Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas, Accenture Technology Solutions - Solucoes Informaticas Integradas S.A., Accenture Technology Solutions GmbH, Accenture Technology Solutions Oy, Accenture Technology Solutions Pty Ltd, Accenture Technology Solutions S.A. de C.V., Accenture Technology Solutions SAS, Accenture Technology Solutions SRL, Accenture Technology Solutions Sdn. Bhd., Accenture Technology Solutions Slovakia s.r.o., Accenture Technology Ventures BV, Accenture Technology Ventures S.P.R.L., Accenture Uruguay SRL, Accenture Vietnam Co., Accenture Vietnam Co. LTD, Accenture Zambia Limited, Accenture do Brasil Limitada, Accenture plc, Accenture s.r.o., Acceria, Acquity Customer Insight Limited, Acquity Group, Adaptly LLC, Adaptly UK Limited, AddVal Technology, Adqptly, Advantium Inc., Agave Consultants Limited, Agilex Technologies Inc., Allen International, Allen International Consulting Group Ltd, Alnova Technologies Corporation S.L., AlphaBeta Advisors, Altima, Altima Asia Ltd., Altima SAS, Altitude, Altitude LLC, Analytics 8 LP, Analytics 8 Pty Ltd, Analytics8, Aorui Advertising (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Apis, Appaloosa Technology SAS, Arca, Ariba - BPO, Arismore, Aspiro Solutions (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Avanade, Avanade (Guangzhou) Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd., Avanade (Thailand) Co Ltd, Avanade Asia Pte Ltd, Avanade Australia Pty Ltd, Avanade Belgium SPRL, Avanade Canada Inc., Avanade Denmark A/S, Avanade Denmark ApS, Avanade Deutschland GmbH, Avanade Europe Holdings Ltd, Avanade Europe Services Ltd, Avanade Federal Services LLC, Avanade Finland Oy, Avanade France SAS, Avanade GZ Computer Technology Development Co. Ltd. (SH), Avanade Guangzhou, Avanade Holdings LLC, Avanade Hong Kong Ltd, Avanade International Corporation, Avanade Ireland Limited, Avanade Italy SRL, Avanade KK, Avanade Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avanade Netherlands BV, Avanade Norway AS, Avanade Poland Sp. z o.o., Avanade Poland Sp. z.o.o., Avanade Schweiz GmbH, Avanade South Africa, Avanade South Africa Pty Ltd, Avanade Spain SL, Avanade Sweden AB, Avanade UK Ltd, Avanade do Brasil Limitada, Avanade Osterreich GmbH, AvantBiz Consulting Limited, Avenai, Axia Ltd., BABCN LLC, BCT Solutions, BCT Solutions Pty Ltd, BPO Servicos Administrativos Ltda, BRIDGE Energy Group, Beacon Consulting Group Inc., Beijing Genesis Interactive Technology Co. Ltd., Benext, Bionic, Blue Horseshoe, Boomerang Pharmaceutical Communications, Boomerang Pharmaceuticals Communications Ireland Limited, Bow & Arrow, Brand Learning, Brand Learning Group Limited, Brand Learning LLC, Brand Learning Ltd, Brand Learning Partners Limited, Brand Learning Pte Limited, Bridge Energy Group LLC, Brightstep AB, Byte Prophecy, CAS, CRMWaypoint, CadenceQuest Inc., Capable Marketer Limited, Capgemini - North American health practice, Capital Consultancy Services Inc., Certus Solutions Consulting Services Ltd, Certus Solutions Ltd, ChangeTrack Research Pty Ltd., Chaotic Moon Studios, Chengdu Mensa Advertising Co. Ltd., Cimation, Cimation UK Limited, Cirruseo, Cirruseo SAS, Clarity Insights, Clearhead, Clearhead Group, Clearhead Group LLC, ClientHouse GmbH, Cloud Sherpas, Cloud Sherpas (GA) LLC, Cloud Sherpas (SN) (PTE.) Limited, Cloud Sherpas New Zealand Ltd., Cloud Talent Limited, Cloudsherpas, Cloudsherpas Inc., Cloudworks, Codagenic Pty. Ltd., Computer Research and Telecommunications LLC, Concrete Desenvolvimento de Sistemas Ltda., Concrete Solutions, Concrete Solutions Ltda., Context Information Security, Coritel S.A., Corliant Inc., CreativeDrive, CustomerWorks Europe SL, Cutting Edge Solutions Ltd, D5 Global Holdings LLC, DAZ Systems Inc, DAZ Systems LLC, DAZSI Systems (India) Pvt. Ltd., DMA Solutions Limited, Davies Consulting, DayNine Consulting, DayNine Consulting (Australia) PTY LTD, DayNine Consulting (Deutschland) GmbH, DayNine Consulting (New Zealand) Limited, DayNine Consulting France SAS, DayNine Consulting Japan K.K., DayNine Consulting LLC, Declarative Holdings, Declarative Holdings LLC, Defense Point Security, Deja vu Security, Design Strategy and Research de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Designaffairs LLC, Digiplug S.A.S., Digiplug SAS, Digital Consulting & Software Services LLC, Droga5, Droga5 LLC, Droga5 Studios LLC, Droga5 UK Ltd., Duck Creek Technologies, Duck Creek Technologies LLC, Deja Vu Security LLC, ESR Labs, Elcurator SAS, Enaxis Consulting, Enaxis Consulting L.P., End-to-End Analytics, Energuia Web, Energuia Web S.A., Energy Management Brokers Ltd., Energy Quote Private Ltd., EnergyQuote JHA, EnergyQuote JHA Ltd., EnergyQuote Trading Ltd., Enimbos, Enkitec, Enterprise System Partners, Enterprise System Partners B.V. , Enterprise System Partners Bilisim Danismanlik Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Enterprise System Partners Global Corporation, Enterprise System Partners Limited, Enterprise System Partners PR LLC, Enterprise System Partners S.A.S., Entropia, Epylon, Ethica Consulting Group, Evopro Group, Exactside Limited, Exton Consulting, Fairway Technologies Inc, Fairway Technologies LLC, Filmproduction ApS, First Annapolis Consulting, First Annapolis Consulting Inc., First Annapolis Consulting LLC, First Annapolis International, Fjord, Focus Group Europe, Focus Group Europe Limited, Formicary, Formicary Holdings Limited, Formicary Limited, FusionX, FutureMove Automotive, Gapso Servicos de Informatica Ltda., Genfour, Genfour Limited, George Group Consulting L.P., Gestalt LLC, Gestion Altima Canada Inc., Gevity, Global Public Firm S.L., GlobalView SAS, GoodFilm GmbH Filmproduktion Stuttgart, H.B. Maynard and Co. Inc., HRC Retail Advisory, Hagberg Consulting Group, Hangzhou Aiyunzhe Technology Co. Ltd., Happen, Hjaltelin Stahl, Hjaltelin Stahl K/S, Hytracc Consulting AS, Hytracc Consulting Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Hytracc Consulting UK Limited, Hytracc Holding AS, I-Faber S.p.A., IBB Consulting, IMJ Corp, IMJ Corporation, INCAD, INSITUM, IT One Company Limited, ITBS Servicios Bancarios de Tecnologia de la Informacion SL, Icon Integration, Imagine Broadband (USA) Ltd, Imagine Broadband USA LLC, Imaginea Inc, Industrie&Co, Infoman AG, Infoman Schweiz AG, Informatica de Euskadi S.L., Infusion Development Inc., Infusion Development UK Limited, InfusionDev LLC, Innoveer Solutions India Pvt Ltd, Insitum Consultoria Argentina SRL, Insitum Consultoria Brasil LTDA, Insitum Consultoria Colombia SAS, Insitum Consultoria Europa SL, Insitum Consultoria Peru SAC, Insitum Consultoria S.A. de C.V., Intrepid, Intrigo Systems Inc, Intrigo Systems India Pvt. Limited, Intrigo Systems LLC, Inventor Advertisement (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inventor Technology Limited, InvestTech, Investtech Systems Consulting LLC, Javelin Group, Javelin Group (Bulgaria) EOOD, Javelin Group Limited (UK), Javelin Group SASU, K Comms Group Limited, KCS.net AG, KCS.net AG West, KCS.net Deutschland GmbH, KCS.net Holding AG, KCS.net Osterreich GmbH, Kaper Communications Limited, Karma Communications Debtco Limited, Karma Communications Group Limited, Karma Communications Holdings Limited, Karmarama, Karmarama Comms Limited, Karmarama Limited, Knowledge Rules Inc., Knowledgent, Knowledgent Group LLC, Kogentix, Kogentix LLC, Kogentix Ltd, Kogentix Singapore Pte. Ltd, Kogentix Technologies Private Limited, Kolle Rebbe, Kolle Rebbe GmbH, Kream Comms Limited, Kunstmaan, Kunstmaan NV, Kurt Salmon, Kurt Salmon Canada LTD, Kurt Salmon UKI, Kurt Salmon UKI Ltd., Kurt Salmon US LLC, LEXTA, LINKBYNET, LabAnswer, LabAnswer Government, LemonXL Limited, Logistics Market Place Limited (UK), Loud & Clear Creative Pty Ltd, MAXIM Systems Inc., MCG US Holdings LLC, Mackevision CG Technology and Service (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Mackevision Corporation, Mackevision Japan Co. Ltd., Mackevision Korea Ltd, Mackevision Medien Design, Mackevision Medien Design GmbH, Mackevision Singapore Pte. Ltd., Mackevision UK Ltd, Maglan, Maglan Information Defense Technologies Research Ltd., Maihiro, Matter, Matter Llc, Maud Corp Pty Limited, Maxamine International, Media Audits Ltd., Media Hive, Mediasenz Pty Ltd., Meredith Specialty LLC, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing Corporation, Meridian Informed Purchasing Ltd., Mindtribe, Mindtribe Product Engineering LLC, MobGen, MobGen Technology S.L, Moonrise NV, Mortgage Cadence, Mortgage Cadence an Accenture Company, Most Champion Ltd, Mudano, N3 LLC, NBS Marketing Inc., NYTEC, Nanjing Demeng Advertising Co. Ltd., Nashco Consulting, NaviSys Inc., NellArmonia, Neo Metrics Analytics S.L., Neo Metrics Chile, Neo Metrics Chile S.A., New Content, New Content Chile SpA, New Content Editora e Produtora Ltda., New Energy Aborda, New Energy Associates Ltd, New Energy Group, New Energy S.r.l., NewsPage, NewsPage (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, NewsPage China Ltd., NewsPage Pte Ltd, Nice Agency Limited, Northstream, Northstream AB, Northstream Holding AB, OCTO Technology, OPS Rules Management Consultants, Octagon Research Solutions Inc., Octo Technology LTDA, Octo Technology Pty Ltd, Octo Technology SA, Octo Technology SPRL, Octoman SAS, Odgaard ApS, Olikka, Openmind, Openminded, Operaciones Accenture S.A. de C.V., OpusLine, Orbium, Orbium Consulting Ltd, Orbium GmbH, Orbium Holding AG, Orbium Inc., Orbium International AG, Orbium International sp. z o.o., Orbium Licences AG, Orbium Limited, Orbium Pte. Ltd., Orbium Pty Ltd, Orbium Services sp. z o.o., Orbium Sarl, Origin Digital, PCO Innovation, PCO Innovation Canada Inc., PCO Innovation EURL, PIXO PUNCH Limited, PLM Systems S.r.l, POC Holdings, PRION GmbH, PT Accenture, PT Asta Catur Indra, PT Kogentix Teknologi Indonesia, Pach Invest SARL, Pach Invest SAS, PacificLink Group, PacificLink iMedia Ltd., Paja Finanssipalvelut Oy, Parker Fitzgerald Inc, Parker Fitzgerald Inc., Parker Fitzgerald International Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Limited, Parker Fitzgerald PTY Ltd, Parker Fitzgerald Services Limited, Parker Fitzgerald Solutions Limited, Partners Technology Mexico Holdings BV, Pecaso Ltd., Pegasus Production K/S, Perseroan Terbatas. Accenture, Phase One Consulting Group, Pillar Technology, Pollux, Pragsis Bidoop, Pragsis Bidoop UK Ltd, Pragsis Technologies S.L, PrimeQ, PrimeQ Australia Pty Ltd, PrimeQ Ltd, PrimeQ NZ Pty Ltd, Procurian Germany GmbH, Procurian Inc., Procurian International I LLC, Procurian International II LLC, Procurian LLC, Procurian Singapore Pte. Ltd., Procurian Switzerland GmbH, Procurian USA LLC, Proquire LLC, PureApps Ltd., Qi Jie Beijing Information Technologies Co Ltd, Radiant Services, Radiant Services LLC, Random Walk Computing Inc., Reactive Media Limited, Reactive Media Pty Ltd., Real Protect, Realworld OO Systems Ltd., Redcore, Redcore (Asia) Pte Ltd, Redcore (India) Private Limited (India), Redcore (New Zealand) Limited, Redcore Group Holdings Pty Ltd, Redcore Pty Ltd, Renacentis IT Services, Revolutionary Security, RiskControl, Rothco, Rothco Holdings Designated Activity Company, Rothco Unlimited Company, S.C. EnergyQuote S.r.l., S3 TV Technology Limited, S3 TV Technology Ltd., SEC Servizi, SEC Servizi S.p.A., SOPIA Corp., Sagacious Consultants, Sagacious Consultants LLC, Salt Solutions, Sanchez Capital Services Pvt Ltd, Schlumberger Business Consulting, Seabury Airline Planning Group, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace (UK) Limited, Seabury Aviation & Aerospace Asia (Hong Kong) Limited, Seabury Aviation Consulting LLC, Seabury Cargo Advisory B.V., Seabury Consulting, Seabury Corporate Advisors LLC, Seabury Human Capital LLC, Seabury Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Seabury Structured Finance LLC, Search Technologies BPO, Search Technologies BPO Inc., Search Technologies GmbH, Search Technologies International LLC, Search Technologies LATAM, Search Technologies LATAM S.A., Search Technologies LLC, Search Technologies Limited, Sente Partners LLC, Sentelis, Servicios Tecnicos de Programacion Accenture S.C., Shackleton, Shackleton Barcelona S.L., Shackleton Chile S.A., Shackleton Madrid S.L., Shackleton S.A., Shanghai Baiyue Advertising Co. Ltd., Shun Zhe Technology Development Co. Ltd., Silveo, Simian Pty Limited, SinnerSchrader, SinnerSchrader AG, SinnerSchrader Commerce GmbH, SinnerSchrader Content GmbH, SinnerSchrader Deutschland GmbH, SinnerSchrader Praha s.r.o., SinnerSchrader Swipe GmbH, 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, Yesler, Zag, Zenta, Zenta Global Philippines, Zenta Global Philippines Inc., Zenta Mortgage Services LLC, Zenta Recoveries Inc, Zenta US Holdings Inc., Zielpuls, Zielpuls (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Zielpuls GmbH, avVenta, designaffairs, designaffairs Business Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., designaffairs GmbH, designaffairs group China Co. Ltd., dgroup, i4C Analytics, iDefense, and solid-serVision.com GmbH. Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI EAFE 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 MSCI EAFE Growth ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys. View MarketBeat's top stock picks here. Rockwell Collins, Inc. designs, produces, and supports communications and aviation systems worldwide. The company's Interior Systems segment offers commercial aircraft seats; galley structures, food and beverage preparation equipment, and water and waste systems; oxygen and passenger service equipment; cabin lighting systems; and business jet and general aviation interior products. Its Commercial Systems segment provides cabin management systems; data link, frequency, very high frequency, and satellite communications systems; landing, radio navigation, and geophysical sensors, and flight management systems; situational awareness and surveillance systems and products; integrated flight controls; simulation and training systems; maintenance, repair, parts, and after-sales support services, and aftermarket used equipment. The company's Government Systems segment provides communications systems and products; radio navigation products, global positioning system equipment, and multi-mode receivers; avionics systems; precision targeting, electronic warfare, and training systems; simulation and training systems; space wheels; visual system products; maintenance, repair, parts, and after-sales support services, and aftermarket used equipment. Its Information Management Services segment offers voice and data communication services; flight support services; airport communications and information systems; train dispatching and information systems; mission critical security systems; and cabin connectivity solutions. The company serves original equipment manufacturers of commercial air transport, business and regional aircraft, commercial airlines, U.S. Department of Defense, other ministries of defense, other government agencies, defense contractors, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and passenger and freight railroads, as well as airport, critical infrastructure, and business aircraft operators. The company was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Read More Cellcom Israel Ltd. operates and maintains a cellular mobile telephone system in Israel. It operates in two segments, Cellular and Fixed-line. The company offers cellular communications services, such as basic cellular telephony services comprising voice mail, cellular fax, call waiting, call forwarding, caller identification, and conference calling; text and multimedia messaging; and cellular content and data services. It also provides international roaming services; value-added services, such as short message and multimedia messaging; cloud backup; and content services, including Cellcom Volume music, Cellcom TV, and other applications. In addition, the company sells handsets, tablets, streamers, smart watches, and home security cameras, as well as offers repair services. Further, it provides internet infrastructure and connectivity services, over-the-top TV services, international long distance services, and landline telephony and transmission services; transmission and data services through fiber-optic infrastructure and complementary microwave links; IP switchboard services; and cloud services and data protection products, as well as operates and manages business telecommunication systems to selected business customers and telecommunications operators. As of December 31, 2019, the company had approximately 10.6 million cellular subscribers. Cellcom Israel Ltd. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Netanya, Israel. Read More The following companies are subsidiares of Tenet Healthcare: 1 Subsidiaries of this entity in which Tenet Healthcare Corporation directly and indirectly held a 95% ownership interest at December 31 2020 are set forth in the table below., 25 East Same Day Surgery L.L.C., 300 PBL Development LLC, 45th Street MOB LLC, 601 N 30th Street I L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street II L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street III Inc., AHM Acquisition Co. Inc., AIG Holdings LLC, AIGB Global LLC, AIGB Group Inc., AIGB Holdings Inc., AIGB Management Services LLC, AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #3 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #4 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #5 L.L.C., AMI Information Systems Group Inc., AMI/HTI Tarzana Encino Joint Venture, APN, ARC Worcester Center L.P., ASC Old Co. LP, ASC of New Jersey LLC, ASJH Joint Venture LLC, Abrazo Health Network EP Clinical Services LLC, Abrazo Surgical Outpatient Center LLC, Advanced Ambulatory Surgical Care L.P., Advanced Center for Surgery Vero Beach LLC, Advanced Regional Surgery Center LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Metairie LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Sarasota LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Tampa LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of St Louis LLC, Advanced Surgical Concepts LLC, Advantage Health Care Management Company LLC, Advantage Health Network Inc., AdventHealth Surgery Center Celebration LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Mills Park LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Wellswood LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Winter Garden LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers Central Florida LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers West Florida LLC, Adventist Midwest Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Alabama Cardiovascular Associates L.L.C., Alabama Digestive Health Endoscopy Center L.L.C., Alabama Hand and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Alamo Heights Surgicare L.P., All Star MOB LLC, Allegian Insurance Company, Alliance Surgery Birmingham LLC, Alliance Surgery Inc., Alvarado Hospital Medical Center Inc., Ambulatory Surgical Associates LLC, Ambulatory Surgical Center of Somerville LLC, American Institute of Gastric Banding Ltd., American Institute of Gastric Banding Phoenix Limited Partnership, American Medical (Central) Inc., Amisub (Heights) Inc., Amisub (Hilton Head) Inc., Amisub (North Ridge Hospital) Inc., Amisub (SFH) Inc., Amisub (Twelve Oaks) Inc., Amisub of California Inc., Amisub of North Carolina Inc., Amisub of South Carolina Inc., Amisub of Texas Inc., Anaheim Hills Medical Imaging L.L.C., Anaheim MRI Holding Inc., Anesthesia Partners of Gallatin LLC, Arizona Care Network Next L.L.C., Arizona Health Partners LLC, Arlington Orthopedic and Spine Hospital LLC, Arrowhead Endoscopy and Pain Management Center LLC, Asia Outsourcing US Inc., Aspen Healthcare, Atlanta Medical Center Inc., Atlanta Medical Center Interventional Neurology Associates L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Neurosurgical & Spine Specialists L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Physician Group L.L.C., Atlantic Coast Surgical Suites LLC, Atlantic Health-USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Avita/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., BBH BMC LLC, BBH CBMC LLC, BBH DevelopmentCo LLC, BBH Imaging Jasper LLC, BBH NP Clinicians Inc., BBH PBMC LLC, BBH SBMC LLC, BBH WBMC LLC, BCDC EmployeeCO LLC, BHC-Talladega Pediatrics LLC, BHS Accountable Care LLC, BHS Affinity LLC, BHS Integrated Physician Partners LLC, BHS Physician Performance Network LLC, BHS Physicians Alliance for ACE LLC, BHS Physicians Network Inc., BHS Specialty Network Inc., BT East Dallas JV LLP, BW Cardiology LLC, BW Cyberknife LLC, BW Hand Practice LLC, BW Office Buildings LLC, BW Parking Decks LLC, BW Physician Practices LLC, BW Retail Pharmacy LLC, BW Sports Practice LLC, Bagley Holdings LLC, Baptist Accountable Care LLC, Baptist Diagnostics LLC, Baptist Health Centers LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance ACO LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance LLC, Baptist Plaza Surgicare L.P., Baptist Surgery Center L.P., Baptist Womens Health Center LLC, Baptist/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Bartlett ASC LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Baylor Plano LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Blue Star LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Granbury LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Mansfield LLC, Baylor Surgicare at North Dallas LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Plano LLC, Baylor Surgicare at Plano Parkway LLC, Bear Creek Surgery Center LLC, Beaumont Surgical Affiliates Ltd., Bellaire Outpatient Surgery Center L.L.P., Berkshire Eye LLC, Bloomington ASC LLC, Blue Ridge/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Bluffton Okatie Primary Care L.L.C., Bluffton Okatie Surgery Center L.L.C., Bon Secours Surgery Center at Harbour View LLC, Bon Secours Surgery Center at Virginia Beach LLC, Bozeman Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Bozeman MOB LLC, Briarcliff Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Bristol Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Broad River Primary Care L.L.C., Brookwood - Maternal Fetal Medicine L.L.C., Brookwood Ancillary Holdings Inc., Brookwood Baptist Health 1 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 2 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 3 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Imaging LLC, Brookwood Center Development Corporation, Brookwood Development Inc., Brookwood Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, Brookwood Garages L.L.C., Brookwood Health Services Inc., Brookwood Home Health LLC, Brookwood Occupational Health Clinic L.L.C., Brookwood Parking Associates Ltd., Brookwood Primary Care - Homewood L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care - Inverness L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care - Mountain Brook L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care - Oak Mountain L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care - Vestavia L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Cahaba Heights L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Hoover L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care The Narrows L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Network Care Inc., Brookwood Specialty Care - Endocrinology L.L.C., Brookwood Sports and Orthopedics L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Care L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Diagnostic Center LLC, C7 Technologies LLC, CGH Hospital Ltd., CHIC/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CHN Holdings LLC, CHRISTUS Cabrini Surgery Center L.L.C., CHVI Tucson Holdings LLC, CML-Chicago Market Labs Inc., CRNAs of Michigan, CS/USP General Partner LLC, CS/USP Surgery Centers LP, California Joint & Spine LLC, Camp Creek Urgent Care L.L.C., Camp Lowell Surgery Center L.L.C., Captive Insurance Services Inc., Cardiology Physicians Associates L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Corporation L.L.C., Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Associates L.L.C., Cardiovascular Clinical Excellence at Sierra Providence LLC, CareSpot of Austin LLC, CareSpot of Memphis LLC, CareSpot of Orlando/HSI Urgent Care LLC, Carmel Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Carondelet St. Marys-Northwest L.L.C., Cascade Spine Center LLC, Castle Rock Surgery Center LLC, Catawba-Piedmont Cardiothoracic Surgery L.L.C., Cedar Hill Primary Care L.L.C., Cedar Park Surgery Center L.L.P., Centennial ASC LLC, Center for Advanced Research Excellence L.L.C., Center for the Urban Child Inc., Central California Healthcare Holdings LLC, Central Carolina Physicians - Sandhills L.L.C., Central Carolina-IMA L.L.C., Central Jersey Surgery Center LLC, Central Texas Corridor Hospital Company LLC, Central Valley Quality Alliance LLC, Central Virginia Surgi-Center L.P., Centura Ventures Surgery Centers LLC, Centura/USP Colorado Springs Surgery Centers L.L.C., Chalon Living Inc., Chandler Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Charlotte Endoscopic Surgery Center LLC, Chattanooga Pain Management Center LLC, Chesterfield Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Chesterfield Anesthesia Associates of Missouri LLC, Chico Surgery Center L.P., Childrens Hospital of Michigan Premier Network Inc., Citrus Heights ASC RE LLC, Clarkston ASC Partners LLC, Clarksville Surgery Center LLC, Coast Healthcare Management LLC, Coast Surgery Center L.P., Coastal Carolina Medical Center, Coastal Carolina Medical Center Inc., Coastal Carolina Physician Practices LLC, Coastal Carolina Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Coastal Endo LLC, Colorado GI Centers LLC, Commonwealth Continental Health Care Inc., Community Connection Health Plan Inc., Community Hospital LLC, Community Hospital of Los Gatos Inc., Conifer Care Continuum Solutions LLC, Conifer Ethics and Compliance Inc., Conifer Global Business Center Inc., Conifer Global Holdings Inc., Conifer Health Solutions LLC, Conifer Holdings Inc., Conifer Patient Communications LLC, Conifer Physician Services Holdings Inc., Conifer Physician Services Inc., Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions LLC, Conifer Value-Based Care LLC, Conroe Surgery Center 2 LLC, Coral Gables Hospital Inc., Coral Ridge Outpatient Center LLC, Corpus Christi Surgicare Ltd., Covenant/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CreAtiv Management Company Inc., Creekwood Investors LLC, Creekwood Surgery Center L.P., Crown Point Surgery Center LLC, DH/USP SJOSC Investment Company L.L.C., DH/USP Sacramento Pain GP LLC, DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital Premier Clinical Co-Management Services LLC, DMC Education & Research, DMC Harper University Hospital Premier Clinical Co-Management Services LLC, DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, DMC Imaging L.L.C., Dallas Surgical Partners LLC, DeTar/USP Surgery Center LLC, Delray Beach ASC LLC, Delray Medical Center Inc., Delray Medical Physician Services L.L.C., Denton Surgicare Partners Ltd., Denton Surgicare Real Estate Ltd., Denville Surgery Center LLC, Des Peres Physician Network LLC, Desert Cove MOB LLC, Desert Regional Medical Center Inc., Desert Ridge Outpatient Surgery LLC, Desoto Surgicare Partners Ltd., Destin ASC RE LLC, Destin Surgery Center LLC, Detroit Education & Research, DigitalMed Inc., Dignity/Abrazo Health Network LLC, Dignity/USP Folsom GP LLC, Dignity/USP Grass Valley GP LLC, Dignity/USP Las Vegas Surgery Centers LLC, Dignity/USP Metro Surgery Center LLC, Dignity/USP NorCal Surgery Centers LLC, Dignity/USP Phoenix Surgery Centers II LLC, Dignity/USP Phoenix Surgery Centers LLC, Dignity/USP Redding GP LLC, Dignity/USP Roseville GP LLC, Dignity/USP/John Muir East Bay Surgery Centers LLC, Doctors Hospital of Manteca Inc., Doctors Medical Center Neurosciences Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center Orthopedics Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center of Modesto Inc., Doctors Outpatient Center for Surgery LLC, Doctors Outpatient Surgery Center of Jupiter L.L.C., EPHC Inc., EPIC ASC LLC, East Atlanta Endoscopy Centers LLC, East Cobb Urgent Care LLC, East Cooper Coastal Family Physicians L.L.C., East Cooper Community Hospital Inc., East Cooper Hyperbarics L.L.C., East Cooper OB/GYN L.L.C., East Cooper Physician Network LLC, East Cooper Primary Care Physicians L.L.C., East Portland Surgery Center LLC, East West Surgery Center L.P., Eastgate Building Center L.L.C., Effingham Surgical Partners LLC, Einstein Montgomery Surgery Center LLC, Einstein/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., El Mirador Surgery Center L.L.C., El Paso Center for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy LLC, El Paso Day Surgery LLC, El Paso Urology Surgery Center Curie LLC, Emanate/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Emanuel Medical Center, Emerson Surgery Center LLC, Encinitas Endoscopy Center LLC, Endoscopy Center of Hackensack LLC, Endoscopy Center of South Sacramento LLC, Endoscopy Consultants LLC, European Surgical Partners Ltd., Eye Center of Nashville UAP LLC, Eye Surgery Center of Nashville LLC, FMC Medical Inc., FMCC Network Contracting L.L.C., FPN Frisco Physicians Network, FREH Real Estate L.L.C., FRS Imaging Services L.L.C., FSC Hospital LLC, FSH IT Services LP, First Choice Physician Partners, Flatirons Surgery Center LLC, Folsom Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Fort Bend Clinical Services Inc., Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate LP, Fort Worth Surgicare Partners Ltd., Foundation Bariatric Hospital of San Antonio LLC, Foundation San Antonio Borrower Sub LLC, Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, Fountain Valley Surgery Center LLC, Franklin Endo UAP LLC, Franklin Endoscopy Center LLC, Fresno Surgery Center L.P., Frisco Medical Center L.L.P., Frontenac Ambulatory Surgery & Spine Care Center L.P., Frye Regional Medical Center Inc., FryeCare Boone L.L.C., FryeCare Morganton L.L.C., FryeCare Physicians L.L.C., FryeCare Valdese L.L.C., FryeCare Watauga L.L.C., FryeCare Womens Services L.L.C., GCSA Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Gamma Surgery Center LLC, Gardendale Surgical Associates LLC, Garland Surgicare Partners Ltd., Gastric Health Institute L.L.C., Genesis ASC Partners LLC, Geneva Surgical Suites LLC, Georgia Endoscopy Center LLC, Georgia Gifts From Grace L.L.C., Georgia Musculoskeletal Network Inc., Georgia North Fulton Healthcare Associates L.L.C., Georgia Northside Ear Nose and Throat L.L.C., Georgia Physicians of Cardiology L.L.C., Georgia Spectrum Neurosurgical Specialists L.L.C., Georgia Spine Surgery Center LLC, Glen Echo Surgery Center LLC, Golden Ridge ASC LLC, Good Samaritan Medical Center Inc., Good Samaritan Surgery L.L.C., Grapevine Surgicare Partners Ltd., Grass Valley Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Graystone Family Healthcare - Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Great Lakes Surgical Suites LLC, Greater Dallas Healthcare Enterprises, Greater Northwest Houston Enterprises, Greenville Physicians Surgery Center LLP, Greenwood ASC LLC, Greystone Internal Medicine - Brookwood L.L.C., Gulf Coast Community Hospital Inc., HCH Tucson Holdings LLC, HCN Emerus Management Sub LLC, HCN Emerus Texas LLC, HCN Laboratories Inc., HCN Physicians Inc., HCN Sunnyvale Holdings LLC, HCN Surgery Center Holdings Inc., HDMC Holdings L.L.C., HMA/Solantic Joint Venture LLC, HMH-USP Surgery Centers LLC, HMHP/USP Surgery Centers LLC, HNMC Inc., HNW GP Inc., HNW LP Inc., HPI Holdings LLC, HPI North LLC, HPI Physicians LLC, HSRM International Inc., HSS Palm Beach Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, HSS/USP Surgery Center LLC, HUG Services Inc., HUMC/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Hacienda Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Hagerstown Surgery Center LLC, Hardeeville Medical Group L.L.C., Hardeeville Primary Care L.L.C., Harlingen Physician Network Inc., Harper-Hutzel AHP Services Inc., Harvard Park Surgery Center LLC, Haymarket Surgery Center LLC, Hazelwood Endoscopy Center LLC, Health & Wellness Surgery Center L.P., Health Horizons of Kansas City Inc., Health Horizons of Murfreesboro Inc., Health Horizons/Piedmont Joint Venture LLC, Health Services CFMC Inc., Health Services HNMC Inc., Health Services Network Care Inc., Health Services Network Hospitals Inc., Health Services Network Texas Inc., HealthCorp Network Inc., Healthcare Compliance LLC, Healthcare Network Alabama Inc., Healthcare Network CFMC Inc., Healthcare Network DPH Inc., Healthcare Network Georgia Inc., Healthcare Network Holdings Inc., Healthcare Network Hospitals (Dallas) Inc., Healthcare Network Hospitals Inc., Healthcare Network Louisiana Inc., Healthcare Network Missouri Inc., Healthcare Network North Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network South Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network Tennessee Inc., Healthcare Network Texas Inc., Healthcare Partners Investments LLC, Healthmark Partners Inc., Healthpoint of North Carolina L.L.C., Heart and Vascular Institute of Michigan, Heritage Park Surgical Hospital LLC, Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Hialeah Hospital Inc., Hialeah Real Properties Inc., Hickory Family Practice Associates - Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Hill Country ASC Partners LLC, Hill Country Surgery Center LLC, Hilton Head Health System L.P., Hilton Head Regional Healthcare L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional OB/GYN Partners L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional Physician Network LLC, Hilton Head Regional Physician Network Georgia L.L.C., Hinsdale Surgical Center LLC, Hitchcock State Street Real Estate Inc., Holston Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Holy Cross Hospital Inc., Home Health Partners of San Antonio LLC, Hoover Doctors Group Inc., Hoover Land LLC, Horizon Ridge Surgery Center LLC, Hospital Development of West Phoenix Inc., Hospital RCM Services LLC, Hospital Underwriting Group Inc., Houston Northwest Partners Ltd., Houston PSC L.P., Houston Specialty Hospital Inc., Houston Sunrise Investors Inc., Hyde Park Surgery Center LLC, ICNU Rockford LLC, Imaging Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., InforMed Insurance Services LLC, Integris/USP Health Ventures LLC, International Health and Wellness Inc., Irving-Coppell Surgical Hospital L.L.P., JFK Memorial Hospital Inc., JFP UAP Sugarland LLC, Jackson Surgical Center LLC, Jacksonville Endoscopy Centers LLC, Journey Home Healthcare of San Antonio LLC, KHS Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, KHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Kingsport Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Laguna Medical Systems Inc., Lake Endoscopy Center LLC, Lake Health Care Facilities Inc., Lake Lansing ASC Partners LLC, Lake Surgical Hospital Slidell LLC, LakeFront Medical Associates LLC, Lakewood Regional Medical Center Inc., Lakewood Surgery Center LLC, Lancaster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Lansing ASC Partners LLC, Lawrenceville Surgery Center L.L.C., Lebanon Endoscopy Center LLC, Legacy Warren Partners L.P., Legacy/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Leonardtown Surgery Center LLC, Liberty Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Lifemark Hospitals Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Florida Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Louisiana Inc., Lone Star Endoscopy Center LLC, Longleaf Surgery Center LLC, Los Alamitos Medical Center Inc., Lubbock ASC Holding Co LLC, MASC Partners LLC, MCSH Real Estate Investors Ltd., MH Memorial City Surgery LLC, MH/USP Bay Area LLC, MH/USP Brazoria LLC, MH/USP Kingsland LLC, MH/USP Kingwood LLC, MH/USP Kirby LLC, MH/USP Main Street LLC, MH/USP North Freeway LLC, MH/USP North Houston LLC, MH/USP Richmond LLC, MH/USP Sugar Land LLC, MH/USP TMC Endoscopy LLC, MH/USP West Houston L.L.C., MH/USP Woodlands Parkway LLC, MSH Partners LLC, MSV Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MVH/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MacNeal Management Services Inc., MacNeal Medical Records Inc., MacNeal Physicians Group LLC, Magnetic Resonance Imaging of San Luis Obispo Inc., Magnolia Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Manchester Ambulatory Surgery Center LP, Maple Lawn Surgery Center LLC, Marion Surgery Center LLC, Mary Immaculate Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Mason Ridge Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Mayfield Spine Surgery Center LLC, McLaren ASC of Flint LLC, Meadowcrest Hospital LLC, Medical House Staffing LLC, Medical Park Tower Surgery Center LLC, Medplex Outpatient Medical Centers Inc., Medplex Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Memorial Hermann Bay Area Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann Endoscopy & Surgery Center North Houston L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Endoscopy Center North Freeway LLC, Memorial Hermann Specialty Hospital Kingwood L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Surgical Hospital L.L.P., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Brazoria LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Cypress LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Katy LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kingsland L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kirby LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Main Street LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Memorial City L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Northwest LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Pinecroft LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Preston Road Ltd., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Richmond LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Southwest L.L.P., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Sugar Land LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Texas Medical Center LLP, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Woodlands Parkway LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center The Woodlands LLP, Memorial Hermann Texas International Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann West Houston Surgery Center LLC, Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers II L.P., Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers III LLP, Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers IV LLP, Memorial Surgery Center LLC, Memphis Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., Memphis Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., Merced Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Mercy/USP Health Ventures L.L.C., Metro Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Metro Surgery Center LLC, MetroWest HomeCare & Hospice LLC, Metrocrest Surgery Center L.P., Metropolitan New Jersey LLC, Michigan ASC Partners L.L.C., Michigan Pioneer ACO LLC, Michigan Regional Imaging LLC, Mid Rivers Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Mid State Endo UAP LLC, Mid-State Endoscopy Center LLC, Mid-TSC Development LP, Middle Tennessee Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Midland Memorial/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Midland Texas Surgical Center LLC, Midwest Digestive Health Center LLC, Midwest Pharmacies Inc., Midwest Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Millennium Surgical Center LLC, Mobile Imaging Management LLC, Mobile Technology Management LLC, Modesto Radiology Imaging Inc., Monocacy Surgery Center LLC, Mountain Empire Surgery Center L.P., Munster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Murdock Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, NHSC Holdings LLC, NICH GP Holdings LLC, NKCH/USP Briarcliff GP LLC, NKCH/USP Liberty GP LLC, NKCH/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., NKCH/USP Surgery Centers LLC, NMC Lessor L.P., NMC Surgery Center L.P., NME Headquarters Inc., NME Properties Corp., NME Properties Inc., NME Property Holding Co. Inc., NME Psychiatric Hospitals Inc., NME Rehabilitation Properties Inc., NSCH GP Holdings LLC, NSCH/USP Desert Surgery Centers L.L.C., NUCH of Georgia L.L.C., NUCH of Massachusetts LLC, NUCH of Michigan Inc., NUCH of Texas, Nacogdoches ASC-LP Inc., Name of Entity, National ASC Inc., National Ancillary Inc., National Diagnostic Imaging Centers Inc., National HHC Inc., National Home Health Holdings Inc., National ICN Inc., National Imaging Center Holdings Inc., National Medical Services II Inc., National Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., National Surgery Center Holdings Inc., National Urgent Care Holdings Inc., National Urgent Care Inc., Network Management Associates Inc., New Dimensions LLC, New England Physician Performance Network LLC, New H Acute Inc., New Horizons Surgery Center LLC, New Medical Horizons II Ltd., New Mexico Orthopaedic Surgery Center LLC, New Salem ASC RE LLC, Newhope Imaging Center Inc., North Anaheim Surgery Center LLC, North Atlantic Surgical Suites LLC, North Campus Surgery Center LLC, North Carolina Community Family Medicine L.L.C., North Central Surgical Center L.L.P., North Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, North Fulton Cardiovascular Medicine L.L.C., North Fulton Hospitalist Group L.L.C., North Fulton Medical Center Inc., North Fulton Primary Care - Willeo Rd. L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Windward Parkway L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Wylie Bridge L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care Associates L.L.C., North Fulton Pulmonary Specialists L.L.C., North Fulton Womens Consultants L.L.C., North Garland Surgery Center L.L.P., North Haven Surgery Center LLC, North Miami Medical Center Ltd., North Shore Medical Billing Center L.L.C., North Shore Medical Center Inc., North Shore Same Day Surgery L.L.C., North Shore Surgical Suites LLC, North State Surgery Centers L.P., NorthPointe Surgical Suites LLC, NorthShore/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Northern Monmouth Regional Surgery Center L.L.C., Northridge ASC RE LLC, Northridge Surgery Center L.P., Northwest Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Georgia Orthopaedic Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Regional ASC LLC, Northwest Regional Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Surgery Center LLP, Northwest Surgery Center Ltd., Novant Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Novant/UVA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, OCOMS Imaging LLC, OCOMS Professional Services LLC, OLOL/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Okatie Surgical Partners L.L.C., Oklahoma Center for Orthopedic and Multi-Specialty Surgery LLC, Old Tesson Surgery Center L.P., Olive Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Olive Branch Urgent Care #1 LLC, Ophthalmology Anesthesia Services LLC, Ophthalmology Surgery Center of Orlando LLC, Optimum Spine Center LLC, OrNda Healthcorp, OrNda Hospital Corporation, Orlando Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., OrthoArizona Surgery Center Gilbert LLC, OrthoLink ASC Corporation, OrthoLink Physicians Corporation, OrthoLink Radiology Services Corporation, OrthoLink/ Georgia ASC Inc., OrthoLink/Baptist ASC LLC, OrthoLink/New Mexico ASC Inc., Orthopedic Associates of the Lowcountry L.L.C., Orthopedic South Surgical Partners LLC, Orthopedic and Surgical Specialty Company LLC, PAHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, PDN L.L.C., PHPS Inc., PHPS-CHM Acquisition Inc., PHS/USP Health Ventures LLC, PM CyFair Land Partners LLC, PMC Physician Network L.L.C., PPRE LLC, PSS Patient Solution Services LLC, Pacific Endo-Surgical Center L.P., Pacific Endoscopy and Surgery Center LLC, Pain Diagnostic and Treatment Center L.P., Paley Institute Global LLC, Palm Beach Gardens Community Hospital Inc., Palm Beach International Surgery Center LLC, Palm Valley Medical Center Campus Association, Palos Health Surgery Center LLC, Paramus Endoscopy LLC, Park Cities Surgery Center LLC, Park Plaza Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., ParkCreek ASC LLC, Parkway Recovery Care Center LLC, Parkwest Surgery Center L.P., Patient Partners LLC, Peak Gastroenterology ASC LLC, Pediatric Surgery Center Odessa LLC, Pediatric Surgery Centers LLC, Physician Performance Network L.L.C., Physician Performance Network of Arizona LLC, Physician Performance Network of Detroit, Physician Performance Network of South Carolina LLC, Physician Performance Network of Tucson LLC, Physicians Performance Network of Houston, Physicians Performance Network of North Texas, Physicians Surgery Center at Good Samaritan LLC, Physicians Surgery Center of Tempe LLC, Physicians Surgical Center of Ft. Worth LLP, Physicians Surgery Center of Chattanooga L.L.C., Physicians Surgery Center of Knoxville LLC, Piccard Surgery Center LLC, Piedmont ASC LLC, Piedmont Behavioral Medicine Associates LLC, Piedmont Cardiovascular Physicians L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina OB/GYN of York County L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina Vascular Surgery L.L.C., Piedmont East Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Piedmont Express Care at Sutton Road L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Rock Hill L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Tega Cay L.L.C., Piedmont General Surgery Associates L.L.C., Piedmont Internal Medicine at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Physician Network LLC, Piedmont Pulmonology L.L.C., Piedmont Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care and Industrial Health Centers Inc., Piedmont/Carolinas Radiation Therapy LLC, Placentia-Linda Hospital Inc., Pleasanton Diagnostic Imaging Inc., Point of Rocks Surgery Center LLC, Practice Partners Management L.P., Premier ACO Physicians Network LLC, Premier ASC LLC, Premier Adult and Childrens Surgery Center LLC, Premier Endoscopy ASC LLC, Premier Health Plan Services Inc., Premier Medical Specialists L.L.C., Prince William Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Professional Anesthesia Services LLC, Professional Liability Insurance Company, Pros Temporary Staffing Inc., Providence/UCLA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Providence/USP Santa Clarita GP LLC, Providence/USP South Bay Surgery Centers L.L.C., Providence/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Pueblo Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, R.H.S.C. El Paso Inc., RE Plano Med Inc., RHC Parkway Inc., RLC LLC, Reading Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Reading Endoscopy Center LLC, Reagan Street Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Surgery Center LLC, Renaissance Surgery Center LLC, Republic Health Corporation of Rockwall County, Resolute Health Physicians Network Inc., Resolute Hospital Company LLC, Resurgens East Surgery Center LLC, Resurgens Fayette Surgery Center LLC, Resurgens Surgery Center LLC, Rheumatology Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Richmond ASC Leasing Company LLC, Rio Grande Valley Indigent Health Care Corporation, River North Same Day Surgery L.L.C., Riverside Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Rock Bridge Surgical Institute L.L.C., Rock Hill Surgery Center LLC, Rockwall Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.P., Rocky Mountain Endoscopy Centers LLC, Roseville Surgery Center L.P., Roswell Surgery Center L.L.C., SCNRE LLC, SFMP Inc., SFMPE - Crittenden L.L.C., SL-HLC Inc., SLH Physicians L.L.C., SLH Vista Inc., SLPA ACO LLC, SLUH Anesthesia Physicians L.L.C., SMSJ Imaging Company LLC, SMSJ Tucson Holdings LLC, SPC at the Star LLC, SRRMC Management Inc., SSI Holdings Inc., Sacramento Midtown Endoscopy Center LLC, Safety Harbor ASC Company LLC, Saint Agnes/Dignity/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Saint Agnes/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Saint Francis Cardiology Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis Cardiovascular Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Center for Surgical Weight Loss L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Medicare ACO LLC, Saint Francis Hospital Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett Inc., Saint Francis Medical Partners East L.L.C., Saint Francis Medical Partners General Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis Quality Alliance LLC, Saint Francis Surgery Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Surgical Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis-Arkansas Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis-Bartlett Physician Network LLC, Saint Thomas Campus Surgicare L.P., Saint Thomas Surgery Center New Salem LLC, Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP Baptist Plaza L.L.C., Saint Vincent Physician Services Inc., Salmon Surgery Center LLC, Same Day Management L.L.C., Same Day SC of Central NJ LLC, Same Day Surgery L.L.C., San Antonio Endoscopy L.P., San Fernando Valley Surgery Center L.P., San Gabriel Valley Surgical Center L.P., San Martin Surgery Center LLC, San Ramon ASC L. P., San Ramon Ambulatory Care LLC, San Ramon Network Joint Venture LLC, San Ramon Regional Medical Center LLC, San Ramon Surgery Center L.L.C., Santa Barbara Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Santa Clarita Surgery Center L.P., Savannah Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Schertz Surgery Center LLC, Scripps Encinitas Surgery Center LLC, Scripps/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Seaside Surgery Center LLC, Shands/Solantic Joint Venture LLC, Shelby Baptist Affinity LLC, Shelby Baptist Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Shore Outpatient Surgicenter L.L.C., Shoreline Real Estate Partnership LLP, Shoreline Surgery Center LLP, Shrewsbury Surgery Center LLC, Sierra Pacific Surgery Center LLC, Sierra Providence Health Network Inc., Sierra Providence Healthcare Enterprises, Sierra Vista Hospital Inc., Silicon Valley Outpatient Surgery Centers LLC, Silver Cross Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Sinai-Grace Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, Siouxland Surgery Center Limited Liability Partnership, Solantic Corporation, Solantic Development LLC, Solantic Holdings Corporation, Solantic of Jacksonville LLC, Solantic of Orlando LLC, Solantic/South Florida LLC, South Carolina East Cooper Surgical Specialists L.L.C., South Carolina Health Services Inc., South Carolina SeWee Family Medicine L.L.C., South County Outpatient Endoscopy Services L.P., South Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, South Florida Ambulatory Surgical Center LLC, South Fulton Health Care Centers Inc., SouthCare Physicians Group Neurology L.L.C., SouthCare Physicians Group Obstetrics & Gynecology L.L.C., Southeast Ohio Surgical Suites LLC, Southern Orthopedics and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Southern States Physician Operations Inc., Southwest Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., Southwest Childrens Hospital LLC, Southwest Endoscopy LLC, Southwest Orthopedic and Spine Hospital LLC, Southwest Orthopedic and Spine Hospital Real Estate LLC, Southwestern Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Spalding Regional Medical Center Inc., Spalding Regional OB/GYN L.L.C., Spalding Regional Physician Services L.L.C., Specialty Surgery Center of Fort Worth L.P., Specialty Surgicenters Inc., Spinal Diagnostics and Treatment Centers L.L.C., Spine & Joint Physician Associates, Springfield Service Holding Corporation, St. Augustine Endoscopy Center LLC, St. Christophers Pediatric Urgent Care Center - Allentown L.L.C, St. Josephs Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Josephs Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, St. Josephs Surgery Center L.P., St. Louis Physician Alliance LLC, St. Louis Surgical Center LLC, St. Louis Urology Center LLC, St. Lukes/USP Surgery Centers LLC, St. Marys Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, St. Marys Hospital Cardiovascular Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Levee Company LLC, St. Marys Medical Center Inc., St. Vincent Health/USP LLC, St. Vincent/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Stockton Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Subsidiaries of USPI Holding Company Inc., Suburban Endoscopy Center LLC, Summit View Surgery Center LLC, Sun View Imaging L.L.C., Sunrise Medical Group I L.L.C., Sunrise Medical Group II L.L.C., Sunrise Medical Group IV L.L.C., SurgCenter Camelback LLC, SurgCenter Northeast LLC, SurgCenter Pinellas LLC, SurgCenter Tucson LLC, SurgCenter at Paradise Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Deer Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Glen Burnie LLC, SurgCenter of Palm Beach Gardens LLC, SurgCenter of Plano LLC, SurgCenter of Southern Maryland LLC, SurgCenter of St. Lucie LLC, SurgCenter of White Marsh LLC, Surgery Affiliate of El Paso LLC, Surgery Center at Mount Pleasant LLC, Surgery Center at University Park LLC, Surgery Center of Atlanta LLC, Surgery Center of Canfield LLC, Surgery Center of Columbia L.P., Surgery Center of Coral Gables LLC, Surgery Center of Okeechobee LLC, Surgery Center of Pembroke Pines L.L.C., Surgery Center of Peoria L.L.C., Surgery Center of Richardson Physician Partnership L.P., Surgery Center of Santa Barbara LLC, Surgery Center of Scottsdale LLC, Surgery Center of Tempe Real Estate II L.L.C., Surgery Center of Tempe Real Estate L.L.C., Surgery Centers of America II L.L.C., Surgery Centre of SW Florida LLC, Surgical & Bariatric Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Surgical Clinical Excellence at Desert Regional LLC, Surgical Elite of Avondale L.L.C., Surgical Health Partners LLC, Surgical Institute Management LLC, Surgical Institute of Reading LLC, Surgical Specialists at Princeton LLC, Surgicare of Miramar L.L.C., Surginet Inc., Surgis Inc., Surgis Management Services Inc., Surgis of Chico Inc., Surgis of Phoenix Inc., Surgis of Redding Inc., Surgis of Victoria Inc., Sutton Road Pediatrics L.L.C., Sylvan Grove Hospital Inc., TENN SM LLC, TFPS IV L.L.C., TH Healthcare Ltd., TH International Services Florida LLC, THV Park Cities LLC, THVG Arlington GP LLC, THVG Bariatric GP LLC, THVG Bariatric L.L.C., THVG Bedford GP LLC, THVG Bellaire GP LLC, THVG DSP GP LLC, THVG DeSoto GP LLC, THVG Denton GP LLC, THVG Fort Worth GP LLC, THVG Frisco GP LLC, THVG Garland GP LLC, THVG Grapevine GP LLC, THVG Irving-Coppell GP LLC, THVG Lewisville GP LLC, THVG North Garland GP LLC, THVG Park Cities/Trophy Club GP LLC, THVG Rockwall 2 GP LLC, THVG Valley View GP LLC, TLC ASC LLC, TMC Holding Company LLC, TOPS Specialty Hospital Ltd., TPG Hospital LLC, TPR Practice Management LLC, TPS VI of PA L.L.C., TRMC Holdings LLC, TSPE LLC, Tamarac Surgery Center LLC, Tempe New Day Surgery Center LP, Templeton Imaging Inc., Tenet Business Services Corporation, Tenet California Inc., Tenet Central Carolina Physicians Inc., Tenet EKG Inc., Tenet El Paso Ltd., Tenet Employment Inc., Tenet Finance Corp., Tenet Florida Inc., Tenet Florida Physician Services II L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services III L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services L.L.C., Tenet Fort Mill Inc., Tenet Global Business Center Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Bucks County L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Graduate L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Hahnemann L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Medical Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Nacogdoches ASC GP Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Philadelphia Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Roxborough LLC, Tenet HealthSystem St. Christophers Hospital for Children L.L.C., Tenet Hilton Head Heart L.L.C., Tenet Hospitals Limited, Tenet Network Management Inc., Tenet Patient Safety Organization LLC, Tenet Physician Resources LLC, Tenet Physician Services - Hilton Head Inc., Tenet Rehab Piedmont Inc., Tenet Relocation Services L.L.C., Tenet SC East Cooper Hospitalists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Gastrointestinal Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Island Medical L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Lowcountry OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Mt. 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By AM Saturday, September 8, 2018 Share Tweet Share Share Email Screenshot: The Irish Times The protection of journalistic sources of confidential information is of vital importance and journalists must be free to operate in the public interest without police interference. These journalists are entitled to claim journalistic privilege and to seek the protection of the legal system if there is any attempt to force them to reveal sources. It is also worrying, as expressed by NUJ, that police attention was focused on journalists rather than on the issues raised in the documentary. Investigative journalists Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey were arrested on the morning of 31 August after police search was held in their houses and offices. The journalists were accused of theft of confidential documents related to the Loughinisland massacre. The laptops and possessed information were confiscated. Both journalists were released from custody on bail on the same night.Trevor Britney and Barry McCaffrey were involved in a documentary No Stone Unturned, which investigates the massacre of six people on 18 June 1994, when a loyalist gunmen opened fire on the customers in a bar in Loughinisland, Co Down. After shift in the Police Ombudsman office in 2016, a new Ombudsman report found that there had been a collusion between the local police and terrorist group responsible for the shooting, adding, that the police investigation had been undermined by a desire to protect informers. In 2017, the investigation of No Stone Unturned managed to name the main suspects.On Friday, lawyers for the documentary maker, Fine Point Films, brought emergency proceedings to Belfast High Court, challenging the legality of the search warrant used by police. The court was told that detectives were prepared to give an undertaking not to examine any of the material seized by police until the court had made a further order.The European and International Federations of Journalists (EFJ/IFJ) joined their affiliate the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) in United Kingdom and Ireland in expressing a grave concern of the arrests of Trevor Birney and Barry McCaffrey.Seamus Dooley, acting general secretary of NUJ UK and Ireland, said in a press statement The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) is the largest organisation of journalists in Europe, representing over 320,000 journalists in 70 journalists organisations across 44 countries. China's trade surplus with the United States ballooned to a new record USD 31 billion in August. (Photo: File) Beijing: China's trade surplus with the United States ballooned to a new record USD 31 billion in August, rising 18.7 per cent despite a raft of US tariffs imposed over the summer, official data showed Saturday. China's exports rose to USD 44.4 billion in August, a 13.2 per cent increase from the same period last year, customs data showed, even though US President Donald Trump pulled the trigger on taxes of up to 25 per cent on billions worth of Chinese goods. Rating: Cast: Subba Rao, Kesava Karri, Nithya Sri Goru, Radha Bessy, Karthik Ratnam, Praveena Parachuri, Mohan Bhagat. Director: Maha Venkatesh C/o Kancharapalem is a very small budget film that is backed by Tollywood biggies Rana Daggubati and his father Suresh Babu. Pre-release, the film was appreciated by heavyweights like S.S. Raja-mouli, Sukumar and Keeravani. Most of the cast is new and belongs to Kancharapalem in Visakhapatnam, where the story is set. The director, first-timer Venkatesh Maha, weaves four different strands into one story. The first features Raju, a government officer attender, is nearing 50 and unmarried, which is the subject of a local joke. Radha, mother of a teenage girl, is transferred to Rajus office as an officer from Odisha. Rajus honesty attracts Radha who proposes marriage. Sundaram, a Class 8 student, is in love with his classmate Sunitha, who sings well. Her father objects when she sings her favourite song from Maro Chatitra. Sundaram encourages her to sing at the Independence Day function in their school. Learning of this, her father sends her off to Delhi. Geddam Babu works in a liquor shop and falls in love with Saleema, who has come to buy liquor. He learns she is a prostitute but still wants to marry her. This is opposed, and she dies a mysterious death. In the fourth story, Joseph falls in love with Bhargavi, a Brahmin girl, but her father does not accept the marriage, because of their religion. Venkatesh Maha joins the batch of young and talented directors who over the last two years have served up rich fare. While most debutants choose romantic entertainers or youth-bsaed subject, Venkatesh strikes a different note. The director is inspired by real stories. There are no punch dialogues, the cast speaks as real people do with the local accent to boot. The fun is in the manner of talking, and there is no separate comedy track. Telugu viewers are familiar with parallel stories connecting at the end in films like Manamantha and Chandamama Kathalu. Venkatesh makes a good job of bringing the stories together. The cinematography makes the film look like it is happening in your neighbourhood. Subba Rao is terrific as Raju, and the others play their parts well. If there is a complaint it can be that Venkatesh misses out on the emotional part while packing C/o Kancharapalem with love, fun and pain. Full marks to Venkatesh for not only coming up with a different kind of film but successfully carrying off the experiment of roping in locals for a film which is about themselves. The 23-year-old was ordered to attend a Restorative Justice hearing, during which zookeepers told him that he had traumatised the simians. (Photo: AP) A drunk man was beaten up by a pack of tiny spider monkets after breaking into a zoo to try catch one. According to the New Zealand Herald, John Owen Casford snuck through the gates at Wellington Zoo to snatch one of the 10-inch tall squirrel monkeys - only to be discovered with a broken leg and other injuries the following morning. During his trial, Wellington District Court judge Bill Hastings said: Your intention was to capture [a monkey] and bring it home to your girlfriend. Your attempt was not successful." The 23-year-old was ordered to attend a Restorative Justice hearing, during which zookeepers told him that he had traumatised the simians. The trial saw judge Hastings joke, I don't know what happened in the squirrel monkey enclosure. The squirrel monkeys know. You say you couldn't find them and I don't speak squirrel. He, however, added that he knew that by daybreak all the monkeys were distressed, two of them were injured, and the man had a broken leg, two fractured teeth, a sprained ankle, and bruises his back. The morning after the attempted robbery, zoo staff could not find one of the squirrel monkeys and were led to believe someone may have stolen it. But the injured female monkey was later found hiding in the cage, still frightened after Casfords attempt. The altercation left the "high as a kite" young man with a broken leg, two broken teeth, a sprained ankle, and multiple bruises. It remains unclear exactly how Casford was left so badly injured but squirrel monkeys have been known to attack humans if they feel threatened and appear on Britain's dangerous animals list. The 23-year-old admitted that he tried to burgle the zoo, and pleaded guilty to three charges of common assault, two of wilful damage, assault with intent to injure, breach of community work, and injuring with intent to injure. After pleading guilty, Casford said it was a blessing he was unable to catch any of the monkeys, for his sake and the monkeys' sake. Bengaluru: The CCB police arrested a 35-year-old man for selling drugs in Devanahalli police limits on Thursday, and recovered 2 kg of ganja worth Rs 80,000 from him. The accused, Syed Moula, is a resident of BTM Layout and hails from Chikkaballapura. His accomplice, Sharif from Chikkaballapura, is on the run. The police said that they received credible information that a man was selling ganja near the Vijayapura Circle bus stand in front of Jain temple on Thursday. The police reached the spot and arrested him. They also recovered two mobile phones from him. The Devanahalli police have registered a case and are on hunting for his accomplice. The meeting, the first one to be headed by MK Stalin following his August 28 elevation as party chief, blamed the Centre on issues ranging from demonetisation, Rafale deal, NEET and the prevailing economic situation. (Photo: ANI | Twitter) Chennai: The DMK launched an attack on the BJP-led Central government on Saturday, accusing it of running an electoral dictatorship and vowed to defeat the partys saffronisation dreams. A meeting of the partys District Secretaries, MPs and MLAs held under President MK Stalin and members said the party was ready to pay any price to uphold Constitutional values. The meeting, the first one to be headed by MK Stalin following his August 28 elevation as party chief, blamed the Centre on issues ranging from demonetisation, Rafale deal, NEET and the prevailing economic situation. The BJP government is ignoring the interests of Tamil Nadu, affecting plurality and promoting communalism, even as human rights activists and those opposed to the BJP are being painted as anti-nationals, a resolution adopted in the meeting said. The resolution titled Will reject BJPs saffronisation dreams alleged that media critical of the BJP government was being intimidated while Dalits and minorities were being targeted in many places. An undeclared emergency was, therefore, in place, it said. The BJP has installed an electoral dictatorship and has been running an anti-people government for the last four years, the party alleged. The DMK also alleged that the BJP was controlling institutions like the Election Commission, IT Department and CBI, adding there is a crisis even in the judiciary, referring to the outburst by four senior Supreme Court judges earlier this year. While demonetisation was announced in haste, the GST which was rolled out last year was a goof-up, it said, and referred to the falling value of the Indian rupee against the US dollar, leading to rise in fuel prices and increasing current account deficit.These had severely hurt the economy, the party added. Further, DMK will never allow BJPs communal designs to take shape in the state and will pay any price to uphold the Preamble of the Constitution, it said. Training its guns on the state government led by arch-rival AIADMK, the DMK charged that the former had become the epitome of corruption and vowed to unseat it. It announced state-wide protests against the government on September 18. Further, it called for the dismissal of state Health Minister C Vijayabaskar and removal of police chief TK Rajendran, on whose premises the CBI had conducted searches on Thursday in connection with the Gutka scam, relating to alleged payoffs by a manufacturer. The meeting also demanded an immediate release of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, following a direction from the Supreme Court that the state Governor can consider the mercy plea of one of them, AG Perarivalan. The Tamil Nadu cabinet must meet immediately and adopt a resolution on the matter and send it to the Governor, the DMK demanded. The last Aero India show took place in Bengaluru in February 2017 in the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru. Since its inception in 1996, Bengaluru has been hosting the Aero India. (Photo: File | PTI) Bengaluru: After weeks of suspense in which the Union government refused to divulge if the Asia's largest military aviation exhibition, Aero India 2019, would be moved out to Bengaluru in Karnataka, the Centre on Saturday finally confirmed that the biennial air show would be held in the city from February 20-24, 2019. "The Government has decided to hold the Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru from 20-24 February 2019. This five-day event will combine a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries with public air shows. The Department of Defence Production is committed to make this a successful and result oriented show." a statement by the Ministry of Defence said. "Besides global leaders and big investors in aerospace industry, the show will also see participation by think-tanks from across the world. Besides giving fillip to the domestic aviation industry it would further the cause of Make in India," the statement said. The Karnataka government had asked the government to conduct Aero-India 2019 edition in Bengaluru itself. Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi insisting that Bengaluru would be the best choice for Aero India. The last Aero India show took place in Bengaluru in February 2017 in the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru. Since its inception in 1996, Bengaluru has been hosting the Aero India. There was speculation that the event, organised by the Defence Ministry, would be held Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to hold the event in his state. The Defence Ministry also received requests from Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha and Tamil Nadu to host the next Aero India. BJP National President Amit Shah with BJP Delhi President Manoj Tiwari and General Secretary Ram Lal during the inauguration of BJP National Office Bearers Meet, in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The BJP has decided to fight the 2019 Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of its president Amit Shah. According to reports quoting party sources, BJP has decided to defer internal elections to select a new chief, as Amit Shah's tenure as president ends in January. The decision was taken at a key BJP meeting on Saturday in the national capital, chaired by Amit Shah. The BJP will return to power in 2019 with a bigger majority than 2014, Amit Shah vowed on the first day of the two-day meeting, attended by senior leaders and party workers. In 2014, BJP had won a majority on its own for the first time in its electoral history. The meeting was convened to discuss the BJP's preparations ahead of elections in four states and the 2019 national election. A slogan of "Ajey BJP" (Invincible BJP) was adopted at the meeting of the party's national office bearers and also presidents of its state units. They pledged to work for the party's victory in assemply elections in the five states and a decision was taken to give extra emphasis on the elections in Telangana, which is expected to go polls with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The two-day meeting, attended by the central leadership, comes amid signs of unrest among upper castes, BJP's core vote bank, farmers' protests and angst of the SC/ST community. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the meeting the second day on Sunday. The BJP is focusing on highlighting the centre's steps for "social justice" and "economic successes" besides its schemes for the poor. Significantly, the party has chosen the Ambedkar International Centre, which works to promote the works and ideas of BR Ambedkar, for hosting the meeting. "There has been an attempt to create confusion regarding SC/ST issue, but that won't cause any impact on 2019 elections", Amit Shah told the office bearers. The party will have to do a balancing act after Thursday's "Bharat Bandh" as groups claiming to represent the upper casts, after as people of the upper castes, have been protesting the government's decision to restore the stringent provisions of a law on atrocities against tribals, after the Supreme Court had relaxed those. Senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra has demanded a rethink on the law, which Scheduled castes have claimed is often misused. The issues of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), passage of key bills -- including the one to restore the original provisions of the law on atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and another that accorded constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) -- in Parliament will also come up for discussion at the national executive meet, the sources said. This is the first big BJP meet after the death of its stalwart and former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The BJP national executive is meeting almost after a year. The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now. Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market. In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender. India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex. Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted. But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted? Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner. If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems. I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now. I want more variation in masturbation I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own. If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end. What is sex toys for Indian? Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation. It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms. They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable. 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In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing. Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome. Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own. But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance. More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around. Sextoy situation in India Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years. In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India. Mumbai Kolkata Bangalore Delhi Chennai Hyderabad These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India. In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well. If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too. If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it. What are Sextoys for beginner? Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms. Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy. I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion. I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy. If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma. Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it. Advantages of using sextoy for Indians There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways. Can have stimulating sex Can develop new sexual zones If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern. However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways. You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation. Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever. There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure. This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it. When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems. It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms). For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles [Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou... Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India. Sextoy for beginner men in India So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners. For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men! The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men Masturbator Cock rings Love Doll Sex Lubricants Toys for the prostate Lets check each one in detail. Masturbator The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products. It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands. Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands. They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.) Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much. Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! ! Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa SEXToys India PR (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018 Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood. If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ... [For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien... Cock Ring A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis. It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow. It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber. In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection. Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it. Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time. Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function. Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy. You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect. [Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat... Love Doll Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex. There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women. Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price. The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true. You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste. There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice. You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls. If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to... Sex lubricants Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules. It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution. Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse. There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent. Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent. If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here. What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many... Toys for the Prostate Another sextoy for men is prostate toys. The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line. Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men. Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men. What is the prostate? The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm. You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus. By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms. Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.) The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation. Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure. sextoy for beinner women in India The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy. The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy. Vibrator. Dildo Electric Masserger Lets check out what each one is in detail. If you want to check out womens toys, click here. [BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm... Vibrators A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator. Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy. It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy. Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women. For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators. Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex. Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself. This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual. Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men. When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons. Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most... Dildo A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis. It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass. A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it. They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well. It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device. A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo. Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands. For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis. This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one. To learn more about dildo, please click here. What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th... Electric Masserger A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores. It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low. Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels. Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation. It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure. For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm. It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out. If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager? To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here. What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th... How to choose a sextoy for Indian Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one. Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points: Does the size fit you (the partner)? Does the size fit you (your partner)? Is the environment able to produce sound without problems? Price range First of all, the choice of size is quite important. Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women. For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage. Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems. Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise. If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level. Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it. Finally, there is the price range. The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest. Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy. Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy? I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance. For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics. If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out. How to buy sextoys in India The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping. For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below. Sextoy is one of them. Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping. SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India. They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry. Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card. To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy. ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal. Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on. Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture. Cautions for Indians using sextoy When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind Keep sex toys clean Watch out for electrical leakage Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone. Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there. It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case. In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness. Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful. If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it. You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly. Summary What did you think? In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India. The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future. As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values. However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health. If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try? Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women. I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it. Shah sought to build a narrative about his party around the theme of development, especially targeting the poor, and nationalism, while painting the Opposition as those sympathising with 'urban Naxals' and working for 'breaking India' in its frustration over electoral losses. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government is working for "making India" whereas the Congress is working for "breaking India", BJP president Amit Shah said Saturday, asserting that his party will return to power in 2019 with a majority bigger than what it got in 2014. Launching a blistering attack on the Opposition in his inaugural address at the party's two-day national executive meeting, he said the proposed "maha-gathbandhan" (grand alliance) of the BJP's rivals is an illusion and myth, and will make no difference to its fortunes. Shah sought to build a narrative about his party around the theme of development, especially targeting the poor, and nationalism, while painting the Opposition as those sympathising with "urban Naxals" and working for "breaking India" in its frustration over electoral losses. Briefing reporters on Shah's speech in the closed-door meeting, Nirmala Sitharaman said he termed the Opposition as "disruptionists" and that it no longer seems to be representing the voice of the people. He made these comments in the context of the no-confidence motion brought by opposition parties in Lok Sabha in the Monsoon Session, saying that there was no reason for it and accusing them of being in "denial mode" after it was defeated with a big margin. With many political watchers suggesting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may find it hard to repeat its 2014 feat, Shah said it will handily win in 19 states where it is in power and also emerge victorious in states such as West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana due to "anti-incumbency" factor against regional parties in power there. "We will return to power strongly and with a good majority. We will win with a bigger majority than what we got in 2014," Sitharaman quoted him as saying. The BJP had won 282 seats out of 543 in the 2014 parliamentary election. Top party leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief ministers of party-ruled states, were in attendance as Shah asserted that it will return to power on the basis of the government's performance, Modi's charismatic leadership and its organisational strength. Amid unity efforts among opposition parties to challenge the BJP, Shah said his party had defeated all of them in 2014 and their coming together will make no difference to it. He also took a dig at Congress leader and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who had recently said that the Modi government had failed on all fronts, saying that while Singh follows his party, Modi leads his. Hitting back at former finance minister P Chidambaram over his criticism of the government's economic policies, especially demonetisation, Shah said over three lakh shell companies were shut down hampering black money operations and the numbers of income tax assesses have doubled. "Our workers should take on P Chidambaram and company and challenge them for debates on facts," he said. Shah also touched on the issues of National Register of Citizens (NRC) and triple talaq bill while making a passing reference to his rivals' attack on the party over Dalit issues but avoided the topics of oil price rise and reported upper castes anger over the BJP's support for pro-Dalit laws. Not a single infiltrator will be allowed into India, he said, noting that the party has been consistent in its support to the NRC with its part national executives making a mention of it as many as nine times. He also made a strong pitch for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill that seeks to grant Indian citizenship to minorities being persecuted in neighbouring countries, saying it must be done without any hesitation. Shah also made a reference to the instant triple talaq being banned in several Islamic countries and said the bill, which envisages criminal action against Muslim men accused of practising it, has been stuck in Parliament due to the Congress's "hypocritical" stand. Speaking for the first time on the raging controversy over the arrest of several activists on the charge that they helped Naxals, he praised Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was present, for the police action. Opposition parties such as the Congress are doing vote bank politics on it, he said. The BJP has often accused the Congress of hobnobbing with Naxals and being sympathetic to terrorists, a charge rejected by the opposition party. The BJP's rivals have been making "baseless" allegations against it over Dalit issues, he said. Referring to pro-poor programmes of the government, Shah said it has lived the party's ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya's principle of 'antyodaya' (uplift of the last man in queue) by benefitting over 50 crore people with its 126 schemes. He asked party workers to go to villages covered under 'Gram Swaraj' (village empowerment) scheme of the government and celebrate Diwali with residents. The party will showcase its organisational prowess in the 2019 polls, he said, asking its functionaries to go to the masses with details of the government's works. The party has also decided to organise various events on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary on October 2, observe September 28, the day the Army had carried out surgical strikes, as '"Shaurya Diwas", and hold "sewa saptah" (service week) between September 17 and 25. He also hailed the passage of a bill granting constitutional status to a commission for Other Backward Classes and claimed that the government's works have touched on all segments of society. Chennai: Continuing his tirade against the government on the gutka scam, DMK president M K Stalin on Friday reiterated his demand that the Governor should sack Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar and DGP TK Rajendran as their names figured in the list of those bribed by the gutka company, and the CBI had on Wednesday raided their premises in this connection. Even a police constable is placed under suspension if there is such a serious charge against him, Stalin said in a hard-hitting media statement here. He said the CBI has now arrested the gutka manufacturer Madhava Rao, middleman Rajendran who had delivered the bribe and some Central Government officials. It is a mystery why those who allegedly took the bribes, namely the Health Minister and the DGP have not been arrested, yet, said the DMK chief. Responding to the opposition demands for action against Health Minister Vijayabhaskar and DGP, information minister Kadambur Raju said there was no need for them to resign "just because some allegations have been made". The CBI was now probing several cases across the country and there had not been a single instance of anyone quitting post just because the agency carried out searches on their premises, said the minister. Fisheries minister D Jayakumar rubbished the charge that the CBI was being influenced by the political bosses, arguing that the Bureau remained an independent agency beyond any political influences. The CBI knows its job well and there's no need for anyone to advise or instruct them, the minister told reporters here. Joining the dharna organised by various Catholic organisations seeking reformation in the church, the nuns alleged that the victim had been denied justice by the Catholic Church, police and the government. (Photo: Twitter | ANI) Kochi: Five nuns from a convent in Kottayam took to the streets here Saturday alleging laxity in the probe into a complaint of rape filed by their sister nun against a Roman Catholic Church Bishop. Joining the dharna organised by various Catholic organisations seeking reformation in the church, the nuns alleged that the victim had been denied justice by the Catholic Church, police and the government as no action has been initiated against accused Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar diocese. "We are fighting for our sister. She has been denied justice by the Church, government and the police.We are ready to go to any extent for ensuring justice to our sister," a nun said addressing the protesters gathered here. She sought to know why Bishop Franco has not been arrested despite sufficient evidence against him. She also questioned the Church's stand on the matter. "Seventy four days have passed since the complaint was launched against Bishop Franco. The police had recorded her statements several times. But accused Bishop was interrogated only once," the nun said. They alleged that the police probing the case was trying to sabotage the investigation. The agitators held placards and demanded the arrest of Bishop Franco. In her complaint filed at Kuravilangad Police Station, the victim had alleged that she had received death threats from unknown people two months ago. In her complaint, the nun accused Jalandhar Bishop Franco of raping and having unnatural sex with her multiple times between 2014 and 2016. A special team probing the case has said as per preliminary investigation, Bishop Franco abused his position and repeatedly raped the nun. Responding to a petition seeking speedy investigation, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kottayam, K Subhash had informed the Kerala High Court on August 13 that the probe was proceeding effectively and impartially. The police, in a statement based on initial investigation and available evidence, had said it was found that the Bishop allegedly committed unnatural offence and raped the nun. The bishop confined the nun to a guest room in St Francis Mission Home in Kuravilangad in Kottayam district of Kerala, the statement had alleged. In his tweet, Yogendra Yadav, alleged that the police prevented him from meeting the farmers, accusing cops of manhandling and pushing him into police van. (Photo: Twitter Screengrab | @_YogendraYadav) Mumbai: Psephologist and academic turned politician Yogendra Yadav was detained on Saturday in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai district while on his way to meet farmers protesting against a proposed eight-lane expressway. In tweets, Yadav, alleged that the police prevented him from meeting the farmers, accusing cops of manhandling and pushing him into police van. "TN police has detained me and team in Chengam PS, Thiru Annamalai district. We came on the invitation of Movement Against 8Lane Way. We were prevented from going to meet farmers, phones snatched, manhandled and pushed into police van. First hand experience of police state in TN!" Yadav tweeted. TN police has detained me and team in Chengam PS, Thiru Annamalai district. We came on the invitation of Movement Against 8Lane Way. We were prevented from going to meet farmers, phones snatched, manhandled and pushed into police van. First hand experience of police state in TN! Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 Yadav said he was arrested minutes before he spoke to senior district official over the phone about complaints of forces acquisition of land for the eight-lane expressway and police excesses. "I had spoken to Mr Kandasamy, Collector, Thiru Annamalai about acquisition and complains of police excesses for 8 lane way. He completely denied any police interference. Within minutes of the phone call police detained us," Yadav told in another tweet. I had spoken to Mr Kandasamy, Collector, Thiru Annamalai about acquisition and complains of police excesses for 8 lane way. He completely denied any police interference. Within minutes of the phone call police detained us. https://t.co/KYrA0oHJ26 Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 Yadav said Superintendent of Police did not allow him to meet the farmers inside their home citing law and order problems. "Supdt. Police, Thiru Annamalai is here to tell me hay they apprehend law and order problem due to my presence! I am saying I will only visit farmers inside their homes. SP says I am not allowed! Gandhian disobedience is the only way out, it seems (sic)," Yadav tweeted. Supdt. Police, Thiru Annamalai is here to tell me hay they apprehend law and order problem due to my presence! I am saying I will only visit farmers inside their homes. SP says I am not allowed! Gandhian disobedience is the only way out, it seems. Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 In 2017, Yogendra Yadav launched the Jai Kisan Andolan, a campaign for farmers' rights. A section of locals including farmers and environmentalists have been opposing the Rs 10,000 crore eight-lane Salem-Chennai expressway. Farmers fear that they may lose their land while environmentalists are opposing to felling of trees for the project. Yogendra Yadav founded Swaraj India in 2015 after he was evicted from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for taking on party convenor Arvind Kejriwal. New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government is working for making India whereas the Congress is working for breaking India, BJP president Amit Shah said on Saturday, asserting that his party will return to power in 2019 with a majority bigger than what it got in 2014. A slogan of Ajey BJP (Invincible BJP) was adopted at the meeting of the partys national office bearers and also presidents of its state units. Launching a blistering attack on the Opposition in his inaugural address at the partys two-day national executive meeting, he said the proposed mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of the BJPs rivals is an illusion and myth, and will make no difference to its fortunes. Mr Shah sought to build a narrative about his party around the theme of development, especially targeting the poor, and nationalism, while painting the Opposition as those sympathising with urban Naxals and working for breaking India in its frustration over electoral losses. Briefing reporters on Mr Shahs speech in the closed-door meeting, Nirmala Sitharaman said he termed the Opposition as disruptionists and that it no longer seems to be representing the voice of the people. He made these comments in the context of the no-confidence motion brought by opposition parties in Lok Sabha in the Monsoon Session, saying that there was no reason for it and accusing them of being in denial mode after it was defeated with a big margin. With many political watchers suggesting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may find it hard to repeat its 2014 feat, Mr Shah said it will handily win in 19 states where it is in power and also emerge victorious in states such as West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana due to anti-incumbency factor against regional parties in power there. Meanwhile, sources said Mr Shah, whose three-year term ends in January, will lead the party in the Lok Sabha election in 2019 and its organisational polls are likely to be suspended till then as it focuses on the electoral challenge ahead, party sources said. A party leader said organisational polls in an election year have often been deferred in the past as well to allow the incumbent president, his team of office-bearers and workers to focus fully on polls. The party sources said on the sidelines of the two-day Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national executive meeting that Shah will lead the organisation into the Lok Sabha polls, scheduled for April-May next year. The issue was discussed in the meeting of office-bearers, they said. Shah had replaced Rajnath Singh as the party president soon after it came to power in May 2014 as Singh quit his post following his inclusion in Prime Minister Narendra Modis Cabinet. He was then elected as the president in January 2016. The BJPs constitution allows its president to serve two consecutive full terms of three years each. As such, Shah can be elected to the post for one more term. Meanwhile, Union minister Nirmala Sithar-aman said, We will return to power strongly and with a good majority. We will win with a bigger majority than what we got in 2014. The BJP had won 282 seats out of 543 in the 2014 parliamentary election. Top party leaders, including Modi and chief ministers of party-ruled states, were in attendance as Shah asserted that it will return to power on the basis of the governments performance, Modis charismatic leadership and its organisational strength. Shah said his party had defeated all of them in 2014 and their coming together will make no difference to it. Indhumathi Refineries Private Limited had taken at least 46 letters of credit from the SBI, issued against invoices to the tune of Rs 87.36 crore. Chennai: ED sleuths raided the properties of Indumathi Refineries Private Limited in connection with a bank fraud case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). According to sources, such raids were conducted simultaneously at nine places across the state including Chennai, Virudhunagar, Madurai and Coimbatore. Based on complaints that the firm cheated banks with forged documents to get a loan up to `90 crore to State Bank of India. The ED conducted searches in firms offices and houses of its proprietors too. Indhumathi Refineries Private Limited had taken at least 46 letters of credit from the SBI, issued against invoices to the tune of Rs 87.36 crore. Later, the bank lodged a complaint with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The CBI in turn registered an FIR and filed a chargesheet against the company. New Delhi: Soon after India and the US jointly put Pakistan on the mat on the issue of terrorism following the 2+2 talks, China on Saturday swiftly assured Islamabad that it was Beijings iron brother and that Pakistan would always remain a priority for China. Beijing also assured Islamabad of the all-weather strategic ties between the two nations. The assurance was given during a meeting between visiting Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad. The move is significant given the recently-concluded 2+2 dialogue at the foreign and defence ministerial level between India and the US. Mr Wang, who also holds the position of state councillor, led the first high-level visit to Islamabad since the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan assumed office after the July 25 elections. Following this, Islamabad has become even more reliant on Beijing for support at international fora and also to bolster the fragile Pakistani economy. In a statement after Saturdays meeting, the Pakistani foreign ministry said, While reaffirming the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, Mr Wang underlined that Pakistan will always be a priority for China in its foreign policy. The state councillor reiterated that Pakistan was Chinas Iron brother and the bilateral partnership served as an anchor for regional peace and stability. China will work with Pakistan to prioritise CPEC projects so as to benefit all regions of Pakistan. It added, Following one-on-one meeting, the two foreign ministers held an in-depth exchange on the entire gamut of bilateral relationship including economic cooperation, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, defence cooperation and cultural and educational cooperation. The Pakistan foreign ministry said, The (Pakistan) foreign minister reciprocated the sentiments of the state councillor and reaffirmed the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries. He underlined that regardless of political changes, the bilateral relationship will remain as strong as ever. Pakistan was the ally of the US during the Cold War but relations between the two nations steadily soured since then and have hit its nadir during the Donald Trump presidency due to Islamabads refusal to act against terrorism directed at its neighbours Afghanistan and India. It may be recalled that just on September 6, following the culmination of their 2+2 dialogue, India and the US had called on Pakistan to ensure that the territory under its control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries. The two countries had also called on Islamabad to bring to justice expeditiously the perpetrators of the Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri, and other cross-border terrorist attacks. New Delhi had also said that it supports President Trumps South Asia Policy and that his call for Pakistan to stop its policy of supporting cross-border terrorism finds resonance with it. The Indo-US joint statement had said, The Ministers welcomed the launch of a bilateral dialogue on designation of terrorists in 2017, which is strengthening cooperation and action against terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda, ISIS, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahideen, the Haqqani Network, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, D-company and their affiliates. SRINAGAR: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that he wants to convey explicitly to all in the country that if Article 35A and Article 370 are flawed provisions of the Constitution then the states accession to the Indian Union is also wrong. He said, If Article 35A and Article 370 are wrong then the accession is also wrong. Mr Abdullah who is the president of J&Ks oldest political party National Conference (NC) also said that if the Centre does not end the ambiguity in its stand on Article 35A, the NC would boycott the state Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The NC had announced earlier this week in a significant development that it would not contest the upcoming rural and urb-an bodies elections in the state unless and until the Centre clears its position vis-a-vis Article 35A. It also said that the situation is not conducive in the state for holding these elections. While speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a rally held beside the mausoleum of his father and legendary Kashmiri leader Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah to commemorate his 36th death anniversary, on Saturday Mr Abdullah said that the NC would not run away from elections, but the Centre should first make its stand on Article 35A known publicly. New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who is currently on a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar, is likely to visit Dubai next month. This is a part of the foreign outreach program that is being followed by the Congress President. The revamped Indian Overseas Congress had last year organized the first visit of Gandhi to the USA. In the USA Gandhi interacted with students, senators and business leaders. Upon returning from Kailash Mansarovar, Rahul will be get into the election mode campaigning for Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Sources said Gandhi will take a couple of days out from his campaigning schedule for Middle East tour. He is likely to address the Indian diaspora during his visit to Dubai and the Congress is said to have already started preparations to make the event successful. The Congress is reportedly hunting to book a stadium having capacity of at least 50,000 people. Vijaywada: AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu asked Telugu Desam legislators to raise public issues in the ongoing Assembly session. He conducted the teleconference with TD Assembly Planning Committee members and legislators on Friday before the start of second day Assembly session. Mr Naidu also discussed about the political situation in Telangana state after the dissolution of the Telangana Assembly. He alleged that the hidden pact between the TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been exposed with the dissolution of Telangana Assembly. He alleged that earlier Mr Rao staged a drama for the unity of regional parties. He further alleged that on the directions of the BJP and Mr Modi, Mr Rao met the JD(S) and other political parties. He said the TD will fight against the BJP and its supportive forces. He asked the TD leaders to continuously monitor the political situation in Telangana State and stated that there is a chance of uniting of parties against KCR in Telangana State for coming elections. Mr Naidu recalled that recently teachers questioned YSRC MLAs about their skipping of the Assembly sessions and claimed that there is severe opposition among the public against YSRC. He said that party will collect the details of the legislators who skips the ongoing Assembly session and directed all MLAs to attend Assembly sessions without fail. He asked TD MLAs to take the failure of the YSRC about raising issues among the masses by donning opposition role in the Assembly and Council. The agenda was self-evident at the delayed 2+2 joint dialogue of the foreign and defence ministers of India and the United States that was eventually held in New Delhi on Thursday, and both sides, in their official statements, stuck to happy tidings, avoiding areas of dissonance. What was emphasised was their shared commitment to democratic values, economic growth, the rule of law, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, recalled the 10th anniversary of the India-specific waiver by the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which had led to the landmark India-US civil nuclear agreement. He expressed the hope that the Westinghouse nuclear power project, flowing from that deal, would fructify soon and usher prosperity and security. This ignored that nuclear energy was finding declining favour in most developed nations, including in the United States, with only China racing ahead with new reactors. Defence secretary James Mattis flagged another 10th anniversary by recalling the horrendous 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai. Thus, two important pegs were marked, which strengthened the relationship over the last decade and a half high technology trade and counter-terror cooperation. The joint statement urges Pakistan rather directly to ensure that the territory under its control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries, repeating former Pakistan President Pervez Musharrafs words to reassure India in 2004. Furthermore, it requires Pakistan to bring to justice expeditiously the perpetrators of the 26/11, Pathankot and Uri and other attacks. Indias defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked for the hesitations of history to be overcome. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had used that phrase in his address to the US Congress in 2016. An indication that India was overcoming old doubts was the signing of the Communication Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), which should facilitate the transfer of additional state-of-the-art communication technology for planes, drones or weapons systems already bought or to be acquired. It would facilitate inter-operability between Indian and US forces, or with American allies. But questions remain, despite government claims that data thus collected from US equipment in Indian hands would be protected. Russia may worry about the data protection of its sophisticated equipment in Indian hands, particularly their Akula-class nuclear powered attack submarine and Sukhoi warplanes. The reality of military cooperation with a major power is summed up in the adage in for a penny, in for a pound. Thus, the P-81 maritime reconnaissance aircraft, which India already possesses, are devoid of their full capability as would be armed Guardian drones on offer sans COMCASA. India has gradually subscribed to foundational agreements that became even more urgent once former US President Barack Obama approved India as a major defence partner. The General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) was penned in 2002 and a modified for India Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016. India hesitated over feared horizontal and vertical penetration by the United States into Indian defence and government communications grids. There was also the legacy of avoiding alliances and over-dependence on any single power. Hopefully India would be factoring-in the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump and the resulting unreliability of the US as a strategic crutch. Thus, a cornerstone of Indias US policy since 2001, that the US considered a stronger India crucial to balancing rising China and for a stable Asia-Pacific security paradigm, is no longer is a given. Consequently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the aftermath of Doklam, began re-balancing Indias relations with China and Russia. Complicating India-US relations now is Americas abandonment of the Joint Comprehensive Programme of Action (JCPOA) with Iran and the Countering Americas Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) targeting Russia. It is not yet clear what slack the US may cut India on Indias relations with both these nations. Even if the S-400 missile defence system acquisition is exempted it may be conditional on India buying more US weapons. Similarly, the US will possibly insist that instead of Iranian oil, India should buy from other Gulf nations. A closer military clinch with the US may also impact thawing Sino-Indian relations. Russia too may move closer to the Pakistan-China axis, including in its approach to Afghanistan. Already, Russia has tried to play the role of peacemaker by inviting all parties, including the Taliban, for an Afghan peace deal. The Russian concern is over the rise of the Islamic State clone in Afghanistan called Islamic State Khorasan Province. Russia feels that the antidote to that is the Taliban. The US has been alleging that Russians are arming the Taliban. India-Iran relations would also get tested. Iran may not allow Indias Chabahar port project to proceed unimpeded if India was to abandon oil purchases from it, which the US seems to be demanding. The American assessment on these issues would have been shared, as indeed on the new Imran Khan government in Pakistan. While external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said she had raised the H1-B visa issue, secretary Pompeo must have emphasised President Trumps hobby horse: the need for India to balance trade by buying more US planes, etc. Hotlines are to be established between the ministers and the two US Cabinet secretaries. A memorandum of intent was signed between the US Defence Innovation Unit and the Indian Defence Innovation Organisation for co-production, which has so far seen paltry progress. A tri-services India-US military exercise was announced off Indias east coast in 2019. The US Naval Forces Central Command and the Indian Navy have committed to commence exchanges. All told, Thursdays meetings in New Delhi were more an incremental step forward than a grand leap. There was much emphasis on shared democratic values. But there was no mention of what is happening in the Maldives or Myanmar. India faces uncertain times abroad and the looming Parliament elections at home. Caution seemed to be the watchword. H10 Thursdays removal of Kashmirs police chief S.P. Vaid is being widely attributed to the recent case of policemens families in the Valley being taken hostage by militants and being released only after the police released the father of a local Hizbul Mujahideen man they earlier grabbed, along with some militants family members. (Photo: ANI) Thursdays removal of Kashmirs police chief S.P. Vaid is being widely attributed to the recent case of policemens families in the Valley being taken hostage by militants and being released only after the police released the father of a local Hizbul Mujahideen man they earlier grabbed, along with some militants family members. This was a dissatisfying new turn in counter-militancy tactics. Its not civilised conduct by the State to make militants families who are non-combatants pay for the militants path. After all, whats their fault? Such techniques were tried earlier in the Northeast, and had failed. If Mr Vaid was indeed behind the scheme, he needed to be questioned. But when a tactic like this is introduced during Governors Rule which is direct governance from the Centre such a shortsighted, unbecoming and dangerous policy could have had other fathers, especially on the political side. It will be good if the picture is made clear as Mr Vaid is a J&K officer and had appeared to be mindful of public concerns and seemed to know the lie of the land. Incidentally, as police chief he publicly advocated a proper, professional investigation into the unspeakable crime last year of the rape-murder of an eight-year-old Muslim tribal child when ruling party politicos in Jammu were banging a different drum. Was this held against him at any stage, one wonders. Curiously, during Governors Rule, the governor was allowed to leave ahead of panchayat polls. The state intelligence chief and police chief were marched out. Will more high-level changes follow? Politically, the National Conference and the PDP have said they wont take part in the local bodies elections. Not good going at all. H10 The government can detain us but cant close the ears and eyes of the people. With that sign off, hand-cuffed Reuters journalist Kyaw Soe Oo was marched off to prison, accused of breaching Myanmars state secret laws, while reporting a Rohingya Muslims massacre. His colleague, Wa Lone, also issued a terse statement, which said, We will face the verdict with courage. This brought to an end a farce of a trial that was conducted in the Yangon court, led to worldwide condemnation and protests, especially since the two journalists have emphatically denied the charges, after being held in the Yangons Insein prison since December. The most shocking aspect of the two arrests and subsequent seven-year-prison sentence is the disgraceful role played by a lady who was once admired as an international political hero, a courageous dissenter, after spending 15 years under house arrest. Who can forget Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyis media presence during those traumatic years? She was the sole voice challenging the junta the attractive and articulate face of moral opposition to the dreaded military rule in Myanmar. Today, she has lost all the global respect she had garnered over decades. She, the cherished symbol of free speech and democratic rights back then, has kept silent, shocking loyal fans across the world. The government she works for, in a post akin to a Prime Ministers, is being roundly reviled, with the UN, the US and the European Union condemning the action taken against the two men. Here in India, citizens are turning away tiredly from the daily outrage over who is an urban Naxal and who a Maoist. Even assuming that the Maharashtra police has done an exemplary job of uncovering a gigantic conspiracy, hatched by a shadowy group of people, its handling of the sensitive and highly sensational case has been nothing short of clumsy including holding a press conference, when the matter is sub judice. They have been rapped on the knuckles by the Bombay high court, which is shameful enough. What happens next is what counts. September 5 marked the first death anniversary of slain journalist Gauri Lankesh. Even though the cops claim to be close to solving the murder case, there are enough people raising key issues about the official narrative that is being dished out. I revisited the book written by Gauris former husband, Washington-based veteran journalist Chidanand Rajghatta. Titled, Illiberal India: Gauri Lankesh and the Age of Unreason, the book is an impassioned plea for restoring sanity and justice in an environment that has been vitiated by agents of prejudice and hate. In a recent interview he states, it is fairly clear there is a lunatic fringe that believes in settling scores with guns and violence; they lack the capacity to engage in dialogue or conversation. Further, in response to a question about the SIT investigation, he says, the good news is merely unravelling the plot has alerted us to the rise of right-wing extremism, which is as much a danger as left-wing extremism. Assuming, this case is cracked assuming all the other cases are also cracked (miracles do happen!), will anything change? The political scenario is so charged and toxic, citizens are prepared for virtually anything. After reading Mr Rajghattas absorbing book, which neatly marries the personal with the political, one is left with a sinking feeling that we may witness grislier assassinations going forward. Extremists find new and unique ways to eliminate those they hate. Pistols and bombs, target practice and motorcycles are so done! So passe! Surely, there must be more inventive ways to murder unarmed anti-nationals? There is no mechanism in place anywhere in the world that can anticipate, much less combat attacks planned by fringe groups out to create mayhem. The hit list of potential targets has been made public though, most would agree thats a pretty idiotic move! But there it is a list! What are people featured on the list supposed to do? Ask me! I was on one such list soon after Gauri Lankesh was killed. What did I do? Absolutely nothing! Simply because there really is nothing one can do by way of protection, besides staying cooped up at home. Ill be damned if I did that. I know the experience of living with SPG protection, and I can tell you, with all that intense training and know how, there is nothing these handpicked cops can do if an assassin rides up alongside the targets car at an intersection and pumps bullets into the victim before riding away and melting into the traffic. I am a nobody. An insignificant player. I was surprised to find my name on the list of five women journalists facing threats issued by some loony, in the first place. He had described us as anti-nationals and boasted of serial assassinations. Well so far, all five are still alive. About tomorrow? Who can tell? Its not about this particular threat or that loony. It is the growing illiberal streak in our society that is the seriously alarming part. As in Myanmar, so too, in India, it is worth repeating the defiant and telling words of Kyaw Soe Oo, the arrested journalist: The government can detain us in prison but it cant close the ears and eyes of the people. No, it cant. And that is what will save us. B09 Former Chennai Police Commissioner S George on Friday admitted to gutkha scam in Tamil Nadu, but laid the blame at the door of his successors, including incumbent Director General of Police T K Rajendran, and junior officers, while playing the victim card. Though he held out the disclaimer every now and then that he was not casting aspersions on any officer, George, who retired as an officer in the rank of DGP, said he was not the police commissioner of the city during the dates mentioned in the diary of a gutkha manufacturer A V Madhava Rao of money being allegedly paid to top police officials and politicians for allowing illegal sale of gutkha. I was not the Commissioner of Police during the dates on which payments are alleged to have been made. And I am not casting aspersions on other Commissioners who succeeded me. Mr Rajendran, Mr J K Tripathi and Mr Ashuthosh Shukla held the post of Commissioner of Police between October 2015 and September 2016 when I came back as Commissioner, George told during a press conference. He also said even during the arguments in the case seeking CBI probe by DMK MLA J Anbazhagan, his counsel P Wilson did not mention his name and ruled that there was no security to an honest officer like me. After having laid the blame directly on the DGP, who was also raided by the CBI on Wednesday, George later said the case was foisted only to prevent him and Rajendran from becoming the chief of the police force. As far myself and Rajendran are concerned, the case was brought in only to prevent us from becoming the DGP, he said, adding that there was no truth in his involvement in the scam. A combative George lost cool when a reporter pointed to the Income Tax report which alleges that gutkha manufacturers paid Rs 15 lakh to him during 2015 Christmas. Why should a former CoP be paid? Why should he paid? George asked and pointed to the scribe's faith prompting vociferous protests. After the reporter concerned and his colleagues stood their ground that he was absolutely wrong in dragging the religion of someone who was simply exercising his professional duty. There was a gutkha scam. There was some illegal activity going on and how do you expect the Commissioner to know what happens in all 300 police stations. Jayakumar (currently Villupuram SP) who was the deputy commissioner with the Chennai Police's Crime Branch then betrayed me and failed to bring the issue to my notice. That's why I gave him below average rating in his appraisal, he said. George also recalled that it was he who wrote a letter to Home Secretary after the then chief minister J Jayalalithaa's death seeking an inquiry into the gutkha scam as scandalous rumours were being spread. However, the former top police officer did not respond to questions on why he failed to take action police officers who were on the wrong side of the law with regard to the scam. A student-turned- militant and an activist of Hurriyat Conference were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Srinagar and Baramulla district of Kashmir respectively on Saturday. Reports said unidentified gunmen shot dead Asif Nazir Dar, son of a top Central government employee, in Hazratbal area of Srinagar on Saturday afternoon. Dar, according to reports, had gone missing from his home in south Kashmirs Pulwama area over a year ago and allegedly joined militant outfit Ansar Ghazwatul Hind (AGH). Sources said that Asif had earlier joined Hizbul-Mujahideen and later on switched to Zakir Musa led AGH. He was a student of Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) in Awantipora before joining militant ranks. The AGH is led by militant commander Zakir Rashid alias Zakir Mosa, who came to prominence last year in May when he threatened separatist leaders that they would be killed if they continue to call the Kashmir struggle as political rather than Islamic, and hinder the way of mujahideen. Senior Superintend Police (SSP) Srinagar, Imtiyaz Ismail Parray said a pistol and two magazines were recovered from Asif. Earlier in the day unidentified gunmen fired upon Hakim-ul-Rehman Sultani, associated with hardline Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Geelani, outside his home in Reshipora, Bomai, Sopore in Baramulla. He was immediately shifted to Sopore hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Sultani, reports said, was recently released from jail. India on Saturday called off its External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's proposed visit to Syria ostensibly in view of the escalating tension between the United States and Russia over the war-torn nation. Swaraj would have been the highest dignitary from India to visit Syria after the civil war broke out in the West Asian nation in March 2011. New Delhi, however, called it off, after the soldiers of America's Marine Corps started a live-fire drill at Tanf in southern Syria in response to Russia's threat to send its troops into a garrison of the United States armed forces in the region in pursuit of the terrorists. External Affairs Minister was scheduled to have a meeting with Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Walid Muallem during her visit to Damascus next week. She was to lead a delegation comprising government officials and industry leaders. She was also expected to call on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Her visit was planned in response to an invitation by the Government of Syria and it would have coincided with the Damascus International Fair, which President Assad's Government is holding in the capital city, largely to underscore its success in fighting the Islamic State terrorists and the rebels as well as to highlight the progress towards restoring normalcy in the country. External Affairs Minister's visit to Syria has been deferred due to the prevailing situation in that country. Fresh dates will be decided in mutual consultation with the Syrian side, Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, said on Saturday. Swaraj dropped her plan to visit Damascus just two days after she and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had a 2+2 dialogue with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Secretary of Defence James N Mattis. The US of late warned Russia and Syria against carrying out an offensive in Idlib, which is one of the last strongholds of the rebels. Congress MP D K Suresh on Saturday claimed that he and his brother, state Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar, may be arrested by central agencies, which he alleged was part of the BJPs politics of revenge. Shivakumar and Suresh were raided by I-T sleuths last year and about 80 places linked to them were searched. The I-T department has filed four prosecution cases so far against the minister. Suresh represents the Bengaluru Rural constituency in the Lok Sabha. At any cost, they want to arrest Shivakumar and destabilise the Congress-JD(S) coalition in Karnataka. To do this, BJP leaders are misusing I-T department, ED and CBI, Suresh told a press conference, adding that the I-T department, ED and the CBI had become morchas of the BJP". Suresh released a copy of a letter written by BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa on January 10, 2017, to the Chairman of the Central Board of Direct Taxes Sushil Chandra, seeking action against Shivakumar and Suresh for irregularities and corruption". Karnataka Cong MP D K Suresh accuses BJP of witch hunting him & his brother - Water Resources Minister @DKShivakumar. Said Centre misusing IT, ED. Releases letter by BJP leader @BSYBJP to IT in Jan, 2017, urging it to take action against him & his brother.@DeccanHerald pic.twitter.com/oON6aUSIfg Ashwini Y S (@ys_ashwini) September 8, 2018 The saffron party is also trying to use backdoor tactics to pressurise Shivakumar, Suresh alleged, to help achieve its mission of winning 25 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. Brothers played key role Shivakumar and Suresh played a key role in the Congress-JD(S) alliance coming to power by keeping the BJP from poaching legislators. Last year, Shivakumar was tasked with safeguarding 44 Gujarat legislators in a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru, ahead of the Rajya Sabha polls. The brothers are also close to Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy. In the May 12 Assembly polls, there was a talk of a "secret pact" between Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar - both Vokkaliga leaders. The JD(S) fielded an unknown candidate against Shivakumar in his Kanakapura constituency, in exchange for the Congress fielding a weak candidate against Kumaraswamy in the Ramanagara constituency. The two leaders are widely believed to have worked together to defeat the BJP's C P Yogeeshwara in the Channapatna constituency. Kumaraswamy won from both Ramanagara and Channapatna constituencies. Also read: I-T raids: brazen misuse of power Suresh claimed that he and his brother have not committed any crime. I got a CBI notice 10 days ago. I went to their office and answered all their questions. We are cooperating with the central agencies. We will face arrests if it comes to that. We will face whatever comes our way. Theres no question of yielding to pressure. We have faith in the judiciary and the Constitution, he said. Suresh said he had sought an appointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to draw his attention to the issue of misuse of central agencies. I dont know if hes aware that the ruling party leaders are misusing the agencies. Strong leaders from every other state - Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal among others - are being targetted, he alleged. My brother is not the lone target of the BJP in Karnataka. There are two-three others, whose names I will not disclose now. Besides using pressure tactics, the BJP is also indulging in horse trading. They have made offers to seven MLAs, asking them to jump ship, Suresh added. BJP calls it ''fake letter'' In a quick reaction, the BJP said the letter Suresh released was fake and photoshopped. In a series of tweets, the BJP pointed out differences in the letterhead of the fake letter by posting an image of another letter Yeddyurappa had written. The DK brothers are desperately feeding fake narratives to media about Karnataka BJP trying to influence IT & ED by releasing fake letters... the party tweeted. Reacting to the letter, Yeddyurappa called it "fake" and said he had never indulged in such cheap politics "and would retire from politics if its proven." The Karnataka High Court on Friday ordered notice to Congress member Tanveer Sait while hearing a petition filed by Abdul Majeed, a candidate of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), defeated in the recently held Assembly elections. Justice A S Bopanna was hearing a petition filed by Majeed challenging election of Tanveer Sait from Narasimharaja constituency in Mysuru. The petitioner has sought directions for counting of the entire Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trial (VVPAT) slips of Narasimharaja constituency in the 2018 Assembly elections. He has also sought for directions to declare the election of Sait from the said constituency void. He has stated that Sait won by a margin of 18,127 votes and the petitioner stood third by securing 33,284 valid votes. He has added that on May 15, 2018, after the conclusion of counting, the returning officer concerned provided booth-wise details of the votes polled in each booth. He had stated that in one of the booths, the petitioner had received zero votes in his favour despite his party workers voting in his favour. In wake of the irregularities in the counting and voting process, he gave representation to the district election officer requesting him to count the VVPT slips and tally the number with the final counting report, but his request was not considered. Following this the petitioner has moved the court seeking its intervention. The court also issued notice to BJPs Jagadish Shettar while hearing a petition filed by Mahesh Nalwad, a Congress candidate defeated in the election. He has contended that there were serious irregularities and mismatch in number of votes counted on the electronic voting machine and the votes recorded in the VVPT system. The Mudhol police on Friday arrested a farmer from Malapur village and seized 90 kg of ganja grown in his farm. The arrested Marthandappa Siddappa Goturu had grown ganja at his sugarcane field. Following a tip-off, the police raided his farm and seized ganja. PSIs Srishail Byakod, C B Sandrimani and staff conducted the operation. If there is something certain for us on earth, it is our sufferings. Suffering is real; pleasures are only imaginary. Theodore Gericault One of the biggest museums in the world, the Louvre in Paris, is home to thousands of classic and modern art masterpieces. A major tourist attraction, it is said to have attracted approximately 81 lakh visitors in 2017, up from 73 lakh the previous year. On March 12 this year, there was high drama when a dozen black-clad environmental activists chose to lie down on the floor in front of an iconic 19th-century painting by French artist Theodore Gericault, The Raft of The Medusa, shouting slogans against oil giant Totals patronage of the Louvre. The unexpected incident forced the management to evacuate museum-goers from the room for a few minutes. The protesters were members of the activist group 350.org which supposedly uses online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions to oppose new coal, oil and gas projects; take money out of the companies that are heating up the planet; and build 100% clean energy solutions that work for all. In December 2015, 10 activists belonging to the same group had remonstrated against oil sponsorship by walking barefoot through an oil spill created by molasses poured on the museums marble floor. Life & death A large 16 ft-by-23 ft painting, The Raft of The Medusa, is hung in the Louvres Denon Wing/Room no 77 (not far from Leonardo Da Vincis Mona Lisa). Painted in 1819, it depicts a wrenching scene of shipwrecked men helplessly caught in the grip of a ferocious ocean. The tragic event had actually occurred in summer of 1816, when the frigate Medusa, with about 150 seamen on board, was taking French officials to assume control of Senegal, ceded to France by Britain after the fall of Napoleon. The soldiers on the raft reportedly began dying quickly and gruesomely initially from suicide, infighting, and being thrown overboard. By the fourth day, only 67 remained; later, unbearable hunger and desperation led to cannibalism. By the eighth day, stronger survivors were brutally assaulting the weak and wounded. Finally, only 10 men survived on the 23 ft-by-66 ft life-saving raft, and lived through the catastrophe. The tragedy infuriated the French society, which vent its anger against the Medusas captain for absconding from the scene and leaving his ill-starred crew to their fate. Theodore Gericault (17911824), who was just 25 when the great catastrophe occurred, became obsessed with the incident. He researched on the subject in great detail, interviewed and sketched the Medusa crew-mates, and even got a life-size model of the raft installed in his studio. Despite ill-health, he travelled to the coast several times to witness and study violent storms lashing on the shore. His mission was to isolate a single pictorially effective moment that captured the inherent drama of the tragic event. This he achieved by setting the image under a fiercely gathering storm on a dark, raging sea, and focussing on the greater truth of human suffering. When The Raft of The Medusa was first shown at Pariss Salon of 1819, it attracted both praise (it strikes and attracts all eyes) and derision (it is just a picture of pile of corpses). The painting did win a gold medal, but Gericault felt defeated feeling that his painstaking efforts were wasted. He was also dejected that the salon did not show interest in acquiring the painting for its collection. The following year, however, when he went to London, he received wide success, with hundreds of visitors thronging to see The Raft of The Medusa. Sadly, the promising artist himself did not last long; he was only 32 when spinal tuberculosis took away his life in 1824. Ironically, that very year, The Raft of The Medusa was bought by the Louvre from the painters heirs for the museums coveted collection. It has since occupied a significant place in the museum, and is regarded a masterpiece for nearly 200 years. Speaking to the soul The political implication of the painting is not lost, and in fact, continues to reverberate in contemporary times. The Raft of The Medusa is one of the most startling and powerful paintings in the world, wrote art critic Jonathan Jones when the migration crisis was brewing in Europe (The Guardian/August 11, 2015). It calls for compassion, humanity and common decency. Striking in reproduction, it is truly harrowing in real life Darkness is literally eating up this painting; a deathly shadow seems to suck you into it. There is a black hole of horror at its heart. And now I have to ask: why cant we modern Europeans show the same compassion and humanity that made our forebears flock to see this protest against callous indifference to people abandoned at sea? Are we really, as a nation, so heartless that when desperate people risk their lives to try and get in our country, we dont ask why, but merely resent interference with holidays and hassle for lorry drivers? We have lost the basic human decency that should be synonymous with Europe, and Britain. The Raft of The Medusa condemns us. The refugee crisis inspired elusive street artist Banksy to create four artworks in and around Calais, France. In one of them, he adapted The Raft of The Medusa by showing a group of crowded immigrants sailing on high seas, and waving frantically to catch the attention of a passing cruise ship. In January 2017, when French artist Pierre Delavie set his new work on the banks of the Seine in Paris, he called it The Lampedusa Raft. The gigantic painting depicted the view of a sinking boat in the Mediterranean, teeming with a group of helpless refugees desperately trying to save themselves from injury and death. Two hundred years ago, our society was shocked by a similar tragedy, Delavie told TV channel France 24. Everyone felt personally affected and real debate ensued around the issue. Today we respond (to a similar tragedy) with utter apathy. Having attended at least 25 big-named Washington funerals, I can attest that it is a bit of an ordeal. Last Saturday, my wife Harriet and I got up at 6 a.m. to climb the U.S. Senate steps at 7:30 a.m. to get on a bus which departed to the National Cathedral for Sen. John McCains more than three-hour long funeral. We were then escorted to sit with the Senate in a special section near the front. If a senator arrives late, or missed the shuttle bus, he might find himself scrambling for a seat. Of course John McCains record as a prisoner of war and his life story exceeded the fact that he was a six-term senator, presidential candidate and so forth. His funeral was well done, but it was spoiled by the critical Trump references in the speeches. I knew John McCain well, having been his seatmate for 16 years on the Senate Commerce Committee, of which both he and I ultimately became chairman. Also, I traveled abroad on six congressional delegations with John. John really didnt pay much attention to the details of the Senate Commerce Committee issues as his main focus was military policy on his other committee, the Armed Services Committee. When I was chairman of the Commerce Committee, I found my friend John McCain to be a difficult man to work with. He was not interested in being a domestic legislator he was a gadfly and a maverick. For example, the Senate Commerce Committee worked for more than four years on the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was a must-pass piece of legislation so we could get the internet. I was the principle author and gave up most of my life to working on it for four years. Sen. McCain did not attend many of the long hearings and meetings, but we thought he was on board to vote for final passage; at least we didnt hear any objections from him. When the legislation finally passed the Senate, there were only three votes against it, of which John McCain was surprisingly one. That afternoon, McCain called a press conference to state that he had voted against the bill because there was too much lobbying and special-interest money spent on the bill. Press reporting on it made McCain, who had taken all the same PAC money and special-interest money, sound like a crusading choir boy. All of us wish our system did not require so much money; I am one of the group of reformers who have tried to limit it. John found success in talking directly to the press and the public through making speeches, and found it very effective. I view myself (probably also self-righteously) more of a plodding legislator. However, he certainly got the headlines. We buried John McCain and we praised him, and we should have left it at that. McCain was an unapologetic pro-war, pro-military man. He supported every invasion and called for surges after invasions had started; he would support every new weapons system, particularly every new naval carrier. He enthusiastically supported projecting American power by the deployment of troops abroad. I, myself, also a Vietnam veteran, frequently took the opposite position. My point is that McCain and I were frequently not on the same page in terms of policy. In fact, I thought McCain did not like me very well as he was often crusty around me. But he turned up to my retirement event, took the microphone and said such wonderful things about me that it made my wife cry maybe in surprise! It is not nice to say it, but John McCain was probably petty in requesting that Trump not attend his funeral. President Trump subsequently was equally petty in not attending it. Some of the speeches, although not mentioning Trump, drew unprecedented applause from inside the cathedral for punches at Trump. I thought it was out of place because it cheapened the service. Throughout history, and while reading Shakespeare, one realizes that funerals have frequently been used to express political views. Julius Caesars funeral was purely political, aimed at the establishment and trying to affect the next chapter of Roman history. Unfortunately, McCains funeral (especially his daughter Meghans speech) turned the service into an anti-Trump forum. Marc Antony said at Julius Caesars funeral: Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him. We buried John McCain and we praised him, and we should have left it at that. It would have been a far grander bonding funeral if any references to President Trump were dropped. The event could have been a completely unifying national event it in fact added to the divisions. Thirty years ago, on my first visit to the San Rafael Swell, standing in shock before the badly defaced Buckhorn Wash pictograph panel, my thoughts were aptly captured by a comment from another tourist in the visitors log: Help save Utah from the Utahns! These many years later, that admonition deserves summoning against the latest attempt to vandalize the Swell: Sen. Hatch and Rep. Curtis Emery County Public Land Management Act. This proposed legislation is flawed on many accounts. It designates less land as wilderness than is currently being protected as wilderness study areas, including around my cherished Muddy Creek. It enshrines hundreds of miles of off-road vehicle routes through sensitive archaeological and natural areas. It subverts the democratic process by allowing input only from the Emery County commissioners, excluding the vast majority of Utahns who frequent the Swell from outside the county. And it hands control of federal lands around Goblin Valley over to the state, which would exacerbate the already severe problem of overcrowding and degradation along the Eastern Reef. These serious and fatal deficiencies must be addressed before this bill even remotely approximates the will of the citizens of Utah on their beloved Swell. Scott Kadera Salt Lake City SALT LAKE CITY If you've put off writing a thank-you note because you want to get the words just right, stop dawdling. If you figure it won't matter anyway, you're wrong. And if you think you don't have time, you might want to pencil a few minutes into your hectic schedule. That nice gesture yields dividends to everyone involved, according to a new study in the journal Psychological Science that finds people miscalculate the benefits of writing to someone to express gratitude. And they overvalue the importance of getting it exactly right. The researchers, from the University of Chicago and University of Texas at Austin, found those who write such letters underestimate the happiness the gesture will bring the recipient. They overestimate how awkward the recipient will feel. And, they are wrong about how pleasantly surprising such a letter will be to the recipient, guessing it won't matter much. The writers miscalculate something else, too: How good it feels to express heartfelt gratitude. The biggest barrier to doing nice things what researchers call "prosocial behaviors" is people's judgments about themselves and how others will view them. They measure themselves on such competencies as how well they'd write the letter or perform a kind deed. Those receiving the letters don't use the same measure, says Nicholas Epley, one of the authors and a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Recipients gauge warmth. And the fact someone bothered to write forget the words feels pretty toasty. "We see it over and over," says Epley. "I think the thing that surprised me a little was how robust these results were." "It was even more positive for recipients than we expected," adds co-author Amit Kumar, a graduate student at the University of Chicago during the research and now an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Austin. "It's a good idea to go out and do it, to overcome those barriers to writing a letter. It may be the act itself that matters, not the words. It improves our own happiness and the wellbeing of another person more than we anticipate." A good life Kumar and Epley are interested both personally and professionally in "how to live a good life." They study it. They teach it. And they absorb lessons, too, applying them to their own lives. Recently, Epley's daughter, 2, had open-heart surgery and spent three days in the hospital. As he walked though the hospital hallway on his way to get a beverage, Epley glanced in a room at a woman he knew was a single mom, sitting with her child. Epley knows it's hard to tear yourself away from a sick kid. "She's probably not going to get dinner; I should get her something," is the thought that passed through his mind. His brain started kicking up reasons why he couldn't solve the woman's meal dilemma. He didn't know what she wanted. She'd think it was weird. It wasn't his business. That's the thing about the human brain, he notes. It generates excuses and predictions that may be quite inaccurate about how someone will respond. He's studied the issue a lot and knows people usually undervalue how others will perceive their contribution. They are more dismissive and harder on themselves than others are likely to be. He dropped off a sandwich and hash browns. And while the woman was surprised, she was also pleased and grateful. "I probably wouldn't have done that before," says Epley, talking about how his research impacts his own behavior. "What has changed for me is that when I feel gratitude, I am much more likely to acknowledge it now. Our research doesn't suggest you need to go around thanking people or writing notes, but when you feel it, you should say it." Kumar agrees. "I have started expressing gratitude more often. One powerful generalization that comes from studying it: Simple, seemingly small changes in our lives can make a difference in how we feel and how we treat others." So he now keeps cards handy so he can write notes when he gets the urge to express gratitude to someone. "I figure having cards on hand makes it more likely," he says. Quantifying gratitude The idea that being prosocial has benefits isn't new. The trick is getting past barriers, including perception. Epley says plenty of research shows people tend not to talk to strangers when they're on trains or in lines, for instance, even when they'd be happier if they did. The barrier to engagement is belief that the other person won't want to talk to you, that they'd find it "unpleasant and would be happier if they kept to themselves." Research generally debunks that. The findings of the new study are based on a series of four experiments, some involving students on Epley's campus, others involving research participants elsewhere. They asked participants to write a heartfelt letter to someone who had helped them or otherwise made them grateful. They also asked for a prediction about how receiving the letter would make the individual feel, as well as the recipient's email address to follow up. After recipients received the expressions of gratitude, the researchers contacted them to get their reaction. Most of the letters were sent by email, but some were handwritten and mailed. In some cases, the expression of gratitude was delivered by phone. For the most part, participants guessed their recipient would "be really happy and feel really good," says Epley. "They felt even better than that." They did not feel a little awkward, as the letter writers predicted. The length of the grateful missive did not matter. That the communication appeared to be heartfelt did seem important to creating a warm response, Epley says. While participants were surprised by the warm reactions, the researchers weren't. Epley says he's been doing similar experiments for years, including some year after year with his classes. "You could almost just change the year on the data slide," he says. The findings have been similar regardless of class size, time of year or other factors like whether students were American or international. WOODS CROSS Woods Cross Police Chief Greg Butler has resigned due to "some disagreements and some matters that came up," city officials confirmed on Friday. Butler resigned during Tuesday's City Council meeting as part of a "mutual agreement," according to a prepared statement from Gary Uresk, Woods Cross city administrator. His last day was Wednesday. "The resignation was a result of some disagreements and some matters that came up, and we decided it would be better for all parties that he resign," Ursek said in the statement. The statement did not go into detail about the nature of the disagreements. Uresk continued by saying that Butler did a "good job" during his seven years with the department. "There are no ill feelings," he said. Prior to becoming police chief of Woods Cross in 2011, Butler was the police chief for Montpelier, Idaho. He also served 20 years with the West Jordan Police Department. Butler did not immediately return the Deseret News' request for comment Friday afternoon. Lt. Adam Losoro was appointed interim chief while the city searches for a full-time replacement. SALT LAKE CITY Offering "thoughts and prayers" for the victims of a mass shooting or other tragedy has a bad rap in today's political climate. But there is power in asking God's help for those who suffer, according to Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox. Speaking Friday at an event launching Utah's participation in the national weekend of prayer for suicide prevention, he praised those who turn to a higher power as they address mental health concerns. "If we bring that spirit of humanity, that spirit of help together, we can actually change lives," he said. Rising suicide rates are a significant public health issue in Utah and across the United States. Around 4,000 Utahns attempt suicide each year and the state has the highest prevalence of suicidal thoughts among adults in the country, according to state and national data. In response, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert launched a youth suicide prevention task force and signed eight pieces of legislation this year related to mental health. But policymakers can't solve a nationwide crisis of disconnection and isolation alone, Cox said. They need the help of families and faith leaders, everyday people who are willing to talk about a difficult topic in the hope of saving lives. This weekend, hundreds of religious leaders in the U.S. will play their part when they mark the National Weekend of Prayer for Faith, Hope and Life. They'll offer prayers and sermons on mental health, seeking to comfort those who have lost a loved one to suicide or currently struggle with suicidal thoughts. "One of the hardest things I've had to learn in the past several years is that the suicide epidemic, depression and mental illness isn't something happening outside the church walls. It's something happening right there in front of you," said the Rev. Logan Wolf, lead pastor of CrossPoint Church, during Friday's event on the state Capitol grounds. The event celebrated the Rev. Wolf and other Utah faith leaders who plan to take part in the national prayer weekend. Herbert helped recruit them by sending a letter to more than 300 clergy that Cox read to the assembled crowd. "Let us pray for guidance and inspiration for intervention, the courage to reach out to one another, for patience in listening and learning, and for increased kindness to all," the letter stated. Herbert will also release a declaration Monday recognizing Sept. 10 as World Suicide Prevention Day. Cox, framed by faith leaders and members of the governor's suicide prevention task force, warned that those who pray about mental health and suicide often end up with more work to do. "I believe that God hears and answers our prayers, but I believe he almost always answers our prayers through other people," he said. "If you are a believer and you pray on this weekend to help prevent suicide, he will probably give you a task, an opportunity to change the life of someone around you." Prayers this weekend can lead people to the resources that save lives, said Elder LeGrand Curtis Jr., a member of the Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "My prayer is that we will all recognize things that we can do to help those around us who might be struggling and that we will have the courage to do those things," he said. If you or someone you love struggles with suicidal thoughts, help is available through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) and the SafeUT app. SALT LAKE CITY Be advised, citizens: "Rescan Day" is nearly upon us. While sounding a lot like a fearsome holiday from some dystopian futurescape, rescan (that's re-scan) days are actually a necessity born of the ongoing shuffling of the digital broadband landscape by the Federal Communications Commission. Thanks to wireless service providers' voracious appetite for bandwidth, accommodations to expand and restructure frequency allocations has led to the need for about 1,000 broadcasters across the country to perform realignments. On Sept. 9, Utah viewers who access local television broadcasts via over-the-air digital antennas, mounted either inside or outside their homes, will need to execute an autotune or station rescan from their TVs to continue to receive all their local broadcasts. Six of Utah's full-power broadcast stations will be making a switchover in the wee hours of the morning on that day. Engineers from each of the stations are working together to complete the process, which has been underway behind the scenes for months, according to KUED technical director Phil Titus. "We've been working about a year-and-a-half preparing for this move," Titus said. "Six full-power and several low-power stations in our area have to move. Technicians and engineers from all of our stations, even the ones not being affected by this changeover, have been working together at our combined antenna facility on Farnsworth Peak." Titus said he didn't have the exact figures, but believes the switch is costing each broadcast outlet around $1 million. Most of the expenditures will be reimbursed with a portion of the billions of dollars the FCC has raised through auctioning off new and previously occupied frequencies, mostly to wireless companies. While the work on the back end is complicated, technical and requires modifications to antennas, transmitters and combiners, for viewers who successfully complete their rescanning procedure, no perceptible changes will be noticed, including no change to each station's previous TV channel designations. Also, those who receive their television signals via cable, satellite or streaming service will not need to make any changes. Broadcast outlets involved in the move include PBS affiliates KBYU Ch. 11 and KUED Ch. 7, NBC affliate KSL Ch. 5, ABC affiliate KTVX Ch. 4, CW Network affiliate KUCW Ch. 30, independent KJZZ Ch. 14, and Telemundo affiliate KEJT Ch. 10. Salt Lake's other channels, KUTV Ch. 2 and KSTU Ch. 13, weren't required to make changes due to their previous frequency allocations. Rescanning channels on most TVs is a simple procedure. Select Scan or Autotune from your TV remote control or converter box control menu to start the scanning process. Your TV will do the rest. This process usually takes just a few minutes to complete. Once the rescan is complete, you will find your favorite stations on the same channel numbers as before. If you have difficulties, you can usually find instructions by selecting the "Set-Up" or "Menu" button on your television or converter box remote control. While the number of over-the-air TV viewers was down to around 15-16 percent of total audience in 2010 for local stations, those numbers have been on the rise. Currently, around 1/4 of local viewers pull in local stations via a digital antenna. For DirecTV customers who lost access to broadcasts of KSL Ch. 5 on Aug. 14 over a contract dispute, a station representative said negotiations are ongoing. SALT LAKE CITY Four days of confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh ended Friday with Utahs Republican senators ripping Democrats "theatrics" and predicting the judge will soon become a justice. Sen. Orrin Hatch's office summed up the proceedings this way: "In more than 30 hours of public hearings, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on a wide range of issues in an effort to determine his fitness to serve, to evaluate his qualifications and to better understand his judicial philosophy. "Just kidding. Thats only a small fraction of what happened." Hatch goes on in the statement to list five of the "most ludicrous" examples where "theatrics trumped truth" during the hearings, labeling one "I am Spartacus" and another "The Kasowitz Red Herring." "No conspiracy theory was too outlandish, no soliloquy was too dramatic," according to the state's senior senator. Utah's junior senator, Mike Lee, wrote in his weekly newsletter that Kavanaugh, a federal appeals court judge in Washington, D.C., would be a Supreme Court justice by the end of the month. "Senate Democrats are not happy about this fact and they did everything they could to stop Judge Kavanaughs confirmation process this week," he said. Lee asks why Democrats would go to "such embarrassing" lengths to stop Kavanaugh. "Because too many judges have become far too willing to interpret the law based on their policy preferences, not what the law actually says. We need judges that respect the founding principles of federalism and separation of powers. Because if judges were to rediscover these principles, then the Supreme Court would not be as powerful as it is today, and our nation would be less divisive," Lee wrote. Both Lee and Hatch criticized Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., for how they attacked Kavanaugh. Booker released confidential White House emails pertaining to Kavanaugh. Other Democrats joined Booker, saying they too would release documents. In response, Booker joked that he was having "a Spartacus moment." Republicans later said the memos were already cleared for public dissemination. Harris tried to pin down Kavanaugh about a conversation she believed he had about the Mueller investigation with a lawyer at Kasowitz Benson Torres, the law firm founded by President Donald Trump's personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz. Kavanaugh said he didn't talk to anyone at the firm about that. Lee said Booker didn't land any punches and Harris had "nothing all along." Hatch and Lee said Kavanaugh is well-qualified to be a Supreme Court justice and on track to be confirmed before the court convenes in October. STOCKTON, Tooele County Two people were hospitalized Friday with injuries suffered when their off-road vehicle rolled down a hill. About 2:30 p.m., a male and female passenger were riding an ATV on a trail near Jacobs City in Tooele County when it rolled down a hill and they were thrown, according to Tooele County sheriff's deputy Brandon Light. The deputy said it's unknown why they fell off the ATV. They were alone, he said, and one of them was able to call 911. Medical responders got to the scene "within a few minutes of the call," Light said. The male was flown to a hospital and the female was taken to a hospital by ambulance. The two were not wearing a helmet when they crashed, Light said. The victims' ages and current medical conditions were not immediately available. SALT LAKE CITY While some FanX attendees arrived at the Salt Palace Convention Center for the flashy merchandise and out-of-this-world costumes, Jackie Illario's focus was set on a much rarer sight: actor Jeff Goldblum. The Sandy resident was determined to meet the "Jurassic Park" and "Independence Day" star. When the moment finally came, it lived up to the hype. "It was pretty stunning," she said, her face blushing bright pink minutes after receiving Goldblum's autograph. "He looked beautiful. He recognized my costume and said it was beautiful, which is a highlight of my life, I think." At FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention which continues through Saturday, Sept. 8 celebrities are a common and expected sight, often participating in panel discussions and Q&A sessions on stage. But for all the fun it is to see a celebrity from afar, the experience of interacting with them one-on-one is as exciting as taking a spin in Doctor Who's TARDIS. Thousands of fans packed the center on Friday with the goal of posing for photos with their favorite celebs and acquiring long-sought autographs. Friday's celebrity guest roster included "Doctor Who" star David Tennant, "The Office" actor Rainn Wilson and "Stranger Things" breakout Gaten Matarazzo, among others. For some fans, sharing a moment with their favorite actor is the opportunity of a lifetime that comes after years of adoration. But the excitement of seeing a longtime idol off screen can be overwhelming. "Last time I met someone I just froze," said Alanna Cottam from Sandy. "My brain just turns into putty when Im next to them because all of the sudden Im like, 'Youre a real human being and Im right next to you.'" The suspense can be so much that even mental preparation can't keep the awkwardness at bay sometimes. "You kind of get in your mind what you want to say, but when you get up there youre like, 'What do I say again?'" said Brock Harris, who traveled from Idaho to meet some of his favorite television stars. "Its just like a stupor moment." But despite the chaos of meeting a celebrity, most fans are just grateful for the opportunity. "They create art through film, television and animation that just speaks to me and I love it," Harris said. "It helped me grow into who I am. So when I get to see them, its cool. I want to show them love." Abdul Ojeda spent most of his life looking up to Jason David Frank of "Power Rangers" fame. Coming face to face with the actor gave him the chance to finally express the gratitude he's carried in his heart over the years. "He was my hero when I was growing up," Ojeda said. "I still watch him a lot. To me, hes a great guy. I loved meeting him." Meeting a television or movie star is more than just a photo op or ink on a poster, according to Houston Brooks, who traveled from Las Vegas to meet "Once Upon a Time" actress Jennifer Morrison. It's an important and impactful moment. "Its meeting a role model," Brooks said. "Someone as strong or as brave as (Morrison) its an inspiration. And thats with other celebrities as well." GIB Capital, the investment banking arm of Gulf International Bank (GIB), said it had acted as the financial advisor to Al Talaa International Transportation Company (Al Talaa or Hanco) on the SR930 million ($253 million) sale of Byrne Equipment Rental to Itqan Investments and Tamar VPower Energy Fund. Byrne Equipment Rental is a leading supplier of rental equipment including power rental solutions across the GCC region and has been named one of the top 100 rental companies in the world by International Rental News. The company offers equipment rental solutions to a variety of sectors including oil and gas, construction and infrastructure, events, industrial and manufacturing, and marine and ports. The deal also includes other businesses within the Byrne Group, namely Spacemaker (UAE), Byrne Technical Services and Byrne Medical Equipment Rental. Hamad Al Sulaiman, the owner and chairman of Itqan, and chairman and CEO of the Byrne Group, said: "The acquisition will support Byrnes plans to grow into the Asian markets and replicate the success the company has already achieved in the GCC region, and tap into a wider scope of power generation solutions in the GCC region." "Our clients here in the GCC will continue to receive an outstanding level of service and will benefit from a growth in our rental fleet, both in terms of size and diversity," stated Al Sulaiman. Tamar VPower Energy Fund is jointly managed by a Hong Kong-based company, VPower Group International, engaged in power generation, and Citic Pacific, a diversified Chinese Government owned conglomerate. GIB Capitals CEO Osamah Shaker said: "This transaction is Citic Pacifics (Chinese Government owned conglomerate) first investment in the region and signifies the attractiveness of the region for Foreign Direct Investments. We are extremely proud to have been associated with this transaction." "We congratulate Al Talaa on the successful closure of this deal and wish the buyers the very best for their future endeavors. We look forward to continuing to play a leading role in Saudi capital markets based on our traditional strengths and the strengths of our team," he added.-TradeArabia News Service Scott and Crystal Shank push sons Braxden and Jayden in their new, specially built wheelchair costumes during the FanXSalt Lake Comic Convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. Magic Wheelchair, a nonprofit organization that builds epic costumes for kids and young adults with disabilities, partnered with Monster City Studios to create a Captain America-themed wheelchair costume for 16-year-old Jayden, and a Hulk-themed wheelchair costume for 13-year-old Braxden. The Shank brothers, from Murray, battle immobility caused by an unknown familial genetic syndrome. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Aides raise a Captain America-themed wheelchair costume over Jayden Shank's head during the FanXSalt Lake Comic Convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. Magic Wheelchair, a nonprofit organization that builds epic costumes for kids and young adults with disabilities, partnered with Monster City Studios to create 16-year-old Jayden's costume and a Hulk-themed wheelchair costume for his 13-year-old brother Braxden. The Shank brothers, from Murray, battle immobility caused by an unknown familial genetic syndrome. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Braxden Shank sits inside his new Hulk-themed wheelchair costume during the FanXSalt Lake Comic Convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. Magic Wheelchair, a nonprofit organization that builds epic costumes for kids and young adults with disabilities, partnered with Monster City Studios to create the 13-year-old Braxden's costume and a Captain America-themed wheelchair costume for his 16-year-old brother Jayden. The Shank brothers, from Murray, battle immobility caused by an unknown familial genetic syndrome. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Crystal Shank kisses son Braxden during the FanXSalt Lake Comic Convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. Magic Wheelchair, a nonprofit organization that builds epic costumes for kids and young adults with disabilities, partnered with Monster City Studios to create a Hulk-themed wheelchair costume for 13-year-old Braxden and a Captain America-themed wheelchair costume for his 16-year-old brother Jayden. The Shank brothers, from Murray, battle immobility caused by an unknown familial genetic syndrome. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Aides raise a Captain America-themed wheelchair costume over Jayden Shank's head during the FanXSalt Lake Comic Convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. Magic Wheelchair, a nonprofit organization that builds epic costumes for kids and young adults with disabilities, partnered with Monster City Studios to create 16-year-old Jayden's costume and a Hulk-themed wheelchair costume for his 13-year-old brother Braxden. The Shank brothers, from Murray, battle immobility caused by an unknown familial genetic syndrome. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Crystal Shank gives son Braxden a high-five during the FanXSalt Lake Comic Convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. Magic Wheelchair, a nonprofit organization that builds epic costumes for kids and young adults with disabilities, partnered with Monster City Studios to create a Hulk-themed wheelchair costume for 13-year-old Braxden and a Captain America-themed wheelchair costume for his 16-year-old brother Jayden. The Shank brothers, from Murray, battle immobility caused by an unknown familial genetic syndrome. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Scott and Crystal Shank place a Captain America-themed wheelchair costume over Jayden Shank's wheelchair during the FanXSalt Lake Comic Convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. Magic Wheelchair, a nonprofit organization that builds epic costumes for kids and young adults with disabilities, partnered with Monster City Studios to create 16-year-old Jayden's costume and a Hulk-themed wheelchair costume for his 13-year-old brother Braxden. The Shank brothers, from Murray, battle immobility caused by an unknown familial genetic syndrome. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News Crystal Shank teases son Jayden as both her sons Braxden and Jayden during the FanXSalt Lake Comic Convention at the Salt Palace Convention Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018. Magic Wheelchair, a nonprofit organization that builds epic costumes for kids and young adults with disabilities, partnered with Monster City Studios to create a Captain America-themed wheelchair costume for 16-year-old Jayden and a Hulk-themed wheelchair costume for his 13-year-old brother Braxden. The Shank brothers, from Murray, battle immobility caused by an unknown familial genetic syndrome. Scott G Winterton, Deseret News SALT LAKE CITY Joanna Geraghty said being the highest-ranking woman in the airline industry is humbling, but also frustrating. "It shouldn't be that way in 2018," said Geraghty, JetBlue's president and chief operating officer. "There should be many more in this space ranked even higher than me." JetBlue teamed up with the Utah STEM Action Center and Atlantic Aviation Friday to teach girls about careers in flight, especially those relying on science, technology, engineering and math. "Often times, girls don't see themselves in these roles," Geraghty said, citing the lack of female role models who are pilots, technicians or other STEM-related positions. "It's about exposure," she added. "We know that the more you expose girls and young women to careers in STEM, they start thinking that they can actually do that type of career." Sarahi Echeverria, 13, wants to be a pilot, and even has a goal of getting her private pilot's license when she turns 16. "I just really like to see things from a different perspective," she said, adding that flying is like being on "invisible roads up in the air." Women in management positions at JetBlue spoke to the crowd of around 100 girls, age 8 to 14, answering questions about what their most difficult challenges have been and their favorite things about their jobs. One of the girls drew a laugh when she asked when the presentations would end and the "actually fun stuff" would begin. Paula Minniti, the general manager for JetBlue LAX, was asked what motivates her to "go in front of all the men" in her work. "It gives me a lot of pride to know that I'm a minority in this industry," she responded. "You have to be strong, assert yourself, and walk away feeling good about the task you accomplished." Yezelle Del Valle, 8, asked how much an airplane costs. When Joni Guerts, the accounts payable manager at Jet Blue, told her they can cost up to $56 million, Del Valle responded, "Ouch." The girls later divided into groups and talked to more women in various occupations at JetBlue, from customer service to in-airport and in-flight positions. The highlight for many girls, however, was being able to board a JetBlue plane parked outside. Female technicians showed them the inside of turbines and landing gears, while female pilots gave tours of the cockpit and even allowed the girls to sit down and touch the controls. Tami Goetz, the executive director of the STEM Action Center, said she admired JetBlue's company-wide effort to both push for STEM careers and encourage girls to pursue those careers. "I've never seen this from a professional aviation company before," she said. "My sense when I walked in the door was that this is a pretty all-hands-on-deck JetBlue team." SALT LAKE CITY The parents of a Park City teenager who died after taking a synthetic opioid known as "pink" are suing the companies that brought the drugs from China to Utah. James and Deborah Seaver blame the now-defunct darknet marketplace AlphaBay and the estate of its deceased founder Alexandre Cazes, The Onion Router or Tor, free software that enables anonymous communication, and China Postal Express & Logistics Co. for the death of their 13-year-old son Grant. The wrongful death lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court seeks at least $10 million in damages. Grant Seaver died in September 2016 after overdosing on a deadly synthetic opioid made in China called U-47700, known on the street as "pink." "Defendants knew that placing U-47700 into the stream of commerce created a high risk of death to G.S. and other minor children," the lawsuit says. Grant Seaver and his best friend, 13-year-old Ryan Ainsworth, died two days apart after ingesting the drug. According to the lawsuit, AlphaBay was the largest darknet market selling controlled substances and illicit drugs, including those manufactured in China, from 2014 to July 2017. The website provided anonymity to its users engaged in illicit commerce by being accessible only through the Tor network, the suit says. The Justice Department shut down AlphaBay in the United States, Canada and Thailand in July 2017. Cazes, a Canadian, was found dead of an apparent suicide in his jail cell in Thailand a week after his arrest. In March, the Seavers filed a wrongful death suit in state court against the parents of four of their son's friends allegedly involved in his death, including a 17-year-old girl and Ryan Ainsworth's parents. The Seavers allege their son's death was caused by negligent supervision and "abnormally dangerous activity" on the part of the other parents. The suit contends that in the weeks before Grant Seaver's death, the teen girl's parents found a box of Chinese drugs purchased by the three other teens that were shipped to the girl. Prosecutors charged the girl with felony drug distribution. She has pleaded not guilty. The three tech giants - Apple, Google and Microsoft, all have something to show off this fall. After Apple scheduled its iPhone launch on September 12, Google announced its Pixel event for October 9. Now, Microsoft has also sent out invites for a Surface event set for October 2. Microsofts event is scheduled for October 2 in New York at 4PM ET or 1:30 AM IST. The invite just reads a moment of your time and does not give away any other information as to what the Redmond-based tech giant plans to launch. It is speculated that Microsoft will update its existing Surface lineup and possibly launch a new Surface Laptop. Microsoft launched the Surface Laptop last year and updated the Surface Book this year in the form of the Surface Book 2. The Surface Laptop and Book 2 just recently made an appearance in India starting at Rs 86,999 and Rs 1,37,999. Microsofts Surface Phone has also been rumoured for a long time now, but dont expect the same to launch at the October 2 event. Microsoft could possibly announce something related to Qualcomm Snapdragon 1000 chipsets on Windows 10 laptops and tablet. The Snapdragon 1000 is said to compete with Intel's Y- and U-series Core processors. Source Fredrik Reinisch has been appointed as the complex general manager of the newly-rebranded Hilton hotels at Al Habtoor City, a report said. Reinisch, who joins from Habtoor Grand Resort in Dubai Marina, will be responsible for operations at the Al Habtoor City, Hotel Collection which includes Habtoor Palace, LXR Hotels & Resorts; V Hotel, Curio Collection by Hilton; and Hilton Dubai Al Habtoor City, said a report in Hotel News ME. A highly motivated and experienced hotel and hospitality professional, Reinisch has worked for high-profile hotel groups in the UAE, Sweden and the UK. He first entered the hospitality industry when he joined Millennium and Copthorne Hotels in the UK after studying hotel management in the UK and Sweden, the report said. Al Habtoor City has successfully established itself as one of the regions landmark hotel, leisure, and residential destinations. I look forward to welcoming guests from across UAE, the region, and the world to Al Habtoor City, Hotel Collection. Reinisch said. Collectively, the three hotels - managed by Habtoor Hospitality - boast nearly 1,600 guest rooms and suites, 18 restaurants and lounges, two spas, and 34 banqueting and meeting spaces, including three large ballrooms, it said. The decision by the Department of the Taoiseach to decline a request to a meeting with the mother of murdered Donegal woman Danielle McLaughlin arose from a misunderstanding according to the most recent Department response. Andrea Brannigan, Danielles mother, had sought the meeting with Leo Varadkar who is due in County Donegal on Tuesday where he has a number of engagements, among them one in Buncrana. In their initial response to her emailed request, the Office of the Taoiseach told Ms Brannigan that the meeting was not possible on the grounds that Danielle was a British citizen. However, Danielle was indeed an Irish citizen, and as such entitled to hold an Irish passport. Since this emerged the Department have issued a second response saying the Department sincerely regrets the misunderstanding that arose in this case. In the most recent development, Donegal TD, Pat the Cope Gallagher says no one has been in contact with Ms Brannigan since the error was discovered and he has urged the Taoiseach to meet Ms Brannigan when he visits Buncrana on Tuesday. In an email to the Taoiseach he states: "I would respectfully suggest that immediate contact is made with Andrea clarifying the position in relation to media reports. I would also strongly recommend that you meet with the family when in Buncrana next Tuesday." Danielle McLaughlin was murdered in Goa, India in March, 2017 and her mother had sought the meeting to discuss her daughters case. Clarifying their initial response the most recent response from the Taoiseach's Department reads: "The letter received by the Department of the Taoiseach from Danielles mother indicated that Danielle was travelling on a British passport, leading officials handling the matter to incorrectly conclude that Danielle was a British citizen. This was the basis on which the office advised Danielles family that the matter would be most appropriately handled by the British authorities. Having now clarified the facts surrounding this case, the Department can confirm that Consular services of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have and will continue to be provided to Danielles family, as appropriate. The Department sincerely regrets the misunderstanding that arose in this case. A short time ago Fianna Fail TD Pat the Cope Gallagher told the Donegal Democrat Ms Brannigan has so far received no apology from anyone. He said he spoke to her this (Saturday) morning and she had not spoken to anyone from or on behalf of the Taoiseach or his Department. Deputy Gallagher said he was now calling on the Taoiseach to meet Ms Brannigan when he is in Buncrana and in the shorter term he feels someone should, out of courtesy if nothing else speak to her. A copy of an email sent by Deputy Gallagher to the Taoiseach appeals to him to now meet Ms Brannigan. In his email Deputy Gallagher says he would strongly recommend that the Taoiseach meet Ms Brannigan on Tuesday, the full text of his email is as follows: "Taoiseach, I am, to say the least, extremely disappointed to learn that Daniels mother Andrea was advised by your Department that she would be better served by contacting the British Foreign Office regarding Danielles murder in India. I understand from media reports that your Department has now apologized and confirmed that Foreign Affairs would continue to provide consular services. I have just spoken to Andrea who advises that she has not received any such confirmation from your Dept. I would respectfully suggest that immediate contact is made with Andrea clarifying the position in relation to media reports I would also strongly recommend that you meet with the family when in Buncrana next Tuesday. I await confirmation from you. Regards Pat the Cope Pat the Cope Gallagher TD Leas Cheann Comhairle Dail Eireann." 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. More on the Neo-Cons' March through the Institutions. Brian Hook, the new chief of the Iran Action Group (IAG) , whose other members mysteriously haven't been made public, is a long time fellow-traveler and functionary of the neo-con policies that are increasing taking hold in the Administration. The MSM glibly report that Hook was/is a Tillerson loyalist, and that he is "close to" the "Never Trump" crowd, creating an impression that he is a moderate who might resist a flight forward to war with Iran. False impression. In 2006, Hook was senior advisor to recess-appointed US Ambassador to the United Nations -- John Bolton, now the National Security Advisor to Trump. Bolton is a maniacal advocate for Iranian regime change and US military strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, and Hook might be seen as Bolton's boy inside the State Dept. Bolton is also an ardent supporter (along with Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and a possible beneficiary) of the regime change advocates of the Rajavi Family cult known as the MEK (Mujahedin-e Khalq or the National Council of Resistance in Iran). At the neo-con shrine in DC, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, Hook gave a raving speech filling out the picture on what his job on Iran is all about. Samantha Powers, Susan Rice, and Hillary Clinton should be ecstatic. Hook's human rights playbook comes directly out of Humanitarian Interventionism, with dash of neo-con hot sauce. Like most neo-con thinkers, Hook advocates crushing, crippling sanctions that supposedly will suffocate the population to the point that there will be an uprising that overthrows the regime. It's a form of collective punishment--a neo-con pipe dream that destroys nations and people. Hook's mission on Iran is described as coming from Pompeo at the State Dept, but well-placed sources say it's a National Security Council operation, and Bolton's brainchild. State is allowed to take the point in appearing to coordinate the inter-agency efforts. (Warning: anyone who thinks that Pompeo has a lot of influence should look again at the humiliating cancellation of his planned trip to North Korea. That should be a wake-up call) How the Iran Action Group is working: well-placed Washington insiders say that IAG is the policy arm of the Administration on Iran. It's members haven't been publicly named, but it's already full-steam ahead. Its job is to wage total financial and economic war against Iran. Functionaries like Hook are already at work from within the Treasury Dept., the IC, the Commerce Dept. (punishing tariffs), and other branches of the Administration to forces all nations that are allied with the United States to cut off trade (including some oil contracts), investment, exports to Iran, joint projects, infrastructure projects, or anything else that is designed to bring the country to its knees. The oil sector is a key target, but the IC and other US professionals know very well that Iran has the means to circumvent these crushing efforts against Iran's economy. The moves taken by the Trump Administration against Iran are already acts of war. And countries like France and Japan which are "allies" of the United States have already been threatened with economic squeeze plays and responded like vassal states, reluctant but vassals nonetheless. Bolton's neo-con loyalty credentials are well-documented, but Hook's less so. When Brian Hook left Bolton's service in the George W. Bush administration, he became a member of the steering committee of the John Hay Initiative along with Eric Edelman, who worked in Dick Cheney's office and who was one of the intimates of the Dick Cheney cabal (Wolfowitz, Perle, Doug Feith, etc.), and Eliot Cohen, a chicken-hawk big mouth in Richard Perle's shop. Longtime readers of SST might remember Cheney's hell-bent-on-war-with-Iran efforts of 2006. Also involved in the John Hay initiative with Brian Hook are Fox News Gen. Michael Hayden and neo-con theoretician Robert "Mr. Victoria Nuland" Kagan. (UN Photo/Loey Felipe)The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby briefs the UN Security Council in New York on August 31, 2018. The Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has briefed the UN Security Council in New York on mediation and conflict resolution urging it not move beyond "fragmented" efforts to engage faith-based bodies in reconciliation. Welby is the first Archbishop of Canterbury to address the body, invited to do so by the UK's Permanent Representative to the UN, Karen Pierce. The Church Times reported. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England and the symbolic head of the 79-million strong worldwide Anglican Communion. Welby told the UNSC on Aug. 31 that "the international rule-based order is struggling." "The Church and other faith communities are intimately present where there are conflicts," said the archbishop who was an exucutive in the international oil industry before joining the Anglican ministry. "We cannot and will not walk away from them." He said the Church needs to complement mediation and the whole conflict cycle within the framework of reconciliation. "The vision of the UN's founders was no less than to abolish conflict. We have avoided global, nuclear war, yet not its continuing menace." Yet short-term advantage for one interest leads to long-term destruction for all, through great wars and through small conflicts, he added. "Reconciliation is not an act that comes at the end of the conflict cycle," he said. "It must become the framework that enables us to sustain peace and avoid conflict cycles repeating with ever-increasing destructive force," said Welby. He further asked if approaches to reconciliation are currently adequate, especially using local, religious and traditional sources of peacemaking. "Even in this time of uncertainty, and renewed international rivalry, for the sake of future peace we must invest in reconciliation and learn how to support transformation in human relationships better," said the Anglican leader, according to the World Council of Churches. "The role that an institution like the Church plays here is significant." Religious institutions are often the only functioning institution in a fragile or pre-conflict situation. "They are present before, during and after conflict," he said. "They provide early warning for signs of conflict in communities." Welby noted that large tracts of territory around the world are violently contested, in situations where governments have failed. "As we think about new and innovative approaches to conflict prevention, this is an example of how the UN, member states and faith actors can be allies, with the potential for transformational results," the archbishop said. How can countries collaborate to make sure that their students are prepared for the jobs of the future? That was the question facing U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and her counterparts from around the globe as they met in Mendoza, Argentina, last week for the first-ever G-20 meeting of education and employment ministers. The summit focused on the future of work. DeVos took the opportunity to visit career and technical education programs in Argentina and Chile. In a speech to the summit, DeVos advocated for individualized instruction to ensure students get the career preparation they need. And she suggested that students be encouraged to think beyond the traditional four-year-college track. Students need multiple and flexible pathways to pursue the opportunities that our global economy offers, DeVos said, listing possibilities including industry-board-recognized certificates, two-year degrees, and apprenticeships. All of these are valid pursuits. Each should be embraced as such. If its the right fit for the student, then its the right education. And importantly, no stigma should stand in the way of a students journey to success. The G-20, or Group of 20, provides a forum for countries, including many of the worlds largest economies, to discuss international development and cooperation. The ministers gathered to talk about how their nations can identify and help students develop the digital and other skills that will be needed for the jobs of the future, with a special emphasis on vulnerable populations. And the agenda included discussions on how policymakers can better coordinate with business and other sectors. 21st Century Skills Ultimately, the meeting resulted in a declaration that calls for putting education at the center of the global agenda. It says the G-20 nations will work to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. DeVos said in a conference call from South America that the document was very consistent with all of the themes that weve been talking about. The need for America to focus on opportunities for students today and also for [those returning to the workforce]" In particular, the summit stressed the need to help students develop so-called 21st century skills, such as communication and collaboration; to promote entrepreneurial skills, such as leadership; to foster the development of science, technology, engineering, arts, and math; and to promote career and technical training. And DeVos said that some of the other countries in the G-20 are making more progress in these areas than the U.S. There are too many other countries that are further down the path of adopting some of these themes and embracing some of these opportunities, she said. In particular, DeVos was impressed with a visit to an after-school program in Mendoza that has a strong focus on science, technology, engineering, and math education. It is emblematic of where we need to go for students to get them more engaged in and taking more ownership of their learning and education, DeVos said. DeVos also traveled to Santiago, Chile, where she visited Liceo Industrial Eliodoro Garcia Zege, a school that describes its mission as professional technical training, based on competencies, with a projection toward higher education. She also visited Instituto Nacional de Capacitacion Santiago, which offers postsecondary training. And she met with her Chilean counterpart, Minister of Education Marcela Cubillos, as well as U.S. Ambassador Carol Perez. While there, DeVos met with Minister of Education Marcela Cubillos, who is a member of the political party that is most supportive of choice. DeVos is one of the biggest choice cheerleaders in the U.S. and has pushed for more money for vouchers here. But she said the two didnt delve deeply into policy, and that their conversation focused much more on workforce preparation. Chile has one of the most robust school choice programs in the world. It was established by dictator Augusto Pinochet back in 1980. The state allocates a certain amount of funding for each childs education, and those dollars can be spent in a public or private school. School choice fans have long celebrated Chiles system. Jennifer Pribble, an associate professor of political science and global studies at the University of Richmond, described it as Milton Friedman to a T, a reference to the conservative economist who championed the modern concept of vouchers. The system may have helped more Chilean students enroll in school, but it also introduced huge inequality into the system, Pribble said. Current Price for Australian Dollar to US Dollar exchange rate: 0.71056 The AUD/USD exchange rate's technical support on short and long-term timeframes shows extreme weakness Economic and political fears continue to weigh down the Australian Dollar. Above: AUD/USD rate continues to push lower, breaks multi-year support levels The Australian Dollar (AUD) continues to fall considerable amounts with very little relief in sight. Since the high of the calendar year of 0.81356 made on January 18th 2018, AUD/USD has dropped -1,036 pips, creating a staggering -12.74% loss against the US Dollar. The trend down from that date has been one of strength and power. Adding to these current calendar year bearish conditions is multiyear support levels that the AUDUSD pair has shattered. The 17-year long uptrend line has been broken, as well as horizontal support levels. The AUD/USD pair is currently trading below the February 2016 lows. The next level of support is at the 0.7050 zones. The power and swiftness of the move down in the AUD/USD pair should be observed and compared to the most recent major bear move in the AUD/USD FX pair. From April of 2013 to January of 2016, the AUD/USD pair supper a nearly three yearlong bear trend that saw the AUD/USD FX pair drop -1450 pips over a 720-day trading period. The current bear trend has retraced over 71% of the 2013-2016 move in only 31% of the time. Strong domestic and international issues weigh down the Aussie Dollar Continued concerns over domestic elections contribute to concerns over the Aussie Dollar. Additionally, there are continued weak economic announcements sprinkled with some positive economic releases. But none of the positive news has been able to buoy the AUD/USD FX pair higher. The continued US and China trade dispute is perhaps the greatest factor in the weakness of the AUD/USD FX pair. On the final day of the trading week, the AUD/USD pair suffered additional losses when US President Trump announced not only another round of sanctions on China, but that another 200+ billion was in the wings as well. Very risk-on speculators may find these lower levels attractive, especially given the speed and slope of the most recent trend. If the US can seal a deal with Canada, then the US has formed very recent trade negotiations with both the EU, Mexico, and Britain. All of those countries have their own issues with China and it is conceivable that a strong base of international influence will be weighed against China and could end the current stalemate. Any hint of a positive resolution between China and the US would cause a considerable and violent rise higher that could very well create a multi-month long bull trend. Privacy Settings This site uses functional cookies and external scripts to improve your experience. Which cookies and scripts are used and how they impact your visit is specified on the left. You may change your settings at any time. Your choices will not impact your visit. NOTE: These settings will only apply to the browser and device you are currently using. 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 NM 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 450 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. Dan Brandt still has $32,000 in student loan debt, after earning his bachelor's degree in marketing, but he's not worried about paying it back. That's because Brandt chose a major and a career with that debt in mind. Money is a big deal for a 17-year-old kid that has nothing, says Brandt, who graduated from Augsburg University in Minneapolis in 2011 with $55,000 in student debt. I knew the salary ranges in marketing could make a nice living, but I was more concerned with finding a place I enjoyed working at, adds Brandt, who is now a marketing manager at Best Buy's headquarters. If you, unlike Brandt, don't know what you want to study, you can choose a major that won't leave you with student loans you can't repay. Here's how. EXPLORE JOB TITLES AND PROSPECTS BY MAJOR Start by listing your interests and skills. There may be a clear fit if you're adept with numbers, for example, you might consider accounting. READ ALSO: Alamo Heights High School entrepreneurs to vie for investment dollars Next, research careers by matching a major to one of the Occupation Groups listed in the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Outlook Handbook . Each group lists positions along with descriptions, educational requirements and projected job growth. Consider contacting your college's career office to link up with alumni who studied what you're interested in, to see their career path. RESEARCH POTENTIAL EARNINGS Your major could make a big difference in lifetime earnings: The disparity between the lowest- and highest-paying majors is $3.4 million, according to a 2015 report by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. There are people who really want to go to into social work or drama, but money is going to be an issue, says Brad Hershbein, economist and director of information and communications services at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. You have to know that, and make an informed decision about what it's going to be like after you graduate. Research median salaries rather than average salaries, Hershbein says. The example I always use is if you put Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook's billionaire co-founder and CEO) in a room with 10 other people who have no money, the average of the group is still inordinately wealthy, Hershbein says. You don't care about the average so much as the median. The average starting salary for the class of 2017 was $50,516, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers Summer 2018 Salary Survey, but median earnings where half earn more and half earn less start at $27,000, according to 2014 research by The Hamilton Project, an economic research group at the Brookings Institution. To find data on salaries, use sites like Salary.com or Glassdoor. Include entry-level in your search, along with specific cities or regions for more accurate results. READ ALSO: Every student deserves to be college ready FACTOR EARNINGS INTO BORROWING Before you take out student loans, submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA, to qualify for gift and earned aid, including grants, scholarships and work-study. Find private scholarships with scholarship search engines, such as the U.S. Department of Labor's CareerOneStop scholarship finder or Scholarships.com. If you need loans and you're not sure how much to borrow for college , you can keep repayments manageable by aiming for a monthly payment that won't be over 10 percent of your expected after-tax take-home pay each month in your first year after school. For example, If you expect to make a starting salary of $46,000, then borrowing about $24,000 for college means you can afford a monthly payment of $257. Use an undergraduate student loan calculator, like one from The Hamilton Project , to see what it would take to repay debt based on your major. WHEN IN DOUBT, SWITCH If you start school without your major picked, it's OK. College is the place to explore potential career paths. Don't be deterred by risk to pursue a more difficult major; if you try computer science and it doesn't work out, you can always switch majors, says Artem Gulish, a senior policy strategist at Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. No one can really know what they can be good at if they haven't tried it. Realize that if you do change your path, it could take longer to complete your degree, which may mean taking on more debt. But it could also lead to a career that motivates you, potentially boosting your earnings and the ability to repay your loans. This article was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet. Anna Helhoski is a writer at NerdWallet. Email: anna(at)nerdwallet.com. Twitter: (at)AnnaHelhoski. Opening a new front in the seemingly endless battle over how to remember the Alamo, an advisory group of educators recommended eliminating the words heroic defenders from the standard that requires seventh-graders to learn about the 1836 siege in their Texas history classes. The State Board of Education will hold a hearing Tuesday on that and other proposals submitted by the work group as it prepares for a series of votes on new social studies curriculum standards. The final vote on the subject is scheduled for November. That change outrages me, said Ken Mercer, a Republican state board member representing District 5, which includes parts of northern and eastern Bexar County. They never did surrender. They fought the whole time. These guys are heroes. RELATED: Alamo letter doesn't begin to spell out the whole story of Travis The proposed changes also eliminated a specific reference to William B. Travis letter addressed to the People of Texas and All Americans in the World, commonly referred to as the victory or death letter, an appeal for reinforcements written near the start of the siege by Mexican Gen. Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, a former history teacher, issued a statement Thursday blasting the proposal, saying the letter and the Texians eventual defeat and death must remain at the very core of Texas history teaching. This kind of politically correct nonsense is why I will always fight to honor the Alamo defenders sacrifice, Bush said. Bush has championed the advancement of a plan to revamp Alamo Plaza into a more history-oriented experience, though its proposed restrictions on pedestrian access and removal of nearby buildings and relocation of the Cenotaph monument have made it deeply controversial among San Antonians. Two city boards and the Texas Historical Commission must review the plan, in addition to the City Council, which could vote in November on it. RELATED: Remember Alamo's 'Immortal 32' Mercer said he was surprised the educators advised dropping the reference to the letter in their recommendation last month. The letter, he said, was itself heroic and a valuable part of a social studies curriculum that prizes primary sources. He predicted the state board would not approve either change. Im going to fight against that and Im sure I have the votes to stop it, he said. Donna Bahorich, a Houston Republican who chaires the board, agreed in a tweet Friday. The work committees have done an EXCELLENT job of streamlining TX social studies standards, however, I do not support deleting one of the most iconic letters in US History for 7th grade, she wrote, adding, #HeroesAll #txed #RememberTheAlamo. The advisory groups have been working for about a year to streamline social studies standards, responding to complaints that each grade had too many, especially individual names, to teach in one school year, said Debbie Ratcliffe, executive director of the State Board of Educations support division. This will be the first time since 2010 that social studies standards have been updated, she said. The 10-member group that at first looked at Texas history standards did not include any representatives from the San Antonio area. The eight-member group that approved their recommendations included a social studies specialist and coordinator from the Comal Independent School District. They proposed eliminating the words all the heroic defenders who gave their lives at the Alamo from a state standard outlining instruction on the Texas war of independence from Mexico, calling heroic a value-charged word and saying the reference to all defenders is too vague and covers too many individuals. Members of the advisory group still expect Travis letter will be taught, but eliminating the reference could lead teachers to spend less time analyzing it, Ratcliffe said. Deleting the specific mention of the letter and all the besieged Texians at the Alamo would save 90 minutes of instructional time, they estimated. Its probably one of the most famous letters in Texas history, Ratcliffe said. We are headquartered in the William B. Travis State Office Building. We certainly understand the significance of Colonel Travis. The advisory group cut another 135 minutes by deleting a standard that said, Explain how the establishment of the Republic of Texas brought civil, political and religious freedom to Texas. The group said that was repetitive and already covered in two other standards. Texas history is also taught in the fourth grade, when the standards call on students to analyze the Battle of the Alamo and summarize the significant contributions of individuals such as Texians William B. Travis and others. Marisa Perez-Diaz, a Democrat on the State Board of Education representing much of San Antonio and a strip of South Texas including Edinburg, did not return a message Friday seeking comment. Some have objected to the traditional portrait of the Texian cause as a fight for freedom against tyranny because many of those who joined it were only recently-arrived Americans interested in expanding slavery. Mercer said people who believe that need a history lesson. They werent fighting for slavery, he said. They were fighting because Santa Anna wouldnt allow them representation anymore...nobody had a voice. Congress was gone. The (Mexican) constitution was gone. Mercer remembers learning about the Alamo in his own Texas history class, but when he lived in other states and in France, he also heard the story as one of bravery and heroism. From that story, he said, children learn that some things are worth fighting for if its what you believe in. Stephen Harrigan, a historian and author of The Gates of the Alamo, said in an email the issue was becoming unnecessarily polarized. This whole controversy just feels like noise to me, one more excuse to crank up the political outrage machine, Harrigan said. Sure, I regard the Alamo defenders as heroic, and I feel the same way about the Mexican soldados on the other side of the walls, but I dont have any problem with that particular word not being deployed in the teaching recommendations. State residents can register here through 5 p.m. Monday to speak at the public hearing. Comments about the proposed revisions can be sent to teks@tea.texas.gov. Alia Malik covers several school districts and the Alamo Colleges District in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | amalik@express-news.net | Twitter: @AliaAtSAEN President Donald Trumps administration is trying to upend a landmark 21-year-old federal settlement protecting immigrant children in detention, a move that would likely expand the number of such facilities as the government seeks to imprison migrant families until they are deported or gain asylum. The proposed 203-page regulation, published Friday in the Federal Register, would replace the 1997 Flores Settlement Agreement, which for decades has governed the rights of immigrant minors in detention. Advocates say legal protections for children would be slashed, while the administration argued it would close a loophole that encourages families to come here illegally. The move is all but certain to result in litigation and could end up in front of the Supreme Court before the prolonged detention of immigrant children is permitted. The regulation must also still undergo 60 days of public comment, where objections will be raised. U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee, a Los Angeles judge overseeing the Flores agreement, has repeatedly held that minors cannot be imprisoned for longer than 20 days, and in July once again denied a Justice Department request to ease the settlement terms. Her consistent rulings have forced both Trump and President Barack Obamas administrations to free many migrant families to pursue their cases in the backlogged civil immigration courts a process that can take months. Critics say immigrants do not always show up at their hearings, and Trump campaigned on ending the practice of so-called catch and release. Legal loopholes significantly hinder the Departments ability to appropriately detain and promptly remove family units that have no legal basis to remain in the country, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement. This rule addresses one of the primary pull factors for illegal immigration. The announcement Friday comes just three months after Trump abruptly ended his controversial policy of separating thousands of immigrant families at the southern border, which was widely regarded as one of his administrations biggest debacles and spurred widespread national fury. White House officials have characterized the practice, in which parents were imprisoned and their children placed in federal foster care, as a consequence of the Flores Settlement because the government was not able to detain families together. A San Diego federal judge this summer ordered the government to immediately reunify families. But Justice Department attorneys said in federal filings this week that two months after the deadline, more than 300 children remain in custody and have still not been reunited with their parents, many of whom were deported and the government has been unable to find. Rather than focus on reuniting children with their families, the administration is now proposing changes to hold children indefinitely, said Rev. John L. McCullough, president of Church World Service, a national refugee resettlement group. Replacing family separation with family incarceration is cruel, and will only subject children to more trauma and abuse. '20-year step backwards' Jennifer Nagda, a policy director at the Young Center for Immigrant Childrens Rights, a national nonprofit, said the proposed regulations represent a 20-year step backwards. The fight about the rights of children in immigrant detention began in the 1980s after a 15-year-old Salvadoran girl fleeing civil war came to represent the plight of many detained minors. She was strip searched every day and housed with adult men while in government custody, forcing the 1985 class action lawsuit bearing her name. The Flores Settlement exists because there were real concerns about the safety of kids in detention, said Denise Gilman, who directs the University of Texas Law School Immigration Clinic in Austin and has been involved in related litigation. The administration is trying to get around protections that were set up as a result. The issue has often taken center stage in Texas. In 2009, the Obama administration shuttered what at the time was the nations biggest family detention facility, the T. Don Hutto prison in Taylor. Complaints about poor treatment sparked an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit in 2007 that lead to improved conditions and the release of many parents and children. The facility now holds immigrant adults. After tens of thousands of Central American families began streaming across the Texas border in 2014, the Obama administration opened two new family detention facilities in Karnes and Dilley, which are both outside of San Antonio. Together with a smaller center in Pennsylvania that is usually reserved for fathers and children, the three can hold about 3,000 immigrants at a time and are typically at capacity. In July alone, nearly 9,300 immigrant families and 4,000 unaccompanied children crossed the southern border, according to the most recent federal statistics available. Poor treatment record in detention The Trump administration has sought more immigrant detention space, including housing them on military bases, but is constrained by the settlement. In addition to limiting the length of time children can be in detention, it also orders them to be held in the least restrictive setting possible, and in facilities that are licensed by the state. The issue is under litigation in Texas because the state government has said it cannot license the two family detention facilities here as it does with regular child care centers. State courts have so far agreed, holding that the centers are more like juvenile detention facilities because they are secured and children cannot move freely, Gilman said. Under the proposed regulations, the federal government would license its own detention centers, which advocates found particularly concerning given what they said was an already poor treatment record of children in custody. Last month, the mother of a Guatemalan toddler who died after being released from the Dilley facility in May filed a notice of a claim against the government, informing officials that she could seek $40 million in damages. According to the letter sent by her pro bono lawyer, Stanton Jones, she said the girl became sick and received negligent medical care while at the detention center. lomi.kriel@chron.com The discovery happened by chance. In July, while conducting a routine bridge check, an inspector from the Texas Department of Transportation noticed something odd. It was nestled in a steep earthen embankment directly under the highway span in Frio County. It was the back of a human skull, along with a spine. Initially, the situation was treated by local authorities as a criminal matter, under the assumption that the bones could be connected to a cold case. But several days into the investigation, forensic investigators found an arrowhead in the pelvic region. The remains were also found alongside remnants of a Native American wood and clay structure. RELATED: High-impact research: SAC team looks for meteorite crater Based on preliminary study, it was estimated that the remains were actually around 1,000 years old, according to TxDOT officials. The arrowhead was an Edwards point, thin and notched, peculiar to Texas in that period. The case returned to the purview of the state agency, which has a team of archaeologists on staff in its Environmental Affairs Division, to ensure that construction projects do not disturb ancient sites. This situation, though, was atypical. TxDOT archaeologists normally complete their work well before ground is broken on a project. The discovery under the existing bridge was unexpected. State laws prevent publicizing the exact location of such sites, in an effort to prevent looting of culturally significant items. It struck us as a very unusual place to find remains such as those, said Scott Pletka, supervisor for TxDOTs archaeology branch, based on the characteristics of the structure. Apparently, the remains werent visible to workers who originally constructed the bridge in 1958, as well as those who widened it in the early 1970s. The remains were buried in the embankment under silt loam that eroded over time, Pletka said. RELATED: Historian and UTSA archaeologists discover remains at forgotten African American burial site We built over it, so it was fairly well protected and preserved in its location, he said. Forensic investigators from Texas State University disinterred the remains, removing most of the bones before the TxDOT archaeologists arrived at the site. For the time being, the university will store the remains at its facility. They appear to be in good condition, TxDOT officials said, but a gender has not been determined. The TxDOT archaeologists focused instead on learning as much as they could about the site. From what they could discern, the remains were found in what Pletka said may have been a pithouse, a structure created by digging into the earth and covering the space with a roof for shelter. The team identified impressions of woven branches, which would have been covered in clay to form the roof. The team also cleaned the embankment face with brushes, exposing the segregation of various sediment deposits, including sections of white ash and pieces of burnt clay. Jim Abbott, a TxDOT archaeologist who specializes in geology, said the site appears to have been preserved by a fire. It bears signs of intense heat that hardened the surrounding sediment into a rocklike material, creating cast impressions where the wooden framework once was, he said. The team is still trying to determine when the fire occurred and when the person was buried. If the fire hadnt happened, you probably wouldnt see it at all, Abbott said. Pletka said TxDOT is in contact with several Native American groups, in accordance with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which governs the treatment of such remains. When remains are discovered, the organization must contact tribes that may have a cultural affiliation and want to claim them. However, he said, it was unlikely they ever would be able to identify the tribe to which the individual may have belonged. Lauren Caruba covers several school districts, charter schools and private universities in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba The Republican-controlled 115th Congress didnt get much done in 2017. Big talk about infrastructure projects, a border wall promised by President Donald Trump and the repeal/replacement of the Affordable Care Act came to nothing. So congressional Republicans, determined to close out the year with a victory, scrambled to pass a $1.5-trillion tax overhaul that Trump signed three days before Christmas. The thinking was that GOP incumbents would have at least one clear-cut issue on which to base their 2018 midterm campaigns. If we cant sell this to the American people, said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, we ought to go into another line of work. Finding another line of work might become a necessity for some of McConnells allies after November 6, given recent polls indicating substantial generic-ballot leads for Democrats. The Republican struggle to sell a signature piece of legislation that provided instant tax cuts to more than 80 percent of Americans is a big factor in that election story. In U.S. District 23, this states lone swing district, it has been the Democratic challenger, Gina Ortiz Jones, raising the tax-cut issue, not the Republican incumbent, Will Hurd. Jones, a former Air Force intelligence officer, recently released a 30-second TV ad which blasts Hurd for supporting the tax cut. The Wheres Will? ad goes for a satirical effect, with an actor doing mock man-on-the-street interviews at the Southtown corner of Alamo and St. Marys and taunting a fellow actor wearing a giant Hurd head. The ad tags the Republican rep for voting for a tax bill that will raise taxes on millions of middle-class families and increase health care premiums, plus gives massive tax cuts to corporations and the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans. In truth, the middle-class tax increase described in the ad would not kick in until after 2025, when the individual tax cuts are set to expire and changes in personal-exemption and tax-credit laws would result in higher tax bills. (The corporate tax cuts will continue indefinitely.) The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, in its 2017 analysis of the law, concluded that by 2027, those in the top 5 percent income bracket would receive 99.2 percent of the windfall from the tax overhaul. There are various concerns that could be raised about the tax law, including Congressional Budget Office projections that it will add $1.9 trillion to the federal debt over the next decade and questions about how it will impair the solvency of the Social Security and Medicare trust funds. Jones, however, is focusing her criticism on two contentions: that the tax cut will exacerbate income inequality in the United States and make health insurance prohibitive for some Americans on the ACA exchanges. The health-insurance argument stems from the fact that the tax bill zeroed out the ACAs individual-mandate penalties, which were designed to contain premiums by compelling young invincibles to get coverage. Health care is the central issue for Jones in this race, the prism through which she is framing her sweeping economic-justice platform. If Hurd has said little about the tax cut, it might be partly because Republicans with experience in the sprawling District 23 which extends from San Antonio to El Paso County have concluded that taxes dont necessarily resonate for voters in the district. Republicans believe that District 23 voters are more preoccupied with veterans issues, immigration and the general state of the economy. Hurd, a former CIA agent, works the veterans issue in his latest ad, which blasts Jones for her stated openness to another round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). The Hurd ad employs a video clip of Joness former Democratic rival, Jay Hulings, at a forum early this year, saying Jones was playing Russian roulette with peoples jobs. Justin Hollis, Hurds campaign manager, conflated Joness positions on taxes and BRAC in making the case that she is out of touch with District 23 voters. So Gina wants to increase your taxes and shut down our vital military bases? You would think a former intel analyst would do their homework on the district they want to represent, but she didnt, which is why Democrats dont even trust Gina, Hollis said in a statement to the Express-News. While Hollis mentions taxes in his statement, its likely that most references in this race to the 2017 tax cut will come from Jones, not Hurd. Jones is also challenging Hurd on his April vote for a balanced budget amendment, which failed to make it out of the House. Jones argues that a balanced budget amendment would force the federal government to slash Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs. An August Fox News poll found that only 40 percent of voters had a favorable opinion of the 2017 tax cut, while 51 percent had a positive view of the Affordable Care Act. While Hurd wont run away from his tax-cut vote, dont look for him to run on it. @gilgamesh470 Gilbert Garcia is a columnist covering the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read him on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470 The San Antonio Board of Realtors has fired its new CEO after less than three months on the job, a move that some members criticized as signaling instability at the organization. The board of directors for SABOR voted Wednesday to terminate Shane Johnson, who stepped in as CEO in mid-June after the organization hired a recruiter to lead a six-month national search. The board decided he was just not the right match, its chairwoman Lorena Pena said, declining to elaborate. He and SABOR just had different visions for where the organization needed to go, she said. We are ready to move forward and again be good stewards of our area. SABOR is in negotiations with the second-place finalist in its CEO search and hopes to make an announcement shortly, Pena said. Johnsons abrupt termination comes after SABOR voted last year to oust its chairwoman Michele Bunting Ross, accusing her of poor attendance and mistreatment of staff. But Ross and some SABOR members said the charges were trumped up and that she was targeted for trying to make changes that were unpopular with the board. Its very concerning to me that we are in such upheaval for two years in a row, local realtor and SABOR member Lynn Knapik said. I dont want last year to be forgotten; last year, I thought, was absolutely unnecessary and ridiculous. Related: Marriott hotel on I-10 sold at foreclosure auction for $18M John Flournoy, a former SABOR board president who led the search committees for two previous CEOs, criticized the boards decision to use a recruiting firm to find a CEO after its previous one, Angela Shields, left in fall 2017 to lead Tennessee Realtors in Nashville. The organization previously made use of the Texas Association of Realtors in its search for a chief executive, he said. Why we used a headhunting firm with the expenses due with that, I dont know, he said. Flournoy also expressed concern for SABORs reputation after Johnsons firing and last years ouster of its chairwoman. Its very, very unusual and as a general statement I find it very unsettling, he said. My concern would be that its going to hurt the San Antonio Board of Realtors again, one after another... Its like a batter going up to the plate, and two strikes are against him. SABORs board decided to use a headhunter because it wanted to look at national talent, Pena said. We used a national recruiter, and we did all our due diligence through a search and its just unfortunate that after a couple months we saw that his vision didnt align with ours, Pena said. Related: CBRE entity purchases one of San Antonio's largest apartment complexes Johnson couldnt be reached for comment. Before joining SABOR, he served as chief operating officer of Cape Fear Realtors in North Carolina. His career also includes stints in the Reagan White House and as deputy chief of staff for former Congressman Jim Nussle of Iowa. He seems to have recently removed all references to SABOR from his LinkedIn profile. Plying my skills with integrity, as a man of God, I work my profession as directed in Colossians 3:23, the profile says. The section of Colossians he refers to urges readers to complete any job with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters. 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 Slovenia's second busiest airport, Portoroz, in talks with airlines over the introduction of commercial charter flights next summer. "It is true that we are involved in serious talks concerning charter flights for next summer season, namely to nearby European cities. The outcome of these talks do not depend solely on us, but also the city as a whole", the airport's Deputy CEO and Sales Manager, Valnetina Kobal, said. Despite having no commercial flights, Portoroz handled 10.213 passengers during the first half of the year and registered 5.734 flight operations. It represents a slight decline on last year which is the result of adverse weather conditions which affected its operations during the first quarter of the year. Portoroz Airport handled its last scheduled commercial flights back in 2016, when the Croatian-registered AWEX maintained summer services to Belgrade with its Saab 340B turboprop. This time around, Portoroz is believed to be looking at links to Rome, Salerno and Catania in Italy. "Portoroz has the potential to further develop and increase its number of foreign visitors. That is why we want to develop both the airport and marina. We want to promote Portoroz as a high-end destination and it is in our interest to boost the number of flights in order for the airport to work at full capacity", the airport's owner said. Portoroz Airport's single-largest shareholder, the MK Group, which also runs the nearby Kempinski Hotel, has outlined its planned investments. "It is terrible that larger aircraft cannot land at Portoroz Airport. We have made it clear that we want to invest in order to enable airlines to fly there and boost tourism", Serbian millionaire and MK Group owner, Miodrag Kostic, said. He added, "We are ready to invest between 2.5 and three million euros to extend the runway, however, so far, we have been unable to obtain the necessary approvals for this project. We have been waiting for a year and a half to be issued with necessary permits to extend the runway. I have also talked to the [Slovenian] Minister for Economic Development and Technology, Zdravko Pocivalsek, about the investments. He agreed the project is vital for the development of the Slovenian tourism industry, however, no progress has been made to date". Due to its displaced threshold, aircraft landing at Porotroz Airport are forced to do so midway down the runway. Despite its small size, Portoroz Airport, which was built in 1962, boasts a passenger terminal, duty free shop, as well as technical and fuel services. Carol Kaliff / Hearst Connecticut Media NEWTOWN Two cars stolen in town on Friday both had keys left inside, police said. The two cars were taken in the early morning hours. One was taken from Currituck Road and the other was taken from Old Bethel Road. Contributed Photo / Stratford Police Department / Contributed Photo STRATFORD The police department is hosting a recruitment event later this month that will take people through the step-by-step process to become an officer. During the session from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 27 at the towns police station, attendees will learn about Police App, the written test, the CHIP (physical ability) test, interviews and background checks. STAMFORD A Bridgeport man who was sentenced to 15 months in jail for stealing $115,000 from the owner of the gas station where he worked in Greenwich, may see more jail time if he doesnt come up with some real money to pay his former employer back. A Stamford judge told Thomas Milne, 53, that he had better see a whole lot of cash by Oct. 3 when the felon is scheduled to return to court. Im going to send your client back to jail if he doesnt come up with some real money, Judge Gary White told Milnes defense attorney Mark Sherman during a hearing in a first-floor courtroom Thursday. Milne was sent to jail by another Stamford judge in July 2011 after pleading guilty to a felony charge of first-degree larceny. A Greenwich police investigation determined that Milne, who was the manager of the Cos Cob Mobil, stole as much as $180,000 from the business between 2006 and 2010, when the station was sold to a new owner. Milne later told police investigators he stole about $115,000 from the business, according to his 2010 arrest affidavit. As part of the conditions of his plea agreement that included a 45-month suspended sentence, Milne said he would make restitution to his former boss, who continues to struggle from the debt incurred by the money taken from the state lottery system in the gas stations convenience store. A year ago, Milne was charged with violating his probation because he had only paid his former boss $9,300 in the five years since his release from jail. At this point, Milne owes $103,000, Sherman said. But on Thursday, White said the $12,000 that Milne has repaid added up to less than 20 percent of his debt, even though the theft was discovered eight years ago. The victim gave this man a job and paid him well and he paid him back by stealing from him, White said, insisting that the victim has received essentially nothing. Supervisory States Attorney Paul Ferencek said the office of adult probation has noted for years that Milne was not paying off his debt. But Sherman told White that his client will come up with the money, but he would not be able to if hes sent back to jail. He is trying his hardest, Sherman insisted. But jail is not the answer. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com STAMFORD A former Parking Services Department employee for the town of Greenwich who siphoned thousands from town coffers avoided jail Friday and made guilty pleas to felony counts of first- and second-degree larceny during a brief hearing at the Stamford courthouse. Michael Gordon, 49, of Greenwich was given no jail time or probation for the pleas but he made restitution, paying all that he stole following his arrest, Stamford States Attorney Richard Colangelo said. He has made restitution, but he will have these felonies on his record as a result of this plea, which satisfies the interests of justice and the community in this case, Colangelo said after the hearing. Gordon, who had no criminal record before the two convictions, declined comment in the court hallway following the hearing. I take full responsibility, he told Judge Gary White after making his plea. White gave Gordon an unconditional discharge and waived any court fees and costs. Gordons defense attorney Philip Russell said, I think the sentence was fair and just and reflects some compelling factors on both sides of this case. Gordon was arrested in April 2017 after a police investigation determined that he had been diverting money from his job into his own pocket. When he was arrested, police said he had stolen at least $11,000 from the town between December 2016 and April 2017. In the plea, Gordon was sentenced for stealing about $4,000 from the town. The cause of the discrepancy was not clear. The arrest affidavit said Gordon engaged in an elaborate series of fraudulent transactions, in which he misapplied credits for parking ticket transactions that had already been paid in cash. He then kept the surplus cash for himself. Gordon had been an account clerk at the Parking Services Department since 2009. Greenwich town officials have said many changes have been put in pace to prevent similar theft from happening again. And the town has announced an independent consultant is coming in to take a look at the Parking Services Department. Chicago-based P Plus Corp. will be reviewing current operations, processes, policies and staff assignments to inform the development of an updated, efficient plan of operations, and to assist with the implementation of upgraded technology and equipment to enhance services, according to a statement from town officials. jnickerson@stamfordadvocate.com Ormat Technologies, Inc. operates as a holding company. The firm engages in the provision of geothermal and recovered energy power business. It operates through the following segments: Electricity, Product and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment focuses in the sale of electricity from the company's power plants pursuant to PPAs. The Product segment involves in the manufacture, including design and development, of turbines and power units for the supply of electrical energy and in the associated construction of power plants utilizing the power units manufactured by the company to supply energy from geothermal fields and other alternative energy sources. The Energy Storage segment consists of battery energy storage systems as a service and management of curtailable customer loads under contracts with U.S. retail energy providers and directly with large commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Reno, NV. Read More 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. 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 The following companies are subsidiares of Banco Santander: 2 & 3 Triton Limited, A & L CF (Guernsey) Limited (f), A & L CF June (2) Limited, A & L CF June (3) Limited, A & L CF March (5) Limited, A & L CF September (4) Limited, AFB SAM Holdings S.L., ALIL Services Limited (b), AN (123) Limited, ANITCO Limited, Abbey Business Services (India) Private Limited, Abbey Covered Bonds (LM) Limited, Abbey National, Abbey National Beta Investments Limited, Abbey National Business Office Equipment Leasing Limited, Abbey National International Limited, Abbey National Nominees Limited, Abbey National PLP (UK) Limited, Abbey National Property Investments, Abbey National Treasury Services Investments Limited, Abbey National Treasury Services Overseas Holdings, Abbey National UK Investments, Abbey Stockbrokers (Nominees) Limited, Abbey Stockbrokers Limited, Ablasa Participaciones S.L., Administracion de Bancos Latinoamericanos Santander S.L., Aduro S.A., Aevis Europa S.L., Afisa S.A., Albert., Aljardi SGPS Lda., Alliance & Leicester, Alliance & Leicester Cash Solutions Limited, Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank Limited, Alliance & Leicester Investments (Derivatives) Limited, Alliance & Leicester Investments (No.2) Limited, Alliance & Leicester Investments Limited, Alliance & Leicester Limited, Alliance & Leicester Personal Finance Limited, Altamira Santander Real Estate S.A., Alternative Leasing FIL, Amazonia Trade Limited, Amherst Pierpont, Andaluza de Inversiones S.A., Aquanima Brasil Ltda., Aquanima Chile S.A., Aquanima Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Aquanima S.A., Arcaz - Sociedade Imobiliaria Portuguesa Lda., Argenline S.A. (b), Asto Digital Limited, Athena Corporation Limited, Atual - Fundo de Invest Multimercado Credito Privado Investimento no Exterior, Atual Servicos de Recuperacao de Creditos e Meios Digitais S.A., Autodescuento S.L., Autohaus24 GmbH, Auttar HUT Processamento de Dados Ltda., Aviacion Antares A.I.E., Aviacion Britanica A.I.E., Aviacion Centaurus A.I.E., Aviacion Comillas S.L. Unipersonal, Aviacion Intercontinental A.I.E., Aviacion Laredo S.L., Aviacion Oyambre S.L. Unipersonal, Aviacion Real A.I.E., Aviacion Santillana S.L., Aviacion Suances S.L., Aviacion Triton A.I.E., Aymore Credito Financiamento e Investimento S.A., BEN Beneficios e Servicos S.A., BRS Investments S.A., BZW Bank, Banca PSA Italia S.p.A., Banco Bandepe S.A., Banco Madesant - Sociedade Unipessoal S.A., Banco PSA Finance Brasil S.A., Banco Popular, Banco Santander (Brasil) S.A., Banco Santander (Mexico) S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico como Fiduciaria del Fideicomiso 100740, Banco Santander (Mexico) S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico como Fiduciaria del Fideicomiso 2002114, Banco Santander (Mexico) S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico como Fiduciaria del Fideicomiso GFSSLPT, Banco Santander - Chile, Banco Santander Consumer Portugal S.A., Banco Santander International, Banco Santander International SA, Banco Santander Mexico S.A. Institucion de Banca Multiple Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Banco Santander Peru S.A., Banco Santander Rio S.A., Banco Santander S.A., Banco Santander Totta S.A., Banco Santander de Negocios Colombia S.A., Banco de Albacete S.A., Bansa Santander S.A., CCAP Auto Lease Ltd., Canyon Multifamily Impact Fund IV LLC, Capital Street Delaware LP, Capital Street Holdings LLC, Capital Street REIT Holdings LLC, Capital Street S.A., Carfax (Guernsey) Limited (f), Carfinco Financial Group, Carfinco Financial Group Inc., Carfinco Inc., Casa de Bolsa Santander S.A. de C.V. Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Cater Allen Holdings Limited, Cater Allen International Limited, Cater Allen Limited, Cater Allen Lloyd's Holdings Limited, Cater Allen Syndicate Management Limited, Centro de Capacitacion Santander A.C., Certidesa S.L., Chrysler Capital Auto Funding I LLC, Chrysler Capital Auto Funding II LLC, Chrysler Capital Auto Receivables LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding 2 LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding 4 LLC, Chrysler Capital Master Auto Receivables Funding LLC, Cobranza Amigable S.A.P.I. de C.V., Community Development and Affordable Housing Fund LLC (g), Compagnie Generale de Credit Aux Particuliers - Credipar S.A., Compagnie Pour la Location de Vehicules - CLV, Comunidad Laboral Trabajando Argentina S.A., Comunidad Laboral Trabajando Iberica S.L. Unipersonal en liquidacion (b), Consulteam Consultores de Gestao Lda., Consumer Lending Receivables LLC, Crawfall S.A. (b), Cantabra de Inversiones S.A., Cantabro Catalana de Inversiones S.A., Darep Designated Activity Company, Decarome S.A.P.I. de C.V., Deva Capital Advisory Company S.L., Deva Capital Holding Company S.L., Deva Capital Investment Company S.L., Deva Capital Management Company S.L., Deva Capital Servicer Company S.L., Digital Procurement Holdings N.V., Diners Club Spain S.A., Direccion Estratega S.C., Dirgenfin S.L. en liquidacion (b), Ebury, El Corte Ingles, Elavon Mexico, Electrolyser S.A. de C.V., Entidad de Desarrollo a la Pequena y Micro Empresa Santander Consumo Peru S.A., Erestone S.A.S., Esfera Fidelidade S.A., Evidence Previdencia S.A., Financeira El Corte Ingles Portugal S.F.C. S.A., Financiera El Corte Ingles E.F.C. S.A., Finsantusa S.L. Unipersonal, First National Motor Business Limited, First National Motor Contracts Limited, First National Motor Facilities Limited, First National Motor Finance Limited, First National Motor Leasing Limited, First National Motor plc, First National Tricity Finance Limited, Fondos Santander S.A. Administradora de Fondos de Inversion (en liquidacion) (b), Fortensky Trading Ltd., Fosse Funding (No.1) Limited, Fosse Master Issuer plc, Fosse Trustee (UK) Limited, GTS El Centro Equity Holdings LLC, GTS El Centro Project Holdings LLC, Gamma Sociedade Financeira de Titularizacao de Creditos S.A., Gesban Mexico Servicios Administrativos Globales S.A. de C.V., Gesban Santander Servicios Profesionales Contables Limitada, Gesban Servicios Administrativos Globales S.L., Gesban UK Limited, Gestion de Instalaciones Fotovoltaicas S.L. Unipersonal, Gestion de Inversiones JILT S.A., Gestora de Procesos S.A. en liquidacion (b), Getnet Adquirencia e Servicos para Meios de Pagamento S.A., Global Vosgos S.L. Unipersonal, Grupo Empresarial Santander S.L., Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico S.A. de C.V., Grupo Financiero Santander SAB de CV, Guaranty Car S.A. Unipersonal, HQ Mobile Limited, Hispamer Renting S.A. Unipersonal, Holbah II Limited, Holbah Santander S.L. Unipersonal, Holmes Funding Limited, Holmes Master Issuer plc, Holmes Trustees Limited, Hyundai Capital Bank Europe GmbH, Iberica de Compras Corporativas S.L., Independence Community Bank Corp., Insurance Funding Solutions Limited, Interfinance Holanda B.V., Inversiones Capital Global S.A. Unipersonal, Inversiones Maritimas del Mediterraneo S.A., Isla de los Buques S.A., Klare Corredora de Seguros S.A., Landcompany 2020 S.L., Langton Funding (No.1) Limited, Langton Mortgages Trustee (UK) Limited, Langton Securities (2008-1) plc, Langton Securities (2010-1) PLC, Langton Securities (2010-2) PLC, Laparanza S.A., Liquidity Limited, Luri 1 S.A. en liquidacion (b) (e), Luri 6 S.A. Unipersonal, Master Red Europa S.L., Mata Alta S.L., Merciver S.L., Mercury TFS, Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.A. de C.V., Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.L., Mercury Trade Finance Solutions S.p.A., Moneybit S.L., Mortgage Engine Limited, Motor 2016-1 PLC, Motor 2017-1 PLC, Mouro Capital I LP, Multiplica SpA, NW Services CO., Naviera Mirambel S.L., Naviera Trans Gas A.I.E., Naviera Trans Iron S.L., Naviera Trans Ore A.I.E., Naviera Trans Wind S.L. (b), Naviera Transcantabrica S.L., Naviera Transchem S.L. Unipersonal, NeoAuto S.A.C., Norbest AS, Novimovest Fundo de Investimento Imobiliario, Open Bank Argentina S.A., Open Bank S.A., Open Digital Market S.L., Open Digital Services S.L., Operadora de Carteras Gamma S.A.P.I. de C.V., Optimal Investment Services SA, Optimal Multiadvisors Ireland Plc / Optimal Strategic US Equity Ireland Euro Fund, Optimal Multiadvisors Ireland Plc / Optimal Strategic US Equity Ireland US Dollar Fund, PBE Companies LLC, PECOH Limited, PI Distribuidora de Titulos e Valores Mobiliarios S.A., PSA Bank Deutschland GmbH, PSA Banque France, PSA Finance UK Limited, PSA Financial Services Nederland B.V., PSA Financial Services Spain E.F.C. S.A., PSA Renting Italia S.p.A., PagoFX Europe S.A., PagoFX HoldCo S.L., PagoFX UK Ltd, PagoNxt Merchant Solutions S.L., PagoNxt S.L., Parasant SA, Patagon.com, Pereda Gestion S.A., Pingham International S.A., Popular Spain Holding de Inversiones S.L.U., Portal Universia Argentina S.A., Portal Universia Portugal Prestacao de Servicos de Informatica S.A., Prime 16 Fundo de Investimentos Imobiliario, Punta Lima LLC, Punta Lima Wind Farm LLC, Retop S.A., Return Capital Servicos de Recuperacao de Creditos S.A., Return Gestao de Recursos S.A., Riobank International (Uruguay) SAIFE (b), Rojo Entretenimento S.A., SAM Asset Management S.A. de C.V. Sociedad Operadora de Fondos de Inversion, SAM Investment Holdings S.L., SAM UK Investment Holdings Limited (b), SANB Promotora de Vendas e Cobranca Ltda., SCF Eastside Locks GP Limited, SDMX Superdigital S.A. de C.V., SMPS Merchant Platform Solutions Mexico S.A de C.V, Sancap Investimentos e Participacoes S.A., Santander (CF Trustee Property Nominee) Limited, Santander (UK) Group Pension Schemes Trustees Limited, Santander Ahorro Inmobiliario 1 S.A., Santander Ahorro Inmobiliario 2 S.A., Santander Alternatives SICAV RAIF, Santander Asesorias Financieras Limitada, Santander Asset Finance (December) Limited, Santander Asset Finance plc, Santander Asset Management - S.G.O.I.C. S.A., Santander Asset Management Chile S.A., Santander Asset Management LLC, Santander Asset Management Luxembourg S.A., Santander Asset Management S.A. Administradora General de Fondos, Santander Asset Management S.A. S.G.I.I.C., Santander Asset Management UK Holdings Limited, Santander Asset Management UK Limited, Santander Back-Offices Globales Mayoristas S.A., Santander Banca de Inversion Colombia S.A.S., Santander Bank & Trust Ltd., Santander Bank National Association, Santander Bank Polska S.A., Santander Brasil Administradora de Consorcio Ltda., Santander Brasil Gestao de Recursos Ltda., Santander Brasil Tecnologia S.A., Santander Capital Desarrollo SGEIC S.A. Unipersonal, Santander Capital Structuring S.A. de C.V., Santander Capitalizacao S.A., Santander Cards Ireland Limited, Santander Cards Limited, Santander Cards UK Limited, Santander Chile Holding S.A., Santander Consulting (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Santander Consumer (UK) plc, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2013-B2 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2013-B3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L4 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2018-L5 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-B1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-L2 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2019-L3 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-B1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-L1 LLC, Santander Consumer Auto Receivables Funding 2020-L2 LLC, Santander Consumer Bank, Santander Consumer Bank AG, Santander Consumer Bank GmbH, Santander Consumer Bank S.A., Santander Consumer Bank S.p.A., Santander Consumer Banque S.A., Santander Consumer Credit Services Limited, Santander Consumer Finance Benelux B.V., Santander Consumer Finance Global Services S.L., Santander Consumer Finance Oy, Santander Consumer Finance S.A., Santander Consumer Finance Schweiz AG, Santander Consumer Financial Solutions Sp. z o.o., Santander Consumer Finanse Sp. z o.o. (b), Santander Consumer Holding Austria GmbH, Santander Consumer Holding GmbH, Santander Consumer International Puerto Rico LLC, Santander Consumer Leasing GmbH, Santander Consumer Mediacion Operador de Banca-Seguros Vinculado S.L., Santander Consumer Multirent Sp. z o.o., Santander Consumer Operations Services GmbH, Santander Consumer Receivables 10 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables 11 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables 3 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables 7 LLC, Santander Consumer Receivables Funding LLC, Santander Consumer Renting S.L., Santander Consumer S.A., Santander Consumer S.A.S., Santander Consumer Services GmbH, Santander Consumer Services S.A., Santander Consumer Technology Services GmbH, Santander Consumer USA Holdings Inc., Santander Consumer USA Inc., Santander Consumo S.A. de C.V. S.O.F.O.M. E.R. Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Santander Corredora de Seguros Limitada, Santander Corredores de Bolsa Limitada, Santander Corretora de Cambio e Valores Mobiliarios S.A., Santander Corretora de Seguros Investimentos e Servicos S.A., Santander Customer Voice S.A., Santander Digital Assets S.L., Santander Drive Auto Receivables LLC, Santander Equity Investments Limited, Santander Espana Merchant Services Entidad de Pago S.L. Unipersonal, Santander Espana Servicios Legales y de Cumplimiento S.L., Santander Estates Limited, Santander F24 S.A., Santander Facility Management Espana S.L., Santander Factoring S.A., Santander Factoring Sp. z o.o., Santander Factoring y Confirming S.A. E.F.C., Santander Finance 2012-1 LLC, Santander Financial Exchanges Limited, Santander Financial Services Inc., Santander Financial Services plc, Santander Finanse Sp. z o.o., Santander Fintech Holdings S.L., Santander Fintech Limited, Santander Fundo de Investimento SBAC Referenciado di Credito Privado, Santander Gestion de Recaudacion y Cobranzas Ltda., Santander Global Consumer Finance Limited, Santander Global Facilities S.A. de C.V., Santander Global Facilities S.L., Santander Global Operations S.A., Santander Global Services S.A. (b), Santander Global Sport S.A., Santander Global Technology Brasil Ltda., Santander Global Technology Chile Limitada, Santander Global Technology S.L., Santander Global Trade Platform Solutions S.L., Santander Guarantee Company, Santander Holding Imobiliaria S.A., Santander Holding Internacional S.A., Santander Holdings USA Inc., Santander ISA Managers Limited, Santander Inclusion Financiera S.A. de C.V. S.O.F.O.M. E.R. Grupo Financiero Santander Mexico, Santander Insurance Agency U.S. LLC, Santander Insurance Services UK Limited, Santander Intermediacion Correduria de Seguros S.A., Santander International Products Plc. (d), Santander Inversiones S.A., Santander Investment Bank Limited, Santander Investment Chile Limitada, Santander Investment I S.A., Santander Investment S.A., Santander Investment Securities Inc., Santander Investments GP 1 S.a.r.l., Santander Inwestycje Sp. z o.o., Santander Lease S.A. E.F.C., Santander Leasing LLC, Santander Leasing S.A., Santander Leasing S.A. Arrendamento Mercantil, Santander Lending Limited, Santander Mediacion Operador de Banca-Seguros Vinculado S.A., Santander Merchant Platform Operations S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Services S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions Mexico S.A. de C.V., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions S.A., Santander Merchant Platform Solutions Uruguay S.A., Santander Merchant Platform SolucoesTecnologicas Brasil Ltda., Santander Merchant S.A., Santander Mortgage Holdings Limited, Santander Paraty Qif PLC, Santander Pensiones S.A. E.G.F.P., Santander Pensoes - Sociedade Gestora de Fundos de Pensoes S.A., Santander Private Banking Gestion S.A. S.G.I.I.C., Santander Private Banking UK Limited, Santander Private Banking s.p.a. in Liquidazione (b), Santander Private Real Estate Advisory & Management S.A., Santander Private Real Estate Advisory S.A., Santander Real Estate S.A., Santander Retail Auto Lease Funding LLC, Santander Rio Asset Management Gerente de Fondos Comunes de Inversion S.A., Santander Rio Trust S.A., Santander Rio Valores S.A., Santander S.A. Sociedad Securitizadora, Santander Secretariat Services Limited, Santander Securities LLC, Santander Seguros y Reaseguros Compania Aseguradora S.A., Santander Servicios Corporativos S.A. de C.V., Santander Servicios Especializados S.A. de C.V., Santander Technology USA LLC, Santander Tecnologia e Inovacao Ltda., Santander Tecnologia Argentina S.A., Santander Tecnologia Espana S.L.U., Santander Tecnologia Mexico S.A. de C.V., Santander Totta SGPS S.A., Santander Totta Seguros Companhia de Seguros de Vida S.A., Santander Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A., Santander Trade Services Limited, Santander UK Group Holdings plc, Santander UK Investments, Santander UK Operations Limited, Santander UK Plc, Santander UK Technology Limited, Santander Wealth Management International SA, Santander de Titulizacion S.G.F.T. S.A., Santusa Holding S.L., Services and Promotions Delaware Corp., Services and Promotions Miami LLC, Servicio de Alarmas Controladas por Ordenador S.A., Servicios de Cobranza Recuperacion y Seguimiento S.A. De C.V., Sheppards Moneybrokers Limited, Shiloh III Wind Project LLC, Sociedad Integral de Valoraciones Automatizadas S.A., Sociedad Operadora de Tarjetas de Pago Santander Getnet Chile S.A., Socur S.A., Sol Orchard Imperial 1 LLC, Solarlaser Limited, Sovereign Community Development Company, Sovereign Delaware Investment Corporation, Sovereign Lease Holdings LLC, Sovereign REIT Holdings Inc., Sovereign Spirit Limited (f), Sterrebeeck B.V., Suleyado 2003 S.L. Unipersonal, Summer Empreendimentos Ltda., Super Pagamentos e Administracao de Meios Eletronicos S.A., Superdigital Argentina S.A.U., Superdigital Colombia S.A.S., Superdigital Holding Company S.L., Superdigital Peru S.A.C., Suzuki Servicios Financieros S.L., Swesant SA, TIMFin S.p.A., TOPSAM S.A de C.V., Taxagest Sociedade Gestora de Participacoes Sociais S.A., Teatinos Siglo XXI Inversiones S.A., The Alliance & Leicester Corporation Limited, The Best Specialty Coffee S.L. Unipersonal, Time Retail Finance Limited (b), Tonopah Solar I LLC, Toque Fale Servicos de Telemarketing Ltda., Tornquist Asesores de Seguros S.A. (b), Totta (Ireland) PLC, Totta Urbe - Empresa de Administracao e Construcoes S.A., Trabajando.com Mexico S.A. de C.V. en liquidacion (b), Trabajando.com Peru S.A.C., Trans Rotor Limited (b), Transolver Finance EFC S.A., Tresmares Growth Fund Santander SCR S.A., Tresmares Santander Direct Lending SICC S.A., Tuttle and Son Limited, Universia Brasil S.A., Universia Chile S.A., Universia Colombia S.A.S., Universia Espana Red de Universidades S.A., Universia Holding S.L., Universia Mexico S.A. de C.V., Universia Peru S.A., Universia Uruguay S.A., Uro Property Holdings SOCIMI S.A., WIM Servicios Corporativos S.A. de C.V., WTW Shipping Designated Activity Company, Wallcesa S.A., Wave Holdco S.L., Waypoint Insurance Group Inc., and Wirecard (Technological Assets). Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut. Read More Vivint Solar, Inc. provides distributed solar energy primarily to residential customers in the United States. It owns and installs solar energy systems through long-term customer contracts. The company also sells photovoltaic installation products, as well as solar renewable energy certificates. As of December 31, 2019, it had an aggregate capacity of 1,294.0 megawatts covering approximately 188,300 homes. The company was formerly known as V Solar Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to Vivint Solar, Inc. in April 2014. Vivint Solar, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Lehi, Utah. Read More A dairy farm with a 500-cow herd could potentially make savings of nearly 50,000 a year and reduce its risk of polluting watercourses by removing the water from slurry and purifying it, according to a trial. Coleg Sir Gars Gelli Aur Farm is trialling technology that de-waters and purifies slurry, a 1.1 million Prosiectslyri project funded by the Welsh Government through the Rural Development Programme. The treatment plant at Coleg Sir Gars, Gelli Aur Campus is in its first week of operation and more than 250 farmers have had an opportunity to see how it works and potential benefits of introducing the technology in their own systems. The equipment at Gelli Aur is processing 35 tonnes of slurry daily and is already exceeding expectation the company behind the technology, Swansea-based Power and Water, had anticipated extracting 80% of liquid from the slurry but is achieving 90%. The purification process needs further work - the filtered water is not yet clean enough for discharge into local watercourses or to re-use on the farm but this is within reach, says Gareth Morgan, Power and Waters chief executive officer. We are refining the processes as we go along, he explains. The treated water does need analysis before being discharged. We are working with Natural Resources Wales to define discharge quality parameters. Two systems The system works by pumping slurry in its original form from the cubicle housing into a separator. The solid material, a tenth of its original volume because the water has been extracted, drops into a storage area below the separator. Once the holding area is full this stackable material is scooped up and stored in a covered area, ready for spreading. The filtered liquid, which is around 4-5% dry matter (DM) once it has been through the separator, passes to another part of the plant where a patented system of oxidation breaks down the ammonia to nitrogen and hydrogen and removes those remaining solids which are routed back to front-end of the treatment process for adding to the compressed slurry beneath the separator There are two separation systems being trialled - one uses centrifugal force to remove the solids and the other, a screw press filter, forces slurry through a mesh screen. 'Energy intensive' Mr Morgan says the centrefuge system is more energy intensive but produces more solids while the screw press is considerably less capital outlay but there is less separation. We will establish which produces the optimum results," he explains. The project calculates substantial savings from this approach. At Gelli Aur with its 500-cow herd it could mean annual savings of 16,908 on bagged fertiliser due to the higher nutrient content of the compressed slurry and better use being made of these nutrients. The project will also seek to confirm these estimates, and assess the nutrient value of the dehydrated slurry when applied to the land. Re-using the water and reducing spreading and diesel costs would result in further cost savings of 32,296. 'New technology' John Owen, farm manager at Gelli Aur, who is managing the project, says the farming industry is very aware of issues associated with on-farm nutrient management. As an industry we are taking the lead, adopting new technology that has been used in other sectors to make better use of the nutrients we produce. It is new technology so the next two years will be all about evaluating." The system, says Mr Owen, needs to be appropriate to all farms, whatever their scale. It is not just about the big boys, it has to be suitable for everyone. If it wasnt it wouldnt make much of a difference to overall water quality." Funding for the project has been provided by the Welsh Governments Rural Communities Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Mollywood is back in action after a brief break with two major Malayalam movies making it to the theatres this week. The Tovino Thomas starrer Theevandi was one among the Malayalam movie that has hit the theatres on the first week of September. The film, in which the actor essays a character named Bineesh, had made it to the big screens yesterday (September 7, 2018). Theevandi has opened on a positive note in the theatres with the audiences tagging the film as an entertainer with a good message. Social media is getting flooded with reports regarding the movie and now, none other than Vineeth Sreenivasan has shared his views about the film. Vineeth Sreenivasan took to his Facebook page to pen down his thoughts regarding the film. He has started the note stating that he loved Theevandi. He has praised the works of the people involved in the movie. His Facebook post is read as "Loved Theevandi.. Tovino Thomas is a delight to watch.. Writer Vini and director Fellini have decided to make this film in a certain way and they don't lose focus or deviate from their path at any point.. All the actors have done total justice to their characters.. Music helps big time in underlining and highlighting the performances.. All the songs composed by Kailas Menon, Jeevamshamaai being my favourite, are cleverly used to make the story go forward.. This movie is honest about the content it handles and I am sure many people would relate to it.." - (sic). Television actor and host Sushant Singh, who has many popular shows and films to his credit, is going through a tough phase. The actor's sister Sofia has been diagnosed with an auto-immune disorder called CIDP (Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy). The actor, who is popular for his flawless performance as a host on Savdhaan India, took to Twitter and revealed that the only treatment of Steroids and Immuno-suppressants isn't working. He reached out for help and seeks the same from the right people. Sharing a picture of his sister, Sushant wrote, "This is an appeal friends. My younger Sister Sofiya has been diagnosed with CIDP. An auto-immune disorder, the only treatment of Steroids and Immuno-suppressants isn't working. Trying to find any new breakthrough, please RT and help us reach out to the right people." - (sic) As soon as the actor appealed on Twitter, many well-wishers started guiding him about various treatments. Sushant also thanked each and everyone who helped him with the recommendations. This is an appeal friends. My younger Sister Sofiya has been diagnosed with CIDP. An auto-immune disorder, the only treatment of Steroids and Immuno-suppressants isnt working. Trying to find any new breakthrough, please RT and help us reach out to the right people. pic.twitter.com/idVOWm0Jlo sushant singh (@sushant_says) September 7, 2018 Sushant was also seen hosting Wanted: High Alert. The actor also has many films to his credit - Satya, Lakshya, Jungle and The Legend of Bhagat Singh to name a few. He is also a Honorary Secretary Of the CINTAA (Cine And Television Artists Association). We wish Sushant's sister a speedy recovery. Sanaya Irani Talks About Reality Shows; Says She Hasn't Come Across Something She Wants To Do On TV! The charismatic and handsome Rana Daggubati is beyond any doubt one of the most popular and successful stars in the Telugu film industry today. The actor enjoys a strong fan following thanks to his sincere performances, humble nature and versatility as an actor. During his eventful career, he has worked in quite a few successful films and this has made him an integral part of the industry. Now, here is some truly terrific news for his die-hard fans. In an exciting development, a photo of Rana from the shoot location of the NTR biopic is going viral for all the right reasons. In it, he can be seen in a lean and smart avatar that he carries off like a boss. The general feeling is that he will be sporting this new look in the film. In case you did not know, the NTR biopic is being helmed by Krish and it is likely to revolve around the unknown side of the former Andhra CM's life. In it, Balakrishna plays the titular role while Rana plays Chandrababu Naidu. The film also features Vidya Balan and Sumanth in key roles. Interestingly, some time ago, Rana had shot at NTR's bungalow and added a new dimension to his career. While talking about the same, he had said that it was an unforgettable experience for him. "From that day to walking into that house was like travelling through history and time for me. It was the same house where NTR lived, the room where he put on his make-up. It's been left intact, just touched up a bit to show what it looked like back in the day," he had said. The NTR biopic is quite an ambitious film and it is slated to release in 2019. Group press release | Zurich, Switzerland and New Delhi, India , 08 September 2018 ABB CEO meets India's Prime Minister Modi, discusses e-mobility, renewables and energy efficiency ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer met India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in New Delhi during the MOVE Summit on 7th September. ABB CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer meeting with India's Prime Minister Modi in New Delhi Spiesshofer's talks with the Prime Minister focused on how ABB can support the government's renewable energy targets, and accelerate public transportation's transition to electric power. "By embracing e-mobility now, India can leapfrog other nations and become a world leader in e-mobility, while at the same time reducing emissions and dependence on fossil fuels. ABB is a technology leader for electric mobility and we are well positioned to partner India's electric mobility mission 2030," said Spiesshofer. Spiesshofer's meeting with the Prime Minister comes at a time when India has set an ambitious target of producing 227 GW of renewable energy by 2022, and has launched an initiative to electrically power majority of its public transport vehicles. India is also investing to make its power grid more resilient in the face of growing demand. "This is not just limited to EV charging infrastructure, but also includes the entire electricity value chain. We very much look forward to continuing sharing of ideas on driving forward India's e-mobility revolution," he added. In India, ABB is the only company with capabilities spanning the entire electricity value chain, from grid infrastructure, to automation and power management, to electrification, including electric vehicle charging. ABB is a digital leader at the forefront of the Energy and Fourth Industrial Revolutions and has been a leader in electrification and e-mobility for well over a century. ABB (ABBN: SIX Swiss Ex) is a pioneering technology leader in power grids, electrification products, industrial automation and robotics and motion, serving customers in utilities, industry and transport & infrastructure globally. Continuing a history of innovation spanning more than 130 years, ABB today is writing the future of industrial digitalization with two clear value propositions: bringing electricity from any power plant to any plug and automating industries from natural resources to finished products. As title partner in ABB Formula E, the fully electric international FIA motorsport class, ABB is pushing the boundaries of e-mobility to contribute to a sustainable future. ABB operates in more than 100 countries with about 147,000 employees. www.abb.com Amitabh Chaudhry's tenure is for three years from 1 January 2019 till 31 December 2021. Mumbai: Amitabh Chaudhry, currently Managing Director of HDFC Life, will take over as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of Axis Bank when current incumbent Shikha Sharma leaves office on 31 December 2018. Chaudhry's tenure is for three years from 1 January 2019 till 31 December 2021. In a note to the exchanges, Axis Bank said: We wish to inform you that the Board of Directors (the Board) of the Bank at its meeting held today has taken on record the approval granted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to the appointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank, for a period of three years, with effect from 1st January 2019 up to 31st December 2021 (both days inclusive) and the terms and conditions relating to the said appointment, including remuneration. A statement from Axis Bank said, A meeting of the Board will be convened in due course to inter alia, approve the appointment of Amitabh Chaudhry as an Additional Director of the Bank and as the Managing Director & CEO of the Bank under the RBI rules. In July Axis Bank had said that it had shortlisted three candidates for current MD and CEO, Shikha Sharma. In a regulatory filing to the bourses, the bank said: In terms of extant Reserve Bank of India norms and the Succession Planning Process of the bank, the board of directors of the bank, at its meeting held on July 9, has recommended the names of three candidates in order of preference for the approval of the RBI. The bank had announced that it had appointed global leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder to recommend a successor to Sharma. Sharma had in April announced her decision to step down from the position of MD and CEO of the bank by the end of the year. Her term was to end in June 2021, with the board in December 2017 announcing a three-year extension of her term that was then to end in June 2018. However, RBI did not give its nod for further three-year extension. Chaudhry, 54, holds a bachelors degree in Engineering from BITS Pilani and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. Before joining HDFC Standard Life, he was the Managing Director and CEO at Infosys BPO. He also had stints with Bank of America and Credit Lyonnais Securities. (Reuters) - Apple Inc said on Friday the proposed tariffs by President Donald Trump covers a wide range of its products, including Apple Watch and AirPods, but did not name iPhones. 'Our concern with these tariffs is that the U.S (Reuters) - Apple Inc said on Friday the proposed tariffs by President Donald Trump covers a wide range of its products, including Apple Watch and AirPods, but did not name iPhones. "Our concern with these tariffs is that the U.S. will be hardest hit, and that will result in lower U.S. growth and competitiveness and higher prices for U.S. consumers," the company said in a letter to the U.S. government. Shares of the iPhone maker slipped 1 percent in extended trading. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - A 'wide range' of Apple Inc products including the Apple Watch would be affected by proposed U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, the company told U.S By Stephen Nellis (Reuters) - A "wide range" of Apple Inc products including the Apple Watch would be affected by proposed U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods, the company told U.S. trade officials, without mentioning any potential impact on its iPhone cash cow. Apple does not disclose specific revenues for most of the affected products, but the Apple Watch may be the biggest seller. It brought in about $6.1 billion in revenue last year, according to an estimate from analyst firm Bernstein, a small portion of Apple's $229 billion in overall sales. AirPods headphones, some of Apple's Beats headphones, and its new HomePod smart speaker also face levies as part of proposed 10 percent tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, according to an unsigned letter the company submitted on Wednesday to U.S. officials as part of a public comment period. "Our concern with these tariffs is that the U.S. will be hardest hit, and that will result in lower U.S. growth and competitiveness and higher prices for U.S. consumers," Apple said in the letter. Apple has not responded to requests for comment. The letter did not mention the iPhone, which accounted for about two-thirds of its $229 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year. The letter also made no mention of Apple's iPad, which brought in $19.2 billion in sales in the most recent year, or most of its Mac computers, which generated $25.8 billion. Apple did say its MacMini, a low-priced computer that comes without a keyboard or mouse, would be affected. Many Apple accessories, such as mice, keyboards, chargers and even leather covers for iPhones and iPads would face tariffs, Apple said. Reuters had reported that the Apple Watch was likely to be affected by the tariffs. Shares of the iPhone maker slipped 1 percent in extended trading. Apple also said that computer parts for its U.S. operations would be hit by the tariffs. The company said that "main logic boards with microprocessing units" could face levies, along with equipment used for research and development. On Apple's most recent earnings call in July, Chief Executive Tim Cook said the company could face such tariffs "related to data centres." But U.S. President Donald Trump said aboard Air Force One on Friday that he is considering tariffs on a further $267 billion worth of Chinese goods that could encapsulate more products. In its letter, Apple argued that the way U.S. trade officials calculate the U.S. trade balance - attributing the entire value of a product to a country like China where final assembly happens - fails to reflect the true value that Apple generates in the United States. The company noted it spent $50 billion with 9,000 U.S. suppliers in its most recent fiscal year, including Texas-based chip firm Finisar Corp and Kentucky-based Corning Inc. "It is difficult to see how tariffs that hurt U.S. companies and U.S. consumers will advance the Government's objectives with respect to China's technology policies," Apple said in its letter. (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco and Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; editing by Richard Chang and Tom Brown) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By David Ljunggren WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada's top trade negotiator said on Friday she and her U.S. counterpart were making 'very good progress' in talks to save the North American Free Trade Agreement amid increasing Canadian optimism that a deal could be reached. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland repeated her upbeat assessment of the negotiations, again terming them constructive, as she spoke to reporters after talks in Washington with U.S By David Ljunggren WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Canada's top trade negotiator said on Friday she and her U.S. counterpart were making "very good progress" in talks to save the North American Free Trade Agreement amid increasing Canadian optimism that a deal could be reached. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland repeated her upbeat assessment of the negotiations, again terming them constructive, as she spoke to reporters after talks in Washington with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. "We are certainly making very good progress at understanding each other, understanding what each side needs," Freeland said. The main sticking point in discussions appeared to be Canada's dairy quota regime, according to the White House's top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow, who spoke before the start of the latest talks. Kudlow spelled out "M-I-L-K" in an interview with Fox Business Network for emphasis. President Donald Trump has struck a trade deal with Mexico and threatened to push ahead without Canada, a move that would kill NAFTA, which covers $1.2 trillion in trade between the three countries, and further spook financial markets. Other sticking points include Ottawa's desire to keep the 1994 pact's Chapter 19 dispute resolution mechanism, and Canadian media laws that favour domestically produced content. "I'm working on Canada now," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. "You know, people can say, 'Oh I'm too tough on Canada.' Look, Canada's been ripping us off for a long time. And now they've got to treat us fairly." A Canadian source, who declined to be named given the sensitivity of the situation, said Canadian negotiators thought it was quite possible the talks would continue until the end of this month. A U.S. official told Reuters on Thursday that Canada needed to move further on dairy. In its recent trade deal with the European Union, Canada made concessions on dairy imports. "We're down to three issues: Chapter 19, the cultural issues and dairy. We've created leverage and driven Canada to the table," the U.S. official said. "Part of our problem is that Canada has been backsliding on its commitments (on dairy)." Trump has targeted what he sees as "unfair" trade as part of his "America First" agenda to boost U.S. manufacturing and jobs, imposing tariffs on trading partners, including Canada, China, the EU and Mexico. That has prompted retaliation. Tens of billions of dollars in Chinese imports have been slapped with U.S. tariffs and a new round of duties is due to be triggered soon. Both Canada and Mexico want Trump to agree to permanently exempt them from U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. Washington has used those tariffs as leverage in the NAFTA talks. For its part, Canada has used the provisions of NAFTA's dispute resolution mechanism to defend its lumber exports to the United States. Washington charges that Canadian lumber unfairly undercuts prices on U.S. lumber. APPROVAL OF CONGRESS Negotiators and their staff have held several late-night sessions in a bid to overcome disagreements this week. "We are really in a continuous negotiation phase," Freeland said. The Republican chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, Kevin Brady, a powerful voice in Congress on trade, told reporters differences remained between the two sides over Canada's dairy quota regime, a trade dispute resolution settlement procedure and "other longstanding issues." "My sense is that everyone is at the table with the intention of working these last, always difficult issues out," Brady told reporters after speaking with Lighthizer on Thursday. Trump has notified Congress he intends to sign the trade deal reached last week with Mexico by the end of November, and officials said the text would be published by around Oct. 1. Despite pressure from Washington to sign onto a deal similar to the one agreed with Mexico, Ottawa has resisted. Canadian officials also are aware that U.S. business and labour groups are pushing Trump to keep NAFTA as a trilateral deal. Negotiators have blown through several deadlines since the talks started in August 2017. As the process grinds on, some in Washington insist Trump cannot pull out of NAFTA without the approval of Congress. (Additional reporting by Steve Holland aboard Air Force One; Writing by David Chance and Dan Burns; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Paul Simao) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Munnar, Thekkady and Wayanad, which were affected due to rains and landslides, are now open for tourists and public as was Eravikulam National Park, Ahmedabad: Kerala, which was ravaged by floods in August, is ready to welcome tourists from October, a senior official from the southern state said here on Saturday. The Kerala Disaster Management Control Room Tuesday had stated that, since 29 May, a total of 491 people had died there due to the rains, the maximum number of deaths occurring after 8 August. "Kerala tourism is quickly bouncing back from the flood-related damage which has not affected most of the tourist spots, hotels and resorts in the state," P Bala Kiran, director, Kerala's Department of Tourism, told reporters. Addressing a press conference here on the sidelines of the Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF), Bala Kiran said priority was being accorded to the restoration of road links in the state. He also said that that the arrival of tourists had started picking up from 29 August. "Airports, road and rail networks are operational. The fourth airport at Kannur in north Kerala will be opened soon," he said, adding that the state's Malabar region would get a fillip due to Kannur airport. Munnar, Thekkady and Wayanad, which were affected due to rains and landslides, are now open for tourists and public as was Eravikulam National Park, he said. Kerala Travel Mart 2018, being held as scheduled from 27-30 September and the 4th edition of Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB), the biggest contemporary art event in Asia, will be held from 12 December 2018 to 19 March 2019, he said. Nearly a month after media reports suggested that the biennial Aero India show was going to be shifted to Lucknow next year, the defence ministry announced on Saturday that the airshow will be held in Bengaluru from 20-24 February, 2019. As controversy erupted over reports that the venue of Aero India show could be shifted to Lucknow from Bangalore, the defence ministry on Saturday finally announced that the airshow will be held in Karnataka capital, where it was traditionally held. Issuing a press release, the ministry said that the five-day event will be held from 20-24 February 2019. It will comprise a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, and public air shows. "Besides global leaders and big investors in aerospace industry, the show will also see participation by think-tanks from across the world. It will provide a unique opportunity for exchange of information, ideas and new developments in the aviation industry," read the statement. The tussle between the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh and the Congress-JD(S) government in Karnataka over the venue of the Aero India 2019 erupted after reports emerged that the biennial event may be organised at the Bakshi Ka Talab air force base in Lucknow in October. PTI had quoted sources from the defence ministry as saying that they had received requests from a number of states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh to host the next Aero India show. Aero India considered the largest aerospace exhibition in Asia has traditionally been organised at Indian Air Force's Yelahanka air base on the outskirts of Bengaluru since its inception in 1996. The reports gathered more weight after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath made a request to Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to select Lucknow as the venue for Aero India on 11 August. "I request the defence minister to hold the Aero India show in Uttar Pradesh. We will provide every type of facility. In this context, I request her to announce this at the earliest so that we can proceed with the preparations," Adityanath had said. This irked and upset the Karnataka government, which has played host to the defence airshow since its inception in 1996. Seeking to put pressure on the Centre, Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy fired a missive to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, insisting that Bengaluru would be the "best choice" for the biennial event on 13 August. "Bengaluru being the hub for defence and aviation majors of the country, is certainly the most suitable place to conduct the show," he said in the letter. He also asked Sitharaman to clarify her stance. The next day, Sitharaman said that there was no move to shift Aero India 2019 from Bengaluru to Lucknow. Experts felt that moving the venue of Aero India from Bengaluru would be detrimental to India's chances of emerging as Asia's manufacturing hub. Arun Sahni, a former Indian Army commander, wrote in a Firstpost article that Bengaluru is home to Indian aviation and space, with both HAL and ISRO being headquartered there since Independence, and has seen a steady growth in the number of MSMEs in the region. "Bengaluru has therefore gradually become India's centre of startups and home to the aviation industry. It would be fair to state that the permanency of the event has created an interdependent aviation ecosystem in the extended region around Bengaluru," Sahni wrote. In the 11th edition of Aero India, held from February 14-18, 2017, 549 global and Indian firms from 51 countries participated. With inputs from agencies The police on Friday filed a chargesheet against three Alwar villagers arrested for beating a man to death in July after accusing him of smuggling cows. Jaipur: The police on Friday filed a chargesheet against three Alwar villagers arrested for beating a man to death in July after accusing him of smuggling cows. Dharmendra Yadav, Paramjeet Singh and Naresh are accused of murder in the chargesheet filed before an Alwar court, Ramgarh SHO Chauthmal Jakhad said. Earlier, the Rajasthan government had also ordered a judicial inquiry amid allegations that policemen delayed taking the victim Rakbar Khan to hospital. An assistant sub inspector was suspended and three constables sent to police lines for negligence. A post-mortem report had suggested that Khan of died of shock caused by his injuries. The National Human Rights Commission and the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission had issued notices to the state government, seeking a report on the killing. Khan and his friend Aslam had reportedly bought two cows from Ladpura and were taking them to their village in Haryana through a forested area near Lalawandi in Alwar district when they were attacked. Aslam managed to flee but Khan was seriously injured. When the police brought him to hospital, allegedly after a long delay, he was already dead. Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Friday rooted for 25 percent reservation to the poor among the upper castes by enhancing the quota limit to 75 percent. Lucknow: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Friday rooted for 25 percent reservation to the poor among the upper castes by enhancing the quota limit to 75 percent. "I believe if a bill is passed to ensure 25 percent reservation for the poor among the upper castes, it will be beneficial to all... the upper castes think Dalits get reservation while they are deprived of it...," Athawale told reporters in Lucknow. To a question, Athawale said, "I think that all will benefit if the reservation limit is enhanced to 75 percent from the present 50 percent... all political parties will have to help the government in this regard." The Union minister said the government could consider the issue of reservation in promotions for other backward castes and Dalits in the winter session of Parliament. On recent amendments to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by the Parliament to overturn a Supreme Court judgment, Athawale said that no changes would be made now. He said he would like to assure all sections of the society that this act would not be misused and stressed that instead of demanding change in the Act, the upper castes needed to change their mindset towards the Dalits. On Thursday's "Bharat Bandh" in the BJP-ruled states, he said it was actually a design of the Opposition parties to defame the government. Athawale, who is the president of Republican Party of India, said he wanted to contest three-four seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh for which he would talk to BJP chief Amit Shah. Claiming that some important leaders of the BSP are in touch with him, he said the BJP will benefit in the state with the coming together of the RPI. He also said the BJP could win around 300 seats in the coming Lok Sabha elections. The conviction rate for cases under UAPAcases convicted per cases in which trials were completedin 2016 was 33 percent, as against 82 percent for all SLL cases, while the pendency percentage cases pending trial per total cases for trial stood at 97.8 percent in 2016, as against 82 percent for SLL cases. By Chaitanya Mallapur & Devyani Chhetri Mumbai: Two-thirds of trials completed under a 51-year-old law used to arrest five human-rights activists recently ended in acquittal or discharge in 2016, the latest year for which national crime data are available. As many as 22 of 33 cases (67 percent) under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) ended in acquittal or discharge in 2016, compared to 18 percent of cases that ended similarly under special and local laws (SLL), a category of laws applicable nationwide and which encompassesthe UAPA, according to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data. In 2015, 65 of 76 cases in which trials were completed under UAPA ended in acquittal or discharge. On average, 75 percent cases have ended in acquittal/discharge over three years ending 2016, as per our analysis of NCRB data. On 28 August, 2018, five activists Sudha Bhardwaj, Gautam Navlakha, Varavara Rao, Arun Ferreira and Vernon Gonsalves were arrested from different parts of the country for allegedly inciting violence in the Bhima-Koregaon riots in Pune. On 1 January, 2018, a large number of Dalits, gathered at Bhima Koregaon to mark a 200-year-old historical event, were attacked by local groups opposed to the celebration. This led to widespread riots in the city and in other parts of Maharashtra. On 1 September, 2018, the Pune police sought more time to file chargesheets against five accusedSudhir Dhawale, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen and Mahesh Rautarrested on June 6, 2018, under the UAPA, also over alleged Maoist links in connection with the Bhima-Koregaon violence, the Hindustan Times reported on 1 September, 2018. Their 90-day judicial custody, which was to end on September 3, 2018, can be extended up to 180 days under the UAPA, if the investigation is not complete. In other cases, if the chargesheet is not filed within 90 days, bail can be granted to suspects. Why critics call UAPA Draconian The UAPA has often been criticised for being oppressive. The dangerous thing about UAPA is that both TADA [Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act] and POTA [Prevention of Terrorism Act] had a sunset clause which UAPA does not, said Susan Abraham, advocate at the Bombay High Court and wife of Vernon Gonsalves, one of the accused in the Bhima Koregaon riots case. Under a sunset provision, a law will cease to have effect after a fixed point of time. The UAPA is a permanent statute. Both TADA and POTA, because of the sunset clause, had a time limit of two years after which they had to be sent to the Parliament for a new lease of life, added Abraham. The other issue is that the law does not have the provision for anticipatory bail. Bail is difficult because you have to prove that prima facie there is no case, Abraham said, adding that the investigating agency now has six months instead of three for chargesheeting. "The UAPA is not meant for convicting people, it is used to detain them," alleged Mihir Desai, senior counsel at Bombay High Court. Eventually, acquittals might happen but a considerable amount of time passes by and the persons life is ruined. The burden of proof in usual matters falls on the police but under UAPA, the burden is now on the person accused to prove his innocence." More than 2,700 cases registered over 3 years; 3,548 cases pending investigation ending 2016 As many as 922 cases were reported under UAPA in 2016, down 5 percent from 2014 (976) and up 3 percent from 2015 (897), NCRB data show. Over 2,700 cases have been registered over three years ending 2016. Manipur reported the most 327, or 35 percent of all UAPA cases in 2016, nearly half the cases reported in 2014 (630). Assam came next (216), followed by Jammu and Kashmir (161) in 2016. All these are states are affected by insurgency/terrorism. Of the 3,962 cases slated for investigation in 2016, the police was burdened with a backlog of 76 percent cases. As many as 3,548 cases were pending investigation at the end of 2016, with a pendency rate of 89.6 percent. The pendency rate is estimated in terms of cases pending investigation at the end of the year per total cases for investigation during the year. Disposal Of Cases By Police, 2014-16 Year Cases Pending Investigation from Previous Year Cases for Investigation in the year Cases in Which Charge sheet Submitted Cases Disposed off by Police Pending Investigation at the End of the Year Pendency Percentage 2016 3040 3962 232 414 3548 89.6 2015 2549 3444 121 404 3040 88.2 2014 1857 2825 106 276 2549 90 Source: National Crime Records Bureau, 2014, 2015, 2016 In 2016, 1,488 cases were pending trial. Of these, 232 came in for trial that year, the remaining were held-over cases. Of these, trials were completed in 33 (22 acquitted/discharged and 11 convicted) cases. Disposal of Cases By Courts, 2014-16 Year Cases Pending Trial from the Previous Year Cases Sent for Trial During the Year Trials Completed Cases Convicted Cases Acquitted/Discharged Pending Trial at the End of the Year Conviction Rate Pendency Percentage 2016 1256 232 33 11 22 1455 33.3 97.8 2015 1209 121 76 11 65 1253 14.5 94.2 2014 1144 106 33 9 24 1217 27.3 97.4 Source: National Crime Records Bureau, 2014, 2015, 2016 The conviction rate for cases under UAPAcases convicted per cases in which trials were completedin 2016 was 33 percent, as against 82 percent for all SLL cases, while the pendency percentage cases pending trial per total cases for trial stood at 97.8 percent in 2016, as against 82 percent for SLL cases. What unlawful activity means under the UAPA The Act accords absolute power to the central government. Under subsection 1 of section 3, chapter 2, if the central government is of the opinion that an activity is unlawful then it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare it so. Unlawful activity is that which questions, disrupts or intends to disrupt, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, according to the Act. It objects to claims which may contribute to cession of any part of India or which may cause disaffection against India. These definitions also formed the foundation of two defunct terror laws: Terrorist and Disruptive Act, 1985 (TADA) and Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA). TADA was allowed to lapse in 1995 and POTA was repealed in 2004. Both were repealed because of growing public opinion against their misuse, but nothing like that can be done about UAPA, said Abraham. The UAPA, originally passed in 1967, imported provisions from the discontinued acts with amendments in 2004, 2008 and 2012. Till 2004, unlawful activities referred to actions related to secession and cession of territory. Following the 2004 amendment, terrorist act was added to the list of offences. In 2012, UAPA was amended to further widen the definition of terrorist act. Now, threats to economic securityan umbrella term inclusive of food security, monetary and fiscal stability, etc; and actions like the counterfeiting of currency, raising of funds or the intention to aid organisationswere added to the original definition. Clarifications regarding proceeds from terrorism were also provided in an addendum. These included properties identified as being used in, intended to be used in or derived from acts of terrorism. They could also be identified as instruments in any form, monetary or otherwise. The Act accords the power to the investigating authority and the courts to forfeit property before the actual conviction. In 2016, UAPA cases were categorised under offences against the state in addition to crimes recorded under the Indian Penal Code. UAPA cases against activists: Why the debate GN Saibaba, a Delhi University professor, was arrested under the UAPA in May 2014 for being an urban contact of the banned Communist Party of India (Maoist) outfit in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. He was later sentenced for life in 2017. Many expressed outrage over his conviction because he is 90 percent disabled. Maoist leader Kobad Ghandy was booked under the UAPA in 2009. He was acquitted of charges under Section 20 and 38 (member of banned outfit and furthering its activities) of UAPA, but convicted for cheating, forgery and impersonation under provisions of the IPC in June 2016. Out on bail in 2017, he was re-arrested in days after his release by Jharkhand Police. In the last two years, environmental activists like Thirumurugan Gandhi too have been implicated under the same law. Gandhi, who was arrested in August 2018, was an active participant in a campaign against the eight-lane Chennai-Salem green corridor project and the police firing on the anti-sterlite protestors in the Thoothukudi protests against the Sterlite Copper plant. In the case of Saibaba, no evidence proved the charges foisted against the professor, said Abraham. His only fault was to be a part of the international and all India campaign against Operation Green Hunt. His case was registered in Delhi, there was no connection to any offence in Gadchiroli. Something similar happened with Hem Mishra, a Jawaharlal Nehru University student, who was arrested in Chhattisgarh but booked for something that happened in Gadchiroli. The Supreme Court says that mere association with an event is not enough. Despite that, they were convicted. Mallapur is an analyst with IndiaSpend. Chhetri, a graduate of Lady Shri Ram College for Women from Delhi, is an intern with IndiaSpend. Indiaspend.org is a data-driven, public-interest journalism non-profit The national executive of the BJP is also likely to respond to concerns over the rise in oil prices and refer to the previous UPA government's 'mismanagement of the economy' as it meets ahead of the Assembly polls in five states, with the Lok Sabha election less than eight months away, party sources said. New Delhi: Amid signs of unrest among the upper castes over its push for pro-Dalit laws, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold a two-day meeting of its key decision-making body in New Delhi starting Saturday, in which the ruling party is likely to highlight the Narendra Modi government's steps for "social justice" and "economic successes". The national executive of the BJP is also likely to respond to concerns over the rise in oil prices and refer to the previous UPA government's "mismanagement of the economy" as it meets ahead of the Assembly polls in five states, with the Lok Sabha election less than eight months away, party sources said. BJP president Amit Shah will deliver the inaugural address in the presence of the party's top leaders, including Modi, on Saturday afternoon, while the latter is scheduled to give the valedictory speech on Sunday. Significantly, the saffron party has chosen the Ambedkar International Centre, which works to promote the works and ideas of Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, for hosting the meeting, a symbolism for its Dalit outreach. However, it will have to do a balancing act as groups claiming to represent the upper castes, its core vote bank, have been protesting the government's decision to restore the original and stringent provisions of a law on atrocities against Dalits and tribals, after the Supreme Court had relaxed those. The groups had called a "Bharat Bandh" on Thursday. Senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra has gone on record to seek a rethink on the law, which non-Dalits/tribals claim is often misused. The issues of the National Register of Citizens, passage of key bills including the one to restore the original provisions of the law on atrocities against Dalits and another that accorded constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) in Parliament will also come up for discussion at the national executive meet, the sources said. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters that the executive will discuss all the topical issues. He, though, did not elaborate further. It will be the first such meeting of the party following the death of its stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The executive will pay tribute to the former prime minister, Hussain said. The sources said the hike announced by the government in the Minimum Support Price for a number of farm produce and the rise in the economic growth in the last quarter to 8.2 percent would also find a mention, besides the ongoing "Gram Swaraj" campaign to cover the poor with a host of welfare programmes. Modi has often cited his government's pro-poor programmes and push for laws to empower the Dalits and Other Backward Classes as an evidence of its work for "social justice", a theme likely to be picked by the BJP national executive. The BJP is likely to present itself as a party that has promoted the interests of the backward classes a constituency it has constantly been wooing to big electoral successes since 2014. Party leaders said the government's "honest" image and "successful" handling of the economy, besides the Hindutva credentials of the organisation, would keep its core constituency tethered to it in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. They added that the likely alliance of its rivals such as the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party and other regional parties would be a red herring for the upper castes. The BJP national executive is meeting almost after a year. From BJP to begin its two-day national executive meet in New Delhi to Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka face off in the US Open finals, here are the top stories of the day. Two-day BJP national executive from today Amid signs of unrest among the upper castes over its push for pro-Dalit laws, the BJP will hold a two-day meeting of its key decision-making body in New Delhi starting Saturday, in which the ruling party is likely to highlight the Narendra Modi government's steps for "social justice" and "economic successes". The BJP national executive is also likely to respond to concerns over the rise in oil prices and refer to the previous UPA government's "mismanagement of the economy" as it meets ahead of the Assembly polls in five states and the Lok Sabha election, which is less than eight months away, party sources said. Chargesheet filed against three in Alwar lynching case The police on Friday filed a chargesheet against three Alwar villagers arrested for beating a man to death in July after accusing him of smuggling cows. Dharmendra Yadav, Paramjeet Singh and Naresh are accused of murdering Rakbar Khan in the chargesheet filed before an Alwar court, Ramgarh SHO Chauthmal Jakhad said. Khan and his friend Aslam had reportedly bought two cows from Ladpura and were taking them to their village in Haryana through a forested area near Lalawandi in Alwar district when they were attacked. Thank Rahul Gandhi for not opposing release, says Rajiv Gandhi's killer Nalini A day after the Tamil Nadu government hinted that it stood for the release of all seven convicts in the 1991 Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, Nalini Sriharan, one of the convicts, said that she wanted to let her daughter know that she will be free soon. In an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, Nalini said that the Tamil Nadu government and the Centre should work according to the Supreme Court's directions. "I pray that the central government will be magnanimous," CNN-News18 quoted her as saying. She also thanked Congress president Rahul Gandhi for not opposing the release of the convicts. Ex-Trump campaign aide jailed in Russia probe A former adviser to US president Donald Trump, George Papadopoulos, whose contacts with Russians set off the investigation into possible collusion with Moscow was jailed on Friday for lying to the FBI. US District Judge Randolph Moss sentenced Trump's foreign policy aide Papadopoulos to 14 days, noting that he "lied in an investigation that was important to national security". India vs England, fifth Test, Day 2 England will resume batting in the first innings of the fifth Test at 198/7 on Day 2 after the Indian bowlers fought back after the home side got off to a strong start. England's top three of Alastair Cook, Keaton Jennings and Moeen Ali led the attack scoring 143 of England's 198 runs. For India, Ishant Sharma picked three wickets while Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja got two wickets each. India will look to bowl England out as early as possible to allow themselves to bat for longer on Day 2. Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka to battle for US Open crown Serena Williams will be looking to win her 24th Grand Slam title to equal Margaret Court's record for most Grand Slam titles when she locks horns with 20-year-old upcoming star, Naomi Osaka in the US Open women's singles final. Williams will be playing in her second Grand Slam final after giving birth to daughter Alexis Olympia a year ago. Meanwhile, Osaka will be looking to beat her idol Serena in her first-ever Grand Slam final. Students politics in Delhi University has become synonymous with unruly drama with candidates relying on mainstream political parties for legal and financial aid Delhi University goes to polls on 12 September and despite a Supreme Court order banning posters on pubic property, thousands of white posters each carrying just the name and the party of a certain candidate contesting the election have mushroomed in the capital. They are on flyovers, billboards, along the length of dividers, on dustbins and pinned to street lights. One can even spot disingenuous attempts at registering the identity of the contestants in the minds of not just the little over 17,000 voters at DU but everybody else in the national capital. As one drives closer to the Delhi University areas in its two campuses, the spread of posters thickens. Its easy to notice spelling mistakes in the names printed on these posters Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishads Sudhir Dedhas name is spelt as Sudhiir Dedha and Ankiv Baisoya is Ankiv Basoya; National Students Union of Indias Ankit Singh is Ankiit Singh and Indian National Students Organisations Hemant Kumar is Hemantt Kumar. These spelling mistakes, however, may have been done knowingly to to dodge the 5 May 2018 Supreme Court order which made defacement of public property a punishable offence. The Supreme Court passed the in a writ petition filed by advocate Prashant Manchanda against defacement of public property including property of Delhi University, college campuses, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, municipal properties, flyovers, boundary walls of public buildings and public streets. The order was a culmination of existing acts on defacement of public property. It considered the Metro Rail (Operations and Maintenance) Act 2002, a Central enactment which empowers police officers to register cases and take action against offenders who are likely to cause damage to metro properties. The order also considered the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 1984, which prescribes imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine to whoever commits mischief by doing any act in respect to public property (it extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir). Another act that the apex court reiterated in the order was The Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act, 2007, the Section 3 of which prescribes punishment with imprisonment for a period that may extend to one year to whoever defaces property in public view by writing or marking with ink, chalk, paint of any other material except for the purpose of indicating the name and address of owner or occupier of such property. The order lays down that the university and the colleges will have committees to ensure that the courts orders are followed and recommends sensitisation workshops to be conducted by the management to spread awareness about the relevant provisions and statues. During every election, the Delhi University VC appoints a Chief Election Officer and a team at each college to ensure a smooth conduct of elections. This election season, professor Ravi Ranjan is acting as the returning officer at Zakir Hussain College. Ranjan pointed that unlike JNU which is a closed campus, Delhi University colleges spill out of its North and South campuses, like Deen Dayal Upadhyaya College in South West Delhi, Shaheed Sukhdev College of Applied Science for Women in East Delhi, Bhim Rao Ambedkar College in East Delhi, Ramanujan College in South Delhi, Janki Devi Memorial College in West Delhi. "Our college is an off-campus college. Theres a quantum of punishment in place and the Delhi Police has set up 20 control rooms. But we can only monitor whats going on inside our respective colleges, said Ranjan, adding that the Delhi University Code of Conduct prescribes that each student be accompanied only by four 'bonafide students' is flouted because who can stop herds of party workers and other political enthusiasts from parading along? One way to do this is by taking punitive action against the erring students and inserting lessons into public memory, but that requires strong will on the part of the police administration. Kawalpreet Kaur, leader of All India Students Association (AISA) that has struck an alliance with AAPs Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti feels that the entry of outsiders in the campus and cars should be banned inside the campus during election season. She also feels that presidential debates should be made mandatory in order to encourage intelligent debates and cut out the extravagant drama that is irrelevant to the welfare of students. N Sukumar, professor of Political Science at Faculty of Social Sciences, along with Ranjan, had done a survey on social inclusion in student union politics in eight different government universities nearly 10 years ago. Sukumar says that the Lyngdoh Commission Guidelines (a report that exceeds the initial mandate of prescribed by the Supreme Court of India and prescribes norms for conducting elections) provided space for independent and other politically active groups a chance to participate. When these guidelines were first implemented in 2007, they were followed for some years. All that has been put into the dustbin now and universities follow their own norms about how elections will be conducted, Sukumar said stating that parties should raise issues like lack of fellowships instead of stressing only on caste and gender discrimination. When the Lyngdoh Guidelines were introduced, both the BJP and the Congress were critical of it for non-involvement of political parties in campus elections, claiming that parties are source of inspiration for student leaders. Student Federation of India, aligned to the Communist Party of India, was also skeptical over the proposal of indirect elections that, in their view, could feed the private interests of the management. The Lyngdoh Guidelines state that 'all institutions must, over a period of five years (since it was issued), convert from the nomination model to a structured election model, that may be based on a system of parliamentary (indirect) elections, or on the presidential (direct) system, or a hybrid of both'. Eminent sociologist TK Ommenn in his chapter Student Politics in India: The Case of Delhi University (1974) was critical of the system of indirect elections to DUSU because it limits the interplay of democratic forces and paves the way for corruption of various kinds as money is the basic resource needed by aspiring student leaders, as a result, students from well off families tend to monopolise leadership positions. "Help in terms of men and material is the motivational force and not ideological compulsions," he had said. And thats what seems to be happening in present-day politics in Delhi University. Mukul Gupta, a senior Supreme Court advocate, said universities travel beyond Lyngdoh in letter and spirit and make their own guidelines. "The Lyngdoh Guidelines prescribe that a person tried and convicted should be barred. The trial starts from the date the charges are framed but university officials try to use this as a weapon against any of the candidates selectively," he pointed out, adding that there are two grey areas where action is arbitrary. One is that as per the Lyngdoh Guidelines, hearing is supposed to be provided to the person concerned but all this drama culminates in four days of filing nominations and scrutiny of applications. You cant expect students to run around the courts during that period. Second, the election committee and a grievance committee are supposed to work in tandem but none of them, according to Gupta, are willing to give the candidate in question a chance to be heard. It is a fundamental law that any action of any authority that has civil consequences will hear out the person in question. Advocate Nikhil Bhalla highlighted the clause on disciplinary action in the Lyngdoh Commission guidelines. There is a clear contradiction between the Lyngdoh guidelines and the statutes of the Delhi University. The said guidelines seek to prohibit a person from contesting elections merely on the ground of an initiation of disciplinary inquiry against him, even if he is exonerated or charges are withdrawn, he says. Furthermore, Bhalla added that colleges have not framed clear disciplinary procedures and punishments, thus a person can be disqualified if he had an inquiry merely for smoking on campus or defaulting a hostel or mess bill. These legal complications came to the fore in the case of Rocky Tuseed. NSUIs presidential candidate (2017-2018), Tuseed was first de-barred from contesting elections and it was only after legal intervention from senior counsel and member of the Congress party Salman Khurshid that his candidature was restored. Tuseed had filed his nomination for the post of the DUSU President on 4 September last year. However, an enquiry was initiated against him on 5 September on the basis of an email received by the DUSU Election Commission alleging that disciplinary action had been initiated against him in Shivaji College, where he had studied. While Rocky had contended that he wasnt given an opportunity of being heard, Delhi University relied on Lyngdoh guidelines that candidates shouldnt be subject to any disciplinary action by university authorities. In July 2018, shortly before the end of his tenure as president of the Delhi University Students Union, the Supreme Court upheld that "the court cannot lose sight of the fact that the Supreme Court has accepted the recommendations of the Lyngdoh Committee, which clearly stipulates if a candidate had a disciplinary action, the same would be a non-eligibility for such a student to stand in elections". Tuseed, who has made several appearances in court during his tenure told Firstpost that the multiplicities in the laws are used as an excuse to take politically motivated action against students and this could happen to a student from any party. He asserted that the need to address the irregularities between the DUSU Constitution and the Lyngdoh guidelines. For instance, the DUSU Constitution framed in 2005 state that the election of the office-bearer should be completed at the latest by the 16th of August each year, after which the DUSU office is sealed. Its 2018 and the elections are taking place in September but the office is sealed as per the old body of laws, he said that dated guidelines, for instance, the one that prescribes an expenditure of Rs 5000 per candidate, also need revision. Tuseed also suggested that the DUSU office mustnt exist only during election season because bitter political enmities between parties lead to a disruption of governance and there have to be stricter laws to ensure parties and student bodies work with each other and not against each other. He further revealed that because of his legal battles, the partys work has been affected. The most recent being the cancellation of the Shankar Lal Concert Hall on 28 July that was booked for an event on cultural harmony. Some laws are outdated and others are inconsistent with newer laws. At Delhi University, there are laws regulating the the conduct of elections and beyond. But if student politics is losing its ethos in cracker smoke, lying scattered on streets in the form of pieces of paper, and in garlands and drumrolls that mimic the optics of mainstream politics, then the university needs legal reform, such that student bodies dont need to depend on political parties for either funding or legal intervention. Left leaning Lankesh, who was strongly opposed to Hindutva, was shot dead on 5 September last year by two motorcycle-borne assailants. Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team probing the killing of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh has taken into custody one more person in connection with the case. Sources in the SIT said Sudhanwa Gondhalekar, who was arrested from Pune by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad in August in connection with the seizure of a huge cache of explosives, was brought to Bengaluru on Friday on transit remand. He was produced in a local court which remanded him in police custody for 14 days. With this, 14 suspects have been arrested in the case. A native of Satara, Gondhalekar has confessed to his role in the murder of Lankesh, SIT sources said. The Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra police had arrested three members of a suspected right-wing Hindutva outfit, including Gondhalekar, in August and seized a huge quantity of explosives, including crude bombs. The ATS had said they would be questioned about all the cases in which the involvement of right-wing extremists was suspected, including the Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and (journalist) Gauri Lankesh killings. Left leaning Lankesh, who was strongly opposed to Hindutva, was shot dead on 5 September last year by two motorcycle-borne assailants near her house, triggering outrage. The IMD has forecast heavy rainfall and thunderstorms at one or two districts of Odisha in the next 24 hours. Bhubaneswar: Over 3 lakh people in three coastal districts of Bhadrak, Jajpur and Kendrapara were severely affected by the rain on Saturday as the swirling water of the Baitarani river entered several villages and inundated large swathes of farmland, officials said. Although water from the Baitarani submerged many agricultural fields in Keonjhar district, it has not affected the people living along the river bank, official sources said. However, the flood situation remained grim in four blocks of Jajpur district, four blocks in Bhadrak and two blocks of Kendrapara district, sources in the special relief commissioner's office said in Bhubaneswar. Meanwhile, an India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast on Saturday said that heavy rainfall along with thunderstorm is likely to occur at one or two places over Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts of Odisha in 24 hours. According to sources in the water resources department, the Baitarani river was flowing above the danger mark at Akhuapada in Bhadrak district. As against the danger level of 17.83 metres, the water was flowing at a height of 18.08 metres at 7 pm on Saturday. The water level at Anandapur, however, showed a falling trend and was flowing at 37.45 metre against the danger level of 38.36 metre. The water crossed the embankments and entered 122 villages of Odisha's Bhandaripokhari, Dhamnagar, Tihidi and Bhadrak blocks. Road links between Bhandaripokhari and Jajpur have been cut off due to the river overflowing at a height of about two feet over the Sarta bridge at Malada. Road communication from Aradi to Jajpur and Bhadrak has been disrupted, the sources said. Several hectares of paddy fields in Aradi, Sundarpur, Nandapur and Olagi panchayats in Chandbali tehsil have been submerged. Around 1,71,365 people in Odisha's Bhadrak district have been hit as the water rushed into their villages, the special relief commissioner's office said. In Jajpur district, the waters of Baitarani river have entered 69 villages in Dasarathpurm, Korei and Jajpur blocks. Dasarathpur has been the worst-affected block in Jajpur district, it said. Similarly, nine blocks and two urban local bodies in Kendrapara district have been affected as Baitarani water entered the villages. Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) BP Sethi said the district collectors of Jajpur, Bhadrak, Kendrapara and Keonjhar have been put on alert and instructed to undertake evacuation of people living in the low-laying areas. The Emergency Operation Centres in Odisha and district levels along with line departments are functioning round the clock, he said. He said the district collectors have also been asked to deploy units of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and the National Disaster Response Force for relief and rescue operations. Besides, ices personnel are also on standby in these four districts, Sethi said, adding that cooked food and safe drinking water, besides healthcare arrangements, have been readied by the collectors in multi-purpose cyclone shelters. The SRC said the Jajpur district administration had evacuated 3,860 flood-hit people in Binjharpur block and set up free kitchens in Binjharpur, Dasarathpur blocks and in Jajpur municipality. Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Maheswar Mohanty said the second Saturday and Sunday holidays of the field functionaries have been cancelled in view of the floods. Besides issuing warnings for heavy rains, the NDMA has advised people to stock up on first aid kits, torches, drinking water and non-perishable food items. Incessant rains over the past few days has wreaked havoc in a number of places across the country. On Friday, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at some places in 22 states and advised people take precautionary measures to avoid casualties. "Heavy to very heavy rains are likely to occur at isolated places in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Sikkim, Jharkhand, West Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, East Rajasthan, Konkan, Goa, Vidarbha and Telangana", the NDMA said, quoting a bulletin from the India Meteorological Department (IMD). In Uttar Pradesh, heavy rains caused the Ganga to flood and inundate Kanpur, Hapur, Varanasi and Baliya. The Uttar Pradesh Disaster Management Authority on Thursday said 153 marooned villages and 805 villages were affected by the floods. Over 2,000 houses and huts were damaged or submerged, and over 1.12 lakh hectares of land were affected, reported ABP. Local residents have made arrangements to take shelter on the roofs of their homes to protect themselves, and boats were also seen being used. Water entered several houses, forcing families to relocate to relief camps set up by the Uttar Pradesh government. In Varanasi, connectivity between 84 ghats were also affected. Low-lying areas are under water, and boating has temporarily been banned in the region, with authorities issuing a warning. The Central Water Commission said all major rivers are flowing in spate. The Ganga, Ram Ganga, Sharda, Ghaghra and Quano are currently flowing above the danger mark at different places. Rains and floods have affected 23 districts in Uttar Pradesh. Six more people died in rain-related incidents since Thursday night, taking the toll to 82 since 1 September, officials said on Friday. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday undertook an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of Kanpur, Unnao and Farrukhabad districts and also distributed relief material to those affected, officials said. In Kanpur, the district magistrate appealed the people to donate mosquito nets and mosquito repellent creams. #Visuals of flood affected areas in Kanpur. DM says, "Water is receding. The situation should return to normal if rainfall stops and more water is not released. Distribution of dry ration is being done. We appeal to people to donate mosquito nets and mosquito repellant creams." pic.twitter.com/byCdrjcqoN ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) September 8, 2018 Heavy rainfall also triggered floods in Rajasthan's Baran district, flooding shops and offices in the region. Two girls were killed and four of their relatives were injured when the roof of their house collapsed in the rain-hit district in the early hours of Saturday, the police said. Laxmi Bairagi (10) and her sister Pinki (15), who were visiting their relatives from Jhalawar district, were killed in the incident. The region has been receiving moderate to heavy rainfall since Friday evening and rivers are in spate, the police added. Heavy rainfall triggers floods in Rajasthan's Baran district pic.twitter.com/3ItgLQpClc ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2018 #WATCH Locals carry a patient on a charpoy across a flooded stream in Rajasthan's Baran pic.twitter.com/oy8WNl5C01 ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2018 The NDMA had issued warnings about heavy rain in Chhattisgarh. Streets were flooded after heavy showers, leading to loss and damage of property. #WATCH Car washed away in a flooded river in Chhattisgarh's Manendragarh in Koriya district ( 7.09.18) pic.twitter.com/A353jdnb3h ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2018 Incessant rainfall in Odisha, too, caused the water level in several rivers in the state to rise. The Baitarani river is flowing above the danger mark in Akhuapada in Bhadrak and Anandpur in Keonjhar district. There were reports of water-logging in a number of places, as well. Areas in Sundargarh district and Kutra are flooded. HR Biswas, director of IMD Bhubaneswar, said, "The depression (in the Bay is Bengal) became weak and moved towards Chhattisgarh. The rainfall due to its influence has already decreased. Pockets of North Odisha received major rainfall in the last two days due to this system", reported The Times of India. The NDMA has also warned about the possibility of strong winds with the speed of 25 to 35 kmph hitting interior Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand till Saturday. The disaster management authority has advised people to stock up on first aid kits, torches, drinking water and non-perishable food items and also not allow children to play near water bodies in flood-prone areas. It also tweeted saying domestic animals should not be kept on a leash, and advised people to stay away from sewerage lines, drains and culverts. Over 1,400 people, including 488 in Kerala, have lost their lives due to rains, floods and landslides in 10 states so far this monsoon season, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs. Rains and floods have affected 30 districts in Odisha, 26 districts in Maharashtra, 25 in Assam, 23 each in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, 14 in Kerala, 13 in Uttarakhand, 11 each in Karnataka and Nagaland and 10 in Gujarat. With inputs from agencies National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said he was hopeful of better relations between New Delhi and Islamabad. Srinagar: National Conference president Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said he was hopeful of better relations between New Delhi and Islamabad after Imran Khan took over as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will emulate the steps of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who wanted to improve ties with the neighbouring country. "As Imran Khan took over as the PM of Pakistan, we are hopeful of a better relation between India and Pakistan which is very important for us because our issues will get resolved only when there is an atmosphere of friendship between them," Abdullah, who is also the Member of Parliament from Srinagar, said. He was addressing party workers at a function in Srinagar to mark the 36th death anniversary of his father and party founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. "When an RSS and Jan Sangh leader like Vajpayee can go to Pakistan and say India accepts Pakistan as a country and wants to live in friendship with it, I hope the country's PM (Modi) thinks about it and works towards taking a step like that," Abdullah said. He said the region will progress only when the two countries start living as good neighbours. "We should not forget he (Vajpayee) said that friends can be changed, but not neighbours and if we can live with neighbours as friends, then we both will progress," the former chief minister said. The NC leader said there were some people with "vested interests" both in India and Pakistan, who do not want peace between the two countries. He said he read a newspaper article in which India's envoy to Pakistan had said the neighbouring country wants friendly ties with India. "If the envoy is saying that, then what is the problem, why is India not taking a step forward. Do they have to save this country or not? Or do we only want to have hatred between Muslims and Hindus?" Abdullah asked. Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan Ajay Bisaria had on Friday said the new government there has opened a political window and India is "filled with cautious hope". The NC president said the way Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu was targeted by the media "shows that there are some channels which do not want better relations between India and Pakistan". He said if the country wants to come out of the atmosphere where attacks are happening on the people from minority communities, then "we have to respect every citizen and their religion as well". "No Muslim has ever told any Hindu or Christian to change the way they practice their religion or change their food habits or has stopped them from visiting their religious places. But, when they tell us not to offer prayers in a particular way or stop 'Azaan' (call for prayers), they want to change Gandhi's India," he said. Abdullah said every religion has to be respected and people have to be given the rights as enshrined in the constitution. The NC president accused "agencies" of spreading rumours about danger to Kashmiri Pandits living in the valley and called upon his party workers and the people of Kashmir to safeguard the community. "I want to tell the NC workers that a new danger is there. There are rumours are being floated and I think agencies are doing it like it was done during (former governor) Jagmohan's time, that Kashmiri pandits are in danger and they should be cautious. This is being done to spread fear in the country so that there are clashes between Muslims and Hindus." "I want to tell not only the workers of NC, but the people of Kashmir, that pandits are our brothers and it is our duty to safeguard them. Make sure no Hindu feels unsafe here. Every Kashmiri whether people from Hurriyat (Conference), NC, Congress or PDP - is duty bound to safeguard them," he said. The amount raised to the tune of over Rs 1.2 crore has been sent to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund for Kerala, the DDA said. New Delhi: Employees of the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) have donated their one day's salary for assisting flood-affected people of Kerala, the urban body said on Friday. The amount raised to the tune of over Rs 1.2 crore has been sent to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund, the DDA said. "The DDA employees have donated their one day's salary for helping flood-affected people in Kerala," it said in a statement. The payment for an amount of Rs 1,20,13,744 has been sent through cheque, it said. The deluge triggered by torrential monsoon rains had left a trail of destruction in the state and has claimed 491 lives since 29 May. The Maharashtra government has laid down fines ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 150 to curb the menace of open defecation. Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has laid down fines ranging from Rs 500 to Rs 150 to curb the menace of open defecation, throwing garbage and spitting in public. In an order issued on Friday by the state urban development department, which is headed by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, the government said that the offence of open defecation would invite a fine of Rs 500 while that for throwing garbage and spitting in public would be Rs 180 and Rs 150 respectively. The fine amount has been levied as per categorisation of areas into classes A, B, C and D, officials said. "The government wants local bodies to achieve a target of 100 per cent segregation and disposal of solid waste. Local bodies have now been delegated powers to ensure individuals, societies and organisations cooperate in keeping the state clean," an official from the urban development department said. The state government's orders come in the wake of a Supreme Court order on 31 August castigating some states and Union Territories, including Maharashtra, for not framing any policy under the 2016 Solid Waste Management Rule even after the passage of two years. Two people were killed and around 25 were injured after the Majerhat bridge in Kolkata's Alipore area collapsed on Tuesday. Kolkata: The city police said on Saturday it has been working hard to ease traffic congestion since the collapse of the Majerhat bridge and has assured people of cutting down their travel time by next week. Announcing this after a high-level meeting with senior officers at the state secretariat, Kolkata Commissioner of Police Rajeev Kumar said steps were being taken to mitigate the travel woes of commuters. People travelling to and from the southwestern parts of Kolkata and South 24 Parganas district are having an average delay of one hour to two and a half hours in reaching their destinations. Kumar said that a ban has been imposed on the entry of 20-wheeler trucks in the city, while those already inside the city have been asked to leave within two days. Heavy trucks that are still unloading have been asked to complete their job and leave the city between 10 pm to 6 am. Four old bridges have also been declared closed for loaded trucks and other vehicles carrying goods to avoid any further disasters. These included Belgachhia bridge, Aurobindo Setu, Bijan Setu and Tollygunge Circular Bridge. However, if any vehicle carrying essential commodities is found stuck, it would be brought to the city with police help, senior police officers said. Movement of trucks and the vehicles carrying essential commodities could be a bit relaxed on Saturdays and Sundays, the officers said. Construction of alternative roads are being thought of at the Majerhat area with the help of the Railways and a meeting with the city police and railway officials have been scheduled on Monday, the Commissioner of Police said. Meanwhile, a meeting was also held at the police headquarters to finalise the traffic movement in the city. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh Friday accused the Modi government of 'slowly but surely' undermining the values that a democratic polity should fiercely protect and called for a meaningful national debate on it as also the failure of ruling dispensation in fulfilling its promises made. New Delhi: Former prime minister Manmohan Singh Friday accused the Modi government of "slowly but surely" undermining the values that a democratic polity should fiercely protect and called for a meaningful national debate on it as also the failure of ruling dispensation in fulfilling its promises made. Releasing a book titled "Shades of Truth" by former union minister and Congress leader Kapil Sibal, he hoped this is the beginning of the national debate that everyone needs. In a scathing indictment of the Modi dispensation, Singh said key national institutions vital for good governance are experiencing unprecedented new strains, India's neighbourhood is far less secured than it was in 2014 and its ties with neighbours deteriorated in the last four years. "The Modi government has slowly but surely undermined the values that any democratic polity should fiercely protect. Important national institutions vital for good governance are experiencing unprecedented new strains. "Our neighbourhood is far less secured than it was in 2014. Our relations with neighbours have deteriorated in the last four years. Modi government has failed to address issues relating to a creative use of science and technology for national transformation," he said. "Women, Dalits and minorities are increasingly living in an environment of insecurity," he said, adding that nothing concrete has been done to bring back the promised billions of dollars allegedly held abroad as black money. "Academic freedom is sought to be curbed, the environment in our universities is being vitiated. All this is a powerful indictment on the Modi government's performance and there has to be a meaningful national debate on issues raised by Kapil Sibal. So, I sincerely hope that this is the beginning of that national debate and we all need that and together with an alternative narrative that the country needs to study and adopt," he said. Singh said the book is a highly researched subject and a comprehensive analysis on the functioning of the Modi government in the last four years. "It highlights the failures of the Modi government to fulfilling important promises made to the people ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in 2014," he said. This government, he said, has not constructively dealt with the agrarian crisis facing the nation and the indication of that is the farmers' protests across the country. Singh said farmers are still not assured of receiving remunerative prices of their produce and the youth are desperately waiting for the promised 2 crore jobs per year, while the employment rate is declining. He said people are not impressed by the figures that are being put out by the Modi government to justify the creation of large number of jobs. While industrial production and exports are stagnant, programmes, like Make in India and Stand Up India, are yet to make a meaningful impact on growth. Singh highlighted that demonetisation and hasty implementation of the GST have badly hurt enterprises, which are yet to derive significant benefit from ease of doing business schemes. Apart from MDMK, other Opposition parties including the NCP, DMK and the Samajwadi Party have extended support to the nationwide shutdown called by Congress. New Delhi: Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) on Saturday extended its support to the Bharat Bandh called by the Congress on 10 September over a fuel price hike and depreciating value of the Indian Rupee. Apart from MDMK, other Opposition parties including the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have extended support to the nationwide shutdown. Congress leader Ashok Gehlot had earlier told the media that the consensus to protest against the rising fuel prices and the rupee slump was reached after a meeting of all party general secretaries and state leaders. He also said that although prices were also hiked during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, led by the then prime minister Manmohan Singh, the government took essential steps to control the situation. The left parties have given a separate call for bandh on the same day over the hike in fuel prices, the problem of farmers and unemployment issues. The fuel prices went further up on Saturday morning, with petrol being sold at a record price of Rs 80.38 per litre in New Delhi, and diesel at Rs 72.51 per litre. In Mumbai, the price of petrol rose to Rs 87.77 per litre, while diesel is being sold at Rs 76.98 per litre. While the government has maintained that depreciation of the Indian Rupee against the US dollar and a hike in global crude oil prices is causing a surge in domestic oil prices, the Opposition feels that the Narendra Modi government is not doing enough to curb rising oil prices. The Supreme Court on Friday took a stern view of the fact that only 9 of the 29 states, an 2 of 7 UTs have framed a report against lynchings based on the apex court's detailed 17 July 17 order New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday took a stern view of the fact that only 9 of the 29 states and 2 of the 7 union territories (UTs) have so far complied with its 17 July order giving a slew of directions to deal with mob violence and cow vigilantism incidents across the country. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra gave the last opportunity by granting one more week to the remaining states and UTs to do the needful and warned them that any default would be viewed seriously and their home secretaries will have to appear personally before it. "We direct the remaining states and UTs to file the compliance reports in a week. If the reports are not filed, the home secretaries of the defaulting states will have to appear personally," the bench, which also comprised Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, said. Attorney General KK Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, informed the bench that in pursuance of the apex court verdict, an empowered Group of Ministers has been set up to consider framing a law on mob violence. The court also directed the Rajasthan government to file a report within a week giving details of action taken by it in the alleged lynching of farmer Rakbar Khan on 20 July in Alwar district of the state. Earlier, it had issued a notice to the state government on the plea of Congress leader Tehseen Poonawala seeking initiation of contempt proceedings against Rajasthan officials, including the Chief Secretary and the police chief, for alleged violation of the top court's verdict in the lynching case. Poonawala, in his plea, had said the 28-year old dairy farmer Rakbar Khan was attacked by a group of cow vigilantes in Lalwandi village of Ramgarh district in Rajasthan on 20 July, three days after the apex court had delivered a detailed verdict. Khan, a resident of Haryana and his friend Aslam, were transporting two cows to Kolgaon through a forest area when a mob had attacked them on the alleged grounds they were taking the animals for slaughter, the plea said. While Aslam managed to survive by hiding in the fields, the crowd killed Rakbar, it said, adding that there was a considerable delay in taking the deceased to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. On Friday, lawyer Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for Uttar Pradesh government, informed the court that 11 states, including two UTs and Uttar Pradesh, have filed their compliance reports. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, appearing for Poonawala, said that 23 states were yet to file their reports. The court then granted the last opportunity to all the states for filing their reports. It also directed the Centre, the states and UTs to give wide publicity to its directions given on the verdict on mob violence. It asked them to put the information on measures to curb the mob violence on their websites so that people know the recourse available to them. The apex court had on 17 July said that "horrendous acts of mobocracy" cannot be allowed to overrun the law of the land and issued a slew of guidelines to deal with mob lynching and cow vigilantism, besides asking the Centre to consider enacting a new law to sternly deal with such cases. The court had issued a slew of directions to the government to provide "preventive, remedial and punitive measures" to deal with offences like mob violence and cow vigilantism. It had asked the state governments to designate a senior police officer, not below the rank of Superintendent of Police, as nodal officer in each district to take steps to prevent incidents of mob violence and lynching. The officers were asked constitute a Special Task Force to procure intelligence and information about those likely to commit such crimes or were involved in spreading hate speeches, provocative statements and fake news. The judgement was delivered on a batch of petitions including Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Tushar Gandhi and Congress leader Tehseen Poonawalla seeking formulation of guidelines to curb incidents of mob violence and lynching in the country. A police official said such a mass beating was a first in the region and was probably due to frustration on the part of the Naxals. Raipur: Thirty-five villagers were allegedly thrashed by Naxals for refusing to attend a meeting called by them in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district, police said on Saturday. Dantewada Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said some people in Phulpad village under Kuakonda police station limits had refused to attend the meeting called by Naxals on Thursday. "Naxals tied them to trees and hit them. At least 35 villagers have been injured, 10 of them grievously," he said. Pallava said 16 of those thrashed had been admitted to the Kuakonda community health centre, while another villager with severe injuries was admitted to Dantewada district hospital. "The rest of the villagers who sustained injuries in the Naxal beating refused treatment as they feared that Maoists would punish them for seeking police help," the SP said. A police team, along with three ambulances, rushed to Phulpad Friday morning, Pallava said. He said such a mass beating was a first in the region and was probably due to frustration on the part of the Naxals over recent arrests of their accomplices. Nine victims have come forward to file complaints and a search operation for the culprits was underway, the SP said. Sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in Bihar by the Nitish Kumar government over two years ago. Patna: Nearly 8,000 litres of liquor was seized in raids conducted by police and the excise department, respectively, in Bihar's Muzaffarpur and Begusarai districts on Saturday. Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarpur, Harpreet Kaur said 3,968.20 litres liquor, apparently manufactured in Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) and stored in 18,552 bottles concealed in 443 cartons, were seized from Sakra police station area of the district. Three persons were arrested from the spot. A truck, which carried an Uttar Pradesh number plate, along with three pick-up vans, four cars and two motorcycles were also seized from the spot, she said. In Begusarai, a truck carrying 4,000 litres of liquor hidden inside 452 cartons, along with four pick-up vans, were seized from Ballia police station area, Excise Superintendent Ajay Kumar Prasad said. A case has been registered against the respective owners of the truck and the pick-up vans, and further investigations were on, Prasad said. Sale and consumption of alcohol was completely banned in the state by the Nitish Kumar government over two years ago. The new amendments to the SC/ST law passed by Parliament cannot be stayed at this stage, the Supreme Court said Wednesday, as it sought the Centre's response on a batch of pleas challenging the fresh provisions. New Delhi: The new amendments to the SC/ST law passed by Parliament cannot be stayed at this stage, the Supreme Court said Wednesday, as it sought the Centre's response on a batch of pleas challenging the fresh provisions. The pleas have sought declaration of the new amendments to the Schedule Castes and Schedules Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as ultra vires. Parliament on 9 August had passed the bill to overturn the apex court order concerning certain safeguards against arrest under the SC and ST law. The new amendments had overturned the 20 March order on rampant misuse of the stringent SC/ST Act and held that there shall be no immediate arrest on any complaint filed under the law. It had also passed a slew of directions and said a public servant can be arrested in cases lodged under the SC/ST Act only after prior approval by the competent authority. On Friday, a bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan issued notice to the Centre and sought its response in six weeks. Counsel for petitioner Prathvi Raj Chauhan said the bench should at least stay the operation of the new provisions till the petition is being heard by the court. To this, the bench said "What stay? It is now a legislation and cannot be stayed at this stage." The counsel said the government has brought in the new provisions to overrule the verdict passed by the court and without removing the defects. The bench then said "we know that government has brought in new amendments, that too without removing the defects". The court was hearing the pleas alleging that the two Houses of Parliament had "arbitrarily" decided to amend the law and restored the previous provisions in such a manner so that an innocent cannot avail the right of anticipatory bail. "It is submitted that in context of this SC/ST(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, Section 18 A of the Atrocities Act, which excludes Section 438 of CrPC, violates constitutional mandate under Articles 14 and 21," one of the pleas said. It alleged that after these amendments, the structure of the Act violates of with "basic principles of liberty and accountability". The plea said that the court cannot remain a "mute spectator to the abuse of law" as "we are living in a civilized society and there were many growing instances of misuse of this Act, there is an apprehension that the amended law would also fast become a new tool of harassment and the arrest on the basis of mere allegation without preliminary enquiry is violation of fundamental rights". The amendments rule out any provision for anticipatory bail for a person accused of atrocities against SC/STs, notwithstanding any court order. They provide that no preliminary inquiry will be required for registering a criminal case and an arrest under this law would not be subject to any approval. A minor girl student of a primary school in the district was allegedly sexually abused by her headmaster in Odisha. Balasore: A minor girl student of a primary school at Nilgiri area in the district was allegedly sexually abused by her headmaster, police said on Saturday. The incident took place on Thursday following which the girl's father lodged a complaint with the police on Saturday. Tension gripped the area as the villagers gheraoed the headmaster in the school. The father of the class 5 girl of Sana Ata village has lodged a complaint with the Nilgiri police station alleging that his daughter was sexually abused by the headmaster of the school. He complained that on Thursday, the headmaster had called the girl in the pretext of cleaning his room. "When the girl was inside the room, the headmaster had molested her. When she resisted, the headmaster warned her not to reveal the incident to anybody," the father said in the FIR. The victim, however, narrated the incident to her parents on Friday and a police complaint was lodged by Saturday. The victim's father also alleged that the accused headmaster threatened him and his wife if they complained to the police. The girl's father also said that a similar incident occurred a couple of days back with another girl, but it was not reported. Inspector in-charge of Nilgiri Police Station, Nalita Modi rushed to the school and investigated into the incident. "A case has been registered against the headmaster," police said. Meanwhile, officials of Block Education Office also visited the school after the incident came to light. The accused headmaster has dismissed allegations and termed it as a conspiracy against him. 'The Uttar Pradesh government has forgotten the riot survivors of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli,' the Amnesty International report said. New Delhi: Amnesty International on Saturday castigated the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh for doing little to ensure justice and rehabilitation for the survivors of the 2013 Muzaffarnagar communal violence. On the fifth anniversary of the deadly riots in Muzaffarnagar district that claimed at least 60 lives and displaced over 50,000 people, the Amnesty International India blamed the state government's apathy for seven gang-rape survivors still awaiting justice and the displaced continuing to look for rehabilitation. "The Uttar Pradesh government has forgotten the riot survivors of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli. The state has done very little to redress the injustice they have faced. The government's attempt at rehabilitation and compensation has been woefully inadequate", said Asmita Basu, Programmes Director, Amnesty International India. She said justice remained elusive for the seven gangrape survivors who have received little assistance from authorities to rebuild their lives and livelihoods. "There has not been even one conviction in any of the seven cases so far. In 2016, one of the survivors died during childbirth," she said. Quoting one of the survivors, a mother of five, Amnesty International India said the victims have lost all hope of getting justice and are now hoping for survival of their families. "Their rapists have been out in the open for years now. Women are scared to pursue their cases and they cannot be blamed for this. There are media reports of compromises being made and of money being offered and accepted by many of the seven families. We need to understand the realities in which these women have survived all these years. They are scared and have lost all faith in the system," said Rehana Adeeb, an activist working with the survivors. The rights body said an overwhelming majority of families in resettlement colonies lack access to basic services like clean drinking water and drainage facilities. "The Uttar Pradesh government's callous treatment of Muzaffarnagar and Shamli riot survivors is a breach of its commitment to uphold basic constitutional values. The riot survivors have been forced to live in a vicious cycle of poverty and discrimination. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister must ensure that the voices of the survivors are heard immediately and justice is delayed no further", added Basu. Students of a primary school in an Uttar Pradesh village refused to have mid day meal on Friday as they couldn't stomach the fact that it was prepared by a woman from a Scheduled Caste Sitapur: Students of a primary school in an Uttar Pradesh village refused to have mid day meal on Friday as they couldn't stomach the fact that it was prepared by a woman from a Scheduled Caste. The incident took place in Palharia village in Sitapur district's Pisawan block. As the word spread that a 'lower' caste woman was cooking the meal, parents of the schoolchildren gathered at the school and protested against her hiring. Eventually, only six of the 76 students enrolled in the school had the food. The remaining rotis and the potato curry had to be thrown. Palharia village has 50-odd households and is mostly populated by Yadavs and Brahmins, deemed upper caste. A few Scheduled Caste families also live here. Golu Singh, a local journalist working with a news channel, informed that the school's regular cook is a Yadav. He said Rama Devi, who hails from the Arakh caste (listed as a Scheduled Caste), was roped in on Friday to fill in for the regular cook, who had taken a day's leave. He said that parents of the students thought the regular cook has been replaced. He also added that the caste equation continues to remain an important matter in these villages. School principal Manoj Kumar told 101Reporters that when parents came en masse and asked their children not to have the food, he tried to reason with them but to no avail. A Class 4 student, Ashish, who only gave his first name, told this reporter that he saw Rama peeling potatoes when he came to the school in the morning. He said she asked him if he'll have lunch and he refused. He said that for five years, they have been having food prepared by chachi (the regular cook) and they won't accept Rama. When asked what was wrong with Rama, he seemed unsure. "What do I say! What do I say! If all the children eat, I'll also eat," he said defiantly, seemingly annoyed at the question. Condemning the incident, former IPS officer and social activist SR Darapuri called for an inquiry. He said boycotting the cook is in direct violation of an order of the Uttar Pradesh government. He said the order, issued as per the direction of the Supreme Court, asks that people from socially backward castes be hired as cooks to eradicate the concept of caste-based discrimination from the minds of children. Further, he demanded that the role of school principal and teachers too be probed as they are also responsible for shaping childrens mind. District Basic Education Officer Ajay Kumar refused to comment on the incident. Sub-divisional magistrate of Maholi town in Sitapur, Neeraj Prasad, assured an inquiry would be held. He said the administration will also take action against those found guilty if the cook chooses to file a complaint. The author is a Sitapur-based independent journalist and a member of 101Reporters, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters Nalini Sriharan's plea comes days after the top court asked the Tamil Nadu governor to consider the mercy plea of another convict in the Rajiv Gandhi case. Vellore: Nalini Sriharan, a life convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has forwarded a petition to the Tamil Nadu home secretary, urging the government to consider her plea for early release. The plea comes two days after the Supreme Court asked the Tamil Nadu governor to consider the mercy petition of AG Perarivalan, another convict in the 1991 case. A life convict at the Special Prison for Women in Vellore, Nalini in her petition recalled that she had made a representation on 22 February, 2014, to the government, seeking her release under Article 161 of the Constitution, which deals with the judicial powers of the governor of a state. Her plea for release was in accordance with the state government's 1994 Scheme of Premature Release of Life Convicts, she said. In her petition, which she forwarded through the superintendent of prisons in Vellore on Friday and made available to the media, she said that after her 2014 petition, she moved the high court in 2015, seeking a direction to the government to consider her plea for release. In its order dated 20 July, 2016, the Madras High Court had said that the authorities were at liberty to consider her representation in accordance with law, subject to the outcome of another writ petition in the Supreme Court. The high court's judgment was confirmed by a division bench in its order of 27 April, 2018, Nalini said. Days ago, "the Supreme Court had disposed of" a related pending petition, too, she said. In view of the ruling of the Madras High Court and the apex court disposing of a related plea, Nalini said "my representation dated 22 February, 2014, seeking release under Article 161 of the Constitution in accordance with the said scheme... may be considered, and I may be released from prison at an early date." She said she was "fully eligible" to be released under the scheme. The Supreme Court has disposed of a petition by the Centre regarding a proposal for the release of the convicts, filed by the Tamil Nadu government. The Centre had on 10 August told the apex court that it does not concur with the Tamil Nadu government's proposal to release the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, saying remission of their sentence will set a "dangerous precedent" and have "international ramifications." On 23 January, the top had asked the Centre to make a decision within three months on a 2016 letter of the Tamil Nadu government written on 2 March, 2016, seeking its concurrence on releasing the seven convicts. Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on the night of 21 May, 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu by a female suicide bomber, identified as Dhanu, at an election rally. Fourteen others, including Dhanu herself, were also killed. President Ram Nath Kovind has invited Czech companies to take advantage of opening of defence manufacturing sector in India and set-up joint ventures to produce for the domestic market. Prague: President Ram Nath Kovind has invited Czech companies to take advantage of opening of defence manufacturing sector in India and set-up joint ventures to produce for the domestic market. Addressing India Czech Republic Business Event during the second day of his visit in the central European country on Friday, the president said, "The companies should fulfill the growing requirements of the defence industry in the domestic and global markets with the help of a joint venture. After holding a delegation-level meeting in Prague, President Kovind stressed that there is immense potential for India-Czech defence collaboration to meet the growing requirements of the Indian defence industry. The president further stated that Czech automaker Skoda, and its parent company, Volkswagen, have announced to invest $1 billion in India under the 'Make in India' initiative. India and the Czech Republic also signed five MoUs in the field of laser technology, exemptions from visa requirements for diplomatic passport holders and Work Plan for support of India-Czech projects in diverse areas of science and technology. In a joint statement issued after the meeting between President Kovind and his Czech counterpart Milos Zeman, both the countries agreed to jointly cooperate in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The two sides expressed desire to further strengthen their strategic ties and urged all countries to deny safe haven to terrorists and disrupt terrorist infrastructure, financing and their cross-border movements. This is the first visit of an Indian president to the Czech Republic in 22 years after former president Shankar Dayal Sharma visited the European nation in 1996. India and the Czech Republic on Friday finalised five MoUs including in the fields of laser technology, exemptions from visa requirements for diplomatic passport holders and Work Plan for support of India-Czech projects in diverse areas of science and technology. The two countries also decided to initiate co-operation for peaceful use of nuclear energy. Section 377 was partially scrapped in a landmark moment for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) community, by the Supreme Court on Thursday. In a landmark moment for the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) community, the Supreme Court on Thursday decriminalised queer sexual orientation by partially scrapping the archaic Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The colours of the rainbow dominated the scene with the iconic 'rainbow flag' that represents the community, taking all shapes and forms. The symbol is also called the 'gay pride flag'. The most common variant of the rainbow flag consists of six stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet, and is usually in horizontal stripes. The flag signifies the LGTBQ community's identity and is a symbol of solidarity. The rainbow symbolises togetherness and diversity. According to a report by CNN, the flag represents the 'all-inclusive' idea and stands for all religion, race, gender, age, and nationality. Each colour in the flag hold meaning violet is for spirit, blue is for peace, green is for nature, yellow is for sunlight, orange means healing and red is for life. The flag was designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978. In San Franciso, Baker was asked to design a flag for the community by Harvey Milk, the first openly gay US politician to be elected for an office in California. After the assassination of Milk in 1978, the flag became the symbol of queer pride. He chose eight colours for the flag with great care, each with symbolic meaning: Hot Pink: Sexuality Red: Life Orange: Healing Yellow: Sunlight Green: Nature Turquoise: Magic/Art Blue/Indigo: Serenity/Harmony Violet: Spirit However, he later removed pink and turquoise to make recreating the flag in bulk cheaper and easier. CNN quotes Baker in a 2015 article, when the US Supreme Court legalised same-sex marriages, as saying, "We needed something to express our joy, our beauty, our power. And the rainbow did that," Baker says. "We're an ancient, wonderful tribe of people. We picked something from nature. We picked something beautiful." Until the rainbow flag in 1978, the community had been using the Nazi-given pink triangle symbol, which was at one point used to mark out gay, bisexual and transgender prisoners. It came to be used as a positive symbol in the 1970s when the newly active European and American gay liberation advocates began to use the pink triangle to raise awareness of its use in Nazi Germany. However, later on, members of the LGBTQ community felt the need to create a symbol just as empowering as the triangle had been, but without the checkered past. Mental Floss reported that in 2003, Baker helped create the world's biggest LGBTQ flag, spanning the length of around one and a half kilometres across the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean. Afterwards, sections of the flag were sent to more than 100 cities around the world. Uttar Pradesh minister Mukut Bihari Verma's remarks on the Ram temple and the Supreme Court were criticised by other politicians. Uttar Pradesh minister Mukut Bihari Verma on Saturday stirred a controversy with his comments on the Ram mandir. Verma said the temple will be built in Ayodhya because "the Supreme Court is ours". "The temple is our blessing. The temple will be built," Verma said. "The Supreme Court is ours. The government is ours. The country is ours." #BREAKING -- UP Mantri Mukut Bihari Verma stirs controversy, says "Supreme Court is ours, Ram Mandir will come up" | @pranshumisraa with more details pic.twitter.com/sNauPzUuQD News18 (@CNNnews18) September 8, 2018 Reacting to Verma's remarks, BJP leader Anila Singh told CNN-News18: "The Supreme Court is independent. We can't say that the Supreme Court works under any influence." Adding that the matter of the Ram temple is sub judice, she added: "The Supreme Court doesn't belong to any organisation or political party." However, Congress leader Sanjay Jha lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh minister for his remarks. "These are extremely condemnable statements," he said. "For a BJP minister to say that the Supreme Court is theirs is virtually insulting the judiciary and questioning the independence of the judiciary at the highest level." "Can you imagine the kind of damage such dangerous propaganda does to the minds of so many ordinary people?" Jha told CNN-News18. "I hope the Supreme Court takes very stern action (against Verma)." In August, Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had said he hoped that if the need arose and there was no way out, the Centre would take the legislative route to construct the Ram temple in the disrupted spot in Ayodhya when it has adequate numbers in both Houses. Maurya had said: "At present, we do not have adequate strength in Parliament. Even if we bring the matter up in the Lok Sabha, our strength in the Rajya Sabha is less, and it will definitely be defeated. Every devotee of Lord Ram knows this. The court will soon give its judgement. The day we have the strength, it will be constructively used and not misused." With inputs from PTI The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the death of tigers at the Corbett Tiger Reserve in the last five years. The Uttarakhand High Court has directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the death of tigers at the Corbett Tiger Reserve in the last five years and the possibility of complicity and connivance of the officers/officials with the poachers. In its order dated 4 September, 2018, the court said, in view of the data placed on record by the petitioners and the transfer of officers/ officials of Haridwar Forest Range after their involvement in destruction of evidence, that the present case is the rarest of the rare cases (sic) where the expertise of CBI is solicited. The bench directed the agency to submit its report within three months. A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Lok Pal Singh also rejected the Uttarakhands forest departments explanation in which the department cited Charles Darwins theory of survival of the fittest on the deaths of 40 tigers and 272 leopards in the state in a period of two-and-a-half years. The court described it as a very big number and said all the tigers must be preserved and sound. Rajeev Mehta, one of the key petitioners and chief functionary of the Eye of the Tiger India Trust, said that 7 skins of tigers were seized between December 2015 and March 2016, out of which 5 skins and 135 kilograms of big cat bones were seized on 13 March 2016 by Uttarakhand Polices Special Task Force. Another skin was seized in the month of May of the same year and one of the skins was seized from Nepal on 26 December 2015. All these seized skins were of tigers of Corbett, as confirmed by Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. Rajeev Mehta was the Honary Wildlife Warden of Rajaji, another national park in the state, from 2009 to 2017 and was also a member of the Uttarakhand State Wildlife Advisory Board from 2005 to 2017. He said that after the seizure of 5 skins on 13 March, the Deputy Director of Rajaji National Park, Kishan Chand asked him to submit evidence. Rajeev Mehta with his informers, searched the area of Kotkhadar on Uttarakhand boundary and has recovered some bones, spears and flesh. He handed these over to the Chief Wildlife Warden, the then field director of Corbett and head of anti-poaching cell in front of then DFO Haridwar, HK Singh. Since the forest department did not take any action on the evidence, Rajeev Mehra raised the issue with the forest minister of Uttarakhand, Harak Singh Rawat. Mehta also made allegations against Chief Wildlife Warden, DVS Khati, the then Corbett Park Director Sameer Sinha and the head of the anti-poaching cell Dhananjai Mohan and the possible involvement of the officials. Harak Singh Rawat, acting on the complaint, ordered an inquiry on 19 April, 2017 under the supervision of Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Uttarakhand. The committee submitted its final report on 28 June, 2018. The report has found that the number of such cases has increased because of the ignorance of both the Chief Wildlife Warden and the then director of Corbett National Park. Meanwhile, in March this year, the Chief Wildlife Warden has banned Eye of the Tiger India trust, thus preventing its members from entering any wildlife sanctuary, national park or tiger reserve in the state. The warden claimed the NGO has failed to provide information on the permission they have taken to work in wildlife areas of the state. Rajeev Mehta said that he and the trust have been targeted because he has taken the matter to court. The court will hear the petition on ban on 14 September. HK Singh, the then DFO of Haridwar said that he was certainly present at the time evidences were submitted and he has also given his version in the committees report. However, he refused to comment on the issue till the CBI completes its probe. Imran Khan, a wildlife expert who has been promoting tourism in Corbett for over two-and-a-half decades, said that Khati and Sinha are two of the most honest and dedicated officials of Uttarakhand. He further said that foresters/rangers posted in the region have possibly hidden this part, but it does not mean that the forest officials have done anything wrong knowingly. I am confident that they will get a clean chit in the CBI probe, he added. Khan also said that the deaths of 42 tigers were unfortunate but questioned if all of them were the result of poaching. The deaths also include cases of natural deaths, poisoning, and territorial fights etc. Speaking on various directions which the court issued to preserve wildlife, such as banning the entry of private or commercial gypises to ply in Dhikala zone of the reserve, and ban on commercial use of elephants, including joyrides by the owners of resorts, Imran said that in the entire history of Corbett National Park, cases of poaching only came to light because of tourism. Tiger conservation has acquired importance because of tourism. The six national parks in the country which have the highest density of tigers Corbett, Tadoba, Pench, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Ranthambore are also the ones which have recorded the highest number of tourists. The number of tigers had been growing in Sariska National Park until the tourists complained of sighting only a pugmark and not a tiger. If this would not have been the case, nobody would have come to know that the number of tigers is rising only on paper in Sariska. There is no other way to save tigers than to boost tourism. Yogendra Yadav claimed the Tamil Nadu Police prevented him and his Swaraj India team from meeting the farmers protesting against the Salem-Chennai expressway. Swaraj India leader and co-founder Yogendra Yadav on Saturday claimed he was detained and manhandled by the Tamil Nadu Police in Tiruvannamalai district. He was in Tamil Nadu to meet the farmers protesting against the proposed eight-lane Salem-Chennai expressway on the invitation of 'Movement Against 8-Lane Way'. In a series of tweets, he claimed the police prevented him from meeting the farmers and pushed him into a police van. Talking to The Times of India, Yadav said he and his team were heading to meet the farmers at their homes, but the police did not let them proceed. "We tried contacting the Tiruvannamalai district collector to explain the purpose of our visit. But police officials snatched our phones and dragged us to their vehicles." TN police has detained me and team in Chengam PS, Thiru Annamalai district. We came on the invitation of Movement Against 8Lane Way. We were prevented from going to meet farmers, phones snatched, manhandled and pushed into police van. First hand experience of police state in TN! Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 In another tweet, the Swaraj India leader claimed they did not know whether they were under detention or arrest. He also told The New Indian Express that after he got in touch with district collector KS Kandasamy and spoke to him about land acquisition and complaints of police excesses, the Tiruvannamalai district collector denied any such action. Yadav claimed he was detained minutes after talking to Kandasamy. I had spoken to Mr Kandasamy, Collector, Thiru Annamalai about acquisition and complains of police excesses for 8 lane way. He completely denied any police interference. Within minutes of the phone call police detained us. https://t.co/KYrA0oHJ26 Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 It's 4 hours now, we are still locked inside this marriage hall. No formal order Not even oral information about whether we are under detention or arrest 9 Farmers who met me this morning detained Another 40 farmers waiting to meet me also detained. Rule of law? Or police Raj? Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 "The police alleged that I am a threat to law and order. I had come here to meet farmers and no matter what, I shall follow my conscience and meet them," Yadav told The New Indian Express. Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Police has denied these allegations, saying Yadav had not sought their permission before meeting the farmers, according to NDTV. They added that the Swaraj India leader and his team would have needed police protection as the situation could have turned volatile, given the sensitivity of the matter. DMK leader MK Stalin condemned the detention and tweeted: The DMK strongly condemns the arbitrary detention of @_SwarajIndia chief @_YogendraYadav who supported farmers affected by #ChennaiSalemExpressway project. The intolerant AIADMK govt will pay the price for denying people the democratic right to dissent & protest. M.K.Stalin (@mkstalin) September 8, 2018 The proposed 277.3-kilometre Salem-Chennai expressway has been facing opposition from local residents, including farmers, as well as activists. Environmentalists are also opposed to the prospect of a large number of trees being cut for the project. Tiruvannamalai is one of the five districts that the proposed superhighway is to pass through. The other districts are Kancheepuram, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, and Salem. The longest stretch of the proposed highway, which will pass through Tiruvannamalai, is expected to have a damaging impact on the pristine Eastern Ghats forest environment, say ecologists. In Tiruvannamalai alone, where 123.9 kilometres of the proposed highway would pass through, about 95 percent of the land procured is precious agricultural land. With inputs from PTI The streets of New York were awash with colour, energy and defiance, as the 49th annual Gay Pride Parade hit 5th Avenue in all its technicolour glory on 24 June 2018. Along with tens of thousands of rainbow flags and messages of love and support for the LGBTQ community, there was many-a-placard to be seen ridiculing and criticising President Donald Trump and his policies. Sundays flamboyant celebration of the LGBTQ community is one-year shy of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which are said to have been the starting point of the modern day gay rights movement. The 2018 NYC Gay Pride Parade brought out between 1.5 to 2 million people to the streets of New York to show their support; one can only guess how many more supporters there will be next year for the big anniversary! The rainbow flag has become a symbol of unity in support of gay rights all over the world. Here it is represented in human form. Punjab's main Opposition party, AAP, on Friday demanded deployment of CRPF personnel inside polling stations. Chandigarh: Punjab's main Opposition party, AAP, on Friday demanded deployment of CRPF personnel inside polling stations and the video recording inside them during the voting for the upcoming zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections, fearing "booth capturing and poll rigging." The Shromani Akali Dal too sought extension of date for filing the nomination for these polls, alleging that many of its candidates were prevented by the Congress workers from filing it on Friday, the last date for doing it. In a letter to the state Election Commission, Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit co-president Balbir Singh sought "video recording of all the polling booths and deployment of the CRPF inside them" during voting. Singh made the demand, fearing "election rigging, booth capturing and bogus voting" allegedly by the ruling Congress. He alleged that the ruling party has unleashed vendetta politics against the Opposition and "was trying its best to stop AAP from taking part in these elections." "The video recording of all the polling stations and polling booths must be undertaken on the polling day so that if any unscrupulous person tries to intimidate voters or indulge in booth capturing or rigging the poll, his acts are caught on the camera," he wrote in the letter. Balbir Singh said the police is directly under the control of the ruling Congress and "they will be misused by the ruling dispensation" during the elections. Meanwhile, SAD asked the state Election Commission on Friday to extend the date for filing nomination papers for the zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls. Friday was the last day for filing the nomination papers. Opposition SAD has alleged that Akali workers were "forcibly" stopped from filing their papers for the zila parishad and panchayat polls by the Congress. Former minister Daljit Singh Cheema said he had informed state Election Commissioner Jagpal Sandhu that no Akali candidate was allowed to file nomination papers in Zira, Makhu, Guruharsahai, Dera Baba Nanak and Patti for either the zila parishad or panchayat samiti elections. "Strict disciplinary action including suspension, should be taken against all the officers who are acting as stooge of the Congress legislators," he added. He alleged the nomination papers of Akali candidates were torn at many places. He also said the SAD workers were not being given no-dues certificates at various places in the state. Cheema said voter lists too had not reached some places and that too hindered the filing of nominations. Elections to zila parishads and panchayat samitis in Punjab is slated to take place on 19 September and 7 September was the last day for the filing of nominations. The nomination papers will be scrutinised on 10 September, while the date for withdrawal is 11 September. The counting is to take place on 22 September. Arvind Kejriwal attacked the Centre over the 'Rafale scam' as Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha joined him in criticising the government. Noida: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday attacked the Centre over the "Rafale scam" as former Union minister Yashwant Sinha and disgruntled BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha joined him in slamming the Narendra Modi government. The AAP national convener said the BJP was more corrupt than the Congress. Almost five years ago, people had ousted the Congress from power because of its indulgence in corruption with a hope that the BJP government would usher in change, Kejriwal said, adding both the parties are "ghotaale baaz (corrupt)". He also mentioned several alleged scams. "They have turned out to be more corrupt than them. If they did 2G, the other has done Sahara-Birla diary scam, if they did the Commonwealth scam, the other has done the Lalit Modi scam. If they did Bofors scam, the other has matched them with this Rafale scam," he said. Kejriwal was sharing the dais with Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha at an event here after the culmination of AAP MP Sanjay Singh's padytara from Saharanpur. He said, "I got to know about Rafale scam. I hear they have bought some fighter planes at exorbitant prices." "Yashwantji is saying that one aircraft, for our defence forces, was priced at Rs 540 crore which was bought by them for Rs 1,670 crore. Someone somewhere must have made some money. Or they have given it for free? But who made the money?" he asked. Recounting his government's work in education sector, healthcare, regulating power tariffs among others, the chief minister said the AAP came to power in Delhi almost the same time the BJP formed government at the Centre, and asked people to compare the achievements of the two parties. "If we can transform the government schools in Delhi, create hundreds of mohalla clinics and provide power at lowest tariff in the country, why can't Modiji do it across the country?" he asked. "The unprecedented work done by our government in Delhi is being talked about in the world. Tell me one good thing that the Modi government has done in the last four years," Kejriwal said citing "problems" faced by people and traders due to demonetisation, GST and the rising fuel prices. Referring to AAP MP Sanjay Singh's 'padyatra' in Uttar Pradesh, he said the state has lagged in development because of its size. "Uttar Pradesh should be divided into Awadh, Bundelkhand, Purvanchal and Pashchim Uttar Pradesh four states. This is the people's demand. And not only do we support it, we will struggle with the people of the state for the fulfilment of this demand," Kejriwal said. Congratulating Yashwant Sinha and Shatrughan Sinha for their efforts in raising with the people issues of the Narendra Modi government, he said, "Recently he (Yashwant Sinha) announced that he won't contest elections any more. But if good people like him won't do it then who would?" Asking the people should Yashwant Sinha contest in polls, he then told the veteran leader, "Sir, it's the public demand that Yashwant Sinha should contest elections." Yashwant Sinha praised Sanjay Singh for his 250-km walk in Uttar Pradesh and took a jibe at some politicians saying, "Nowadays those participating in debates on TV channels are considered leaders." "Some think the citizens of this country are fools and the media is under their control. But the people will no longer accept this. They will punish those guilty in the next election," he said. Shatrughan Sinha said he is often asked why he keeps criticising the BJP. "I belong to the Bharatiya Janata Party, but I belong more to the 'Bharatiya janta' (Indian people). For me, the party is important but the country is more important," he said. Sanjay Singh criticised the Uttar Pradesh government and chief minister Yogi Adityanath for the last year's incident at a Gorakhpur hospital in which several children had died. 'Amit Shah said that while the BJP focuses on 'Make in India,' the Congress is working on breaking India,' NIrmala Sitharaman said. BJP chief Amit Shah touched upon a number of pressing issues, including the Kerala floods, arrests of 'urban Naxals,' and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in his address during the party's national executive meet on Saturday, party leader and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman told the media. "(Shah) said that while the BJP focuses on 'Make in India,' the Congress is working on breaking India," Sitharaman said. At the meet, Shah sought to build a narrative about his party around the theme of development, especially targeting the poor, and nationalism, while painting the Opposition as those sympathising with "urban Naxals" and working for "breaking India" in its frustration over electoral losses. The BJP has often accused the Congress of hobnobbing with Naxals and being sympathetic to terrorists, a charge rejected by the Opposition party. The BJP's rivals have been making "baseless" allegations against it over issues pertaining to Scheduled Castes, he said. With many political watchers suggesting that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may find it hard to repeat its 2014 feat, Shah said it will handily win in 19 states where it is in power and also emerge victorious in states such as West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana due to "anti-incumbency" factor against regional parties in power there. The BJP chief also lauded the Maharashtra government and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the arrests of 'urban Naxals' in the Bhima-Koregaon violence case, she said. Shah also termed talk of Opposition unity to take on the BJP as an 'eyewash' and an 'illusion.' On the failed no-confidence motion against the central government initiated during the Monsoon Session of Parliament, Sitharaman said, "Ordinarily, a no-confidence motion is initiated only if the government has lost its majority, or if there are large-scale protests against the government. Neither of these was the case. After we won the no-confidence motion comfortably, the Opposition started saying that they never claimed that the government lacked the numbers. This shows their disruptive politics." Sitharaman further quoted Shah as saying that India has beaten France to take over as the 6th largest economy in the world. "The government has worked more for the financial inclusion of the backward and poor," she said. The defence minister also listed a number of measures taken by the government, including setting minimum support prices of some crops at 1.5 times the cost of production, and the Ayushman Bharat insurance scheme. On the contentious National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam, she quoted Shah as saying that the government will implement it in a way that not even one new illegal migrant can enter India. Shah also urged party workers to continue contributing to relief work in Kerala, Sitharaman said. "The BJP sent four trains full of relief material to Kerala," she added. The BJP chief also took a dig at Congress leader and former prime minister Manmohan Singh, who had recently said that the Modi government had failed on all fronts, saying that while Singh follows his party, Modi leads his. Hitting back at former finance minister P Chidambaram over his criticism of the government's economic policies, especially demonetisation, Shah said over three lakh shell companies were shut down hampering black money operations and the numbers of income tax assesses have doubled. The party president is also said to have urged workers to challenge "P Chidambaram and company" to a debate on the state of the economy, including issues such as the implementation of the GST. While Amit Shah gave the inaugural address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled on Sunday to give the valedictory speech. With inputs from PTI Chandrababu Naidu's statement comes in the wake of reports that main opposition Congress party is ready to have an alliance with the TDP. Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh chief minister and TDP national president N Chandrababu Naidu has left it to party's Telangana unit to decide on an alliance with Congress and other parties for the Assembly elections in the state. Naidu told the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders of Telangana on Saturday that it's for them to decide on the alliance. He discussed TDP's strategy with the party leaders. Naidu reportedly dropped hints that he would not be in a position to campaign for the party in Telangana. The TDP chief's move comes in the wake of reports that main opposition Congress party is ready to have an alliance with the TDP, the Left parties and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) to take on ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS). Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao on Thursday dissolved the state Assembly. The elections are likely to be held by the year-end along with four other states. While addressing TDP leaders, Naidu avoided a direct reference to the Congress. He remarked that ups and downs were common for the TDP in its 35-year history. Naidu claimed that if Telangana is a revenue-surplus state, it was because of the efforts he made during his stint as the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh. The Andhra Pradesh chief minister said that he wants progress and prosperity of both the Telugu states. He alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi tried to pitch Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao against him by stating that Rao displayed maturity. Naidu also criticised Modi for the manner in which he rolled out demonetisation and claimed that this exercise failed to achieve any purpose and ended up causing inconvenience to the people. TDP's Telangana unit chief L Ramna and other leaders told Naidu that TDP's support base remained intact in Telangana despite several leaders crossing over to TRS during last four years. TDP bagged 15 seats in 119-member Telangana Assembly in 2014 elections. However, 13 of its legislators have switched loyalties to the ruling party. Jammu and Kashmir Congress president GA Mir on Saturday expressed doubt over the holding of panchayat and local bodies elections in the state. Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir Congress president GA Mir on Saturday expressed doubt over the holding of panchayat and local bodies elections in the state, saying the party would clear its stand after a review meeting next week. He said the administration had announced the panchayat and local bodies elections without taking on board the political parties in the state. "Yesterday, the administration set up a high-level committee to review the ground situationI feel the elections will be postponed on some pretext or other whether it is rain, snow or winter," Mir told reporters in Jammu. He said the state Congress leadership will be meeting on 11 September to review the situation and will come out with its official reaction. Asked about his reaction to National Conference president Farooq Abdullah's threat to boycott upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state if the Centre did not come clear on its stand on Article 35-A, he gave a guarded response and said "better to ask him and his party". He, however, said the validity of the article was challenged in the Supreme Court in 2014 and since then a number of elections were held in the state and the NC, too, participated in the polls. "I will not comment on the statement of Abdullah who has been the chief minister of the state four times in the past and the Union minister as well" he said. He said the Congress believes in democratic exercise and will never escape from taking part in the elections. "Panchayats and civic polls are meant to empower people at the grassroot level. Those elected have no legislation power and it is purely an exercise to ensure development," he said, adding that the only concern of the Congress is the law and order situation and the security of the voters and the candidates. He said it was up to the state and central governments to decide whether they want to move forward or go backwards. "Let the election commission issue a notification and set the process in motion. Congress will come out with its official stand," the state Congress chief said. "The governor has announced the panchayat election in the first week of next month but till date neither any notification nor any other exercise was undertaken by the state election commission. The high-level team announced by the governor has also not given any time frame to submit its report, which, I think, is time delaying tactics," Mir said. The government yesterday constituted two separate committees to ensure smooth inter-departmental coordination to facilitate conduct of elections to municipal bodies and panchayats. Mir appealed to the people of the state to support the 'Bharat bandh' against fuel prices on 10 September. "Monstrous taxes being levied by the Narendra Modi-led NDA government has resulted in the skyrocketing petrol, diesel and cooking gas prices. The Modi government has already collected over Rs 11 lakh crore as taxes in the last 52 months by fleecing the common people of this country and by demolishing their budget and their house-hold incomes," he said. Politics at Delhi University, which goes to polls on 12 September, is dominated by caste and money. Most students prefer to remain mere spectators. Unequal opportunities on the basis of family ties or community considerations constitute an imperfection in our collective conscience, for they undermine the democratic principle of a level playing field. The alternative to lineage and pedigree is a fair chance to meritorious and motivated people at electoral politics. Politics at Delhi University, which goes to polls on 12 September, is dominated by caste and money. For the last five years, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishads (ABVP) candidates for the post of the president of Delhi University Students Union have been Gujjars. To counter this, the National Students Union of India (NSUI) has fielded Jat candidates for the post of president. Other candidates have mostly been from the Jat and Gujjar communities. In 2016-17 all four posts (president, vice-president, secretary and joint secretary) were won by candidates from these communities. Last year, Ankiv Basoya, the presidential candidate of the ABVP was seen shaking hands with people from the sun roof of his red Mustang. One person contested from our college as an independent candidate, and he was beaten up. Politics is dirty and scary. They (student leaders) come in big cars and raid our classrooms, and classes are disrupted. There is much screaming and shouting, but we dont know what they have promised in their manifestos, a science student at Kirori Mal College told Firstpost. Recently, Kawalpreet Kaur of the All India Students Association registered a harassment complaint with the Delhi Commission of Women against two members of the ABVP. This year, AISA is contesting the DUSU polls in alliance with AAPs student wing Chatra Yuva Sangharsh Samiti (CYSS). According to the Lyngdoh committee's guidelines, a candidate can spend a maximum of Rs 5,000 for canvassing and other election-related work. Last year, the NSUIs poll campaign centered around an RTI that showed that the ABVP-led DUSU panel spent Rs 22 lakh on tea, photostats and other miscellaneous activities. Rain dances, trips to amusement parks in Sonepat, make-up kits and tons of free pizzas this is what the students of north campus are getting in return for turning out on election day. Till last year, of the 22 womens colleges in Delhi University, only five participated in the DUSU elections. These include Aditi Mahavidyalaya, Lakshmibai College, Bhagini Nivedita College, Miranda House and SP Mukherji College for Women. This means that almost 80 percent of DUs women students dont cast their vote. The corrosion in the level of politics runs deep in north India, and isn't limited to Delhi University. Close to where the river Saraswati lends spiritual depth to the waters of Ganga and Yamuna stands the Allahabad University. It is the fourth oldest modern university in India, having been established in 1876. The student politics here has given India a long list of fine leaders. Several prominent people including former prime ministers VP Singh and Chandrashekhar, former chief justices Mohammad Hidayatullah and Kamal Narain Singh, two-time president of the Indian National Congress Madan Mohan Malaviya and former president Shankar Dayal Sharma were first exposed to designs of governance inside the institutionss Victorian halls. In 2016, Richa Singh became the first woman president of the Allahabad University student union in 128 years, after decades of SUVs parading campuses, smuggling of alcohol into hostels and the use of muscle power. We fought a simple campaign within a budget of Rs 1 lakh, as opposed to the parties contesting against us, which spent close to Rs 25 lakh. We brought in a model of alternate politics based on samvaad or dialogue over concerns like the lack of scholarships and fading opportunities for academic researchers, she told Firstpost. Pooja Shukla, who was arrested outside Lucknow University after she went on a hunger strike demanding the results of her entrance exams along with 25 others that were allegedly being withheld by the Vice Chancellor, said she derives her strength from Richa Singhs victory. However, she feels that money and muscle power still dominate politics. Lucknow University banned elections in 2016 and recently, the authorities also banned protests on campus even on issues critical to students welfare. There is a lot of violence in student politics in north India, and it needs to be uprooted, said Shukla, a former member of AISA who recently joined the Samajwadi Party. Back in 1970, Professor Alok Pant and American political scientist Walter Anderson authored a series of articles titled Student Politics in Allahabad in Economic and Political Weekly. On the subject of violence in politics, these articles spoke of an "intervening variable between the violence itself and the unsatisfactory creation of a new identity, resulting in a feeling of alienation and frustration." It said that the inability of students to cope with a new environment led to a disposition towards violence. A majority of the students at Allahabad came from the villages of eastern Uttar Pradesh, where poverty is slowing down change in lifestyles. In the 80s and 90s, we used to talk about government policies and had scientific approaches. There was no role of casteism and money or power, said Atul Kumar Anjan, a senior CPI leader and national secretary of the Communist Party of India, who was elected president of the Lucknow Student Union six times and led the movement to overthrow two chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh Kamalapati Tripathi and Ram Naresh Yadav. He recalled the National Students Convention of 1936 organised at the Ganga Memorial Hall, which had Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammed Ali Jinnah on the same stage for the last time. Today, Anjan believes, student politics tries its best to mirror the bigger political game. Several people who acquired prominence had earlier been student leaders. Former prime minister IK Gujral was at one point the secretary of the All India Student Federation. DP Dhar, chief architect of the Indian intervention in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, was earlier the president of the Lucknow University Students Union. Former president Shankar Dayal Sharma was an office bearer of the Lucknow University Student Union. Subhash Kashyap, former secretary-general of the 7th, 8th and 9th Lok Sabha, was politically active at the Allahabad University in the 1950s. He spoke to Firstpost about how everybody has a role to play in reforming student politics. Describing simpler times in Allahabad, he said, The V-C should command the respect of students and teachers and through his or her integrity and ability, become a role model. During our time, the Allahabad University used to boast of professors from around the country who moulded the characters of students through their devotion to academics. If students remain in the university longer only to contest elections repeatedly, then it is an injustice to the system. Unlike politics outside of educational institutions, the purpose of student politics isnt as much the impact it creates but the electoral lessons it leaves young leaders with. Student politics is useful for democracy in terms of becoming nurseries of national-level parties, until political parties start using student cadres to campaign for them. This aspect is visible in the greater involvement of leaders in shaping college politics. At one point, the distribution of tickets in the NSUI was controlled by Congress leaders like Jagdish Tytler, Sajjan Kumar and HKL Bhagat, and later by Ajay Maken and Arvinder Singh Lovely. Equally worrisome is the trend of students giving expression to their ideologies in extreme ways. In April 2016, Rajat Chaudhary, the presidential candidate of the ABVP last year, disrupted a seminar on Ambedkar on Caste and Social Justice at Deshbandhu College, ordering people to chant Bharat Mata ki jai in order to let the event take place. The institutionalisation of interference of political parties in campus politics started with the emergence of Sanjay Gandhi, after which other parties too subscribed to caste and muscle power to mobile students for support, said Anand Pradhan, who was the president of the students union at Banaras Hindu University from 1992-1993, and is now a professor at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. He recalled that in the 1980s and the 1990s, when the Mandal Commission and the Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid issue emerged in the public discourse, student politics became divided on the basis of caste. This was coupled with the liberalisation of the 1990s, which made students career-driven, and promoted an approach of apoliticisation and depoliticisation, creating a void in student participation. Pradhan further said, JNU is a model through which student politics can be revived, but it is too localised for it to have an impact outside the institution." The larger question is whether left-wing politics, which is more issue-centric and nuanced in its narrative, is putting pressure on bigger parties to reform themselves. Apoorvanand, professor at the Department of Hindi, University of Delhi, believes so. He says, The pinjra tod campaign that seeks to make hostel and paying guest accommodation regulations less regressive and restrictive for women students is refreshing to see. In the past one year, we can see a change in the way the NSUI has conducted itself, and this could have been an influence of left-leaning groups like the All India Students' Association (AISA). Dynasticism isnt new to Indian politics. From the BJPs Vasundhara Raje, Varun Gandhi, Devendra Fadnavis, Pema Khandu, Pritam Munde, Poonam Mahajan, Heena Gavit, Raksha Khadse and Eknath Khadse to Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia of the Congress to Tejashwi Yadav of the Rashtriya Janata Dal to Jayant Chaudhary of the Rashtriya Lok Dal and Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, lineage makes it easier to rise through the ranks. The Left may have emerged in Delhi University's politics and shaken things up, but caste and money still dominate north Indian campuses, where most students still prefer to remain spectators to the drama of student elections. Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee has withdrawn the letter to ticket aspirants saying they will be evaluated on their use of social media. Just days after the Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) wrote to ticket aspirants, saying they will be evaluated on their use of social media, the party withdrew the order on Saturday. In a statement, the MPCC said the earlier order stands cancelled. The previous letter said that ticket aspirants should have 15,000 likes on their Facebook page, 5,000 Twitter followers and a WhatsApp group of booth-level workers. Aspirants were also instructed to like and retweet every post on the MPCC Twitter account. The latest letter, signed by Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Chandraprabhash Shekhar, says that the previous order related to the social media presence of ticket aspirants has been suspended. Madhya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) has withdrawn its letter to ticket aspirants, in which it was mentioned that 'candidates in upcoming polls must have 15,000 likes on their FB page, 5000 Twitter followers, & WhatsApp group of booth-level workers." pic.twitter.com/bKfE4uCFbt ANI (@ANI) September 8, 2018 Party spokesperson Shobha Oza had earlier said that social media activity was not the only criteria for nominations, but the party wants those contesting the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections later this year to use the various platforms extensively. She said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) used social media in the last elections to take its "jumlas" to the people, and the Congress could not counter it effectively. Earlier, the Madhya Pradesh party unit had set a deadline of 15 September for aspiring candidates to submit details of their social media presence, according to The Indian Express. Congress' social media and IT president Abhay Tiwari was also quoted as saying by PTI that the party won't consider aspirants who are inactive on social media eligible for tickets. He had said voters are active social media users and can be accessed effectively through the internet. With inputs from agencies Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the Modi government delayed the purchase of Rafale aircraft to Indian Air Force by signing a fresh deal. The Congress on Saturday continued its attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Rafale deal and accused the Modi government of causing a loss of Rs 41,000 crore to the public exchequer by purchasing the 36 Rafale aircraft with the same configuration at thrice the price. Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that the Modi government delayed the purchase of Rafale aircraft to Indian Air Force (IAF) by signing a fresh deal with same 'India Specific Enhancements' as decided during the Congress-UPA rule. He alleged that the Rafale aircraft being purchased earlier (during the UPA rule) and the one being purchased now (by the Modi government), including its associated systems and weapons, is the same which was tested and approved by the IAF during the UPA-Congress rule. The Congress leader referred to a joint statement from April 2015 issued by the then French president Francois Hollande and Modi. The statement read, "aircraft and associated systems and weapons would be delivered on the same configuration as had been tested and approved by Indian Air Force". Surjewala posed a series of questions to the Centre. He asked the reason for the extra payment of Rs 41,000 crore (increasing the cost per from from Rs 526 to Rs 1,670 crore per aircraft) if the 'India Specific Enhancements' are the same as decided by the IAF during the UPA rule. He also questioned why Modi unilaterally reduced the number of aircraft from 126 to 36 without seeking any advice from the IAF. Lies of Modi Govt in the 41,000Cr Rafale Scam stand exposed! India specific enhancements in NDA Deal are the same as the UPA Deal Yet PM & Defence Minister lie on enhancement of cost per aircraft from 526 Cr to 1,670 Cr!! Will PM Modi answer to the Nation?#RafaleScam pic.twitter.com/uEHMdKbx1y Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) September 8, 2018 Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi had previously posed similar questions to the Modi government asking why it inked a deal with France's Dassault Aviation to buy just 36 aircraft when 126 fighter jets were required. Chaturvedi also asked if there's any urgency, why did the government not ask the French company to supply all the aircraft in one go. "The first lot of the aircraft will be supplied in 2019 and the rest in 2022. If there is any urgency, the whole lot should have been supplied by 2019," she had said. Congress has also demanded a public debate and a detailed inquiry into the "secretive" happenings. Party leader P Chidambaram had also alleged that the price for the aircraft had gone up more than three times under the BJP-led NDA regime than what was agreed to by the erstwhile UPA government. With inputs from agencies Indo-Asian News Service The Indian space agency's crew module, that was used and recovered in a 2014 unmanned mission, has been a star attraction at the 6th Bengaluru Space Expo. "An unmanned crew capsule that can accommodate up to three astronauts that was tested in 2014 to orbit around the Earth has been exhibited at the space expo for visitors to view," an Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) official told IANS. A similar capsule, which is a living space and control centre for astronauts, will carry Indians to space for the country's maiden human space mission "Gaganyaan". Showcased in the space agency's pavilion, the capsule has been the cynosure of all eyes at the three-day space expo at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre. Hundreds of school students and other visitors, making a beeline to the venue, are thronging the pavilion for a glimpse of the crew module and a model of Indian-made spacesuit that will be donned by the country's astronauts for their space mission. The recovered capsule, made of heat protecting tiles, was launched aboard a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mk III to re-enter the planet surviving temperatures as high as 1,500 C. The exhibition has also featured pavilions dedicated to student-made satellites and launchers, space start-ups from across the country, and space agencies from countries including Russia, France and Taiwan. The French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES), Russian space agency's launch service provider Glavkosmos and Taiwan's National Space Organisation (NSPO) were among the space agencies that showcased the satellites and launchers. Space food packed for Russian cosmonauts put on display by the Glavkosmos also caught the visitors' attention. The biennial space expo, touted to be the largest space conference in Asia, is being held from 6-8 September, with the participation of over 100 exhibitors, space agency representatives and delegates from the US, the UK, France, Russia, and Taiwan, among other countries. Press Trust of India Mobile phones may have the NaVIC system, a home-grown GPS, as early as next year, a senior ISRO scientist said Friday, 7 September at the Bangalore Space Expo 2018. Speaking at a panel discussion at the Space Expo, Nilesh Desai, Deputy Director of the ISRO's Space Applications Center, Ahmedabad said some mobile companies are working on having the NaVIC system in their handsets. "It will be (mobile phones with NaVIC) available as early as 2019," he said. Requesting anonymity, another Indian Space Research Organisation scientist said a Taiwanese company is working on building a chip that can have the NaVIC system in mobile phones. However, Desai said asking mobile phone companies to have the NaVIC system may not be compulsory as there is no law in the country that mandates it. "We don't have such law. Russia has made it compulsory to have their navigation systems in mobile phones in their countries," he said. Russia has developed Glonass. US President Donald Trump was once again involved in the scandal, this time making headlines of influential The New York Times, in which senior presidential administration official published an article on condition of anonymity, saying he was a member of the "resistance group", sabotaging Trump's worst intentions and decisions. According to him, this "resistance group" in the White House, which includes officials of different ranks, guards national interests of the United States, and secretly works against Trump in the interests of almost entire humanity. In his opinion, administration "made America safer and more prosperous," and head of the US "continues to damage the country." He also called Donald Trump himself immoral. White House reacted to this news immediately. Press secretary Sarah Sanders called publication disappointing and defamatory, and therefore newspaper "should apologize to the American leader." "We're disappointed, but not surprised that newspaper decided to publish this pathetic, reckless and selfish article. This is a new low for the so-called "respectable newspaper"... it [became] another example of liberal media efforts to discredit the president," she said." In her opinion, anonymous source of newspaper is a coward who "doesn't put his home country first" and, therefore, he must resign. Donald Trump also responded to this publication. "Does the so-called Senior Administration Official really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!" he wrote on Tweeter. This situation seems primitive. Newspaper published something for certain purpose - either to attract readers' attention, or in support of liberals or another group that hates current US president, or "resistance movement" in the White House does exist and anonymous author is indeed an employee of presidential administration. All three versions are plausible. And all three demonstrate weak position of the 45th US president. Of course, there were many other scandals in this country, some of them were even bigger, but it usually turned out that these scandals weren't groundless, and accusations against top officials were usually confirmed. In other words, if something was said, it usually really happened. Current situation, despite apparent simplicity, is very curious. If the White House will make no other statements and will do nothing more, then it will give signal to other media that they can continue to stir such "scandals". If it will continue its campaign against The New York Times, then there will be accusations that the White House tries to opress the freedom of speech and press. Donald Trump's "cowboy" tweet is especially interesting. Over 100 years ago, representative of local authorities could shut someone down easily, especially if he was fastest shooter of the West, but today Trump's tweets are simply ineffective. Despite simplicity, current situation can deal serious blow to the entire US state system with all its achievements, democratic values, freedom-loving ideals, high public consciousness, love for every star and every strip of the national flag. Indo-Asian News Service After 11 years of gathering breathtaking imagery, and performing unprecedented feats of spacecraft engineering, Dawn NASA's space probe for the asteroid belt is drawing to a close due to lack of a key fuel, the US space agency said. Launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in September 2007, Dawn was majorly tasked to study two of the three known protoplanets of the asteroid belt Vesta and Ceres, which when combined, make up 45 percent of the mass of the main asteroid belt. The spacecraft is likely to run out of a fuel known as hydrazine, which keeps it oriented and in communication with Earth between September and October. When that happens, Dawn will lose its ability to communicate with Earth, but will remain in a silent orbit around Ceres for decades, NASA said in a statement late on Thursday. "Not only did this spacecraft unlock scientific secrets at these two small but significant worlds, it was also the first spacecraft to visit and orbit bodies at two extraterrestrial destinations during its mission," Lori Glaze, acting director of the Planetary Science Division at Headquarters in Washington, said. From 2011 to 2012, the spacecraft swept over Vesta, capturing images of craters, canyons and even mountains of this planet-like world. Then in 2015, Dawn's cameras spotted a cryovolcano and mysterious bright spots on Ceres, which scientists later found might be salt deposits produced by the exposure of briny liquid from Ceres' interior. "Dawn has shown us alien worlds that, for two centuries, were just pinpoints of light amidst the stars. And it has produced these richly detailed, intimate portraits and revealed exotic, mysterious landscapes unlike anything we've ever seen," said Marc Rayman, Dawn's mission director and chief engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in California. It has continued to gather high-resolution images, gamma ray and neutron spectra, infrared spectra and gravity data at Ceres. Nearly once a day, Dawn will swoop over Ceres about 35 kilometers from its surface only about three times the altitude of a passenger jet gathering valuable data until it expends the last of the hydrazine that feeds thrusters controlling its orientation. Engineers have designed Dawn's final orbit around Ceres, which has no atmosphere to ensure it will not crash for at least 20 years, and likely decades longer, NASA said. According to Rayman, Dawn's is "an inert, celestial monument to human creativity and ingenuity." Indo-Asian News Service The reason Pluto lost its planet status is not valid and is erroneous, a group of scientists argued, challenging previously held theories. A team led by Philip Metzger, planetary scientist at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, noted that the basis on which Pluto was rejected as a planet has no support in the research literature. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) a global group of astronomy experts established that to be called a planet, it is required to "clear" its orbit, or in other words, be the largest gravitational force in its orbit. As per the definition, Pluto does not meet the criteria, since Neptune's gravity influences it, and Pluto shares its orbit with frozen gases and objects in the Kuiper belt. "The IAU definition would say that the fundamental object of planetary science, the planet, is supposed to be defined on the basis of a concept that nobody uses in their research," Metzger said. "And it would leave out the second-most complex, interesting planet in our solar system," he added, in the paper published in the journal Icarus. Reviewing scientific literature from the past 200 years, Metzger found only one publication, from 1802, that used the clearing-orbit requirement to classify planets, and it was based on since-disproven reasoning. "It's a sloppy definition," Metzger said, adding "they didn't say what they meant by clearing their orbit. If you take that literally, then there are no planets, because no planet clears its orbit." According to co-author Kirby Runyon, from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, the IAU's definition was erroneous since the literature review showed that clearing orbit is not a standard that is used for distinguishing asteroids from planets, as the IAU claimed when crafting the 2006 definition of planets. "We showed that this is a false historical claim," Runyon said. "It is therefore fallacious to apply the same reasoning to Pluto." The definition of a planet should not be based on properties that can change, such as the dynamics of a planet's orbit, instead, on if it is large enough that its gravity allows it to become spherical in shape, Metzger said. On Pakistan's Defence Day, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa dared India and vowed to avenge the blood of its soldiers. Pakistans Chief of Army Staff is an angry (middle-aged) man. In dialogues lifted out of the angry young man Bollywood flicks of the 1970s, General Qamar Javed Bajwa has dared India and vowed to avenge the blood of its soldiers. Now this is a little surprising. Granted that the Pakistan Army chief was speaking on the anniversary of the 1965 war with India observed as Defence Day in the neighbouring country and may have felt the need to indulge in a bit of rabble-rousing. Theres nothing wrong with that. It is less outlandish than claiming, which he did, that Pakistan had won that war against India. Even so, the generals fiery rhetoric against India at this time sounded a bit odd. Bajwa tried his best to provoke India, raking up the Kashmir dispute and reiterating Islamabads support for Kashmirs self-determination. He also reached out to the brothers and sisters of occupied Kashmir, who are writing an unparalleled history of bravery and sacrifice. Referring ostensibly to clashes with Indian forces along the LoC, he said that the blood of martyrs wouldnt be spilled in vain, adding that Pakistan will take revenge for the the blood that has been spilled on the frontier. This puts into perspective the newly-elected governments vacuous remarks that the Pakistan Army, Pakistans government and Pakistani people desire peace with India, as Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry was recently quoted as saying by local media. To call for peace and to simultaneously indicate that cross-border terror support to fuel secessionism in India will continue is brazen and reckless. The Pakistan Army chiefs remarks are all the more puzzling because he is believed to be more of a moderate a strictly relative term in this context than a hawk on India and one, we are told, who desires rapprochement with its neighbour. A report by United Kingdom-based think-tank Royal Unites Services Institute (RUSI), written by Kamal Alam, claims that senior Pakistani officers, led by Bajwa, realise that the way to peace and prosperity is through military cooperation with India. The report goes on to detect a change in attitudes that started when Bajwa became COAS (Chief of Army Staff) in November 2016. The apparent logic behind the outreach by the Pakistani military the institution that controls Pakistans security and foreign policy is that talking to India will help the countrys upward economic trajectory and allow regional trade (to) flourish, according to the report. The report is, of course, slanted towards a certain narrative that delinks the peace and dialogue process from the jihadi terror that Pakistan manufactures, nurtures and exports to India. The RUSI report tries to disingenuously insinuate that the dialogue process and peace is Indias prerogative, as though Pakistan bears no responsibility for using terrorism as an arm of its foreign policy and a means to achieve its end force the secession of Kashmir by sustaining an asymmetric war against India. These are Pakistans stated goals. Ideological and religious jihad against India is the Pakistani militarys raison d'etre, from which the institution draws its legitimacy to rule the country either directly through dictatorships or indirectly by installing establishment lackeys such as Prime Minister Imran Khan. The militarys dominance has shaped Pakistans history as a nation-state. As Faisel Pervaiz points out in Stratfor, Pakistans political history is shaped by a belief that India is an existential threat, and that the military must be Pakistans guardian against that threat. It is little wonder, then, that Pakistan became a national security state during its early years, subordinating economic and democratic development to military improvement and tilting the balance of power away from civilian rule, Pervaiz wrote. Therefore, these outreaches, which offer no compromise with Pakistans core objective on Kashmir, should be treated with scepticism. Even so, there seemed to be a greater degree of circumspection among the ranks of the Pakistani military, which apparently quietly reached out to India for talks months before the general election with a key objective to open trade barriers between the countries, which would give Pakistan more access to regional markets, according to a report by The New York Times dated 4 September. To revert to the tired, old rhetoric against India indicates a change in tack. During that very ceremony where Bajwa threatened India, Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan refused to join the United States war on terror, reiterating that I was opposed to the war on terror, I didnt want Pakistan to get involved in someone elses war I pledge today that Pakistan wont fight someone elses war. Imran, who is seen as the militarys man in Islamabad, made the statement just a day after meeting US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and US army chief General Joseph F Dunford, who had stopped by at Islamabad en route to their New Delhi visit for the 2+2 talks. On the brief meeting between the US delegation and the Pakistani side featuring Bajwa and Imran, the US Department of State said in a release that Secretary Pompeo had discussed the potential for the United States and Pakistan to work together to advance joint priorities, including regional peace and stability. The US statement stressed that in all of his meetings, Secretary Pompeo emphasised the important role Pakistan could play in bringing about a negotiated peace in Afghanistan and conveyed the need for Pakistan to take sustained and decisive measures against terrorists and militants threatening regional peace and stability. The statements focus on the need for Pakistan to take sustained and decisive measures against terrorists and militants is clear and firm. The words leave little room for any contrary interpretation. It should be seen as a snub and indicates that the Donald Trump administration is running out of patience with its recalcitrant ally. Do more is replaced by sustained and decisive actions. Its way more categorical and definitive but the qualitative difference went way over the heads of most Pak talk show hosts. Salman Masood (@salmanmasood) September 5, 2018 Speaking later to a group of traveling US journalists, Pompeo said he had made it clear to them that and they agreed its time for us to begin to deliver on our joint commitments right. So weve had lots of times where weve talked and made agreements, but we havent been able to actually execute those. And so there was broad agreement between myself and Foreign Minister Qureshi, as well as with the prime minister, that we need to begin to do things that will begin to actually, on the ground, deliver outcomes so that we can begin to build confidence and trust between the two countries, the US Secretary of State had said. It is ironical that while Pompeo was stressing the need for Pakistan to deliver on joint commitments, ostensibly on refusing a safe haven to Taliban and bringing them to the discussion table in line with Trumps Afghanistan exit strategy, Imran was vowing not to fight someone elses war. The apparent estrangement between the Cold War allies seems to have been reinforced with the way the Trump administration has handled the latest South Asia visit. While Pompeo and US Secretary of Defence James Mattis spent over 24 hours in India and inked a breakthrough military communications pact during the inaugural 2+2 talks, Pompeo (not Mattis) spent a few hours in Islamabad, and at the end of a clearly unsatisfactory meeting, delivered a stern rebuke. Pompeo's visit to #Pakistan has redefined the notion of a quick meeting. He came and went in a puff of smoke. Clearly, given how briefly he was in country, not much of great substance could have been discussed or negotiated. Two hours in Pakistan, more than 24 hours in India... Michael Kugelman (@MichaelKugelman) September 5, 2018 If Bajwa was smarting under the treatment (not to speak of the US cancelling aid worth $300 million for Islamabads failure to take action against terror groups), his sense of indignation was likely heightened by the language used in the India-US joint statement that mentions Pakistan twice specifically and essentially mirrors Indias position on cross-border terror. Pledging to expand bilateral cooperation in the region of counter-terrorism, the joint statement states: The ministers denounced any use of terrorist proxies in the region, and in this context, they called on Pakistan to ensure that the territory under its control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries. On the eve of the 10-year anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attack, they called on Pakistan to bring to justice expeditiously the perpetrators of the Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri and other cross-border terrorist attacks. Lets look at the words closely. The joint statement, which was released after the 2+2 ministerial dialogue, urges Pakistan to ensure that the territory under its control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries. This denotes a change in US position on Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, which is now considered a territory under its control and not its own territory. This shows their acknowledgement that PoK is not Pakistans territory and its under its control. A lot of negotiations went in to get this language change in the joint statement, reported The Indian Express. The joint statement also makes specific mention of terror groups such as Al-Qaida, ISIS, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb-ul Mujahideen, the Haqqani Network, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, D-Company, and their affiliates, some of which have made India their exclusive target. The use of the word proxies, which indicates a quasi-involvement of the State of Pakistan in perpetrating terror on Indian soil, is no less significant. The joint statement formalises the new US approach of putting maximum pressure on Pakistan to achieve its objectives. As top Pentagon official Randall Schriver elaborated recently during a think-tank event in Washington: I think our approach of cutting assistance and pressuring Pakistan on their relationship with the Taliban, persuading them to come to the table, dealing with terrorist networks will be sustained. Bajwa, who in his position as the army chief formulates Pakistans foreign policy, obviously wont be thrilled with the developments. His lashing out at India indicates that a certain amount of frustration is setting in among the Pakistani military establishment. This frustration stems from the realisation that the double game of playing the victim card on terror and providing strategic support to Taliban has become unsustainable. The Trump administration is impatient for outcomes and an exit strategy in Afghanistan. It will be interesting to see how Pakistan tackles this conundrum. BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes hit parts of Syria's rebel-held Idlib province on Friday, a war monitor said, as the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey met in Tehran to discuss the fate of the enclave. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes targeted positions belonging to rebel groups in the northern Hama and southern Idlib provinces. BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes hit parts of Syria's rebel-held Idlib province on Friday, a war monitor said, as the presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey met in Tehran to discuss the fate of the enclave. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strikes targeted positions belonging to rebel groups in the northern Hama and southern Idlib provinces. Around 3 million people live in the last major stronghold of active opposition to President Bashar al-Assad's rule, which comprises most of Idlib province and adjacent small parts of Latakia, Hama and Aleppo provinces. Damascus, backed by allies Russia and Iran, has been preparing an assault to recover those rebel-held parts of the northwest, and resumed air strikes alongside Russia on Tuesday after weeks of lull. On Friday evening, nine people were killed, mostly women and children, and 20 injured due to the sudden shelling of a Christian majority city in the north western countryside of Hama province, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency(SANA) said. A small jihadist faction in Idlib claimed responsibility for the shelling of the government-controlled city of Meherdeh, according to the war monitor. The Syrian army responded by shelling opposition-controlled Qalaat al-Madiq area in north western Hama, killing a child and a fighter, the SOHR said. Earlier in the day, thousands of people in rebel-held Idlib took to the streets after Friday midday prayers to protest any upcoming military action or evacuation plans, the Observatory and opposition news channel Orient News said. The Britain-based Observatory said strikes on Friday had destroyed a building used by the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group near the town of al-Habeet, resulting in a number of casualties. Ahrar al-Sham is part of the Turkey-backed National Liberation Front alliance, which formed earlier this year. In addition to supporting rebels in Idlib, Turkey has also created a buffer zone along its border in an area north of Aleppo that adjoins Idlib, where it has set up a local administration alongside Syrian rebel groups. Russia and Iran have said they want all militants to be pushed out of Idlib. The United Nations has warned that a military offensive in Idlib could cause a humanitarian catastrophe. (Reporting by Lisa Barrington and Dahlia Nehme; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg, Catherine Evans and Dan Grebler) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A fierce wildfire that has forced the closure of an interstate highway in Northern California raged for a third day on Friday through explosively dry mountain timber in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, as crews battled to outflank the flames. The Delta Fire has scorched nearly 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) in the Cascade range since erupting on Wednesday in a forest canyon along the Sacramento River, about 250 miles (402 km) north of San Francisco, fire officials said By Steve Gorman LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A fierce wildfire that has forced the closure of an interstate highway in Northern California raged for a third day on Friday through explosively dry mountain timber in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, as crews battled to outflank the flames. The Delta Fire has scorched nearly 25,000 acres (10,000 hectares) in the Cascade range since erupting on Wednesday in a forest canyon along the Sacramento River, about 250 miles (402 km) north of San Francisco, fire officials said. Containment of the blaze, a measure of the progress made by firefighters in carving buffer lines around the fire's perimeter to halt its spread, remained at zero. But crews have made gains clearing away beds of tinder-dry brush beyond the fire's leading edge, reducing the amount of fuel available for flying embers to easily ignite and thus stunting the fire's growth. The underbrush is being removed with a combination of bulldozers and hand tools, as well as controlled burning operations, said Captain Brandon Vaccaro, a spokesman for the Delta fire incident command. "We're actually getting a lot of work done and making a lot of good progress, but that progress is not at the edge of the fire," Vaccaro told Reuters by telephone. "We're removing the fuel from in front of the fire." Much of the effort has also focussed on protecting scattered homes and small communities in the sparsely populated fire zone, but an unspecified number of homes have been destroyed, he said. Vaccaro said about 300 people were under mandatory evacuation orders in Shasta and Trinity counties. Farther north, an evacuation warning was in effect for the town of Dunsmuir, advising some 1,600 residents to be ready to flee at a moment's notice. The blaze also has caused major travel disruptions in the region. On Wednesday, flames raced across Interstate 5, chasing a number of truckers from their vehicles before flames engulfed their abandoned rigs, though no serious injuries were reported. A 45-mile (72-km) stretch of the I-5, a key north-south route through the entire state, has remained closed since then, requiring traffic detours of up to 120 miles (193 km), officials said. The fire has spread quickly through the drought-stricken pine forests thick with dead and dying timber ravaged by bark beetle infestations. Shasta County communities near the fire zone are still recovering from a devastating blaze earlier this summer that killed eight people and incinerated hundreds of dwellings in and around the town of Redding. California's wildfire threat could intensify again next week with forecasts calling for a statewide heat-wave in the days ahead. (Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Sandra Maler) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Trump, battling one of the deepest crises in his 20-month presidency, has raged about Wednesday's searing essay, branding its unidentified writer a 'gutless' coward and accusing The New York Times of borderline treason for publishing it. Fargo (US): Donald Trump on Friday urged his attorney general to investigate the anonymous author of a damning op-ed, escalating his long-running battles with the media and highlighting his suspicions that people are seeking to overthrow his presidency. Trump, battling one of the deepest crises in his 20-month presidency, has raged about Wednesday's searing essay, branding its unidentified writer a "gutless" coward and accusing The New York Times of borderline treason for publishing it. "I would say Jeff (Sessions) should be investigating who the author of that piece was because I really believe it's national security," Trump told reporters traveling with him in North Dakota. "The Times should never have done that, because really what they've done is virtually, you know, it's treason," the president said in an interview with Fox News broadcast earlier on Friday. Asked on Air Force One whether action should be taken against the Times, Trump said "I'm looking at that right now." Trump appeared to be calling for a criminal investigation despite there being no indication that the mystery author broke any laws by releasing his extraordinary column, which detailed how "unsung heroes" were quietly working within the administration to frustrate an amoral president's "worst inclinations." The Times said in a statement that any such investigation would be an abuse of power, and that Trump's "threats... underscore why we must safeguard the identity of the writer of this op-ed." "We're confident that the Department of Justice understands that the First Amendment protects all American citizens and that it would not participate in such a blatant abuse of government power," the newspaper said. 'Whodunnit' A "whodunnit"-style guessing game has raged in the corridors of power and on social media over the author's identity, prompting nearly every cabinet-ranked member of the government to deny involvement. Among them was Trump's United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, who wrote her own op-ed on Friday that assails her unnamed fellow senior official for taking the "very dangerous" step of outlining how members of Trump's team are hamstringing the president. "A central part of our democracy requires that those who work directly for the president not secretly try to undermine him or his policies," Haley wrote in The Washington Post. "What the author is describing is an extra-constitutional method of addressing policy disputes within the administration. That's wrong on a fundamental level." Trump also took aim at a book set for release next week by investigative journalist Bob Woodward which offered a damning portrayal of the administration's inner workings, sparking yet another White House crisis and putting the president on the defensive. Trump attacked the book as a "scam," and suggested hardening the country's "pathetic" libel legislation. "Our libel laws should be toughened up so that if somebody writes things that are fraudulent and false, they get sued and they lose," said Trump. Later at a rally in Fargo, Trump called Woodward an "idiot." The respected White House chronicler's Fear: Trump in the White House, a 448-page account of an out-of-control administration, draws on hundreds of hours of insider interviews. Not how democracy works Woodward describes a coalition of like-minded aides plotting to prevent the president from destroying the world trade system, undermining national security and sparking wars. Woodward's is not the first unflattering investigation into Trump's White House, but it has been particularly resonant coming from the man who together with Carl Bernstein authored the Watergate expose that brought down Richard Nixon. He is one of the most respected living US journalists, and has written extensively on modern American presidents, earning praise from Trump in 2013 for his work on Barack Obama. The book depicts Trump aides working to head off potential foreign policy disasters, disregarding a call by the president for the assassination of his Syrian counterpart, and removing from his desk an order that would have cancelled a US-South Korea trade agreement. Like Haley, Obama spoke out about the way aides were doing end runs around Trump, saying it was irresponsible to think "that everything will turn out OK because there are people inside the White House who secretly aren't following the president's orders." "That's not how our democracy is supposed to work," he told students at the University of Illinois, in a speech launching his involvement in the 2018 midterm elections. The former president has endorsed dozens of Democrats in races across the country, and he will campaign with some of them ahead of the 6 November elections. US District Judge Randolph Moss sentenced foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos to 14 days, noting that he 'lied in an investigation that was important to national security.' Washington: A former adviser to US president Donald Trump whose contacts with Russians set off the investigation into possible collusion with Moscow was jailed Friday for lying to the FBI. US District Judge Randolph Moss sentenced foreign policy aide George Papadopoulos to 14 days, noting that he "lied in an investigation that was important to national security." "In January 2017, I made a terrible mistake for which I paid dearly, I am ashamed," Papadopoulos had told the court in Washington. "I was young and ambitious." The federal judge said he took into consideration Papadopoulos's "genuine remorse" in issuing the light sentence, which included a $9,500 fine, a year on parole and community service. By lying to investigators, Papadopoulos had made "a calculated exercise of self-interest over the national interest," said Moss. Papadopoulos has cooperated for more than a year with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russian interference in the US presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. He has testified that senior campaign members encouraged him during 2016 to build ties with Russia, including after he told them that Moscow possessed and could be willing to share dirt on Trump's election rival Hillary Clinton. Those issues are now at the heart of Mueller's sprawling investigation, which increasingly threatens Trump's inner circle and the president himself. Out of the 35 people and entities so far charged, Papadopoulos is one of five who have pleaded guilty and the second to be sentenced. Trump has regularly lashed out against the sprawling probe he dubs a "witch hunt" driven by his Democratic foes. Papdopoulos's lawyer Tom Breen said "the president of the United States hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever did." The 31-year-old Chicago native was a little-experienced petroleum analyst based in London when he joined the Trump campaign in March 2016 as one of a handful of members of the Republican candidate's national security and foreign policy advisory board. Within weeks, he made contact with a mysterious professor, Joseph Mifsud, who touted links to the Kremlin and introduced him to others who ostensibly had connections to Russian president Vladimir Putin - including a woman who claimed to be Putin's niece. At the end of March 2016, Papadopoulos told Trump, then-senator and now Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and members of the national security team at their first meeting in Washington that he had connections in London that could set up a Trump-Putin meeting ahead of the November election. "While some in the room rebuffed George's offer, Mr Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr Sessions, who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it," Papadopoulos claimed in a pre-sentencing statement last week. Sessions has claimed he opposed the idea. In subsequent campaign communications, Papadopoulos was encouraged to pursue a Putin-Trump meeting. In late April, he told them that Mifsud said the Russians had information that could harm Clinton, in the form of thousands of emails. Weeks later, stolen Clinton emails were leaked over the internet by what US intelligence chiefs now say were Russian intelligence actors. Papadopoulos says he had nothing to do with the leak. US investigators were only alerted to Papadopoulos's activities in mid-2016 after he told Australia's ambassador to London, Alexander Downer, about his talks with Mifsud during a late-night drinking session in a London pub. After the Clinton emails were leaked, the Australians told US intelligence counterparts what Downer had heard, spurring the FBI to begin investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. In his pre-sentencing statement, Papadopoulos admitted lying to FBI investigators in January 2017 but said it had been out of a desire to protect his career and a naive loyalty to the Trump administration. The lies did not impede the investigation, he argued. "Caught off-guard by an impromptu interrogation, Mr Papadopoulos misled investigators to save his professional aspirations and preserve a perhaps misguided loyalty to his master," the statement said. The toll from an earthquake that rocked Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido rose to 30 on Saturday, and 9 others remained unaccounted for in rural town Atsuma after an entire mountainside collapsed on their homes The toll from a powerful earthquake that triggered landslides in northern Japan rose to 30 Saturday, while nine are still missing as tens of thousands of rescue workers raked through the mud for survivors. The majority of the dead are from the small rural town of Atsuma, where a cluster of dwellings were wrecked when a hillside collapsed from the force of the 6.6-magnitude quake, causing deep brown scars in the landscape. According to AFP, around nine people are still unaccounted for in the town and around 400 sustained minor injuries, according to the local government of the northern Hokkaido island. "We never had landslides here," said Akira Matsushita who lost his brother in Atsuma. "I couldn't believe until I saw it with my own eyes," he told TV Asahi. "When I saw it, I knew no one could survive." Some 40,000 rescue workers, including Self-Defense Forces drafted in specially, were searching for survivors with the aid of bulldozers, sniffer dogs and 75 helicopters, according to the top government spokesman. "They're doing their best around the clock," Yoshihide Suga told reporters. All three million households on Hokkaido island lost power when Thursday's quake damaged a thermal plant supplying electricity to the region, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said power was mostly restored. "Thanks to hard work to boost power supply throughout the night, the number of households without power has declined to 20,000," Abe told a cabinet meeting to discuss the quake. Abe added the government would release emergency funds to deliver food, water and fuel needed for power generators at hospitals. A total of 31,000 households still have no water and around 16,000 people have evacuated to shelters. The earthquake also collapsed a handful of houses and walls in the main regional city of Sapporo but considering the strength of the quake, the death toll was relatively light, with the majority of victims coming from the landslide in Atsuma. Some parts of Atsuma were severely damaged, with houses atilt and roads crumbled or sunken. A mudslide left several cars half buried, and the ground subsided in some areas, leaving drainpipes and manhole covers protruding by more than a metre in some places. "This is shocking. I was always walking on this street and I had never imagined this road could collapse in such a way," said resident Noriyuki Sumi. "But, if you think positively, imagine if I was walking here when this took place. I might have lost my life. So, I try to think I am lucky in this unfortunate situation." Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko said on Friday that it would take at least a week to fully restore power to all communities due to damage at a thermal power plant at Tomato-Atsuma that supplies half of Hokkaido's electricity. "We're trying to do it faster, but it will likely take a week," Seko told AP. He urged residents to conserve power. Rescuers were using search dogs, backhoes and shovels as they dug through tons of mud and debris from the landslides triggered by the quake that struck before dawn Thursday. International flights at the main airport in Sapporo resumed operations on Saturday, while bullet trains began service the day before. The quake was the latest in a string of natural disasters to batter the country. Western parts of the country are still recovering from the most powerful typhoon to strike Japan in a quarter of a century, which claimed 11 lives and shut down the main regional airport. Japan sits on the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where many of the world's earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are recorded. Japan has had a string of natural disasters in recent months. The quake came on the heels of a typhoon that lifted heavy trucks off their wheels and triggered major flooding in western Japan, and damaged the main airport near Osaka and Kobe. The summer also brought devastating floods and landslides from torrential rains in Hiroshima and deadly hot temperatures across the country. On 11 March, 2011, a devastating 9.0-magnitude quake struck under the Pacific Ocean, and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and claimed thousands of lives. With inputs from agencies Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, speaking at the second World Hindu Congress (WHC) which coincides with the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekanandas speech at the Parliament of World Religions in 1893 in Chicago, called on the world's Hindu community to come together in a tighter embrace although it is a 'difficult' task. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat called on the world's Hindu community to come together, and work as a society despite the differences. Speaking at the second World Hindu Congress (WHC) which coincides with the 125th anniversary of Swami Vivekanandas speech at the Parliament of World Religions in 1893 in Chicago, Bhagwat said collaboration and "oneness" is the most urgent need for Hindu society to progress. Yet, while pushing for a more abundant territory, Bhagwat used stories from the Mahabharata to explain right-distancing from leadership, obedience, dissent, and patience for results and why it's important to get in line once there's consensus. Rousing welcome for Shri Mohan Bhagwat, RSS Sarsanghchalak at #WHC2018 pic.twitter.com/N3vhvCW9M4 World Hindu Congress (@WHCongress) September 7, 2018 Bhagwat framed "our values" as "universal values, now being called Hindu values". He said Hindu society is home to more "meritorious people" but "we don't work together". He further said, "In initial days of our work, when our karkyakartas (workers) used to talk to the Hindus about organising them, they used to say 'sher kabhi jhund mein nahi chalta' (a lion never walks in a group). But even that lion or a royal Bengal tiger who is the king of the jungle, if he is alone, wild dogs can invade and destroy him." "Coming together of the Hindus is in itself a difficult thing," he said, adding the Hindu society has the largest number of meritorious persons. "If you don't dream, nothing is possible", he said. Addressing a 2,500 strong audience in downtown Chicago, Bhagwat, speaking in English, said Hindu society must not sit back smugly because of say, mega events like the World Hindu Congress where he was speaking. "Only our opponents know about this. Many of our own people don't know about it. Why are we suffering for thousand years? We had everything and we knew everything. We forgot to practise what we knew. We also forgot to work together, he said. Why are we suffering from 1000 years? We had everything but forgot to practise our values - Sri Mohan Bhagwat at #WHC2018 pic.twitter.com/Xxr3D7jPcD World Hindu Congress (@WHCongress) September 7, 2018 Bhagwat peppered his speech with generous doses of Sanskrit couplets to drive home his central point: scale comes with collaboration but above all, "spirituality" must be the driving force and idealism is a force for the good. Very briefly, Bhagwat touched directly on politics just once in his talk: "Politics must be fought like politics, but do it without changing yourself," he said. Without taking names or bestowing context, Bhagwat drew parallels in the relationship between Krishna and Yudhishtira in the Mahabharata saying how Krishna never "contradicted" Yudhishtira. "Those who do not subscribe to my opinion are not fools. From your perspective, you are right. What about assimilating all perspectives plus...That's powerful," he said. Bhagwat began and ended his 40-minute speech with copious quotes from the Bhagwat Gita. "Luck follows your efforts," he began. "What are the values, what goals do you have, that should never be forgotten," he added. Bhagwat stressed on teamwork and collaborative effort throughout his talk. "...But they never come together. Coming together of Hindus in itself is a difficult thing, Bhagwat said in his inaugural address to the conference inspired by the Hindu principle 'sumantrite suvikrante' or 'think collectively, achieve valiantly'. We are both ancient and postmodern. What humanity will need 20 years from now, we are thinking today, we all have to come together. People today are in dire need of our wisdom," he said. Bhagwat compared Hindu society's status quo with a precise moment in the Mahabharata when the Pandavas in exile suddenly found their fortunes turning around. "That is the moment when luck starts performing pradakshinas (circles/ circling) around you," Bhagwat said. Reiterating his call for team effort, the RSS chief said the Hindu society will progress and prosper only when it work as a society, and that some organisations or parties working alone will not suffice. Others who spoke on Day One at the WHC were Illinois Lieutenant Governor Evelyn Sanguinetti, SP Kothari, chairperson, organising committee of the World Hindu Congress, Ashwin Adhin, vice president of Suriname and Raju Reddy, vice-chair of the WHC. With inputs from PTI Turkmenistan doesn't allow heavy vehicles on their way to Tajikistan to pass its border. Trucks are staying near the border with Iran, on the Lyutfabad-Artyk checkpoint, for more than a week. Ashgabat doesn't give permission for vehicles with cargo that must be delivered to Tajikistan. The Ministry of Transport of Tajikistan says that it tried to resolve "this issue through diplomatic channels." This problem was recently discussed in the Tajik Foreign Ministry. Regional integration of the region once again became relevant. Turkmen border guards offer to drivers of heavy cargo trucks to search for bypass roads, bypassing Turkmenistan, one of the drivers staying at the border with Iran said in an interview with radio Ozodi (Tajik branch of Radio Liberty). He said that similar situation happens at other checkpoints on the Turkmen-Iranian border. Passenger buses that Tajikistan purchased from Turkey can't pass the Sarakhs border crossing. Problems at the border began after Tajik President Emomali Rahmon visited Ashgabat. During the talks with Turkmen leader Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov, issues of trade and economic cooperation and development of transport routes were discussed. Speaking at the summit on the Aral Sea problem, Rakhmon urged his neighbors to intensify cooperation in the field of cargo transportation and transit in order to achieve free movement of goods and services in Central Asia. It's not the first case when borders were closed in the region. A year ago, Kazakhstan blocked border with Kyrgyzstan. Over 500 Kyrgyz trucks with cargo for Russia couldn't move further. There was political reason for that: Bishkek accused President Nursultan Nazarbayev of interfering in the election campaign. Uzbek border wasn't just shut down, but also mined because of attempts of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan militants to invade the country through Tajikistan in 1999-2000. In subsequent years, conflicts, often with use of weapons, land and water disputes, smuggling and other negative things have become common on the borders between Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Situation changed only after change of power and economic development model of Uzbekistan. The issue of integration of the Central Asian countries became relevant once again. Heads of four regional countries held summit in Astana. Ashgabat refused to participate in this event. Regional cooperation was discussed during this summit. Berdymuhamedov recently proposed a similar idea - creation of the Consultative Council of Central Asia, at which all issues in the region would be dealt with promptly. However, state structure of Turkmenistan and its economic policy took unthinkable for market economy form - a sort of eastern version of "leader principle", which clearly hinders problem solving process. Even though problems of the region haven't been resolved yet, Uzbekistan almost resolved border issues with its neighbors in the region, especially with Kazakhstan. Other countries have intensified their efforts, but we won't see results for some time. For example, Dushanbe and Bishkek have stalled the negotiation process. Tajikistan, frightened by the influx of Uzbek goods, introduced a number of restrictions on export of products. Expert on Central Asia and the Middle East, Alexander Knyazev, said in an interview with Vestnik Kavkaza that regional integration can't exist without participation of all countries in the region. "Central Asia is not a region. Countries of Middle Asia and Kazakhstan have no unifying interests, on the contrary, their interests contradict each other in most cases," he said. According to expert, despite a number of external similarities, economic and political models operating in all former Soviet republics are different, and external orientation is very diverse. Integration can occur only through one or two mechanisms: common economic and political interests or external force. If Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, albeit with many proble,s, are integrated into the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and these ties somehow work, other countries are in a state of permanent uncertainty. "By following short-term, often personal benefits, their priorities can change radically (just like how it happened with Tajikistan's reorientation from Iran to Saudi Arabia.) There are some signs of strategic development programs in Astana and Tashkent, but this is clearly not enough. Although Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are the most positive examples, especially compared to others, there's nothing like that in Ashgabat. Financial and economic crisis in the republic that lasts for several years proves it," Alexander Knyazev believes. UNHCR report says UAE and Saudi Arabia-backed coalition forces may have committed severe war crimes in Yemen including torture, forced disappearances, attacks on civilians and illegal detentions More civilians have been killed by the pro-government coalition forces in Yemen, which is facing the world's worst human rights' crisis, than the rebel Houthi fighters, the latest report by the United Nations Human Rights Commission said. The report indicated that the UAE and Saudi Arabia backed coalition forces may be guilty of committing severe human rights violations including torture, forced disappearances, attacks on civilians and illegal detentions. By very conservative estimates, more than 6,500 civilians have been killed while three-quarters of the total population desperately need human rights assistance, the report, which was prepared by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said. Over 120,000 people have been displaced. The report, which acknowledges at the start that it is furbishing only very conservative estimates due to procedural difficulties in conducting a survey under two hostile governments, says that at least 16,706 civilian casualties have been reported in the Arab world's poorest nation since March 2015. "From March 2015 to June 2018, there were at least 16,706 civilian casualties, with 6,475 killed and 10,231 injured in the conflict; however, the real figure is likely to be significantly higher," the report said. The scale of the 'significantly higher' can be gauged from the fact the latest estimates by the same agency claimed that more than 450 civilians were killed in Yemen in the first nine days of August in 2018. In April 2018, out of a population of 29.3 million, 22.2 million persons were in need of humanitarian assistance, including 11.3 million in acute need. Needs extend across all sectors, including health, food, sanitation and water, housing and protection. Pro-govt forces causing more civilian deaths In the strife-torn state of Yemen, Houthis the Zaidi Shia Muslim minority are engaged in a bloody battle against President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi's rule and pro-government forces backed by Saudi Arabia, US and several other Sunni-dominated countries of the Arab world. The battle has lasted for a decade and a half. However, the report said that more civilian deaths were caused by Saudi Arabia backed air bombings than the fight on the ground, even though the war has brought about widespread rights' violation. Its finding indicated that a conscious strategy of bombing heavily populated civilian areas was being pursued as the report found that wedding celebrations, funeral gatherings, community spaces, detention centres, teeming market hubs, and even medical facilities were targeted in airstrikes by coalition forces. Elaborating on one of the most deadly attacks it investigated, the UNHCR report said: "In a particularly egregious case, on 15 March 2016, coalition air strikes on Khamees market in the Mastaba district of the Hajjah Governorate killed more than 100 civilians, including 25 children... In the 8 October 2016 attack on Al-Kubra Hall in the city of Sanaa during a funeral gathering killed at least 137 civilians and injured 695, including 24 boys." The report also highlights how the coalition forces have been ignoring its own no-strike list and structures owned by rights' organisations, education centres, and hospitals were being consciously bombed. "Despite the special protection afforded to medical facilities and educational, cultural and religious sites under the international humanitarian law, many such facilities and sites have been damaged or destroyed by coalition air strikes throughout the conflict," the report added. Are Saudi-backed forces consciously bombing civilians? Based on the report's findings, there is ample evidence that the Saudi-backed forces have consciously chosen to impart heavy civilian casualties. The coalition forces were specially made aware of the location of these crucial facilities in a land, whose populace has no other way of receiving aide and where access to healthcare remains abysmally poor. "Several air strikes have damaged facilities operated by Medecins Sans Frontieres (more commonly known as Doctors Without Borders or MSF), including a clinic in the Houban district of the Taizz Governorate, hit on 2 December 2015; an ambulance in the Sadah Governorate, struck on 21 January 2016; and a hospital in the Abs district of the Hajjah Governorate, hit on 15 August 2016." "On 11 June 2018, MSF reported that an airstrike had hit a new cholera treatment centre in the Abs district of Hajjah Governorate." All the locations of MSF facilities had been shared with the coalition on multiple occasions (12 times in case of the cholera treatment facility). Yemen suffers from the worst cholera outbreak recorded in modern history. Moreover, the report further states that many times the targets chosen by the coalition forces were isolated civilian facility and had no military targets anywhere near it. The use of precision-guided ammunition is also quite common amid coalition forces, which enjoy support of nations that have one of world's most advanced armies. How then may the forces have mistakenly bombed facilities especially established to provide aid to civilians? Then, the deliberate cases of "double strikes" close in time, which affect first responders, also raise serious questions about the war strategies of the coalition forces. This in addition to Saudi Arabia's brutal border blockade which is ostensibly to stop Iran from supplying arms to Houthis, but has in essence starved a war-torn population of over 23 million with food, medicine and fuel. The effect can simply be gauged by the fact that prior to the conflict, Yemen imported nearly 90 percent of its food, medical supplies and fuel. Although Saudi Arabia claims it has lifted restrictions on relief material and food but the UNHCR report states that restrictions were in place and forces continued to block ships and cargo arbitrarily as of June 2018. The problem has been exacerbated by the governments non-payment of public sector salaries, affecting one-fourth of the population, since August 2016. The effects of the price increases coupled with the erosion of their purchasing power have been disastrous for the population. Houthi rebels indiscriminately attacks civilians, torture dissenters The group also came across several instances where civilians were caught in crossfire or homes were shelled using weapons with wide area effect by the Houthi-backed forces. These weapons are considered highly dangerous in a tightly-packed urban setting as the target of the attack can rarely be controlled. Moreover, in Houthi-controlled territory, a large number of illegal detentions with detainees denied basic rights like that to hire a lawyer, were reported. Kangaroo courts and tribunals handed out death sentences arbitrarily. The group was not allowed to visit detention centres under the Houthis but it reported that the rebels had turned mosques, schools and homes confiscated from political opponents into undeclared detention centres. Detainees include individuals perceived to be opposed to the de facto authorities, including students, human rights defenders, journalists and supporters of political parties. The Houthis have also persecuted believers in the Baha'i faith, one exampele of which was the death sentence given to one person after a hearing neither he, nor his family was allowed to attend. In a televised speech on 23 March 2018, the leader of the Houthis described the Bahai faith as satanic and engaged in a war against Islam. Forced disappearances, secret prisons, torture common in govt/ Saudi-controlled prisons However, like the Houthis, the coalition forces, who have been empowered to fill the void, resulting from total breakdown of criminal justice system, have also been accused of similar excesses. "In detention, during interrogation and while blindfolded and/or handcuffed, detainees were beaten, electrocuted, suspended upside down, drowned, threatened with violence against their families and held in solitary confinement for prolonged periods in violation of the absolute prohibition on torture, cruel or inhuman treatment," the report said. "The Group of Experts also investigated sexual violence, including rape of adult male detainees, committed by UAE personnel... At Bir Ahmed Prison, forces of the UAE raided the facility and perpetrated sexual violence. In March 2018, nearly 200 detainees were stripped naked in a group while personnel of the UAE forcibly examined their anuses. During this search, multiple detainees were raped digitally and with tools and sticks." By 2017, consistent reports began to surface of violations committed in detention facilities or secret prisons under the control of Saudi Arabia, following which President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi took back control from them. However, the report said that as of June 2018 government officials still claimed very little authority over detention facilities in the south. The report also said that the Yemeni government, the UAE and Saudi Arabia may be responsible for the forced disappearance, and cruel treatment and torture of war prisoners. "Such acts, together with the requisite intent, may amount to international crimes. As these restrictions are planned and implemented as the result of State policies, individual criminal responsibility would lie at all responsible levels, including the highest levels, of the government of the member States of the coalition and Yemen." By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The presidents of Serbia and Kosovo abruptly called off a face-to-face meeting in Brussels on Friday, deflating hopes of a deal involving a land swap that could allow both nations to move towards EU membership. Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci was due to discuss the swap plan with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic for the first time in talks brokered by the EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini. By Robin Emmott BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The presidents of Serbia and Kosovo abruptly called off a face-to-face meeting in Brussels on Friday, deflating hopes of a deal involving a land swap that could allow both nations to move towards EU membership. Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci was due to discuss the swap plan with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic for the first time in talks brokered by the EU's top diplomat Federica Mogherini. But both men refused to speak to each other moments before their meeting was due to start at the EU's headquarters in Brussels, diplomats said, leaving Mogherini to meet them separately several times during the day to keep talks alive. "It went wrong today, they did not meet, they indulged in some drama instead," said one EU diplomat briefed on the talks, although it was not immediately clear what caused the breakdown. "Difficulties remain," Mogherini said in a statement, although she said she would seek another meeting with the two presidents later this month. In an address to the nation on Friday evening, Serbia's Vucic said he would visit Kosovo this weekend as planned. On Sunday he is due to hold a rally in the northern Kosovan city of Mitrovica, which is mostly populated by Serbs. The failure to meet in person partly reflects a backlash in both Kosovo and Serbia to the land swap plan, as well as some resistance in Germany, the EU diplomat said. Belgrade and Pristina have both raised the idea of redrawing their border. EU, U.S. SUPPORT Kosovo, which has a population of 1.8 million is mainly ethnic Albanian, declared independence from Belgrade in 2008, almost a decade after NATO air strikes ousted Serbian forces and halted a crackdown on ethnic Albanians during a counter-insurgency. It is now recognised by more than 100 nations but not by Serbia, Russia and five EU states. Politicians and analysts in Belgrade say that an agreement allowing Serbia to maintain control over northern Kosovo, in exchange for the Presevo Valley, an ethnic Albanian-populated area in Serbia's south, could be acceptable to both sides. But Germany warned last week that redrawing Serbia's border with Kosovo would fan ethnic tensions, although the European Union and the United States have said they would abide by a deal if it respected international law. Kosovo's Thaci had told Reuters on Aug. 14 that he would present his plan to Serbia's Vucic at their meeting in Brussels. Normalising bilateral relations is a key condition for both Serbia and Kosovo to advance towards their eventual goal of EU membership. The Balkan neighbours agreed in 2013 to resolve all pending issues but have so far made little progress. (Additional reporting by Aleksandar Vasovic in Belgrade; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - Two major health scares at U.S. By Julie Steenhuysen CHICAGO (Reuters) - Two major health scares at U.S. airports involving inbound flights are related to pilgrims returning from the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which ended in late August, U.S. health officials said on Friday. On Wednesday, U.S. health officials sent an emergency response team with mobile diagnostic equipment to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after they were told that more than 100 passengers aboard an Emirates airlines flight from Dubai were experiencing flu-like symptoms. Dr. Martin Cetron, director for the division of Global Migration and Quarantine at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told Reuters in a telephone interview that health officials evaluated nearly 549 passengers at the airport, and sent a total of 11 people to a local hospital for more testing. Ten people were tested for a battery of respiratory viruses and bacteria in hopes of ruling out serious pathogens that could present a public health threat. Two of them tested positive for an especially virulent type of influenza A virus, and one of the two, who was gravely ill with pneumonia, was co-infected with another respiratory virus, Cetron said. A third person tested positive for a cold virus. All three had taken part in the Hajj, which this year drew some 2 million people to Mecca, Cetron said. Seven crew members, who boarded the flight in Dubai and were not at the pilgrimage, tested negative for a number of respiratory infections of public health concern, Cetron said. The next day, two flights arriving in Philadelphia from Europe were screened by medical teams after 12 passengers reported flu-like symptoms. One of them had visited Mecca for the Hajj. Cetron said health officials in New York had been prepared to quarantine a large group of sick passengers in an area at the airport. From a total of 11 passengers taken to hospital for evaluation, 10 were tested for respiratory symptoms; one showed signs of food poisoning. "It was a much smaller incident. That's not uncommon," Cetron said. "Often the incoming information from multiple sources can be exaggerated beyond what we really find." All 10 patients with respiratory symptoms tested negative for the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome or MERS, a highly infectious and deadly respiratory infection that was first identified in the Middle East in 2012. The CDC was not alerted in advance about the two flights that landed in Philadelphia from Paris and Munich, but several travellers had complained of illness, triggering a "medical review" of 250 passengers from those flights, a spokesman said. Twelve passengers were found to have sore throats and coughs, and one also tested positive for the flu, a CDC spokesman confirmed. The responses were part of a well-rehearsed network of public health officials trained to identify and contain pathogens as U.S. airports and ports of entry, Cetron said. "Our most critical issue was to rule several respiratory illnesses of urgent public health significance," Cetron said. Cetron said the CDC monitors databases to track outbreaks of infectious disease that could post a treat in the United States. Although unlikely, MERS was definitely a concern that the team needed to rule out, he said. "That was a low-probability, high consequence event that we wanted to rule out," he said. The CDC said in a statement that the cases were a reminder that flu season is coming, and urged all U.S. citizens six months or older to get a flu shot by the end of October. (Reporting by Julie Steenhuysen; Additional reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York) This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. At least four civilians were killed in the strikes in Idlib province in Syria as dozens of barrel bombs were dropped by regime aircraft. Al Muntar: Syria's last major rebel bastion Idlib was on Saturday targeted by the "most violent" Russian airstrikes in a month, a monitor said, after the failure of a three-way summit on the Syrian conflict. The renewed strikes came a day after the leaders of rebel backer Turkey and regime allies Russia and Iran failed at the summit in Tehran to agree on how to stave off a threatened offensive on the northwestern province of Idlib. Aid organisations have warned that any military campaign to retake the region of nearly three million people on the Turkish border could spark one of the worst humanitarian disasters in Syria's seven-year war. On Saturday, dozens of Russian air raids hit southern and southeastern areas of Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said. At least four civilians including two children were killed in the strikes and as dozens of barrel bombs were dropped by regime aircraft, the Britain-based monitor said. An AFP correspondent in the southern village of Al-Muntar saw huge clouds of grey smoke billow up above olive trees after a barrel bombing. Women and children ran terrified across nearby fields, one woman appearing to clutch a baby in a blanket. An elderly man sat out of breath, barefoot and dazed in the red earth, his walking cane by his side. The raids prompted hundreds of families to take to the roads, as dozens of cars and trucks tried to ferry civilians away from the bombardment. Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the raids targeted jihadist and rebel positions, some of which were empty and others in use. It was the heaviest bombardment since 10 August, when at least 53 civilians were killed in Idlib and the neighbouring province of Aleppo, he said. Idlib is largely controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance led by al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate, as well as rival rebels. The United Nations has warned that any offensive could force up to 800,000 people to flee their homes and urged key powerbrokers to avoid a "bloodbath". On Friday, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan openly disagreed with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin at a press conference in the Iranian capital. Erdogan called for a "truce", while Russia's president said Damascus "has a right and must eventually take under control all of its national territory". Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned against a "scorched earth" policy, but said "fighting terrorism in Idlib is an unavoidable". Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime has upped its rhetoric on retaking control of Idlib and surrounding areas over the past month. The threat comes after it recaptured areas around the capital Damascus and in southern Syria earlier this year, through a combination of deadly bombardment and surrender deals. With the spike in Russian raids on Saturday, Moscow was aiming to put pressure on Ankara to agree to a deal for a regime takover of Idlib, according to analyst Nicholas Heras. "Russia is reminding Turkey it needs to stay in Russia's good graces if Turkey wants to avoid a painful catastrophe in northwest Syria," said a researcher at the Center for New American Security. Idlib's provincial health chief Munzer al-Khalil warned Saturday that a large-scale military operation could result in "the most catastrophic crisis in our war". Russian military spokesman Igor Konashenkov, for his part, said Moscow had "irrefutable information" that Syrian rebels were planning a "provocation" in Idlib province to justify Western intervention. More than 350,000 people have been killed and millions displaced since Syria's civil war started in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-Assad protests. Elsewhere on Saturday, clashes between Kurdish forces and regime fighters in the divided northeastern city of Qamishli killed 18 combatants, the Kurdish forces and the Observatory said. Kurdish forces control most of Qamishli, but regime fighters and allied militiamen hold part of the city and its airport. The Observatory said shooting broke out when Kurdish security forces at a checkpoint demanded that regime fighters step out of their patrol vehicle but they refused. "When they did not comply, the shooting started on the car," Abdel Rahman said. Kurdish forces said they had retaliated to regime fire. With US-led support, Syria's Kurds played a key role in the war against the Islamic State group, during which they seized large swathes of northern and northeastern Syria. The Damascus regime has vowed to reintegrate the Kurdish-held areas, by force if necessary. In late July, it opened talks with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Microsoft has scheduled an event on October 2nd in New York City where it is expected to introduce new Surface devices. Last year at its fall event, the company introduced the Surface Book 2, so this year we can expect its successor which will probably called the Surface Book 3. Earlier this year the company introduced the Surface Go 2-in-1, and said that it will introduce LTE version of it with a SIM tray powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 LTE Modem later this year, so we can expect details of its availability at the event. Microsoft is also expected to refresh the Surface Pro series with Intels 8th-generation Core processors, new design and likely new USB-C ports. Microsoft is also said to be working on Surface-branded headset, similar to the Jabra Evolve, which might debut at the event. We should know all the details at the event next month. The event starts at 4PM ET / 1PM PT on October 2nd (1:30 AM IST Oct 3). It will offer live streaming for the event. Source 1,2 Crestwood Equity Partners (NYSE:CEQP) has worked hard to turn itself around in recent years. The midstream master limited partnership (MLP) reduced its distribution, sold assets, and secured joint venture partners so that it could improve its financial profile and have access to the funding needed for expansion projects. While it has taken quite some time, the company's strategy is about to finally start paying dividends. Turning the corner When Crestwood reported first-quarter results earlier this year, the company showed a noticeable improvement. Earnings jumped 11.9% thanks to a big uptick in volumes flowing across its gathering and processing systems, helped in part by recently completed expansion projects. Distributable cash flow, on the other hand, slipped 10.1% due to an increase in cash paid out to investors holding recently issued preferred shares. However, if we adjust for this payout, cash flow was up 13.4% year over year. That turn will likely become even more pronounced when the company reports second-quarter results at the end of this month, since it should have continued benefit from ramping volumes on its legacy and newly built systems. Stepping on the gas The company's growth rate, meanwhile, appears poised to shift into a higher gear in the third quarter. That's because Crestwood recently announced the completion of several expansion projects in the fast-growing Permian Basin as well as some related strategic moves. The MLP said that it finished construction of its new Orla natural gas processing plant and brought the 33-mile Orla Express Pipeline online. That will connect the plant to its Willow Lake gathering system, which serves several producing customers. Meanwhile, the company expects to finish the 28-mile Nautilus-to-Orla pipeline soon; when done, it will join the plant to its Nautilus gathering system. That system is part of a joint venture with Shell Midstream Partners (NYSE:SHLX) to support the growth of big oil giant Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A)(NYSE:RDS.B) in the region. Shell currently expects to invest about $1 billion per year through 2020 to boost its output, which should yield steady volume growth across the Nautilus system. In addition to finishing those projects, Crestwood announced that it acquired an interest in the Orla-to-Benedum section of a new EPIC natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline. That transaction will give it control over the capacity of this section so that it can move the NGL produced at Orla, as well as two future expansions, to markets along the Texas coast. That acquisition enabled the company to sign a long-term contract with Chevron Phillips Chemical Company -- a petrochemical joint venture between Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) -- to deliver a raw NGL mix from Orla to Benedum. From there, the NGL can move on other pipelines to Chevron Phillips' Sweeny Complex along the Gulf Coast. This string of strategic moves enabled Crestwood to develop a fully integrated system that has the scale to meet the needs of its customers in the region. Because of that, the company should experience a significant uptick in earnings and cash flow in the coming quarters. It anticipates a more than 15% compound annual growth rate in earnings and cash flow through at least 2020. That's an impressive growth rate for a company that currently yields 6.9%. Meanwhile, that growing cash-flow stream makes it highly likely that Crestwood will boost its high-yielding payout at a healthy rate over the next few years. A potential total-return juggernaut The early stages of Crestwood's turnaround have already helped ignite its unit price, which is up 35% since the start of the year. However, even with that big rally, Crestwood remains undervalued versus its peers. It currently trades at less than nine times next year's earnings, which is the second lowest level in the peer group and well under the average, which is more than 11 times. That valuation disconnect suggests there could be upside ahead as the gap continues narrowing. Add that to its high-yielding dividend and fast-paced earnings growth, and Crestwood could continue generating market-crushing total returns over the next few years. "I'll tell you what's incredible. It cost 25 billion dollars." That was Sean Glaspie's take on the globally televised Apollo 11 moon landing in Season 7, Episode 7 of AMC's Mad Men. While a momentous and historic event, it was arguably the high cost of Apollo (nearly $175 billion in today-dollars) that eventually doomed the program and forced America to come back down to Earth, not to return to the moon for another half-century (and counting). Nearly 50 years later, NASA -- America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration -- has budgeted $35 billion to have Boeing (NYSE:BA) and Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) build it a new "Space Launch System" nearly as powerful as the Saturn V rockets that took us to the moon. Is $35 billion a lot of money? Perhaps not in "Apollo" terms, but it's still a tidy sum. What's more, predictions are starting to emerge that the already over-budget SLS could cost as much as $1 billion, or even $2.5 billion, per launch. Viewed in the context of Congress's NASA budget for fiscal year 2019, that certainly is a lot of money. Congress envisions spending no more than $1 billion on projects related to the moon this year -- but one single SLS launch would blow the budget before the rocket even leaves its launch pad! Unless NASA can make space travel cheaper, runaway costs could imperil the moon project again. The high cost of taking a moonshot So how do we cut costs? Last month, at a NASA Advisory Council (NAC) meeting at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine dropped some heavy hints about NASA's plan to "sustainably" return America to the moon. As potential clues to find winners (and losers) in the space race, I think these are worth considering. Here's a quick review of three highlights from Bridenstine's talk. "Reusable" is the key to "sustainable" Bridenstine devoted the first 15 minutes of an introductory 22-minute presentation to President Trump's Space Policy Directive-1, which states that "the United States will lead the return of humans to the Moon for long-term exploration and utilization" in "an innovative and sustainable program of exploration with commercial and international partners." And I think the two key words here are "commercial" -- because NASA will be relying heavily on commercial companies, some of which we can invest in -- and "sustainable." "Long-term exploration and utilization" of the moon requires a reduction in cost to ensure NASA can sustain it over time. Fortunately, says Bridenstine, NASA today can avail itself of "capabilities that didn't exist even five or ten years ago," such as "reusable rockets" that cost much less to operate over time than do the expendable rockets currently in use around the globe. Currently, however, neither Boeing nor Lockheed Martin builds rockets capable of launching and landing for reuse. Only SpaceX and Blue Origin do that. (And for the time being, only SpaceX has a first-stage rocket that can put a satellite in orbit and then land back on Earth and be reused.) The inescapable conclusion: SpaceX (and perhaps eventually Blue Origin) are going to figure prominently in NASA's efforts to return to the moon -- and despite their role in building SLS, Boeing and Lockheed will feature much less prominently. "Reusable" may not always mean what you think it means Boeing and Lockheed may not be cut entirely out of the loop, however. This is because, for at least a couple of years now, the Boeing and Lockheed joint venture United Launch Alliance has been working on a plan to reuse not its first stage launchers, but its second stage rockets -- in orbit. This ties in to Bridenstine's comment that "we want reusable tugs that go from Earth orbit to lunar orbit" and back again. ULA's "ACES" program, in which the spent fuel tubes that are second stage rockets could be left in orbit, fitted with supplemental equipment, and transformed into orbital tugs, would seem to slot nicely into this aspect of NASA's plans for lunar development. Similar plans by Orbital ATK (now part of Northrop Grumman) and Maxar Technologies to build their own fleets of space tugs may also play a role in NASA's future plans. Mining the moon In addition to revisiting the moon, though, and exploring the moon, Bridenstine says we're also "going to utilize the resources of the moon." This will include mining the moon for water ice that can be used for drinking water and broken down into oxygen to breathe and liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen for rocket fuel. It will probably also include mining moon-rock for raw materials to build lunar habitats to live in. It could include resource extraction for use on Earth. "There could be trillions of dollars worth of platinum group metals" on the moon, opines Bridenstine. (Though we won't know till we go back there and do some prospecting.) There certainly are "rare earth metals that are extremely valuable" on the moon, and those, too, could be an object of lunar resource utilization. This suggests future investing opportunities could arise if and when currently private companies like Moon Express and Planetary Resources (both of which have expressed interest in space mining) have IPOs. And one more thing One final observation that Bridenstine made, which I think is especially important to keep in mind: "We want interoperability" among the various sorts of rockets used for travel to and from the moon, among space stations on the lunar surface and in orbit above it, among lunar landers, and lunar shuttles as well. For NASA to get the full benefit of multiple commercial space companies all competing for its business, it's essential that the agency not fall victim to "vendor lock," where one company's products don't play nicely with others'. That's why NASA will want to ensure that everything it buys from one vendor will be able to communicate, dock, and otherwise interoperate with hardware and software from other vendors. Making the moon affordable will be a team effort, and there's plenty of room for all sorts of companies -- and investors in them -- to profit from it. Anyone who gets a paycheck knows how annoying it is to see taxes get withheld from your hard-earned money. One of the biggest recipients of tax withholding is often identified on your pay stub as FICA. FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, and it governs the amount of money that goes toward funding key programs like Social Security and Medicare. Below, you'll get a fresh look at where your FICA money goes and what you can expect to pay in 2018. How much money will go to FICA in 2018? You won't necessarily see any reference to FICA when you get paid. Some companies break out the amount that gets withheld for Social Security separately from Medicare withholding, making the breakdown between the two programs much clearer. But many companies combine the two into the single FICA category, reflecting their obligation under federal law to withhold wages to cover employees' share of those taxes and then send them on to the IRS. The two parts of the FICA tax work slightly differently from each other. For the Social Security component of FICA, your employer will collect 6.2% of the first $128,400 of your work earnings as withholding. That works out to a maximum amount of $7,960.80 for the year. If you make more than $128,400, then you'll notice that after your employer has collected that maximum amount of tax, withholding for Social Security will stop, and your take-home pay will go up for the remainder of the year. The Medicare component of FICA is smaller but doesn't have any limit on the amount of wages to which it applies. Therefore, your FICA withholding will include 1.45% of all of your wages -- no matter how high -- to go toward Medicare taxes. Behind the scenes, the federal government actually collects twice the amount that gets withheld from your pay. Your employer also has to pay an equal amount of taxes toward Social Security and Medicare. That's why for those who are self-employed, the amount of self-employment tax is double the FICA withholding rate -- 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. Could tax reform change FICA taxes? There's a lot of uncertainty right now about the tax system, because Congress is considering reforms that could dramatically change key tax provisions. However, most of the focus among lawmakers right now is on the income tax system, and payroll tax provisions haven't really made it into discussions of immediate reform efforts. That makes changes to FICA taxes in 2018 unlikely, but in the long run, modifications are more likely. Some people don't like the way that high-income taxpayers stop having to pay the Social Security part of FICA taxes after a certain point, calling it regressive. Medicare also used to have its own wage base above which no further taxes were imposed, but lawmakers eliminated that provision to make the tax apply to all income. Few lawmakers have gone so far as to advocate for an unlimited Social Security wage base. However, some have proposed a large one-time increase in the wage base, while others have suggested a surtax that would keep the existing wage base but then kick in with an additional tax for those making above certain larger amounts of income. Watch your FICA taxes carefully The vast majority of taxpayers will see no change to the FICA taxes they pay, with only high-income earners seeing a slight increase in the maximum amount of Social Security-related taxes taken out of their pay. With just about every tax provision on the table in Washington right now, you'll have to keep a close eye on Capitol Hill to see if the federal government makes any more drastic changes to the FICA tax scheme in the coming months. Today Vladimir Putin is goind to visit Iran to attend 3rd trilateral meeting between leaders of countries-guarantors of the Astana process. During the talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, they will discuss joint efforts on long-term normalization of situation in Syria. They will talk about complex measures aimed at complete elimination of local bases of international terrorists, promotion of political settlement process and resolution of humanitarian issues, including creation of conditions for return of refugees and internally displaced persons. Commenting on the upcoming summit, senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science of the Higher School of Economics, Grigory Lukyanov, said that they also will discuss the problem of Idlib: "This trilateral format will discuss possibility of making specific decisions not only on this particular issues, the territory of Idlib, but also other significant issues, including regarding what will happen after the Idlib project is over." Lukyanov recalled that from legal standpoint, Idlib is considered de-escalation zone: "Russian side has always urged not to exaggerate significance of de-escalation zones, since it's just a temporary measure, and the main goal is still fight against terrorism. Idlib's fate as de-escalation zone in the eyes of Russian and Syrian leadership is very simple - foreign militants are staying in Idlib, and Russia intervened in the Syrian crisis in order to defeat them. They elimination, not negotiations on terms of their surrender, becomes an extremely important task that must be resolved by the military." As for Turkey, Lukyanov believes that it's main concern is participation of specific groups in political settlement, formation of authorities and rules for political settlement: "It's more important for Turkey not to preserve a buffer, but to play an active role in formation of new authorities in Syria in the so-called post-conflict reconstruction and settlement." Deputy director of the Forecasting and Political Settlement Institute, Alexander Kuznetsov, thinks that we may see some progress in Turkey's position and more loyal attitude: "It will be painful for Ankara, since last enclave where Turkey has political influence in Syria will disappear, pro-Turkish groups are strong there. Perhaps Russia and Iran could help Turkey to resolve refugee problem - after Syrian government completely regains control over the entire territory of Syria, refugees will return, including from Turkey. 3.5 million Syrians are a huge burden for Turkish economy, which isn't in a best condition right now. In addition, it's very important for Turkish companies to have contracts abroad. Turks actively worked in many countries of the Middle East before the so-called "Arab Spring", but because they supported the Muslim Brotherhood (and the Muslim Brotherhood wasn't able to come to power in any country), Turkish companies lost contracts in Egypt, Libya, which is in a state of chaos and civil war, in Syria and Iraq. Turkish businessmen are hoping to return to Syria." News Woman killed in Thursday standoff identified Patty Maggiore GALVESTON The Galveston woman who died after being shot by a Galveston police officer Thursday was identified on Friday. Patty Maggiore, 49, of Galveston, died while undergoing surgery at a University of Texas Medical Branch hospital Thursday evening. A police officer shot Maggiore after a standoff at a house on 80th Street when she stepped out the back door while armed with a gun, police said. Department officials have not named the officer who fired the shot. The Galveston County Sheriffs Office is investigating the shooting. It was unclear whether the 80th Street house was Maggiores home. Public records list her with addresses on 13th, 50th and 69th streets. The Galveston Police Department released more details Friday about what happened in the hours before the shooting. Galveston police were called about 3 p.m. to the 1600 block of 50th Street on a trespassing report. Police were told that a white woman was at a location in the residential neighborhood without permission, the department said. The woman had left 50th Street before police arrived, police said. Some of the details about the trespassing report led police to continue investigating, a police spokesman said. That investigation led them to the house on 80th Street. Police knew that Maggiore might have been armed when they initially approached the house on 80th Street, police said. They approached the house and tried to make contact with the woman inside, police said. The woman spokes to them, but refused to come out, police said. Shortly after they first contacted the person inside the house on 80th Street, officers heard a gunshot from inside the house, police said. The patrol officers called for a crisis negotiator and a SWAT team, police said. Negotiators continued to try to get Maggiore to leave the house, police said. They reached her by telephone for a time, but she eventually stopped talking to the officers, police said. After she stopped speaking to police, Maggiore opened the back door of the house while holding a gun, police said. An officer shot her after she opened the door, police said. The police department declined Friday to release more details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation. Maggiore had one previous run-in with police, according to court records. In 2013, she was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault after being accused of hitting and biting a man she was dating, according to court records. The charge was dismissed after a witness failed to come forward in the case, according to court records. Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 07, 2018 | PADUCAH By West Kentucky Star Staff Sep. 07, 2018 | 03:19 PM | PADUCAH A Paducah man was arrested Thursday afternoon on assault and other charges. Paducah Police say they responded to the 1000 block of Tennessee Street and spoke to a female victim. She said during an argument with her boyfriend, 19-year-old Hunter Diel, he struck her several times with his fists. She also said as she and four other people drove away from Diel's home, he fired a handgun in their direction. Police say they obtained and executed a search warrant for the home, and allegedly found a magazine with ammunition for a .45 handgun, a receipt for a handgun, and some loose ammo. Police say they interviewed Diel and he admitted shooting at the vehicle and getting rid of the .380 handgun before police arrived. Diel was arrested on charges of fourth-degree assault (domestic violence), first-degree wanton endangerment, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and tampering with physical evidence. He was booked into McCracken County Regional Jail. Diel is scheduled to make a court appearance on September 13. PowerPoint Karaoke new way of socialization between employees - GeorgianJournal China's third richest man Jack Ma to call it quits from Alibaba News oi-Vishal Kawadkar Jack Ma to retire from all responsibilities at Alibaba on Monday. Alibaba's co-founder and executive Jack Ma is said to retire from the e-commerce company on Monday, as he plans to focus on philanthropy in education. However, he will remain on the company's board of directors and will mentor its management, reports the New York Times. Jack founded Alibaba in 1999 and stepped down as the CEO in 2013. He is currently the company's international face at political and business events. Alibaba is yet to respond to requests for comment but said in a social media posting on Saturday that Ma had met visiting African leaders and business partners in recent days. Ma is China's third-richest person with a net worth of 36.6 billion according to Forbes. He was quoted saying his retirement wasn't the end of an era, but the beginning of one. Industry analysts still believe that Ma's involvement is unlikely to change significantly. "I don't think it means that much, frankly. He stepped back from the CEO role about four or five years ago and very specifically made a comment about wanting the younger people to lead the company," said Kevin Carter, founder of The Emerging Markets Internet exchange-trade fund. Ma also has a number of charitable projects in environment and educational areas. He is also a cult figure in China's internet industry. He maintains an international profile. Last year, he met US President Donald Trump, who described him as "smart" and "open minded". Alibaba is China's largest e-marketplace which was founded by 18 people led by Jack Ma. Now the company has more than 66,000 full-time employees, according to its annual filing. Alibaba has a market evaluation of around $420 billion. Ma also controls Ant Financial, which has a market value of about $150 billion after a recent fundraising. 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 Indias e-commerce market to exceed $100 bn by 2022: report News oi-Vishal Kawadkar India's e-commerce to see new heights by 2022. The Indian e-commerce market of 35 billion dollars is expected to grow at 25 percent in the next five years and exceed 100 billion dollars by 2022, according to a recent report by PwC India and the National Association of Software & Services Companies (NASSCOM). The report titled 'Propelling India towards global leadership in e-commerce' further states that e-tail and e-travel will continue to hold over 90 percent share of e-commerce, while online financial services will witness the fastest growth. The report says three out of four online customers are expected to come from tier II markets and beyond. A vast majority of them will be relatively less tech-savvy, seek greater transparency from the brand and prefer consuming content in local languages. Additionally, the report stresses on the need for harmonization in the e-commerce policy framework that enables the growth of the sector. Sandeep Ladda, Partner, Global TMT Tax and India Technology Sector Leader, PwC India said, "There is a gradual shift in the focus of companies and investors alike towards adopting a sustainable economic model centered on the customer. As a result, the industry is seeing a growing focus on customer experience, thereby taking e-commerce beyond just selling things online. The next phase of growth in the sector would come from ensuring a seamless shopping experience, building digital trust, voice-based or conversational commerce and creating an inventory of localized content. Growing adoption of technology in e-commerce is enhancing the entire buy-sell experience for both buyers and sellers." Debjani Ghosh, President NASSCOM said, "The e-commerce sector has been contributing towards various macroeconomic growth parameters, evangelising local businesses and customers. In the next five years, the sector has the potential to create a million jobs in allied industries such as logistics, warehousing, etc. In addition, the FDI attracted enhances the country's positioning significantly on the global stage. E-commerce companies have to focus on building loyalty which will translate into repeat sales." India's middle class will be the largest segment of the Indian population and in the next few years, is likely to consume as much as their Chinese counterparts do today. Their consumption pattern is expected to eventually supersede that of both the United States and China, the report says. To experience exponential growth in the next phase, existing barriers pertaining to language, tech usability, logistics, and regulatory compliances will have to be removed, the report said. 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 Haier signs MOU with UP Govt to set up second industrial park News oi-Priyanka The MoU was signed in the presence of the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath and other dignitaries from the Government of Uttar Pradesh. Haier, the global leader in Consumer Electronics has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with UP Government to set up its second industrial park in India, in Greater Noida. Under the agreement, Haier will invest Rs.3069 crore for setting up its industrial park in the state over the next four years in two phases. With this development, the company is expected to create almost 4000 new direct employment opportunities along with over 10,000 indirect jobs and the expansion will serve as an opportunity for vendors and OEMs, bringing about an expanded business with increased local production and lesser imports of products, the company said. The new plant will have an annual production capacity of two million refrigerators, one million Air Conditioners, one million Washing Machines, and one million LED TVs. The investment is aimed to scale up the production capacity of Haier products across categories like refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and LED panels. Eric Braganza, President Haier India expressed, "In line with our commitment to the Central Government's 'Make in India' initiative, we are delighted to announce the second industrial park in the country. We're grateful for the support extended by the Government of Uttar Pradesh which has contributed hugely in the fruition of this milestone. The new facility will not only help in augmenting our production capacity to address the increasing local demand but also in generating employment opportunities in the state. This agreement will enable us to further strengthen our presence and commitment in the country." The MoU was signed in the presence of the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath and other dignitaries from the Government of Uttar Pradesh. Song Yujun, VP, Global Appliances Haier Group and Managing Director, Haier Appliances said, "Setting up a new manufacturing unit will not only help us build a better presence in the country, but will also enable us to innovate more for our Indian customers with solutions that complement their evolving lifestyles." Best Mobiles in India French Defense Ministry Claims Russia Spied on French-Italian Military Satellite Sputnik News 20:26 07.09.2018(updated 20:29 07.09.2018) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - French Defense Minister Florence Parly has accused Russia of committing "an act of espionage" back in 2017, claiming that a Russian satellite then approached the French-Italian military satellite Athena-Fidus in an attempt to intercept its communications. "While Athena-Fidus was rotating calmly above Earth, a satellite approached it closely, a bit too closely So closely, that one could really believe it was trying to intercept our communications. Trying to listen in on one's neighbors' [communications] is not only an unfriendly move but is an act of espionage," French Defense Minister Florence Parly said, referring to a Russian Luch satellite, also known as Olymp. The minister made her remarks during her speech at the French National Center for Space Studies in the city of Toulouse. In 2015, media reported that a Luch satellite had closely approached two satellites of the Intelsat company, prompting concerns of its leadership. Moreover, the US Defense Department reportedly held classified meetings on this issue. Commenting on the 2015 reports, Ivan Moiseyev, the head of Russia's Space Policy Institute, said that the likelihood of collision between the satellites in this situation was extremely small, adding that Luch was a relay satellite transmitting data from spacecraft to Earth. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UK Spy Chief: London Ready to Counter 'Real Threat' From 'Brazen' Russia Sputnik News 17:53 07.09.2018(updated 17:55 07.09.2018) The GCHQ intelligence chief's warning came hot on the heels of a UN Security Council meeting where the UK envoy claimed that the Salisbury poisoning attack was perpetrated by two GRU officers. Speaking at the Billington Cybersecurity Conference in Washington, Jeremy Flemming, the head of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), a UK intelligence agency, said that the organization could "deploy the full range of tools from across our national security apparatus" to counter Russia's military intelligence agency GRU and its agents. The GCHQ chief further claimed that the UK was "ready to reject the Kremlin's brazen determination to undermine the international rules-based order." "Since March, the Police with the full support of the intelligence community have led a painstaking and highly complex investigation into what happened in Wiltshire. We have ascertained exactly who was responsible and the methods they used. [] And I was pleased to see yesterday that two GRU operatives were named and arrest warrants issued. The threat from Russia is real. It's active," he added. On Wednesday, UK police made public images of two men, identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, who are now believed to be suspects in the alleged poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury. The purported footage showing the suspected individuals strolling through Salisbury was later published by the MailOnline. After the police announcement, UK Prime Minister Theresa May addressed the Parliament, where she claimed that the suspects "are officers from the Russian military intelligence service also known as the GRU." The new developments in the investigation of the Skripal case couldn't go unnoticed at a recent UN Security Council meeting in New York, where UK Ambassador Karen Pierce claimed that London had "clear evidence" of Moscow's involvement in the alleged poisoning. "This evidence is being sufficient four our independent prosecuting authorities to bring criminal charges in relation to Salisbury attack and to issue European arrest warrants. With respect to these two individuals, we have obtained a European arrest warrant and we will shortly issue an Interpol Red Notice," the envoy said. Meanwhile, Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia fended off the accusations, saying that the fresh details provided by London were based on "the same repeated lies." In March, Sergei and Yulia were rushed to Salisbury hospital after being found collapsed on a park bench near a shopping mall. The Skripals were said to have been exposed to a military-grade nerve agent, with UK authorities branding it "attempted murder" and blaming the alleged attack on Russia. Moscow, for its part, has consistently denied any involvement in the incident, offering assistance in the investigation of the case instead; London has, however, ignored the proposal. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address New Fitness Test Measures Combat Readiness, Army Secretary Says Sept. 7, 2018 By David Vergun Army News Service WASHINGTON -- "If you can't pass the Army Combat Fitness Test, then there's probably not a spot for you in the Army," said Secretary of the Army Mark T. Esper. "That doesn't mean you'll immediately get kicked out," he added. It means there will be some sort of remedial program, the details of which are still being worked out. Esper addressed a range of issues during a Defense Writers Group breakfast Aug. 29. The current Army Physical Fitness Test, which has been around some 40 years, is flawed, Esper said. "I grew up in the Army with the APFT and I personally never thought it was a good indicator of combat physical fitness, nor did many of my colleagues. The testing has proved that out," he said. The secretary said studies done by U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command show that the APFT captures "maybe 30 or 40 percent relevance of what you demand in combat ... the ACFT is upwards of 80 percent." Combat Ready, Physically Fit Soldiers The main purpose of the ACFT is two-fold, he said. First, the test ensures soldiers are ready for combat. Second, preparation for the test improves physical fitness as it relates to injury prevention. Esper said losing soldiers to injuries during physical training or field exercises contributes to decreased readiness, because injured soldiers can't deploy. At one point, upwards of 15 percent of soldiers were categorized as nondeployable, he said. That's about 150,000 soldiers across the entire force. Now, that figure has been reduced to 9 percent, and there are vigorous efforts underway to lower that percentage still more. "If you're not physically fit for combat, then we're not only doing you an injustice, we're doing an injustice to your colleagues and peers as well," Esper said, explaining that if a soldier can't deploy, that means someone else has to deploy twice as much. "At the end of the day, we need soldiers who are deployable, lethal and ready," he emphasized. Beginning October 2020, all soldiers will be required to take the ACFT, which TRADOC fitness researchers term "gender- and age-neutral." Growing the Army There's a need to grow the active Army to at least 500,000 soldiers, with associated growth in the National Guard and Reserve, Esper said. To do that, the Army is planning a modest annual increase spread out over the next several years to get to that number, he said. The additional soldiers will be used to fill current units that are undermanned and grow additional capabilities. The Army will not lower its standards to meet the end-strength goal, the secretary said. "We've raised standards, such as limiting Category IV accessions from the DoD higher end of 4 percent to the Army higher end of 2 percent, putting more stringent requirements on issuing waivers and making sure we truly take into account the holistic person to ensure persons who receive waivers are high-quality recruits," Esper said. He said the Army also needs to do a better job of recruiting. One step being taken, he said, includes letting soldiers go home for a number of weeks to assist recruiters by doing outreach. This is particularly important in areas without a military presence, Esper added. Fewer and fewer young people know someone who's served, he said, and so to them, the Army is unknown. Other efforts to attract quality recruits include putting more recruiters on the street -- an effort that began in the spring, and moving recruiting stations to more optimal locations, he said. Some other approaches include better utilizing Army public relations assets like the Golden Knights and Army bands, he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Northern European Chiefs of Defense Address Russian Deterrence Sept. 7, 2018 From a U.S. European Command News Release OSLO, Norway -- Chiefs of defense from 11 northern European countries gathered here today to discuss a variety of topics at the 2018 Northern European Chief of Defense Conference. The main focus of the conference was deterring Russian aggression, U.S. European Command officials said. Army Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti, the Eucom commander, was the senior U.S. military official who attended the conference, which was hosted by Adm. Haakon Bruun-Hanssen, the Norwegian chief of defense. The two leaders opened the conference by highlighting their mutual appreciation for one another's collaboration and the benefits of partnering to address the regional challenges faced today. "The United States and Norway have a long history of cooperation, and we value your partnership," Scaparrotti said. "We're pleased to be here today and to work so closely with you." Enhancing Cooperation The objective of the conference was to facilitate an open and candid dialogue to enhance cooperation among the northern European countries in support of enduring stability and peace during a period of emerging challenges. Presentations from both U.S. and Norwegian leaders helped to facilitate the discussion among the group. Topics focused on how nations can work more closely together to address disinformation and Russian malign influence, cyber threats and critical infrastructure protection, future military deployments and exercises in the region. "We must be resolute and adaptable as we work together as a team to maintain our momentum," Scaparrotti said. Conference participants represented Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the United States. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Jizan Airport targeted by Yemeni missile IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA -- Yemeni Army and popular committees targeted Jizan Airport in south of Saudi Arabia with a ballistic missile. According to Almasirah News Network, the missile was of Badr 1 type. Two days earlier, four ballistic missiles of the same type hit Aramco refinery and a petrochemical plant in Jizan. Yemeni officials say the attack was in retaliation for massacre of the innocent women and children in the impoverished country of 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 Hadi back to power and crushing the country's Houthi Ansarullah movement. Some 15,000 Yemenis have been killed and thousands more injured since the onset of the Saudi-led aggression. The assaults of the Saudi-led coalition forces have failed to stop the Yemenis from resisting the aggression. Recently, the Yemeni army unveiled its home-made underground missile launching pads. 8072**1396 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address NATO Secretary General discussed current security challenges with Greek Prime Minister NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation 06 Sep. 2018 - 07 Sep. 2018 Last updated: 07 Sep. 2018 07:28 Visiting Athens on Thursday (6 September 2018), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to discuss current security challenges and the implementation of decisions taken at the NATO Summit in July. The Secretary General thanked Greece for its participation in NATO operations and its role at the forefront of the refugee and migrant crisis. He underlined that NATO's presence in the Aegean helps counter illegal human trafficking into Greece by providing real-time information to coastguards. Mr. Stoltenberg also commended Greece for investing 2% of GDP in defence, and congratulated Prime Minister Tsipras on the official termination of the bail-out programme, as a historic moment after years of austerity. The Secretary General and Prime Minister Tsipras also discussed the historic breakthrough on the name issue with Skopje. Mr. Stoltenberg stressed that this is a great achievement for both countries, adding that the upcoming referendum in Skopje is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Beijing protests UK naval incursion People's Daily Online (China Daily) 07:56, September 07, 2018 Beijing expressed strong dissatisfaction on Thursday after a naval vessel from the United Kingdom sailed into territorial waters off China's Xisha Islands, with China urging an immediate cessation of such provocative actions. Reuters reported that HMS Albion, a 22,000-ton amphibious warship, passed near the Xisha Islands on August 31 on its way to Vietnam. "HMS Albion exercised her rights for freedom of navigation in full compliance with international law and norms," Reuters cited a spokesman for the Royal Navy as saying. The warship illegally entered territorial waters without permission from the Chinese government, and China's Navy, a branch of the People's Liberation Army, verified and identified the warship in accordance with law and warned it to leave, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a daily news briefing. The Xisha Islands are an inherent territory of China, Hua said. "The action taken by the British ship violated Chinese law and relevant international law, and infringed on China's sovereignty," and China strongly protests such moves and has lodged solemn representations, she added. China urged the UK to immediately stop such provocations to avoid harming overall bilateral relations as well as regional peace and stability, she added. Also on Thursday, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Ren Guoqiang said that such an action undermines China's sovereignty and security interests and can easily lead to accidents in the air and on the sea. Ren noted that the situation in the South China Sea is becoming better thanks to the efforts made by China and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. However, some countries outside the region ignore this positive trend, dispatch planes and ships to stir up trouble in the region and disturb peace and security, he said, adding that the Chinese military will take all necessary measures to resolutely defend national security and sovereignty. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US military to send 1,500 more soldiers to Germany by late 2020 Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 06:07PM The United States has decided to add about 1,500 troops to its 33,000-strong contingent stationed in Germany. "The addition of these forces increases US Army readiness in Europe and ensures we are better able to respond to any crisis," the US Army's European headquarters in Wiesbaden was quoted by media as saying on Friday. Adding to the number of troops stationed in Germany by September 2020 displays "our continued commitment to NATO and our collective resolve to support European security," the headquarters in Wiesbaden added. The decision to strengthen NATO comes amid Russian President Vladimir Putin's warning to the alliance against any military buildup. Putin warned that a NATO military buildup near Russia's borders would constitute a threat to Moscow, provoke conflict and cause military and political instability in the region. US President Donald Trump has been at loggerheads with NATO leaders for not contributing enough money to the military alliance. "I have been very very direct with [NATO Secretary] Jens Stoltenberg and members of the alliance in saying NATO members must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations," he said last year at the handover ceremony of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels. Trump complained that only five of the 28 member states were paying their due share of the defense expenses. He suggested that those states, who had failed to cover their NATO debt so far, should make a greater future effort. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Yemen alarmingly facing growing cases of malnutrition' Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 02:15PM With the devastating impact of the ongoing campaign led by the Saudi regime in Riyadh against the impoverished country of Yemen, there has been a constant rise in the cases of malnutrition there, many of them life-threatening. Sawsan Hussein Hatem Al-Hababi is a doctor with the International Rescue Committee. He spoke at a medical clinic in central Sana'a on Friday, reporting "a significant increase" in the number of cases arriving. He said that the number had increased "especially after people have been displaced from Hudaydah to Sana'a." Hababi said most of the cases that recovered with medical help "have relapsed" because of the economic situation. Um Abdel Malek, mother of three-year-old Abdel Malek Mastoor who is being treated for malnutrition, said she tried to buy him milk but she cannot afford it. "If I can, I go out and buy him milk. If I can't, I don't. I can't provide it for him," she said. Abdel Malek is the skinniest of her five children. According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), 1.8 million children are acutely malnourished in Yemen. Sherin Varkey, deputy representative of UNICEF in Yemen, warned that there was little time to waste for children like Abdel Malek. "We urge the parties to the conflict to respect international humanitarian law and respect the rights of children. The children have gone through unimaginable suffering over the last three years. The time for peace is now." Representatives from Yemen's running government, which is allied to the popular Houthi Ansarullah movement, and the country's former regime, backed by Saudi Arabia, were scheduled to participate in talks in Geneva on Thursday, but the negotiations are still on hold as Riyadh is still refusing to allow the Houthis to fly to the Swiss city. The former Yemeni government resigned in 2015 as the country was experiencing political turmoil. The head of that government, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, fled to Riyadh after resignation. There, he encouraged Saudi plans to launch attacks on Yemen, where the Houthi movement had taken over state matters in the absence of a functioning government. A Saudi-backed coalition soon invaded the Arab world's poorest nation in an attempt to reinstall the former Riyadh-friendly officials to power despite their resignation. The kingdom has also imposed an all-out blockade on Yemen, which according to the UN is now the scene of the world's worst man-made crisis. The war has unleashed a humanitarian and economic crisis on the already impoverished country. Thousands have been killed in the Saudi-led invasion, and the country has been pushed close to the edge of famine. A cholera outbreak, resulting from the devastation of Yemen's health infrastructure, has also claimed more than 2,000 lives. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudis still refuse to allow plane to take Houthis to Geneva peace talks Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 09:53AM Yemen's Ansarullah movement says the scheduled peace talks are still on hold as Saudi Arabia is still refusing to allow its delegation to fly to the Swiss city of Geneva. A delegation from Yemen's former government of Saudi-allied Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi threatened to leave if Ansarullah delegation does not arrive within 24 hours. Former government's delegation, led by ex-foreign minister Khaled al-Yamani, arrived in Switzerland on Wednesday to attend the talks brokered by the United Nations to push for peace in the country and bring the years-long crisis to an end. Yamani told reporters in Geneva that "it will take a decision within a few hours whether to continue in Geneva or to withdraw." The Saudis, however, are "still refusing to give permission to an Omani plane" to land at the Yemeni capital Sana'a and take the delegation to Geneva, Houthi Ansarullah said on Thursday. It posted a statement on Yemen's official SABA news agency, saying the Houthis need to "ensure the safety of the delegation" and require a guarantee that they would be allowed to return "smoothly" to Sana'a airport. The United Nations envoy to Yemen Martin Griffiths had to postpone the talks due to delay in the arrival of the Houthi delegation. "He continues to make efforts to overcome obstacles to allow the consultations to go forward," Griffiths's office said in a statement, adding that he remained "hopeful" the Houthis would attend the talks. The UN envoy said the talks the first since 2016 are meant to be trying to build trust between the two parties. The former Yemeni government resigned in 2015 as the country was experiencing political turmoil. Former president Hadi fled to the Saudi capital Riyadh. There, he encouraged Saudi plans to launch attacks on Yemen, where the Houthi movement had taken over state matters in the absence of a functioning government. Saudis soon invaded Yemen in an attempt to reinstall the former Riyadh-friendly officials to power despite their resignation. Saudi war has killed thousands of Yemenis and pushed the impoverished nations to the edge of famine. A cholera outbreak, resulting from the devastation of Yemen's health infrastructure, has also claimed more than 2,000 lives. The UN Security Council this week urged both sides to "take a first step towards ending a conflict that has brought severe pain and humanitarian suffering to the Yemeni people". NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Hezbollah 'much stronger' despite Israel's numerous attacks Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 09:09AM An Israeli official says Hezbollah has become stronger despite many attacks on the movement's positions, mainly in Syria where the resistance group is helping the army fight foreign-backed terrorists. "If we look backwards to what it was like before, Hezbollah is much stronger," Naftali Granot, former deputy of Israel's spy agency Mossad, said Thursday. Granot said Hezbollah's self-confidence was high due to being on the winning side in the Syrian war along with Iran, the Syrian government and Russia. Hezbollah "got antiaircraft missiles, antitank missiles" and had access to a number of "GPS precision-guided systems that will help it to convert some heavy rockets into accurate missiles" despite being repeatedly targeted, he said. Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz told a conference on Tuesday that Israel had launched more than 200 strikes against various targets inside Syria in the last two years. On Wednesday, a senior Israeli commander said Hezbollah has been gaining strength in Lebanon and that Israel would not distinguish between the group and the Lebanese army in the next military confrontation. "The distinction we made between Hezbollah and Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War was a mistake," the unnamed officer in the Northern Command said about the 2006 Israeli war, cited by the Haaretz daily. "Hezbollah upgraded its capabilities through its fighting in Syria," the officer said. "It gained confidence in the fighting," he added. The Syrian army has managed to drive the terrorists out of most parts of the country and end Daesh's territorial rule with help from Iran, Hezbollah and Russia. It is now on the verge of fully liberating the southern parts near the occupied Golan, prompting serious concerns in Tel Aviv, which supports the terrorists operating there against Damascus. Syria is now preparing for an operation to liberate Idlib Province, the last major militant stronghold. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon chief in surprise Afghanistan visit amid frustration in US Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 06:20AM Pentagon chief Jim Mattis has arrived in Afghanistan on an unannounced visit amid US push for talks with the Taliban which are calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops. US President Donald Trump had promised to pull out troops from Afghanistan but he unveiled a revamped Afghan strategy last August, which increased troop levels. The Taliban say they will not enter talks unless US troops leave the country and have pledged to make Afghanistan "another graveyard" for foreign forces. The militants have overtaken several districts in a spate of brazen attacks in recent months, including Ghazni which was briefly overtaken by the militants last month, jolting the government in Kabul because the central city is close enough to the capital. Taliban's five-year rule over at least three quarters of Afghanistan came to an end following the US invasion in October 2001 but the new strategy includes talks with the Taliban which they toppled. There is speculation that a meeting between US and Taliban representatives could be held this month. In his visit, Mattis is accompanied by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine General Joseph Dunford. He was expected to meet with President Ashraf Ghani and the new US commander for US forces General Scott Miller. Before flying to Kabul, Mattis said that there is "still hard fighting but right now we have more indications that reconciliation is no longer just a shimmer out there, no longer just a mirage." He said there was now "some framework" for talks and open lines of communication, but did not elaborate. Mattis arrived in Kabul from New Delhi where he and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with their Indian counterparts. Pompeo visited Pakistan on Wednesday and held talks with new Prime Minister Imran Khan. The top US diplomat himself made an an unannounced visit to Afghanistan in July. The stepped-up shuttling comes amid fears that Trump is growing frustrated with the situation in Afghanistan and the little pace of progress in talks with the Taliban. The Taliban accepted an unprecedented ceasefire in June, but later rejected a second proposal for halting hostilities. Almost two decades after the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, the militants have gone from strength to strength. Since late last year, Daesh has also taken advantage of the chaos in Afghanistan and established a foothold in the country's eastern and northern regions, launching brutal attacks against civilians and security forces alike. Defeated in Iraq and Syria, the Takfiri group has reportedly taken recruits from Taliban defectors in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan. On Wednesday, a twin bomb attack in a Shia neighborhood of Kabul killed at least 26 people, underscoring the challenges which Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces are faced with. Russia had been preparing to host peace talks in Moscow with the participation of 12 countries, including the US, and Taliban representatives. The peace talks, planned for September 4, were however cancelled after Ghani told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that Kabul needed more time to come up with a "consolidated position" on the issue. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pentagon Chief Makes Surprise Visit To Kabul To Discuss Peace Efforts RFE/RL September 07, 2018 U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Kabul for a surprise visit on September 7 to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and the new commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan and discuss progress on talks with the Taliban. The United States a year ago adopted a strategy of stepping up pressure on the Taliban to negotiate by increasing air strikes and sending thousands more troops to train and advise Afghan forces, but the effort has not as yet yielded major headway in the fight against the militants or resulted in peace talks to end the 17-year war. Mattis is accompanied by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine General Joseph Dunford. U.S. Army General Scott Miller assumed command of NATO forces in Afghanistan on September 2, arriving amid a renewed push to force the Taliban to take up the Afghan government's repeated offers for peace negotiations this year. Speaking with reporters this week, Mattis said he was hopeful about peace talks, despite a recent spate of savage attacks by the Taliban and the Islamic State group that have left hundreds of security forces and civilians dead. "Right now, we have more indications that reconciliation is no longer just a shimmer out there, no longer just a mirage," Mattis said. "It now has some framework, there's some open lines of communication." Over the summer, a top U.S. State Department official met Taliban officials in Qatar to try to lay the ground work for broader peace talks. And this week, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appointed a new special envoy to Afghanistan tasked with encouraging reconciliation efforts. U.S. officials say one sign of hope is that the Taliban accepted a temporary truce offered by the government in June. "The most important work that has to be done is beginning the political process and reconciliation," Dunford told reporters travelling with him. "What we are trying to do in the military dimension is convince the Taliban that they cannot win on the battlefield and that they must engage in a peace process." Based on reporting by AFP and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pentagon-chief-mattis -makes-surprise-visit-kabul-discuss-peace -efforts-amid-violence/29476574.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Normalization Talks Falter As Serbian President Rejects Meeting With Kosovar Counterpart Rikard Jozwiak September 07, 2018 BRUSSELS -- Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic refused to hold face-to-face talks with his Kosovar counterpart, Hashim Thaci, as mounting tension cast new doubt over prospects for a landmark agreement between the countries and the normalization of ties. Amid talk of land swaps between Serbia and Kosovo, Vucic and Thaci had been expected to meet in Brussels on September 7 for talks moderated by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. A spokesman for Vucic said that the president made the decision because of what he claimed were "lies, deceits, and threats" from the Kosovar side, and the two heads of state ended up meeting separately with Mogherini. Speaking to the media after his meeting with Mogherini, Thaci said it was "now clear that the more we move forward, the whole thing is becoming more difficult" and that the difference between the two sides is "becoming bigger." "In theory, there is the possibility of an agreement, but now we are going through a period of reflection," he added. The EU-moderated normalization talks in Brussels were the first since August, when the pair floated the idea of territory swaps to reach a deal that can move both Belgrade and Pristina closer to EU membership. Before entering the talks, Thaci expressed support for incorporating the Presevo Valley, an ethnic Albanian-majority region of southern Serbia that is adjacent to Kosovo. "The whole society in Kosovo, including institutions and civil society, is in favor of dialogue and in favor of agreement with Serbia, as well as in favor of a demarcation line with Serbia that is 430 kilometers long and that also includes [the Presevo Valley]." According to the proposal under discussion, the Presevo Valley area would be transferred to Kosovo, while the predominantly Serb-populated northern part of Kosovo around the city of Mitrovica would pass to Serbia. The idea of a land swap is strongly opposed by nationalists in both countries. Vucic made no comment to the media in Brussels, but the Serbian director for the Office of Kosovo, Marko Djuric, told journalists that "because of all the lies and deception and the disgusting approach that the representatives of Pristina showed toward the Serbian side over the past couple of days...President Vucic will not meet them today here in Brussels." He said that both Vucic and his 16-year-old daughter had received threats, but did not elaborate. "It is a big question if and when we will continue talking with these people or with someone else in the future who is much more understanding," Djuric said. The current tensions stem in part from a proposed visit by Vucic to the Gazivoda Lake area in northern Kosovo, where Vucic had announced he would deliver a speech to ethnic Serbs on September 9. After the Brussels talks concluded, Mogherini issued a statement saying that "all issues" were on the table. "Difficulties remain," she said. "I trust the full commitment of both presidents to continue the process and reach in the coming months a legally binding agreement on comprehensive normalization of relations, in line with international law." She also noted that the next meeting was expected to take place in Brussels before the UN General Assembly starts in New York at the end of September. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Although more than 100 countries recognize Kosovo, Serbia does not. Both countries have been told they must resolve their differences in order to make progress toward EU membership. With reporting by RFE/RL's Balkan Service, AP, and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/normalization-talks- falter-as-serbian-president-rejects-meeting- with-kosovar-counterpart/29477557.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Armenian PM Calls For 'More Strategic' Relations With Russia Ahead Of Moscow Trip RFE/RL's Armenian Service September 07, 2018 YEREVAN -- Ahead of a visit to Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has called for developing "much more strategic and cooperative" relations with Russia. Pashinian made the comments in an interview with the Defense Ministry's Armed Forces TV that was set to be aired on September 8. His spokesman, Arman Yeghoyan, posted an excerpt on Facebook on September 7. In the interview, Pashinian stressed that relations with Russia have a special importance for the South Caucasus nation. "Our relations should be at a much higher level, they should be much more strategic, much more cooperative, and much more brotherly," he said. Nagorno-Karabakh Pashinian is set to meet with Putin in Moscow on September 8. It will be their third meeting since Pashinian, formerly an opposition lawmaker, was elected prime minister after leading a wave of antigovernment protests in May. Putin will host the Armenian leader one week after meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in the southern Russian city of Sochi. Analysts expect the long-standing dispute over the breakaway Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh to be a leading topic of the meeting. Along with the United States and France, Russia co-chairs the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's Minsk Group, which is the principal international entity seeking to resolve the protracted Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Another issue likely to be discussed is Yerevan's prosecution of former government officials. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov twice publicly denounced the prosecutions that came after the change of government in Yerevan, arguing that they ran counter to the new Armenian leadership's earlier pledges not to "persecute its predecessors for political reasons." Problems Downplayed Among the officials who have been charged are former President Robert Kocharian and former Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Khachaturov, both of whom are accused of breaching the constitutional order during a deadly postelection crackdown in 2008. Khachaturov currently chairs the Russian-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), of which Armenia is a member. After launching a criminal probe against Khachaturov in late July, Yerevan initiated a procedure to recall him from the top CSTO post. In a live Facebook broadcast on September 2, Pashinian downplayed problems in Yerevan's relations with Moscow, describing them as a "working process taking their natural course." Earlier this week, Pashinian also downplayed the significance of political implications behind Putin's birthday congratulations to Kocharian on August 31, which were taken by some analysts as a sign of Moscow's backing for the former Armenian leader, who announced a return to active politics earlier last month. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/armenian-pm-pashinian- strategic-relations-putin-russia-visit/29477245.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Moscow Watches Anxiously As Pashinian Realigns Armenia's Foreign Policy Pete Baumgartner September 07, 2018 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov raised a lot of eyebrows when he voiced Kremlin concern on September 3 that the "situation in Armenia is heating up." "Yes, [the weather] was quite hot today," wisecracked Armenia's maverick leader, Nikol Pashinian, when asked to comment on Lavrov's observation. Pashinian's quip on September 3 epitomizes the new prime minister's carefree attitude toward relations with Russia, tiny Armenia's longtime "big brother" upon which Yerevan is dependent economically and militarily. Pashinian was equally relaxed when asked about a much ballyhooed congratulatory phone call from Russian President Vladimir Putin to former Armenian President Robert Kocharian for his 64th birthday on August 31. "It is a matter of personal relations," said Pashinian on September 4. Putin's call -- reportedly his first birthday greeting for Kocharian in more than a decade -- was featured on the Kremlin website and came just two weeks after Kocharian vowed to come out of retirement and reenter politics to challenge Pashinian's government. "I can say that [Putin] values human relations very much," Pashinian deadpanned about the call to Kocharian. "You saw recentlythat he attended a wedding ceremony for a high-ranking Austrian official, which shows that human ties are of special importance to him," he said, referring to Putin's much lampooned attendance at the wedding of Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl in August. But Putin's sudden support for Kocharian -- who was charged in late July with "overthrowing constitutional order" for his alleged role in authorizing violent attacks by security forces on antigovernment demonstrators in 2008 -- has irked the Armenian public, which has been firmly behind Pashinian since his government came to power in May. But Kocharian has harshly criticized Pashinian's government, claiming the criminal charges against him are revenge on the part of Pashinian and other opposition leaders present at the 2008 mass protests who are now in government. Lavrov has twice made critical statements of the investigation by Pashinian's government of those demonstrations, during which the head of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Yuri Khatchaturov, was also charged. "The [call for the arrest] of the CSTO head without informing the Russians first really kind of took them by surprise," Paul Stronski, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, told RFE/RL. "And reaffirmed this perception that Russians had about Pashinian -- based on his track record of previous slogans when he was an opposition leader about moving away from Russia." Putin and Pashinian will be able to discuss the latest in their countries' relations when they meet on September 8 in Moscow. Soft Velvet Support Many analysts were surprised by the Kremlin's relative silence during the Pashinian-led mass protests that forced longtime Armenian politico Serzh Sarkisian to resign as prime minister in an event known as the "Velvet Revolution" -- which resembled the "colored" revolutions in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Ukraine that Putin has previously reviled. "From the point of view of Russia, Armenia is a dangerous example of nonviolent power change and people's power," Yerevan-based analyst Richard Giragosian told the Armenian news website factor.am on August 25. "It is also dangerous because the...events [in Armenia] have shown how easy power can be removed. Not only Russia, but also...Kazakhstan, Belarus, and even [Azerbaijani President Ilham] Aliyev are worried about this." "What was interesting was Russia, for the most part, has been pretty quietin April and May [as Pashinian came to power]. It's only been [in recent months] that Russia has started to raise its voice about the new Armenian government," said Stronski. "The new Armenian government needs to be pretty careful in how it manages Russia. Russia will fight for its equities in the region," he said. And Moscow could use both economic and security-related leverage over Armenia if it wants to pressure the government if its foreign policy starts leaning away from Russia. Economic, Security Levers Russia is Armenia's biggest economic partner, with more than 26 percent of its total trade turnover from January to July of this year being with Russian companies. Russia is also a heavy investor in Armenia. "Most Russian capital goes to the energy sector. We are talking [primarily] about Gazprom, which has a branch here," said Artak Manukian, chairman of the National Center of Public Policy Research and an economic adviser to Pashinian. Manukian said Russian entities also have substantial investments in Armenia's banking sector and that "in most of the cases the [investors] were in a very good relationship with the political elite [of the pre-Pashinian governments]." There is also estimated to be a more than 2-million-strong Armenian diaspora living in Russia, with the money that is sent back to Armenia making up some 16 percent of the country's gross domestic product. The Russian Army also operates its 102 Military Base in Armenia's second city, Gyumri, and is seen as a security guarantor for Yerevan against Turkey and, to a lesser degree, Azerbaijan. Russia is also the predominant weapons and military hardware supplier of the Armenian military -- but at the same time also holds the same role for Azerbaijan. Moscow has in the past used its position as primary procurator of weapons to play the two countries against each other. And the belief that many Armenians had that Russia was a close military ally were disappointed and even angered by Moscow's actions during a four-day war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in April 2016. "Russian behavior was one of mediator instead of Armenia's ally," said Stepan Safarian, head of the Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs in Yerevan. "[Russia] did not act as Armenia's strategic ally. And the [Russia-led] CSTO also behaved...[like some] peacekeeping organization. It was a dangerous experience for Russia." He added that "Russia understands and feels this red line [of using military measures to put pressure on Pashinian] -- that it would be very dangerous to use Azerbaijan to deliver some message to Armenia." Safarian suggested that Armenia could actually use the status of the Russian base to its advantage. "I think [the Russians] realize that there's no other [country] in the South Caucasus that could provide such a military space to Russia," noting that it would not be possible in either Georgia or Azerbaijan. Sovereign Foreign Policy So what exactly will Pashinian change within Armenia's foreign policy and in its relations with Moscow? "We have in Armenia a national leader who has legitimacy in society and who wants to cooperate with Russia, but as an equal partner," said Stepan Grigorian, chairman of the Analytical Center on Globalization and Regional Cooperation. "We will cooperate with Russia, we will continue our membership in the CTSO and the Eurasian Economic Union, but we will work with Russia as an equal partner," Grigorian said. "Tradition [in Armenia] for Russia is that all Armenian leaders do whatever Russia wants. Now we have a new leader and for Russia that is a big problem." But he added that the Armenian people will "help Pashinian, will protect his policy in the context of Russia." Safarian stated that Armenia has changed its "foreign policy principals but not its foreign policy direction." "There will be no reverse [move] from the CSTO or the Eurasian Economic Union and nothing threatens the Russian military...in Armenia," he said. "But [Pashinian has] changed the formula of Russian-Armenian relations [at their foundation]...because Armenia is now pursuing a sovereign foreign policy and it's not an accident that Nikol Pashinian has used that term many times in his meetings with...Putin. "The problem is Russia is not [prepared]...to respect this kind of policy," Safarian said. "I hope that at the coming meeting...Pashinian will explain to his Russian counterpart that [Russia's] concerns are baseless." One the eve of his September 8 meeting with Putin, Pashinian said "our relations should be at a much higher level, they should be much more strategic, much more cooperative, and much more brotherly," said Pashinian. Grigorian said he thinks Moscow will eventually agree with Pashinian's new balance in their bilateral relations. "I hope they will understand that they will have to deal with new relations with a new leader -- one who thinks as a pro-Armenian leader. But it will take some time [for Moscow] to understand this." Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/moscow-watches -anxiously-as-pashinian-realigns-armenia-s -foreign-policy/29477633.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi-Backed Yemeni Government Blocking Houthi Plane from Reaching Peace Talks Sputnik News 22:01 07.09.2018(updated 22:04 07.09.2018) A peace delegation from the Houthi movement to the UN-sponsored negotiations in Geneva to try and find an end to the Yemeni Civil War is being blocked from flying out of Yemen by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government they're supposed to be negotiating with. The UN Security Council gave their blessings on Wednesday to the negotiations, which are aimed at building confidence between the two sides: prisoner exchanges, humanitarian access, reopening Sana'a airport and various economic issues will be discussed, UN spokesperson Alessandra Vellucci told Reuters. However, the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV said the UN had been unable to "secure authorization" from the Saudi-led coalition backing the Yemeni government for an Omani plane to land in Sana'a and transport the rebel delegation, along with wounded fighters, out of the country. In a statement on Yemen's official SABA news agency Thursday, the Houthis said the Saudis are "still refusing to give permission to an Omani plane" to land. They said they need to "ensure the safety of the delegation" and require a guarantee that they would be allowed to return "smoothly" to the Sana'a airport. While the Houthi rebels control the capital of Sana'a and most of the north of the country in terms of territory, the government's coalition, which has the benefit of US-made warplanes flown by the Royal Saudi Air Force, dominates the skies over the entire country, France 24 noted. Meanwhile, in Geneva, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Martin Griffiths has been begun consultations with representatives of Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's internationally recognised government, Reuters noted, exploring what would be necessary to come to some sort of agreement between the two sides. A particular topic of discussion was the fate of the embattled, front-line port city of Hodeidah, which is presently controlled by the Houthis. Two sources in the government delegation told Reuters Thursday that the Houthi delegation had until noon the following day to get to Geneva for the talks. However, that deadline passed without any further comment about whether or not the peace talks were still on. Sana'a residents expressed to AP their hopes about the talks. One man, a lawyer named Ameen al-Bareihi, said, "We hope these negotiations will lead to a basis on which an end to bloodshed can be built, because the Yemeni people have reached a state of exhaustion We hope that the two sides can calm down in order to reach a solution." "If you could only see the situation here," said Said Mohamed al-Senawy, who had been forced to flee his home. "God willing, they will come out with a solution We are Yemeni, our blood is all one, and our land shouldn't be divided and our blood shouldn't be spilled especially for people with outside interests." France 24 noted that neither side has expressed much hope in significant advances being made at the negotiations. The last round of talks, in Kuwait in 2016, failed to broker a power-sharing agreement even after 108 days of meetings. Following the collapse of that summit, it took the Houthi delegation three months to get from Oman back to Yemen, again stymied by the Saudi-led coalition that blocks their exit now. The Houthis, a militant group from the north of the country who follow the Zaidi sect of Shia Islam, were swept into national prominence in September 2014 when they stormed the capital of Sana'a and forced the Yemeni government into a power-sharing agreement after mass protests over fuel prices shook the capital. In January 2015, when the Houthis stormed the presidential palace and forced Hadi to resign, he fled to the southern city of Aden and rescinded his resignation, calling the Houthi actions a coup d'etat. He subsequently fled to the Saudi capital of Riyadh in March 2015, and at his urging, Saudi Arabia has become increasingly involved in the war, invading the country, conducting countless airstrikes and imposing a blockade that threatens millions of Yemenis with famine. The blockade has also denied the Yemeni people medical aid, endangering millions as a cholera outbreak threatens to spiral out of control. Oxfam America noted that between the start of the Saudi intervention on March 26, 2015, and August 9, 2018, a total of 17,062 Yemeni civilians had been killed, and that most of them, 10,471, were victims of airstrikes by the Saudi-led coalition. These precarious talks follow what the UN says was the deadliest month for Yemeni civilians this year: 981 civilians were killed or injured in August, including more than 300 children. That includes the roughly 40 children killed in a school bus struck by a Saudi-fired, US-made laser-guided missile on August 9. "Nothing appears off-limits in Yemen anymore, where gathering for weddings and funerals or going to market or school can be life or death decisions," Abby Maxman, Oxfam America's president and CEO, said in a Thursday statement. "As the civilian death toll continues to climb, the United States is poised for another massive arms sale to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. However, the recently adopted defense authorization bill requires the US to stop mid-air refueling of Saudi and Emirati planes unless the State Department can certify that the two countries are taking steps to reduce civilian casualties, make peace and improve the humanitarian situation." While the Yemeni government is backed by the Saudis and their allies, the Houthi movement has established ties with other Shiite movements in the region, including Saudi Arabia's regional rival of Iran, where Twelver Shia Islam is supreme, and just last month the reception of a Houthi delegation by Hezbollah in Lebanon provoked controversy in that country's government, Sputnik reported. Oxfam noted that "all warring parties continue to commit violations of the rules of war." Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Norwegian Armed Forces Warn of Collateral Damage During Major NATO Drill Sputnik News 09:37 07.09.2018 During previous exercises of comparable size, Norwegian farmers sustained damage from NATO tanks that amounted to the tens of thousands of kronor. The Norwegian Armed Forces have warned of collateral damage during the upcoming NATO drill Trident Juncture, one of the largest in the country's history, national broadcaster NRK reported. Everything from livestock to vehicles may be affected. According to the military newspaper Forsvarets forum, damage is expected in the following areas: croplands, forests, roads, power and telecom installations, cars and pets (including chickens dying from high vibrations or larger animals becoming overly stressed by noise from the drills). Hedmark farmer Erling Aas-Eng is also fearful that the damage may be extensive. "It's hard to imagine it's not going to happen. In particular, we are worried because at this time of the year the ground isn't frozen yet. Also, there are many countries participating, so communication may be lacking," Erling Aas-Eng reported. Last time NATO practiced in Norway, Norwegian farmers complained of damage and destruction inflicted by NATO tanks. In 2014, farmer Lars Bryhni suffered major damage from tank tracks despite a previous agreement that his land wouldn't be used in the exercise. Following the incident, he received NOK 75,000, only half of what he needed to settle the damage done to his property. "It has been very important for us to gain experience on how to deal with claims settlement," Armed Forces environmental officer Marianne B said. According to her, the Armed Forces have been working to minimize collateral damage since 2016 and have informed all the participants where they can and cannot move. "This is people's livelihood. We have self-imposed restrictions in the Armed Forces that we should avoid using the croplands as far as possible. But Trident Juncture will be a big exercise and we cannot completely avoid this," B added. "No wonder there will be damage when the world's largest nursery is out to play," a user commented on Facebook. The Norwegian Armed Forces have created a hotline, where one can call to file a complaint or request compensation. The NATO drill Trident Juncture will be held from October 25 to November 7 in the counties of Trndelag, Mre og Romsdal, Oppland and Hedmark, while also affecting the counties of stfold, Akershus and Nordland. With 40,000 soldiers from 30 countries, as well as 70 ships and 130 aircraft, the drill is expected as one of the largest in Norway in decades. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Children's crisis' in South Sudan must be addressed, says top UN official calling for real accountability 7 September 2018 - Virginia Gamba, the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, on Friday called for much greater accountability and effort, to prevent grave violations against children across the world's youngest nation, South Sudan. Speaking in the capital Juba, at the end of four-day mission to the country, she said that in 2017, close to 1,400 children had been directly affected, with thousands more bearing the brunt of conflict. Ms. Gamba called on those in authority to take concrete action to end the violations and prevent any recurrence. "The UN stands ready to support the development and implementation of such concrete actions, including through the joint development of a comprehensive Action Plan covering all six grave violations and the provision of technical assistance for implementation as required," she added. The Security Council has officially cited "six grave violations": Recruitment and use of children by parties to conflict; rape and other forms of sexual violence; attacks on schools and hospitals; abduction of children; and denial of humanitarian access. Marking her first visit to South Sudan since she took office in April last year, Ms. Gamba emphasized that half of the country's population is below age 18, declaring that "the crisis in South Sudan is a children's crisis." "My discussions with the authorities lead me to believe that the time is ripe to work with the Government and revise the existing Action Plans (drawn up in 2012 and 2015) so as to develop a comprehensive plan, addressing all six grave violations endured by the children of South Sudan," she stressed. Ms. Gamba also called for violation-prevention plans to be included in any future peacebuilding initiative across the country. The Special Representative was encouraged by the large number of children released this year by armed groups, and called for redoubled efforts to release every child being held against their will. She also emphasized the Government's role in providing long-term support to released children, including psychosocial support to victims and communities. "In Yambio, I met children recently released and was moved by their stories, which unfortunately are not unique," she recounted. "It is crucial that each and every boy and girl released, benefits from reintegration programmes and the international community must take a strong step and support these children and their communities in a sustainable and comprehensive manner," she added. Government troops, together with forces loyal to senior politicians, Riek Machar, and Taban Deng, were cited as UN-verified violating parties in the 2017 Annual Report on Children and Armed Conflict in South Sudan. Ms. Gamba also encouraged the criminalization of all grave violations against children in the review of the penal code, the full implementation of the Child Act and the swift signature into law of the Civil Registry Act, offering her full support to these processes. Ms. Gamba thanked key child protection partners, including the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) and non-governmental organizations for their "admirable work" in helping to improve children's lives there. "No time must be lost in protecting the children of South Sudan from being used and abused in, for and by armed conflict," she stressed. "They are not only the future of South Sudan, but also its present." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Protecting Global Electronic Consumer Goods in China Sydney, Sep 7, 2018 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Anti-counterfeit and customer engagement solutions provider YPB Group Ltd ( ASX:YPB ) has secured a significant new distribution partner in China, Shenzen Meixin Electronics Co (SME), which creates a channel for YPB into the global electronics consumer goods market. YPB and SME have already engaged a global major brand in electronic consumer goods as the first client of the new partnership and future opportunity with other majors exists. This is the third major industry that YPB now has access to via its new channel partners in China - the other two announced earlier this week being autos and lubricants.- Shenzen Meixin Electronics new channel partner in China- First client a global major in electronic consumer goods- YPB to protect authenticity of components- Opens third big channel in China - now autos, oil, electronicsHeadquartered in Shenzen, China, SME is a provider of speciality chemicals and adhesives to the electronics industry. It has a full range of adhesive tapes for the electronics industry including polyimide tapes, copper tapes, aluminium foil tapes, LED tapes, conductive double sided tapes, EMI tapes, electronic circuit board tape, and anti-static tapes. Its products are sold to manufacturers within China and exported to Europe, America, South East Asia and elsewhere.Under an annual evergreen (automatically renewed) Master Services Agreement with SME, YPB's solutions will in the first instance protect the authenticity of components used by one of the world's top 5 producers of household appliances and electronic equipment. This client alone is expected to be a moderate revenue contributor to YPB.*YPB's Executive Chairman John Houston said: "Counterfeit components are pernicious and pervasive in almost all goods - they are a genuine menace - and the opportunity to protect components is almost unlimited. It is exciting to have now secured an entry point into the high volume electronic consumer goods in partnering with SME. It builds on our new channels into automotive parts and oil & lubricants in China with CCN Technologies as announced on September 3rd. Our new sales strategies in China are paying off as we drive YPB China toward profitability."*Please note:Modest revenue contribution: < AUD100K per annumModerate revenue contribution: > AUD100K < AUD1m per annumMajor revenue contribution: > AUD1m per annumAbout YPB Group Ltd DEACTIVATED UN police investigating killing of displaced people in Central African Republic 7 September 2018 - Perpetrators behind the killing of a number of people displaced by conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR) must be brought to justice, the UN peacekeeping operation in the country said on Friday. The mission, known by the French acronym MINUSCA, has strongly condemned the incident, which occurred on Thursday in the town of Bria. Alleged members of a rebel group reportedly abducted the victims, most of them women, from outside a camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) known as PK3, situated near the UN base in the town. Police from the mission are investigating the matter while MINUSCA has also stepped up security around the camp. Bria is located nearly 600 kilometres from the capital, Bangui. The town is hosting around 100,000 people, the majority of whom80 per centare IDPs. Nearly 48,000 are staying at PK3, which is the largest IDP site in the country. In the wake of the killings, Najat Rochdi, UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country, has appealed to warring parties to protect civilians. She expressed deep alarm over mounting tensions in Bria. She said that just a few days after commemorating World Humanitarian Day "we witness yet another tragedy against innocent civilians. I appeal to all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law and protect civilians. Civilians are not a target and these despicable acts must stop", the Humanitarian Coordinator said in a statement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Cameroon's Military, Separatists Trade Blame for School Attacks, Kidnappings By Moki Edwin Kindzeka September 07, 2018 A steady flow of relatives, friends and well-wishers have been visiting Martina Afanwi at her home this week in Bamenda, an English-speaking town in Cameroon's northwest. They are encouraging the 40-year-old to have faith that her 11-year-old son, who was abducted Monday from the Presbyterian School of Science and Technology, will be found safe. But Afanwi is worried because Cameroon authorities have yet to inform her of what they are doing to find her son. "I feel horrible. My heart is bleeding. It's not normal. Its horrible," she says. "The government needs to take measures. I think they have been sleeping. Nothing is being done." Afanwi's son is one of six students missing after gunmen attacked the school on September 3, the first day of Cameroon's school year. The students are presumed kidnapped as they never returned home and no bodies were found. The school principal was discovered unconscious with machete wounds and lapsed into a coma after being rushed to the hospital. Cameroon authorities say a head teacher was murdered the same day in the northwestern village of Bamali. The commander of government troops in the northwest, General Agha Robinson, blames armed separatists, who are seeking an independent, English-speaking state. "About 837 weapons have been seized. The principal was shot with one of these weapons," he tells VOA. "We have deployed our soldiers for patrols, we are securing schools, we have also reinforced security in our borders, where ammunition is being imported." In social media posts, the separatists denied responsibility for this week's attacks and alleged kidnappings, instead blaming unspecified government-created armed groups. "Let it be said loudly and clearly that our forces did not commit any act and they only arrived at the schools after the crimes were committed," read one separatist posting. "Our forces were instead there to bring order and chase occupational troops from Cameroon." Activists like Yah Gladys Viban are calling on both sides to end the conflict. "We are not name calling, we are not blaming, we are just saying that if we want to build this nation and if we want peace and prosperity for the generations ahead of us, we need to put all the guns down, sit on the table and talk about it. Nothing else will work," she says. Most schools in Cameroon's restive northwest and southwest have been closed since 2016 because of attacks from the separatists. In August, separatists said they would allow the schools to re-open but without a security guarantee and at a date of their choosing. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address With Turkey Ties Strained, US Warms Up to Greece By Jamie Dettmer September 07, 2018 As ties between the U.S. and Turkey have turned sour, relations between the U.S. and Greece are warming rapidly. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross arrived Friday in Thessaloniki along with a bevy of American officials and U.S. companies for an international trade fair. In all, 50 U.S. companies including top brands Coca-Cola, Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Lockheed Martin are exhibiting at this year's international trade fair in the northern Greek city. The U.S. is featured as the honored country at the fair a title reflecting rapidly warming ties between Washington and Athens. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford just wrapped up a two-day visit to Greece, saying Washington is looking to expand its military presence in the country and to boost defense cooperation. Separately, as Greece comes out of the worst of its debt crisis, U.S. commercial interest is growing, too, encouraged by a White House that sees Athens as an increasingly important strategic partner. Pragmatism is driving the new relationship, according to U.S. Ambassador to Greece Geoffrey Pyatt. "We have converging strategic objectives. We are both struggling with aspects of our relationship with Turkey. That we have converging interests on some of the big regional security challenges, whether it is ISIS or illegal migration. That we have shared interests around the western Balkans," said Pyatt. 'Americans are back' Earlier this year, Russia was accused of fomenting a coup attempt in neighboring Montenegro. Pyatt sees a bigger role for Greece in the Balkans, a region that's attracting more interest from other powers, including Russia and China. "Geopolitical competition has returned to southeastern Europe in a big way. We are very sensitive to the role that Russia continues to play across this region. Part of what we are trying to do with the very large American presence at the Thessaloniki international fair is to make clear the Americans are back," Pyatt said. Eight years ago, it looked like Greece would crash out of the euro zone. But now there are signs of revival. Overall growth in 2018 is due to match the healthy clip of the United States and American companies, according to Sissy Eliopoulou of Coca-Cola, see opportunities. "We would like to demonstrate how we believe in the future of our country. We are present in this country for 50 years, and we are continuing to grow along with the country." Microsoft believes encouraging innovation will be key for Greece to grow, says the company's Eugenia Bozou. "We see Greece coming out of a challenging, almost 8-years situation, and we want to be part of a new era for Greece, an era that will drive investment and foster innovation and will keep the youth of Greece here," said Bozou. As the country's economy improves, both U.S. companies and the White House are pinning a lot of hope on Greece. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Uzbek Suspect Asks U.S. Judge To Rule Out Death Penalty, Citing Trump Tweets RFE/RL September 07, 2018 Lawyers for an Uzbek-born man accused of killing eight people by driving a truck down a New York City bike path have asked a U.S. judge to rule out the death penalty, contending that President Donald Trump's statements against him have made a fair legal process impossible. In a motion filed in a Manhattan district court on September 6, Sayfullo Saipov's lawyers said that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who must decide whether to pursue the death penalty, cannot be objective because Trump has called for Saipov to be executed and has pressured Sessions to make decisions based on what they called "nakedly political considerations." The lawyers cited Trump Twitter posts lambasting Sessions over politicially sensitive decisions and calling for the death penalty after Saipov's arrest in October at the scene of the killings. The lawyers cited a November 1 tweet by Trump which said: "NYC terrorist was happy as he asked to hang [Islamic State] flag in his hospital room. He killed 8 people, badly injured 12. SHOULD GET DEATH PENALTY!" Trump in later tweets described Saipov as a "degenerate animal" and repeated his call for the death penalty. Saipov's lawyers argued that Trump's tweets make it impossible for Sessions to "exercise independent discretion" on the case. "A decision not to seek death would inevitably trigger a 'tweetstorm' of ridicule and scorn from the president and might well lead to the loss of his job," they said. Should the judge decide not to bar the death penalty, the lawyers asked that an independent prosecutor be appointed to make the decision in place of Sessions. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman, whose office is prosecuting Saipov, declined to comment. The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Saipov, a 30-year-old Uzbek national who emigrated to the United States and became a citizen, has been charged with eight counts of murder and other crimes punishable by death for allegedly mowing down eight people on a Manhattan bike path near the site where the World Trade Center's twin towers once stood. The Islamic State extremist group claimed responsibility for the attack, and police said Saipov told investigators in interviews immediately after the attack that he was inspired by watching IS videos. Since that time, he has pleaded not guilty to the attack. His lawyers have said he would be willing to settle the case with prosecutors if they agree not to seek a death sentence. Saipov made a public statement at a pre-trial hearing in June, speaking of a "war" led by Islamic State to establish Shari'a, or Islamic law, on Earth, and dismissing the court's judgment as "not important." Saipov's family told RFE/RL's Uzbek Service that they believe he was radicalized after moving to the United States. With reporting by AP and Reuters Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/uzbek-suspect-saipov -asks-us-judge-rule-out-death-penalty-citing- trump-tweets-against-him/29476488.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Treasury Sanctions East African Facilitator of Intricate ISIS Financial Network September 7, 2018 Washington The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) took action today targeting Waleed Ahmed Zein, a terrorist in East Africa who established an intricate worldwide financial network to facilitate funds transfers for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Zein has been named a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224 for assisting in, sponsoring, or providing financial, material, or technological support for, or financial or other services to or in support of, ISIS. "Zein is a dangerous terrorist who established an intricate global network of financial facilitators for ISIS, using hawalas and intermediaries to evade police detection and fund their deadly ambitions," said Sigal Mandelker, Treasury Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence. "This administration is committed to targeting ISIS facilitators and their underground networks wherever they operate, in an effort to deny resources they need to carry out attacks." Zein has served as an important ISIS financial facilitator in East Africa in recent years. He established an intricate ISIS financial facilitation network spanning Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Eastern Africa. Between 2017 and early 2018, Zein moved over $150,000 through his complex network. He deposited large sums of money into a personal account, claiming that the money came from a vehicle and spare auto parts company owned by a family member. Zein also used an associate to conduct similar transactions including receiving money from around the world, primarily via hawala systems. Funds were then sent to ISIS fighters in Syria, Libya, and Central Africa. Zein and his associates received instructions, money, and account information from an intermediary in an attempt to evade police surveillance. Zein was ultimately arrested by Kenyan security services in July 2018. As a result of today's action, all property and interests in property of Zein that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC's regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons. Today's designation is part of a concerted effort to expose and disrupt ISIS-related financing activity around the globe, and follows numerous other U.S. government actions this year to target ISIS branches and networks in Somalia, West Africa, Tunisia, Egypt, Bangladesh, and the Philippines. Treasury's action furthers this Administration's continued campaign to ensure that battlefield successes against ISIS are sustained. For identifying information on the individual designated today #### NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address DPRK leader calls for further efforts towards denuclearization People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 07:26, September 07, 2018 PYONGYANG/SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has called on the two sides to further their efforts towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. Kim made the call when he met with the members of a special delegation of South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang on Wednesday, which was led by Chung Eui-yong, Moon's top national security adviser, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Thursday. Kim firmly supports and will be devoted to completely removing the danger of armed conflicts and the horror of war from the Korean Peninsula and turning it into a cradle of peace without nuclear weapons and free from nuclear threats, according to the KCNA. Kim discussed the schedule with the special delegation for the Pyongyang summit between him and Moon due in September, and "came to a satisfactory agreement with it," the KCNA said. After reading a personal letter from Moon, which was delivered by the special delegation, Kim thanked the South Korean president for sending the letter, which expressed a firm will to wisely overcome many challenges in the future, "and open a bright future of our nation while appreciating the fresh advance in the relations between the north and the south," the KCNA said. Kim fully supports Moon and "remains unchanged in his determination to strive hard to bring the fellow countrymen better results at an early date, bearing in mind the mission before the nation and its expectation," the KCNA added. What's more, Chung said in Seoul on Thursday that Kim again expressed his firm commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The DPRK leader said he was willing to ly cooperate with the United States as well as South Korea for the complete denuclearization, Chung told a press briefing in Seoul after the delegation's one-day visit to Pyongyang. During the meeting with the South Korean delegation, Kim expressed his "stuffy" feeling over a part of the international community's raising doubts about his resolve to denuclearize, the chief special envoy said. Kim said the DPRK had taken advance measures for the denuclearization, which he hoped would be accepted as a gesture of goodwill, citing the dismantlement of its main Punggye-ri nuclear test site and its key Tongchang-ri missile engine test site. Kim said no more nuclear tests would be conducted as the nuclear test site had been completely destroyed, while dismantling the missile engine test site, the DPRK's sole test site, meant the complete suspension of long-range ballistic missile test-firings in the future. Kim asked the South Korean delegation to convey his message to the U.S. side, saying he would continue to trust U.S. President Donald Trump. The DPRK leader hoped that Pyongyang and Washington would end seven decades of hostility during President Trump's tenure, while realizing denuclearization and improving DPRK-U.S. relations, Chung told reporters. To discuss specific measures to be taken for the denuclearization, Moon and Kim will hold a summit for three days starting from Sept. 18 in Pyongyang, Chung said. However, the KCNA did not mention any specific date for the summit. The two Koreas will hold a high-ranking working-level meeting early next week at the border village of Panmunjom to discuss protocol, security, communications and media coverage for the upcoming summit, Chung said. During the upcoming summit, Moon and Kim are expected to discuss specific measures to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula, as well as issues surrounding the permanent settlement of peace and prosperous coexistence on the peninsula and the implementation of the Panmunjom Declaration, which the two leaders signed after their April summit. The two Koreas, the special envoy said, agreed to keep advancing the ongoing dialogue to defuse military tensions along the inter-Korean border, and to reach an agreement at the upcoming summit on concrete measures to build mutual trust and prevent military clashes. Seoul and Pyongyang also agreed to open a joint inter-Korean liaison office before the Moon-Kim summit is held. The two sides have already completed the necessary preparations to open the joint liaison office at the DPRK's border town of Kaesong. Chung said South Korea will brief the countries concerned, including the United States, in detail on the outcome of the special delegation's visit to Pyongyang, and ly cooperate with them. The two Koreas will patiently and consistently make efforts to develop inter-Korean ties, denuclearize the peninsula and build peace, Chung said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Trump Says Kim Passes Letter to Him Via Secretary of State Pompeo Sputnik News 21:17 07.09.2018(updated 21:18 07.09.2018) WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Donald Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has written him a letter that was transferred across the country's border and will soon be delivered to him by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. "I know that a letter is being delivered to me, a personal letter from Kim Jong-un to me. It was handed at the border yesterday. I think it's being brought in by Mike Pompeo," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Friday, as quoted by the White House press pool. Trump said he believes the letter is "positive" and called the method of communication "very elegant." The US president said his relationship with Kim started on a bitter note and he, therefore, had to be rough on North Korea. He noted that his strategy has brought positive results in that there has not been a missile test since the US-North Korea bilateral summit in Singapore on June 12 and the United States received American hostages back from Pyongyang. Trump's comments came after a special envoy of South Korean president Moon Jae-in announced late Thursday that the third inter-Korean summit would be held on September 18-20 September in North Korea. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Warns North Korea: No Concessions Without Denuclearization By Jeff Seldin September 07, 2018 A top State Department official insisted Friday that North Korea would have to blink first if it wanted to make a deal on denuclearization with the United States. Negotiators from the U.S. and North and South Korea have engaged in on-again, off-again talks on denuclearization since a June summit in Singapore between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump. But despite some high hopes, efforts have been stymied by a lack of specifics from North Korea as well as Pyongyang's demands for security assurances and other concessions in advance of dismantling its nuclear arsenal. "We're not going to give anything until North Korea does what it says," Andrea Thompson, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, told reporters in Washington. Officials in Pyongyang must first make good on "their obligations that they committed to in Singapore," she said, referring to their pledge to denuclearize. "What we want to offer is a future of a denuclearized peninsula. What we want to offer is the economic livelihood of a North Korea that can interact with the global neighbors," she added, cautioning, "It depends on if North Korea's forthcoming to do what they say they're going to do." Thompson's comments were just the latest on what has been a diplomatic roller coaster, with hopes rising and falling as talks involving Pyongyang, Washington and Seoul make progress, only to hit additional stumbling blocks. The latest hopes for success came Thursday, when North Korea's Kim told South Korean officials his faith in Trump was "unchanged" and suggested he would be willing to denuclearize by the end of Trump's first term in office. On Friday, en route to a rally in North Dakota, Trump expressed further optimism. "A letter is being delivered to me, a personal letter from Kim Jong Un," the president told reporters on Air Force One. "I think it's going to be a positive letter." Yet many U.S. officials remain skeptical, noting it was just last month that Trump abruptly canceled Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's plans to meet with Kim in Pyongyang because of a lack of progress. Pompeo himself admitted during a visit to India on Thursday that "there is still an enormous amount of work to do." "We haven't had any nuclear tests, we haven't had any missile tests, which we consider a good thing," he said. "But the work of convincing Chairman Kim to make the strategic shift that we've talked about for a brighter future for the people of North Korea continues." U.S. intelligence officials are even more wary about Pyongyang's repeated commitments to denuclearize. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats told a conference in Washington on Tuesday that the U.S. intelligence assessment of North Korea's nuclear intentions had not changed. "Kim Jong Un sees nuclear weapons as key to the regime's survival and as leverage to achieve his long-term strategic ambitions," he said. Coats also said that despite some symbolic steps by Pyongyang in early June to destroy the entrances to some nuclear testing tunnels and to start dismantling some other equipment, there had been no signs of additional movement. Asked Friday what had led U.S. diplomatic officials to believe North Korea's Kim would eventually go through with denuclearization, Thompson replied, "He said he was going to do it." "He said it to the secretary. And he said it to the president, so we'll hold him to his word," Thompson added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chinese President to Skip North Korean Anniversary Event By Bill Ide September 07, 2018 Chinese President Xi Jinping's decision to turn down a reported invitation to attend a military parade in North Korea and celebrations marking 70 years since the founding of the isolated state may have helped him dodge problems on several fronts. Were Xi to attend this weekend's events, as had been widely speculated in the South Korean media, analysts say that not only could it have fed into Washington's frustrations over a lack of progress toward denuclearization on the peninsula, but it could have heightened already tense relations on the trade front as well. And if North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rolls out new military hardware as some expect particularly weapons of mass destruction such as an ICBM Xi's attendance could have sent other messages as well. "It would not be very appropriate for Chairman Xi to appear on the podium standing next to Kim Jong Un under those circumstances," said Zhao Tong, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy. "That also could be interpreted as China indirectly recognizing North Korea's nuclear status." Sun Yun is the co-director of the East Asia program and director of the China program at the Stimson Center, a research group in Washington. She said concerns include what military hardware will be on display this Sunday when Pyongyang marks its anniversary, and increased trade tensions. There also are some practical reasons as well, she says, noting that if Xi had gone, the trip would've come at the end of an eventful week. From last weekend through Thursday, Xi had been busy meeting with a long line of African leaders. Beijing also hosted the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on Monday and Tuesday. Sun said Xi is likely to go to Pyongyang in the future, probably when the situation has changed. If and when he does go, it would be the first time for China's top leader to visit North Korea since 2005, when then-leader Hu Jintao traveled to Pyongyang. "Postponing a visit by Xi to Pyongyang is a prudent decision by the Chinese, given both the current political climate around negotiations on trade and with North Korea and Xi's busy schedule this week," Sun wrote in a recent article, noting that since July, the U.S.-China trade war has cast a shadow over the interactions between China and North Korea. "Xi's trip would have taken place at a time when President [Donald] Trump is pointing fingers at China for..."[not] helping with the process of denuclearization" due to so-called trade tensions." Some analysts believe Kim Jong Un is likely to follow in President Xi's footsteps and try not to step on any toes with provocative actions. Although Xi will not attend the gathering, China's communist party leadership is still sending a high-ranking official and showing its support for the celebrations. Li Zhanshu, China's third-ranked official and a member of the Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee, will attend the ceremony in Xi's place. Wang Yang, another member of the seven-man Politburo Standing Committee, attended a gathering Thursday night in Beijing at the North Korean embassy, marking the anniversary a few days ahead of the celebrations in Pyongyang. Rorry Daniels, an Asia security specialist, says "the fact that the Chinese are sending a high-level pretty powerful official says that China has received some kind of assurances that North Korea will not be debuting any new technology at this parade." If it does, that would undermine China's narrative that it is playing a positive role in this process. "The optics of a Politburo member standing next to evidence that North Korea has or is making progress in their nuclear program during the ongoing de-nuclear negotiations with the United States, to me it seems that China would not want that picture," Daniels said. Still, analysts at 38 North, a website devoted to "informed analysis of events in and around" North Korea, say satellite images ahead of the event show the largest number of shelters in the heavy equipment storage area ahead of any parade since Kim Jong Un rose to power. In its update, the website said, "While the number of shelters present isn't a definitive indicator, it suggests that Sunday's parade likely will be considerably larger than the military parade earlier this year." Brian Kopczynski, Joyce Huang contributed. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Inter-Korean Summit Set; Plans for North's Denuclearization Elusive By Steve Miller September 07, 2018 South Korean officials say high-level talks are scheduled for early next week between representatives from the two Koreas ahead of a summit set for Sept. 18 through Sept. 20. South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong said next week's talks will be at the peace village of Panmunjom "to discuss protocol, security, communications and media coverage as a part of preparations for the summit." The announcement came one day after a five-person South Korean delegation, led by President Moon Jae-in's top security adviser, visited the North Korean capital and agreed to the summit dates. Wednesday's meeting took place amid the backdrop of U.S. President Donald Trump's abrupt cancellation of a trip to North Korea by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, because the White House felt Pyongyang had not made sufficient progress toward denuclearization. The one-day meeting between North and South Korea focused on establishing permanent peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and practical measures of denuclearization. "Chairman Kim Jong Un reaffirmed his commitment for complete denuclearization of Korean Peninsula," said Chung, "And expressed his willingness for close cooperation not only with South Korea but also with the United States in that regard." Tentative date Chung also said Kim wished to denuclearize and end hostilities with Washington before 2021, adding that the North Korean leader's faith in Trump is "unchanged." The U.S. president responded on Twitter: The Seoul and Pyongyang delegations also agreed to take steps to ease military tensions and "decided to reach an agreement at the inter-Korean summit on concrete plans to establish mutual trust and prevent military clashes." Chung announced the two governments would open a joint liaison office with resident representatives before the next summit and "continue necessary cooperation," as well. No pathways to denuclearization announced Despite the diplomatic difficulties between Pyongyang and Washington, Seoul continues to encourage both parties to proceed with peace and denuclearization processes. Troy University International Relations lecturer Daniel Pinkston says Kim's commitment to denuclearization faces skepticism. "I don't see any written commitments," he told VOA. "There are a number of written mechanisms, legal mechanisms, and ways they [North Korea] can demonstrate politically and legally that they're bound to these denuclearization commitments." Harry Kazianis, director of defense studies at the Center for the National Interest, doubts Kim will denuclearize but notes a shift from the "fire and fury" days of 2017. "I do see a lot of hope for a detente on the Korean Peninsula that could be long term," Kazianis said. He also sees the possibility the Trump administration could make a strategic shift in its policy toward Asia, telling VOA, "I think this administration is much more focused on China now, than it is on North Korea." But without North Korean compliance in the arms control and denuclearization arenas, Pinkston says "the United Nations Security Council cannot roll back the sanctions regime." Kazianis is doubtful the complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization (CVID) will occur, "but there is a lot of ways to lessen tensions with North Korea and to have, what I would call, a working relationship." If North Korea commits to arms control, arms reduction, and denuclearization, Pinkston agrees that "there are a number of opportunities" that would eventually open up for North Korea. Moving forward The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula technically still at war. President Moon has made an end-of-war declaration an important focus. At the United Nations General Assembly in late September, South Korea seeks a trilateral summit, or possibly a four-nation meeting that includes China, to declare a formal end to the conflict. Kazianis doesn't think such a U.N. announcement is likely, but doing so eventually would be tantamount to all sides "agreeing that the war was over." If Kim still hasn't demonstrated more concrete steps toward denuclearization, Kazianis says that would be "a clear understanding that he's never going to do it." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Yes, you can transfer your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. SHASTA COUNTY, Calif. - The closure of Interstate 5 continues and most big rig drivers on both sides of the highway are stuck until further notice. Action news now spoke with drivers stalled by the flames. One man heading for Canada said he'd been stuck in Corning for a day. Another headed for Oregon said that he'd been held up for a day and a half. The alternate route around the interstate closure is open to traffic but most drivers we spoke with said they'd rather not risk it. CHP plans to reassess whether to reopen interstate 5 this Sunday. We're told fire officials still need full access to the highway as there are still areas of the fire burning very close to the road. Iran spares no efforts to maintain peace in region IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Beijing, Sept 7, IRNA -- Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami referred to developments and insecurities in Western Asia, saying Iran has spared no efforts for establishing peace, stability and security in the region. Hatami made the remarks in a meeting with Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe on Friday. 'We believe that integrated security and insecurity will affect not only West Asia but other areas in the world,' Hatami said. He criticized the US unilateral approach in breaching international regulations, saying it is violating world peace and security. He also pointed to historical and cultural commonalities between Iran and China and the background of bilateral cooperation between two countries, saying the capacities are suitable grounds for developing cooperation. Both countries enjoy common interests and threats and will be able to promote cooperation within that framework, Hatami added. He described defense item as one of the main ones in defense cooperation. The issue had been stressed by Iranian and Chinese presidents, Hatrami added. Fenghe, for his part, pointed to common stances taken by both countries on developing relations, saying as a developing country China is ready for interaction with Iran. During the meeting both sides exchanged views on defense and military cooperation, international and regional development and establishing cooperation against terrorism and maintaining peace and stability in the world. Pursuance of agreements signed by the two countries' defense ministers in November 2016 is another objective of the visit to Beijing, Hatami earlier told the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), noting that the current regional and international developments require close consultations. At a time when US President Donald Trump does not uphold international norms, China as a big power and Iran as a major international player need to have extensive consultations, he added. 9376**1420 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran president praises Russia's role in maintaining JCPOA Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 06:55PM Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has commended Russia for its role in bringing the Iran nuclear deal into fruition and maintaining it despite the US' illegal withdrawal. Rouhani made the remarks in a Friday meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tehran. "Despite Washington's illegal and unilateral withdrawal from the deal, we hope the other parties would decisively and practically support it and live up to their commitments in full," he noted, referring to a decision by US President Donald Trump to pull his country out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in May. Putin, for his part, highlighted the need for all parties to the 2015 accord to fulfill their commitments and protect it. Russia plans to hold talks with the remaining JCPOA parties to find solutions to maintain and develop economic relations with Iran within the deal's framework, the Russian leader noted. Putin stated that those talks will continue on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. Unlike his Iranian counterpart, the Russian president has no plan to attend the 73rd UN General Assembly session due to be held later this month in New York, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last month. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as the head of the Russian delegation, is expected to hold extensive talks with his counterparts on ways to salvage the nuclear deal on the margins of the UN General Assembly. Iran, Russia to enhance business relations During the Friday meeting, Rouhani said Tehran and Moscow must tap the new opportunities for expansion of cooperation and development of multilateralism. Expansion of banking ties between Iran and Russia will play a crucial role in promotion of Tehran-Moscow business cooperation, he noted. Rouhani also urged the two countries' officials to speed up implementing earlier agreements and develop mutual cooperation in various fields, including energy, joint investment in construction of power plants, railroads, and infrastructure projects, among others. In turn, Putin underlined the need for the development of bilateral banking relations and the use of national currencies in business transactions, vowing that no Russian firm would withdraw from any Iranian project amid the US sanctions imposed against Iran after Washington's pullout from the nuclear deal. The use of national currencies in bilateral trade is what Iran, Russia, China, and Turkey are pursuing in a bid to ditch the US dollar in their business relations. Putin also hailed the existing grounds for enhancement of cooperation in the trade, economy, agriculture, nuclear energy and infrastructure fields, saying his country is prepared to work with Tehran in constructing the International North-South Transport Corridor. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran says killed 13 terrorists, arrested 12 in August Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 10:20AM Iran's security forces killed 13 terrorists and arrested 12 more in three separate operations in western parts of the country last month, the Intelligence Minister said on Friday. The operations were carried out in Kermanshah and Kurdistan provinces, it said, adding the terrorists were "linked to adversarial countries" who were struck before managing to take any action. On August 16, as many as 12 agents and people linked to earlier assassination of Major Hassan Maleki, the chief of the Traffic Police of Kermanshah's Ravansar County, were arrested. On August 25, another terrorist outfit seeking sabotage acts in Iran was disbanded in an operation that killed two of the terrorists and injured another, the Intelligence Ministry added. A number of Kalashnikov rifles and grenades, as well as communication equipment, and an undisclosed amount of cash have been seized from the two terror outfits. Also last month, Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) disbanded a team of terrorists on the country's border with Iraq, killing 11 of its members. The terrorists were ambushed as they were trying to infiltrate the country from the West Azerbaijan Province's Oshnaviyeh County. Earlier in the year, the Corps prevented a similar infiltration attempt from Iraq's Kurdistan region. The IRGC subsequently warned the northern Iraqi territory to stay wary about terrorist movements within its borders to prevent potential spillover into the Islamic Republic. Persistently on the lookout against potential intruders, Iranian forces regularly engage gunmen, gang members, Kurdish militants, and terrorists on the country's western and eastern border areas. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran's defense minster visits China to discuss cooperation Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 09:36AM Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami has arrived in China's capital Beijing for a visit during which he is expected to discuss mutual defense cooperation with Chinese officials. General Hatami's visit would be in response to an invitation by the Chinese Defense General Minister Wei Fenghe. He would meet various Chinese military and political officials for talks on matters of mutual interest as well as regional and international developments. Upon arrival in Beijing, the Iranian defense minister told reporters that Iran's relations with China were rooted in history and that both had satisfactory cooperation in the area of defense. He stressed that international and regional developments require an ever more strengthening of the two countries' ties. "The Islamic Republic of Iran has had historic defense ties with China since the Islamic Revolution and collaboration between the two countries should persist" said General Hatami. He further stated that his visit aimed to prepare the grounds for the implementation of a pact signed between the countries' defense ministers in 2016. Iran and China signed an agreement to boost defense and military cooperation in Tehran in November 2016. According to the then Iranian defense minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, the pact aimed at boosting cooperation on long-term strategic interests as well as countering the growing threat of terrorism exhibited by groups such as Daesh. The pact had been a result of ongoing high-level meetings between the two countries' defense officials. Iranian and Chinese defense minsters had previously met in Moscow in April 2015 and in China in May 2014 to discuss issues such as military personnel training and counter terrorism efforts. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US fighter jets shadow Russian bombers patrolling Arctic airspace Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 10:22AM Two US F-22 jet fighters have shadowed Russian Tu-95 long-range bombers training over neutral waters of the Arctic Ocean, Russia's Defense Ministry announced. "The Russian Air Force's Tu-95MS strategic bomber aircraft have carried out scheduled flights over neutral waters in Arctic Ocean as well as the Bering and Okhotsk Seas. The aircraft were escorted by two US Air Force F-22 fighter jets on certain legs of their route," said the ministry in a Friday statement as cited in a report by Russia's Interfax news agency. According to the statement, Russian long-range bombers often carry out routine patrols over the Arctic and the Atlantic as well as the Baltic Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It further stressed that such sorties are carried out "in strict compliance with international regulations without violating foreign borders." US-based news website Washington Free Beacon reported earlier on the encounter, citing a NORAD spokesman as saying Thursday that the American war planes intercepted the Russian bombers off the Alaska coast. "Two Alaskan-based NORAD F-22 fighters intercepted and visually identified two Tu-95 'Bear' long-range bomber aircraft flying in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone, south of the Aleutian Islands," said Michael Kucharek, as quoted by the right-wing media outlet. Kucharek, however, did not reveal how far the Russian bombers were from Alaska's western coastline, only saying that the F-22s shadowed the Tu-95s until they left NORAD's identification zone. "At no time did the Russian bombers enter Canadian or United States sovereign airspace," he added. The incident marked the second time Russian bombers were intercepted by US jet fighters this year. Back in May, two Tu-95s bombers were also shadowed off the coast of Alaska by a pair of F-22s. Russian forces hold Mediterranean drills Meanwhile, Russia's Defense Ministry announced that its special forces took part in military exercises in an undisclosed location in the Mediterranean Sea while demonstrating a footage of the drills. The ministry further declared that the Russian troops practiced counter-measures against saboteurs and pirates, as well as the landing of naval forces and hostage rescue drills. This came amid Washington's claim of an impending chemical attack in Syria's terrorist-held province of Idlib by the government forces. Russia's UN envoy, Vasily Nebenzya, told the UN Security Council session on Syria on Thursday the United States should disclose the list of its possible targets in Syria if it believes that chemical weapons are being stored there. Reports say foreign-backed terrorists active in Idlib are making preparations for staging a chemical weapons attack that could be blamed on Damascus, providing the West with an excuse for an aggression against Syria. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia's Tu-95MS Jets Carry Out Flights Over Arctic Ocean Defense Ministry Sputnik News 16:24 07.09.2018(updated 18:01 07.09.2018) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Aerospace Forces' Tu-95MS missile carriers have conducted scheduled flights over the waters of the Arctic Ocean, the Bering and Okhotsk seas, the Russian Defense Ministry's press service said. "The Russian Aerospace Forces' Tu-95MS strategic missile carriers have conducted scheduled flights over the international waters of the Arctic Ocean, the Bering and Okhotsk seas," the press release read. The ministry noted that two US F-22 fighters had escorted the Russian jets during some parts of the flight. According to the press release, Russia's long range and naval aviation pilots regularly fly over the international waters of the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Black Sea, and the Pacific. All aircraft flights are carried out in strict accordance with the international regulations, without violating the borders of other states. As part of the deep modernization of Tu-95MS aircraft, they will be equipped with engines and propellers with improved characteristics, new onboard radio-electronic systems and new armament control system "with an expanded list of used weapons," the Defense Ministry stated. Tu-95 is a four-engine long-range strategic bomber developed by Russian aerospace and defense company Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1950s. The current version is the Tu-95MS, which entered service in 1984. NORAD Says Intercepted Russian TU-95 Bombers that Did Not Enter US, Canada Airspace The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said in a statement on Friday that it intercepted two Russian TU-95 bomber aircraft, but emphasized that those aircraft did not enter the US or Canadian airspace. "At approximately 12 p.m. ET, on Saturday, September 1, two Alaskan-based NORAD F-22 fighters intercepted and visually identified two TU-95 'Bear' long-range bomber aircraft flying in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone [ADIZ], south of the Aleutian Islands. At no time did the Russian bombers enter Canadian or United States sovereign airspace," the release said. NORAD said the Russian aircraft were intercepted and monitored by the F-22s until they left the area. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Army tightens grip on Daesh in Sweida eastern countryside IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA -- Syrian Arab Army advanced in al-Safa hills in eastern countryside of Sweida, tightening grip on Daesh (ISIS) terrorists. SANA's reporter said that the army units, in cooperation with the supporting forces, advanced in Qa'a al-Banat area about 1 km to the northwest of al-Safa hills after heavy clashes with Daesh. Due to the clashes, Daesh have suffered heavy losses upon their ranks and equipment. On the western direction, the army units advanced in the area of the rocky cliffs on the outskirts of al-Safa hills and engaged in fierce clashes with Daesh which resulted in the killing and injured of many of its terrorists. 1396**1396 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey voices concern over US support for Kurdish rebels in Syria IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA -- Turkish president on Friday expressed concern over the Washington support for the Kurdish rebels, including the YPG and PKK in Syria. 'We are extremely disturbed that the US continues to strengthen another terrorist organization in the region [even after] there was no Daesh threat and danger in the region,' Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in Tehran's trilateral summit on Syria. Elsewhere in his remarks, Erdogan said Idlib is not only important for Syria's political future, but also vital for Turkey's national security and regional peace and stability. 'We never want Idlib to turn into a blood bath. We expect you to support us in our efforts,' he added while addressing Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and the Russian President Vladimir Putin in the trilateral summit. 'Turkey is resolute to maintain its presence in Idlib until Syria's political, geographical and social integrity is ensured,' Erdogan said. The president called for common stance against any kind of terrorism in Syria, including PYD/YPG that threatens Syria's territorial integrity. Calling on the guarantor countries not to let a new wave of violence in Syria, Erdogan said he hoped the results of trilateral summit will contribute to peace in the country. Erdogan added it is 'vital' to protect civilians in the region, separate terrorist elements and ensure current status of Idlib, the Turkish official Anadolu Agency reported. 'Turkey has 12 observation points in Idlib. Through this way, we take important responsibility for the continuation of tranquility in the region,' he said. Noting that Turkey hosts 3.5 million refugees, he said: 'Idlib's population is now 3.5 million. We do not have power and facilities to host another 3.5 million.' 9191**1420 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tehran summit statement declares support for Syria sovereignty IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA -- Tehran's trilateral summit on Syria held with the presence of Iranian, Russian and Turkish presidents in its final statement expressed support for Syria sovereignty. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the final statement, released on Friday, emphasized their strong and continued commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as well as to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and highlighted that they should be respected by all. Full text of the Tehran summit on Syria follows: 'Joint Statement by the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the President of the Russian Federation and the President of the Republic of Turkey Tehran, 7 September 2018 President of the Islamic Republic of Iran H.E. Hassan Rouhani, President of the Russian Federation H.E. Vladimir Putin and President of the Republic of Turkey H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdogan gathered in Tehran on 7 September 2018 for a Tripartite Summit. The Presidents: 1. Expressed their satisfaction with the achievements of the Astana format since January 2017, in particular, the progress made in reducing violence across the Syrian Arab Republic and contributing to peace, security and stability in the country. 2. Emphasized their strong and continued commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as well as to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and highlighted that they should be respected by all. They reiterated that no actions, no matter by whom they were undertaken, should undermine these principles. They rejected all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism and expressed their determination to stand against separatist agendas aimed at undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria as well as the national security of neighboring countries. 3. Discussed the current situation on the ground, took stock of the developments regarding the Syrian Arab Republic following their last meeting in Ankara on 4 April 2018 and agreed to continue trilateral coordination in accordance with their agreements. In this regard, they took up the situation in Idlib de-escalation area and decided to address it in line with the above-mentioned principles and the spirit of cooperation that characterized the Astana format. 4. Reaffirmed their determination to continue cooperation in order to ultimately eliminate DAESH/ISIL, Al-Nusra Front and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with Al-Qaeda or DAESH/ISIL, as they have been designated as terrorists by the UN Security Council. They underlined that, in the fight against terrorism, separation between the above-mentioned terrorist groups and the armed opposition groups that had joined or would join the ceasefire regime, would be of utmost importance including with respect to preventing civilian casualties. 5. Reaffirmed their conviction that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict and that it could only end through a negotiated political process. They reaffirmed their determination to continue active cooperation with a view to advancing the political process in consistence with the decisions of the Syrian National Dialogue Congress in Sochi and the UN Security Council Resolution 2254. 6. Reaffirmed their resolve to continue joint efforts aimed at advancing the Syrian-led and Syrian-owned process for reaching a political settlement and reiterated their commitment to help establish and launch the work of the Constitutional Committee. They expressed their satisfaction with the useful consultations between their senior officials and the United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy for Syria. 7. Emphasized the need to support all efforts to help all Syrians restore their normal and peaceful life and to alleviate their sufferings. In this regard, they called upon the international community, particularly the United Nations and its humanitarian agencies, to increase their assistance to Syria by providing additional humanitarian aid, facilitating humanitarian mine action, restoring basic infrastructure assets, including social and economic facilities, and preserving historical heritage. 8. Reaffirmed their determination to continue joint efforts aimed at protecting civilians and improving the humanitarian situation via facilitating rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all Syrians in need.' 9. Highlighted the need to create conditions for the safe and voluntary return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their original places of residence in Syria. To this end, they emphasized the necessity of coordination among all relevant parties, including the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other specialized international agencies. They agreed to consider the idea of convening an international conference on Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). 10. Welcomed the progress of the work of the Working Group on the release of detainees/abductees and handover of the bodies as well as the identification of the missing persons, as undertaken with the participation of the UN and ICRC experts. 11. Decided to hold their next meeting in the Russian Federation upon the invitation of the President of the Russian Federation H.E. Vladimir Putin. 12. The Presidents of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Turkey expressed their sincere gratitude to the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran H.E. Hassan Rouhani for hosting the Tripartite Summit in Tehran. 9191**1420 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US interference in Syria should be stopped immediately: Iran president IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Sept 7, IRNA -- Iranian president on Friday urged the US to end its interference in Syria, noting that the region's crisis should be resolved through inter-Syrian talks. US' illegal interference in Syria, which has led to continuation of unrest in the region, should be immediately stopped, President Hassan Rouhani said in Tehran's trilateral summit on Syria. The US interference in Syria is not consistent with any of the international rules and regulations and challenges sustainable peace in the region, Rouhani added. He referred to the current unrest in Libya after ouster of the country's government through direct foreign intervention and noted that attempts made by the UN and the guarantors of peace in Syrian including Iran, Turkey and Russia can bring peace to the region. After seven years of crisis in Syria, most players in the region believe that the crisis should be resolved through peaceful ways, Iranian president said. He lauded the Astana peace process role in improvement of situation in Syria and noted that cooperation with the legal government in Damascus is the best way to prevent the spread of terrorism and separatism in the region. The Iranian president said that fighting terrorism in Idlib in northwestern Syria is inevitable, noting that reaching sustainable peace is not possible without combating terrorism. Iran is in Syria at the request of the country's legal government and would support the Syrian nation's desire, he added. Tehran's trilateral summit on Syria kicked off on Friday evening with the presence of Iranian, Russian and Turkish presidents. Iranian president, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are to discuss Syria crisis in the meeting. Earlier on Friday afternoon, Iranian, Russian and Turkish presidents held mutual talks. Russian and Turkish presidents arrived in Iran on Tuesday afternoon to attend a trilateral meeting with Iranian president to discuss the Syria crisis. Rouhani, Putin and Erdogan are to attend a meeting on Friday evening for exchange of views on fighting terrorism and establishing security in Syria. Tehran summit is held while the Syrian army is preparing to liberate the last major stronghold of terrorist groups in Idlib in northwestern Syria. 9191**1420 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address CHICO, Calif. - Police have released more information about a shooting that happened in downtown Chico early in the morning on Sept. 6. The shooting happened around 1 a.m. outside of Duffy's Tavern, when a fight broke out resulting multiple gunshots. Police say that a rapper, Deshawn Taylor, 23, was performing at a bar called "Lost on Main" when he was asked to leave the stage after forgetting the words to his song. Taylor then got into a verbal dispute with people inside the bar and allegedly displayed a handgun in his waistband. Security then ushered him out of the bar, along with his mother and grandmother. After that, Taylor began walking south of the bar and got into a second altercation with a different group of people near 4th Street in Chico. Witnesses saw him allegedly waving a handgun in the air, which prompted them to call Chico police. The altercation then became physical, and witnesses saw him allegedly fire the handgun before fleeing on foot. Officers were able to detain and later arrest Taylor for Assault with a Deadly Weapon, Possession of a Stolen Firearm, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Carrying a Concealed Weapon, Exhibition of a Firearm, Possession of Ammunition by a Prohibited Person and Violation of Probation. The two victims, who have not been identified, were transported to Enloe Medical Center. Their wounds were not life-threatening. Militants preparing 'provocations' in Syria's Idlib: Putin Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 04:02PM Russian President Vladimir Putin says militants are preparing provocations, including the use of chemical weapons, in the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib. Putin made the remarks in an address to a key trilateral summit, hosted by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and also attended by Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in Tehran on Friday focusing on Syria. The meeting is part of the Astana Peace Process for the Syrian crisis and was held as Syria is preparing for an operation to liberate Idlib Province, the last major militant stronghold. Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are guarantors of the Astana process, a track of negotiations which have resulted in the return of a succession of militant bastions to the government fold and movement of civilians to safe zones. "The remaining groups of extremists are currently concentrated in the de-escalation zone in the province of Idlib. Terrorists are making attempts to disrupt the ceasefire, moreover, they are carrying out and preparing various kinds of provocations, including the use of chemical weapons," the Russian president said. He expressed hope that militants in Idlib would have the common sense to lay down their weapons and surrender. He added that there were many civilians in Idlib and that any solution to the situation in the militant-held Syrian province should take them into account. The Russian leader emphasized that Damascus has every right to take back all its territory. "The legitimate Syrian government has a right and must eventually take under control all its national territory," Putin pointed out. He pointed to the humanitarian aspects of the Syria crisis and the necessity to reconstruct the war-stricken country and said many people who had fled violence in Syria to other countries may now return to their homes. "Conditions have been prepared in Syria to take in up to a million of refugees. The government has provided security guarantees to all returnees, assuring that they would not be subjected to discrimination, including in terms of property rights," he said. He also expressed his opposition to a ceasefire in Idlib because members of the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham Takfiri terrorist group, formerly known as al-Nusra Front, and Daesh terrorists located there were not part of peace talks. The Russian president also called for the improvement of coordination among Tehran, Moscow and Ankara on the situation in Damascus. Meanwhile, speaking after talks with his Turkish and Iranian counterparts, the Russian president said that the main task was to get rid of militants in Idlib. Putin said the talks had been constructive and that they had discussed "phased stabilization" of Syria's de-escalation zones. Russia has also been providing air cover to Syrian army operations. It has also military advisors in the Arab country and runs a number of military bases there. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on August 31 that the Syrian troops have the full right to go after and hunt the terrorists out of the last stronghold of militants. Lavrov added that the Syrian army has every right "to protect its sovereignty and to drive out, liquidate the terrorist threat on its territory." Erdogan urges ceasefire in Idlib to avert 'bloodbath' Speaking at the three-way summit, Turkish President Erdogan called for a ceasefire to prevent any "bloodbath" in Idlib "If we can ensure a ceasefire here, this will be one of the most important steps of the summit, it will seriously put civilians at ease," Erdogan told the Tehran summit. "We never want Idlib to turn into a bloodbath," he added. He said: "Any attack launched or to be launched on Idlib will result in a disaster, massacre and a very big humanitarian tragedy." The Turkish leader added that Idlib is "of vital importance not only for Syria's future but also for our national security, as well as peace and stability in the region." He said Ankara can no longer afford to take in any more refugees from Syria, adding that steps would be taken to prevent further refugees from Syria. Turkey has accepted 3.5 million refugees from Syria since the beginning of the seven-year war. Earlier this month, the Turkish president warned against missile strikes during an upcoming military campaign by the Syrian army to liberate Idlib, saying a large-scale military action in the province would lead to a new wave of refugees toward Turkey. "The situation in Idlib is crucial for Turkey. A ruthless process has been going on there. ... God forbid, if this area is hailed by missiles there would be a serious massacre," Erdogan was quoted as saying by Turkey's Hurriyet Daily News. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US must swiftly end illegal presence, interference in Syria: Iran's Rouhani Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 02:11PM Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the United States must swiftly end its "illegal presence and interference" in Syria, which, he added, has led to the continuation of insecurity in the war-ravaged country. The Iranian president made the remarks while addressing a key trilateral summit in Tehran on Friday focusing on Syria in the presence of his Russian and Turkish counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, respectively. Rouhani raised six leading points in efforts to put an end to the seven-year crisis in Syria and said the international community is duty-bound to counter the Israeli regime's measures, particularly the continuation of its occupation of the Syrian land and its increasing moves against the Arab country's government and nation. "In any political negotiations to end the Syrian crisis, Syria's territorial integrity and independence must be respected," the Iranian president stated. He stressed the importance of continuing the fight against terrorism in Syria until the eradication of all terrorist groups in the country, particularly in the northwestern province of Idlib. He said the international community must pay heed to the issues of the Syrian refugees' return to their homeland and the reconstruction of the war-stricken country, adding, "The Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to play its constructive role in this regard." The Iranian president hailed "valuable efforts" made by Tehran, Ankara and Moscow to solve the Syria conflict and said the three sides need to further continue their cooperation to fully establish peace and stability in Damascus. Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are guarantors of the Astana process, a track of negotiations which have resulted in the return of a succession of militant bastions to the government fold and movement of civilians to safe zones. The three presidents have previously held summits in the Russian resort city of Sochi in November 2017 and in the Turkish capital Ankara in April 2018. At the request of Damascus, Iran has been offering advisory military assistance to the Syrian army. Tehran says it will continue its anti-terror mission as long as the legitimate government in Damascus wants it to do so. Russia has also been providing air cover to Syrian army operations. It has also military advisors in the Arab country and runs a number of military bases there. The Tehran summit was held as Syria is preparing for a large-scale operation to liberate Idlib Province, the last major militant stronghold. Syrian Prime Minister Imad Khamis said on Thursday that Idlib "will soon be restored to the nation," pledging to win any possible war there. "Syria has prevailed and will win in any coming war," Khamis said. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif also said that efforts are underway to drive terrorists out of Idlib with the least humanitarian cost. Turkey's President Erdogan said late in August that his country is working with Iran and Russia as the Syrian army is preparing for a decisive battle to drive terrorists out of the Idlib Province. Elsewhere in his address, Rouhani said joint efforts made by regional and world countries as well as the United Nations have contributed to nearly ending war and bloodshed in Syria, stopping acts of terror in the country and preventing their long-term regional and international consequences. Such measures also prepared the ground for a constructive dialogue among the Syrian people, he added. He described the Israeli regime, the US and some sponsors of terrorism as the main factors of occupation, terrorism, aggression, foreign intervention and discrimination. The occupying Tel Aviv regime, whose identity is formed with occupation, aggression and instability, cannot claim to fight terrorism, Rouhani said, adding that the immediate exit of the regime from Syria is a common demand of all the Syrian people. It is clear that the US government, which has an illegal presence in Syria, carries out acts of aggression and supports the apartheid Israeli regime, cannot be expected to play a "positive and constructive" role in Syria, he noted. "The illegal US meddling in Syria is not in conformity with any international regulations and adds to the ongoing problems in that country while posing a serious challenge to the process to achieve sustainable peace in Syria," the Iranian president said. "In drawing up any plan for the future of Syria, religious and ethnic diversity without any pressure, threat and foreign intervention must be taken into consideration and respected," Rouhani pointed out. Joint statement of Tehran Tripartite Summit At the end of the Tehran Tripartite Summit, the Iranian, Turkish and Russian presidents issued a joint statement, reaffirming their determination to continue cooperation until the eradication of terrorist groups in Syria. In the statement, Rouhani, Putin and Erdogan "reaffirmed their determination to continue cooperation in order to ultimately eliminate Daesh/ISIL, al-Nusra Front and all other individuals, groups, undertakings and entities associated with al-Qaeda or Daesh/ISIL, as they have been designated as terrorists by the UN Security Council." "They underlined that, in the fight against terrorism, separation between the above-mentioned terrorist groups and the armed opposition groups that had joined or would join the ceasefire regime, would be of utmost importance including with respect to preventing civilian casualties," it added. The three presidents agreed to hold the next round of their meeting in Russia. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin, Erdogan in Tehran for crucial Syria summit Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 08:36AM Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan have arrived in Tehran for a key summit to discuss key issues of interest, mainly a planned Syrian operation to retake Idlib. The three presidents were due to meet Friday as part of their efforts to return peace and stability to Syria which is gearing up for a decisive battle to expel terrorists from their last major urban stronghold. Ankara, Moscow and Tehran are guarantors of the Astana process, a track of negotiations which have resulted in the return of a succession of militant bastions to the government fold and movement of civilians to safe zones. Ahead of his visit to Tehran, Erdogan said Turkey aims to find a "permanent solution" to the conflict in its southern neighbor through the discussions. Ankara is worried that an operation in Idlib could lead to a wave of refugees pouring across the border into Turkey. The Friday meeting aims to find a mutually acceptable formula to avoid such consequences. Turkey agreed with Russia and Iran last year to make Idlib a "de-escalation zone" of reduced conflict. Syria and Russia say the province has now become a "nest of terrorists" which has to be dismantled by force. Idlib's dominant rebel faction is Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance spearheaded by al-Qaeda's former affiliate in Syria, the Nusra Front, though other groups are also present. The Syrian government has offered "reconciliation" for the negotiated militant surrenders that have taken place in some areas. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia is looking to the Tehran summit as a means of clarifying the military situation in Idlib. The fate of the Nusra Front and other foreign Takfiri terrorists will be one of the top issues at the summit. Russian officials have also stated clearly that militants must be pushed out of Idlib. They are using civilians as human shields and planning a possible false flag chemical attack, Syrian and Russian officials say. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Friday airstrikes hit parts of Idlib province on Friday morning, possibly paving the way for a ground operation by the Syrian army. The meeting in Tehran marks the third time the presidents of Turkey, Russia and Iran have met over Syria in less than a year. Their previous meetings in the Russian resort city of Sochi and the Turkish capital, Ankara established de-escalation zones in several areas, including Idlib. The presidents were also to hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the summit, while their foreign ministers planned to hold talks separately ahead of the tripartite summit. A final statement was expected to be released following a joint press conference by the three presidents. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Jaberi Ansari said the statement would cover almost all issues pertinent to Syrian developments and efforts undertaken by the three countries in Astana. The official reiterated Iran's determination in fighting terrorism, saying the trilateral talks would continue to help end the conflict in the Arab country. The summit is being held at a time when "unilateral US policies" and sanctions have targeted the three countries, Jaberi Ansari added. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Idlib will be soon under govt. control: Syrian PM Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 07:42AM Syrian prime minister says the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major stronghold of the terrorists in the Arab country, will be soon under government control, pledging to win any possible war there. "Idlib will soon be restored to the nation," Imad Khamis said on Thursday as a large-scale liberation operation against remaining terrorists in the province draws closer. "Syria has prevailed and will win in any coming war," Khamis said. With the help of Iran, Russia and Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement, the Syrian army is preparing for the Idlib operation, a strategically-important region which shares a border with Turkey and is also close to the coastal Latakia Province. Idlib also hosts Turkish-backed militants fighting against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Turkey, whose army has a string of observation posts around the edge of the militant area, has warned against such an offensive. Syria is facing the threat of being hit by the US and its allies if a chemical attack takes place in the province. On Thursday, Jim Jeffrey, the new US adviser for Syria, claimed that there was "lots of evidence" that chemical weapons are being prepared by Syrian government forces in the militant-held province. "There is lots of evidence that chemical weapons are being prepared, " claimed Jeffrey, who was named on August 17 as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's special adviser on Syria overseeing talks on a political transition in that country. He said Washington views the Syrian government military offensive on Idlib as an escalation of the Syrian conflict. The US has accused the Syrian government of attacking civilians with chemicals in previous operations, including in Douma near Damascus and in Khan Sheikhun, in Idlib. The Syrian authorities have strongly denied any involvement in either cases, saying the attacks had been carried out by militants to slow Syria's progress in the fight against terror. Syria and its allies, including Russia, believe a similar scenario could be staged in Idlib. Moscow has already submitted evidence to the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) showing that the terrorists in Idlib are preparing to set up another false flag chemical attack to frame Damascus. Damascus and Moscow have warned that the US, along with Britain and France, is gearing up for a new military attack against Syria as the army prepares for the liberation of Idlib. The US has reportedly drawn up a preliminary list of facilities in Syria that could be targeted in case of a false flag chemical attack in Idlib. Speaking at a Thursday United Nations Security Council meeting about the use of chemical weapons in Syria's years-long war against foreign-backed terrorists, Russia's UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya said Washington and its military allies, the UK and France, had to reveal where they were going to attack. On April 14, the US, Britain and France launched a coordinated missile strike against sites and research facilities near Damascus and Homs with the purported goal of paralyzing the Syrian government's capability to produce chemicals. The strike came one week after an alleged gas attack hit the Damascus suburb town of Douma, just as the Syrian army was about to win the battle against the militants there. Syria and Russia have also announced that they have obtained evidence revealing a yet another plot by Takfiri terrorists to carry out a chemical attack in Idlib - an attack that they say would be blamed on Damascus with the aim of justifying an ensuing Western aggression. Western states blamed the Syrian government for the incident, but Damascus firmly rejected the accusation. Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, Syria's Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari blasted the US, France and the UK for supporting terrorists operating in the Arab country, saying that there were no chemical weapons in Syria. The Syrian envoy said that there were no cases of chemical weapons use in Syria since 2014, when the OPCW was established. He slammed certain Western countries that blame Syria for the alleged chemical attacks for enabling Israel to possess nuclear and chemical weapons. Jaafari said the same governments, that he said included some permanent members of the UN Security Council, were failing to do their responsibilities toward disbanding chemical weapons properly. The same governments, he said, are the ones that protect and conceal the nuclear and chemical weapons of Israel. The presidents of Iran, Russia and Turkey, the countries acting as the guarantors of the ceasefire in Syria, are set to meet in Tehran on Friday for a third summit seeking an end to the Syrian crisis. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia to US: Reveal your targets for possible Syria attack Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 01:40AM Russia has called on the United States to reveal the list of the targets that it will attack in response to what it claims to be an upcoming chemical attack by the Syrian government. Speaking at a Thursday United Nations Security Council meeting about the use of chemical weapons in Syria's years-long war against foreign-backed militancy, Russia's UN envoy Vasily Nebenzya said Washington and its military allies, the UK and France had to reveal where they were going to attack. "Reveal the list of targets, which, as was reported, the Pentagon has chosen for a possible airstrike by the three nations," he said. "If you believe that those locations are related to the storage of chemical weapons, then show some respect to the international law and forward this information to the OPCW [Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons]," he added. Syria and Russia have been preparing to mount an offensive on the northwestern province of Idlib, the last major stronghold of anti-government terrorists in the Arab country. The White House has warned that the United States and its allies would not hesitate to respond "swiftly and vigorously" if the Syrian armed forces use chemical weapons in the upcoming offensive. Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, said at the UNSC meeting that Russia and other members of the council should be in "deep shame" for siding with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the conflict. "So we want to take this opportunity to remind Assad and his Russian and Iranian partners: you don't want to bet against the United States responding again," she said, referring to Washington's reaction to previous alleged chemical attacks in Syria. Iran and Russia have both assisted Assad in purging terrorists from large parts of Syria. The US has time and again accused Syria of carrying out chemical attacks against its own people. Jim Jeffrey, who was named last month as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's special adviser on Syria, echoed those remarks earlier in the day, saying there was "lots of evidence" that Damascus was preparing chemical weapons for the attack. This is while both Russia and Syria have warned of suspicious activity in terrorist-controlled areas that show the anti-government militants are preparing to mount chemical attacks in Idlib and then blame it on the army. Last year, when over 80 people died in the April 4 purported gas attack on Khan Shaykhun, US warships fired 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles from two warships in the Mediterranean Sea at the Shayrat airfield in Syria's central province of Homs. The attacks continued this year, when early on April 14, the US, Britain and France carried out a string of missile airstrikes against Syria over a suspected chemical attack against the Syrian town of Douma, near the capital Damascus. Syria's envoy to the UN, Bashar al-Jaafari, told the council that the three Western countries were among the main supporters of terror groups in the country. The support, he argued, had hindered the political process in Syria over the past seven years. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Erdogan Warns Russia, Iran Against Offensive In Syria's Idlib Province RFE/RL September 07, 2018 Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned Russia and Iran that an attack by Syrian government forces and their allies on Idlib Province, the last rebel stronghold in the war-ravaged Middle Eastern country, would result in a "massacre." Erdogan spoke on September 7 at a summit in Tehran with Iranian President Hassan Rohani and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said Syria's government "has the right" to recapture the entire country and opposed Erdogan's call for a cease-fire in Idlib. The summit ended with a pledge to seek ways to resolve the situation in the northwestern province, where residents, rights activists, and foreign states fear an expected government offensive could cause high civilian casualties and a humanitarian catastrophe. "Any attack launched or to be launched on Idlib will result in a disaster, a massacre, and a very big humanitarian tragedy," said Erdogan. "We never want Idlib to turn into a bloodbath." "If we can announce a cease-fire today here, I believe this will be one of the most important steps of this summit," he said. "This will bring comfort to civilians. I think making such an announcement will be a victory for this summit." Rohani said that the fight in Syria should continue until all extremists are "uprooted," especially in Idlib, but that the battle there should not harm civilians. Putin said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government "has the right to and must ultimately take control of all its national territory." He voiced opposition to Erdogan's call for a cease-fire, saying that the rebels were not at the talks and a decision on a truce could not be made for them. Instead, Putin said, he and Erdogan and Rohani discussed a "phased stabilization" in Idlib that could involve peace agreements with government opponents who are "ready for dialogue." A joint statement issued after the summit said that Iran, Russia, and Turkey agreed to look for ways to resolve the situation in the province, and contained few details. Hours before the presidents met, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that air strikes hit parts of Idlib province on September 7. Meanwhile, Idlib residents held mass rallies to protest against Assad and the anticipated government offensive. "Leave, Bashar!" hundreds of protesters chanted in Saraqeb, a town in eastern Idlib. "We will defend our revolution." Putin -- traveling with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, and foreign policy aide Yury Ushakov -- met with Erdogan before the trilateral talks. There are tens of thousands of rebels in Idlib Province, which borders Turkey. An estimated 10,000 Al-Qaeda-linked fighters are among those rebels, and Idlib is also home to about 3 million civilians -- nearly half of them displaced from other parts of Syria. Russia and Iran are both allies of the Syrian government, which has set its sights on retaking Idlib in what it sees as the next critical step to clinching a military victory in the seven-year civil war that has killed more than 400,000 people and displaced millions. For the Syrian government and Russia, the province is also strategically important because it borders Latakia Province, Assad's main stronghold and the site of Russia's biggest air base in the country, as well as its naval facility. Turkey backs many of the rebel groups in the province but recently moved toward its negotiating partners in declaring that the Al-Qaeda affiliate Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as the Al-Nusra Front, is a "terrorist organization" that should be eliminated. Russian officials have said "terrorist" groups should be "liquidated," but the Russian military has also said it is seeking to separate out extremist fighters from other rebel groups supported by Turkey. The joint statement said the three countries agree on the need to eliminate the Al-Nusra Front and the extremist group Islamic State (IS) in Syria. As Putin and Erdogan were arriving in Tehran, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said air strikes were targeting positions belonging to rebel groups in the northern Hama and southern Idlib provinces. It said strikes on September 7 destroyed a building near the town of Al-Habeet used by the Islamist Ahrar al-Sham group, which is separate from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, resulting in a number of casualties. Assad's government has been massing thousands of troops in preparation for an assault. Russia, which has provided air support to the Syrian Army since 2015, has made a big show of force by moving 10 warships and two submarines off the coast of Syria. A spokesman for the National Front for Liberation, a Turkey-backed rebel alliance, said the group's fighters are prepared for battle but are looking to Turkey for efforts to prevent the attack and "protect Idlib." The rebels expect a major humanitarian crisis, a large wave of displacement, and heavy casualties if a Russia-backed offensive takes place, spokesman Najib al-Mustafa said. Western powers, which never formally entered the conflict other than to back Kurdish-led militias instrumental in ousting IS from its northern stronghold in 2017, have largely watched the brewing battle in Idlib from the sidelines. The United States, France, and Britain have warned, however, that they would take action if Assad uses chemical weapons in his assault on Idlib, as he allegedly has done in battles to retake other parts of the country. Russia and Syria and have denied planning a chemical weapons attack, but U.S. special adviser for Syria Jim Jeffrey told reporters on September 6 that "there is lots of evidence" that chemical weapons are being prepared by government forces in Idlib. He said that "any offensive is to us objectionable as a reckless escalation" of the war. Putin said in Tehran that "terrorists" were planning "provocations" in Syria, including the potential use of chemical weapons -- repeating a frequent Russian claim that has been dismissed by the United States and other Western governments. He did not provide evidence. The UN has warned that an all-out offensive in Idlib will lead to death and destruction even greater than that seen previously in Syria, including the displacement of another 800,000 civilians -- most of whom are likely to seek refuge in nearby Turkey, which already hosts 3.5 million war refugees. Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria, said the world is looking to Russia, Turkey, and Iran to find a "soft solution to the crisis." "There are indeed many more babies than there are terrorists in Idlib. There are a million children," he said. De Mistura's call on the negotiators -- in particular the main power broker, Russia -- to protect civilians was echoed by eight European countries in a joint statement on September 6. Iranian fighters have provided critical support for Assad throughout the war. The presidents of Turkey, Russia, and Iran have met to discuss Syria three times in less than a year. Their previous meetings, in Sochi and Ankara, established so-called deescalation zones in several areas, including Idlib, that temporarily reduced violence. All these agreements were later violated, however, as Syrian troops backed by Russia and Iran moved to retake those areas after strafing them with artillery and air strikes -- a pattern which could be repeated in Idlib. In regaining control over other parts of Syria in the last year, Russian-brokered surrender deals offered safe passage for tens of thousands of rebels and their families to Idlib, which is why the province became the last bastion of the armed resistance. With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa, Interfax, TASS, and Rossia-24 Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/leaders-russia-iran- turkey-meed-bid-avert-bloodshed-syria-idlib- province-erdogan-putin-rohani/29476550.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey Has Reportedly Proposed Evacuating Militants From Syria's Idlib Sputnik News 14:55 07.09.2018(updated 16:59 07.09.2018) For the Syrian government, retaking the last militant stronghold in Idlib is crucial to scoring a final victory in the seven-year civil war. In a bid to avoid massive loss of life in the event of a major assault by Syrian government forces, Turkey has drawn up a plan that would allow militants safe passage from the northwestern province, the newspaper Daily Sabah reported. According to the plan, unveiled by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting with his Russian and Iranian counterparts in Tehran to discuss the war in Syria and a possible military offensive to retake the rebel enclave of Idlib, 12 armed groups, including the jihadist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, would surrender their weapons. The fighters would then be evacuated to a buffer zone under the surveillance of the so-called moderate opposition on condition that they hand over their weapons to a coalition of militant groups backed by Ankara, the newspaper wrote without revealing its sources. Foreign fighters would be allowed to return to their home countries, but the groups who refused to disarm and move out would become the target of counter-terror operations. Turkey will then train a militant force to ensure security in the province, just like in other Syrian regions controlled by Ankara-backed fighters. Fearing that a major assault on Idlib could cause "disaster" and send refugees streaming across its borders, Turkey has spent the past few weeks in intense negotiations with Russia. The province of Idlib is home to about three million civilians nearly half of them displaced from other parts of Syria. According to analysts, Ankara could agree to a limited offensive in Idlib by Damascus and its allies even if it leaves the question of the long-term control of the province open for now, the Daily Sabah wrote. Russia and Iran are both allies of the Syrian government, which wants retake Idlib in what it sees as the next critical step to clinching a military victory in the seven-year civil war that has killed more than 400,000 people and displaced millions. The Tehran summit between Hassan Rouhani, Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan may determine whether diplomacy halts any military action in Idlib. Their previous meetings in Sochi and Ankara led to the creation of the so-called "de-escalation zones" in several parts of Syria, including Idlib, which temporarily reduced violence. A series of previous rebel surrender deals clinched in Syria over the past year have offered safe passage for tens of thousands of militants and their families to Idlib, making the province the last bastion of the armed resistance to Damascus. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin: Terrorists in Syria's Idlib Preparing Provocations Sputnik News 14:38 07.09.2018(updated 18:32 07.09.2018) The presidents of Russia, Turkey, and Iran are meeting in Tehran on Friday for the third trilateral summit to discuss the situation in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated during the meeting in Tehran that terrorists in the rebel-held Syrian city of Idlib are preparing provocations involving chemical weapons. "The remaining groups of extremists [in Syria] are currently concentrated in the de-escalation zone in the province of Idlib. Terrorists are making attempts to disrupt the ceasefire, moreover, they are carrying out and preparing various kinds of provocations, including using chemical weapons," the Russian President stressed. He also noted the significant progress in ensuring long-term normalization in Syria. "I would like to note that the decisions of the two previous summits of the guarantor states of the Astana process are being successfully implemented, and significant progress has been achieved in ensuring long-term normalization in Syria," Putin said. The Russian President agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's proposal to declare a ceasefire in Syria's Idlib but underlined that it's impossible to talk for the groups that were not present at the meeting. "There are no representatives of the armed opposition at the table and, moreover, of the Nusra Front* and Daesh*. I believe that the Turkish president is generally right, it would be good. But we cannot say for them, and especially we cannot say for the Nusra Front and Daesh terrorists that they will stop shooting or stop using drones with bombs," Putin said during the discussion. He also noted that the text was made very "diplomatic." Iranian President on the Situation in Syria Addressing the issue, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that the civilian population in Idlib should not suffer during counter-terrorism operations. "Fighting terrorism in Idlib is an integral part of the mission of establishing peace and stability in Syria, and civilians should not suffer from this fight," Rouhani said at the summit. "The only goal in Syria and the region can only be peace, but to achieve sustainable peace, a serious fight against terrorism is inevitable," the president added. He also urged Israel to leave "the occupied Syrian territories," and criticized the US presence in the country. "It is absolutely clear that the United States is present in Syria illegally and is only fueling aggression and supporting terrorist regime [there]. And its positive role in the Syrian process can hardly be expected. [The US] presence only exacerbates problems, and hampers the achievement of sustainable peace in Syria," Iranian president emphasized. Turkey on Syrian Issue Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said, in turn, that Ankara is "extremely annoyed" by the United States' support of Kurdish YPG in Syria. Addressing the situation, he confirmed that Ankara would continue its military operation in Syria until the country reached integrity, also adding that Turkey would not tolerate any threats to its territory emerging from Syria. "Turkey is decisively determined to maintain its presence in the region until Syria's territorial, political and social integrity is ensured," the Turkish President said ahead of the summit. He also noted that it is possible to relocate militants, who attack the Russian Hmeymim airbase, from Idlib to other areas. "We believe that we can try to remove these elements, which bother our Russian friends and pose a threat to Hmeymim, to more remote places," Erdogan said at the summit. He proposed declaring a ceasefire in Syria's Idlib, stopping attacks on this province. "As for the bombings, I think it will be useful to declare a truce because the population of Idlib is seriously suffering, the bombing is a threat to [the civilian population] On the one hand, a ceasefire, and on the other measures that should be applied to terrorists. I believe that our relevant bodies will hold meetings to ensure an appropriate ceasefire," Erdogan suggested. The Turkish head of state stressed that the situation in this province of Syria, which is important for the security of Turkey, had reached a dangerous point. "Many of our soldiers were killed. We put a lot of effort, but despite this, the situation [in Idlib] is exposed to various risks. Idlib is considered not only geopolitically [important] for the future of Syria, but also for the security of our country," he said. Erdogan also warned that the operation of the Syrian army in the region could lead to a humanitarian disaster, adding that his country was no longer able to receive refugees from Syria. The Turkish President concluded by saying that the next trilateral meeting would probably be held in Russia. The situation in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, the last major terrorist stronghold, has been the key topics at the summit. According to the Kremlin, the insurgent hotbed in Idlib destabilizes the situation in Syria and undermines work toward a political settlement of the conflict. Russian officials, moreover, have repeatedly warned that terrorists were planning a false-flag chemical weapons attack in Idlib with the aim of provoking Western retaliation against the Syrian government. *Daesh (also known as Islamic State, ISIS, ISIL or IS) and Nusra Front, are terrorist organizations, banned in Russia. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Most of Syria's Idlib De-Escalation Zone Still Controlled by Militants - Moscow Sputnik News 13:08 07.09.2018(updated 14:15 07.09.2018) MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Large part of Syria's Idlib de-escalation zone is still controlled by militants, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has stated. "The Idlib de-escalation zone remains a 'hot spot'on Syria's map, a large part of it is controlled today by terrorists gathered around the al-Nusra Front* within the structure dubbed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham," Zakharova told a briefing. According to Moscow, the terrorism hotbed in Idlib destabilizes the situation in Syria and undermines the work toward the political settlement of the conflict. Moscow does not understand what Washington meant with its alleged requests for permission to "operate" in Syria's Idlib and therefore needs further clarification on the matter, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry noted. "For us, this statement is raising quite a lot of questions, and considering that it was made publicly, we would like to ask, also publicly, what it was about, what Mr. Jeffrey meant. Because we don't really understand this statement," Maria Zakharova said. The US Secretary of State's special adviser on Syria, Jim Jeffrey, said the United States had repeatedly asked Russia for permission to "operate" in Idlib in order to eliminate remaining terrorists, Reuters news agency reported earlier in the day. Russian officials have repeatedly warned that terrorists were planning a false-flag chemical weapons attack in Idlib with an aim to provoke Western retaliation against the Syrian government. Russia, Turkey and Iran are the guarantors of the ceasefire regime in Syria, where the government forces have been fighting numerous opposition groups, as well as militant and terrorist organizations since 2011. Moscow has also been assisting Damascus through supporting the struggle against the terrorist groups and providing humanitarian aid to civilians. Russia Calls on Ukraine to Immediately Release Journalist Vyshinsky Moscow demands the immediate release of the head of RIA Novosti Ukraine portal, Kirill Vyshinsky, detained in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted. "We demand the immediate release of Kirill Vyshinsky, and before that to provide him with plausible conditions of detention. We demand timely medical assistance. We call on the international community to influence the lawlessness that prevails in Ukraine," Zakharova told a briefing. According to the spokeswoman, deteriorating health of the detained journalists was particularly alarming, as the journalist is denied high-quality medical care that he needed. The diplomat urged the international human rights groups to pay attention to the catastrophic situation around the rights of journalists in Ukraine. On September 5, Vyshinsky's health suddenly deteriorated and he was sent to a hospital in the middle of a court hearing on the renewal or change of his custody. On September 6, a Ukrainian court ruled to prolong the journalist's detention by another 60 days. French Report on RT, Sputnik Has 'Fake Essence' "This document, which can hardly be called an expert one due to its abundance of groundless claims and propaganda cliches, gives rise to anti-Russia sentiments and hostile attacks on our media working in France," Zakharova said. Groundless accusations against the RT broadcaster and the Sputnik news agency reflect the "fake essence" of the report of French ministries' think tanks, which suggests that the journalists of the two outlets should not be accredited or invited to press conferences, Russian Foreign Ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stressed. "RT and Sputnik are openly called propagandists in France, considered something that cannot be regarded as media. Moreover, this report claims that these information resources are engaged exclusively in propaganda, while there is no evidence and even arguments in support of such allegations, and this is, in my opinion, an example of the very fake essence that they urge to fight against," Zakharova stated. The spokeswoman noted that the report could be aimed at preparing restrictive measures against media in France. "In fact, we think that all this does not so much target RT and Sputnik, but rather serves to justify the measures to limit freedom of speech, which are being prepared by the French authorities," Zakharova said. The report was prepared by the CAPS center with the French Foreign Ministry and the IRSEM center of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and published on Tuesday. The document enumerates steps to deal with the manipulation of information. *al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra, known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham is a terrorist group banned in Russia Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 'Sanctity of human civilian life' in Idlib must win out, urges UN Syria Envoy 7 September 2018 - With the ingredients for a "perfect storm" brewing in the Syrian province of Idlib, the international community cannot allow civilians there to succumb to such a fate, the UN Envoy for the country told the Security Council on Friday. Speaking from Geneva, where he is based, Staffan de Mistura briefed the 15 ambassadors on the intensified military presence and increased airstrikes in the northwestern region, which have prompted fears of a potential humanitarian catastrophe in the last rebel stronghold in the country. Idlib is one of four "de-escalation zones" in Syria agreed under a deal reached last year by Iran, Russia and Turkey in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana. The UN estimates nearly three million people are trapped there, half of whom were displaced from other parts of the country. While most are civilians, terrorist organizations, foreign fighters and armed opposition groups have also gathered in Idlib. "I have laid out...all the ingredients for a perfect storm. The dangers are profound that any battle for Idlib could be, would be, a horrific and bloody battle. Civilians are its potential victims, and there are ever-present dangers in the case of a full-scale assault of incidents, rapid escalations, involving regional and international players," the UN Envoy said. "The Security Council cannot accept that the civilians of Idlib must face this type of fate. Efforts to combat terrorism do not supersede obligations under international law in the moral conscience of humanity. We must put the sanctity of human civilian life above everything else." Mr. De Mistura urged all stakeholders in the crisis to find a solution to prevent a tragedy in Idlib while also addressing the issue of terrorism. The three "Astana guarantors" met in Tehran on Friday and Mr. De Mistura will hold talks with them in Geneva starting on Monday. He will also meet with representatives from Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and the United States later in the week. "It would be the ultimate failure of imagination and of diplomacy if, with these efforts, we simply saw an increase of military activities," he said. John Ging, a top official with the UN's humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, updated ambassadors on ongoing efforts in Idlib, where the global organization and its partners reach around two million people each month. Plans are in place to support up to 900,000 civilians who could be affected by conflict, while stocks of food, medical supplies and other items have been pre-positioned. Mr. Ging reported that parties to the conflict have received "de-confliction information" related to 125 humanitarian facilities, warehouses and other sites in Idlib where residents can find assistance. "In their military operations, all parties bear the obligation to take constant care to spare civilians, and civilian objects, including humanitarian workers and humanitarian facilities," he said. The OCHA Director of Operations concluded his briefing with five requests to the international community. These "key asks" included a call for a cessation of hostilities in Idlib, for safe humanitarian access, and to allow civilians the freedom to leave the area. Mr. Ging also appealed for an increase in humanitarian funding, noting that the current response was "already overstretched". NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Thanks to Ginger Taylor for sharing this story from GQ Magazine. Sperm Count Zero. A strange thing has happened to men over the past few decades: Weve become increasingly infertile, so much so that within a generation we may lose the ability to reproduce entirely. Whats causing this mysterious drop in sperm countsand is there any way to reverse it before its too late? The target in the article appears to be plastics - phalates - affecting both men and women. Other chemicals are given a "pass" (that's an oversimplification, do read the article) as the industrial revolution raced forward for almost 100 years before the drop was seen. However, 1995 comes into play as a date where the slope (rate of change) steepened. Levine was ready with an answer. So that's one of the reasons we also conducted a sensitivity analysis, he said from the stage, with studies with sample collection only after 1995and the slope was even steeper. So that could not explain the decline we see after 1995. The pediatric vaccine schedule had hyper-bolus doses of mercury in it in 1995 including 12.5 mcg in birth dose Hep B alone. My first thought, and perhaps yours too, was "What is the science on mercury levels and sperm count and motility? Hair mercury (Hg) levels, fish consumption and semen parameters among men attending a fertility center. Chronic exposure to low doses of mercury impairs sperm quality and induces oxidative stress in rats. There are many such studies at our fingertips. Mercury continues to be a problem for infants as doctors routinely administer flu shots to pregnant women, and children over age 3 are not considered as "must" for mercury reduced vaccinations. Mercury remains in dental amalgam. Sushi is as common as Ritz Crackers in grocery stores from California to Maine. Other chemicals like glyphosate and certainly phalates are taking their toll. It adds up to a toxic burden of never before seen proportions. And our boys, for those readers who have sons, and whose sons not so severely affected by autism that they might be able to father children one day, are losing their fertility. WFP and UNICEF prepare for the worst in Syria's Idlib, as insecurity mars start of another school year 7 September 2018 - Emergency food supplies for hundreds of thousands of people in Syria's Idlib are "ready for distribution" in the event of mass displacement caused by a full-scale military offensive on the last opposition-held region, the World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday. Spokesperson Herve Verhoosel told journalists in Geneva that the UN agency has enough ready-to-eat food for 850,000 people for one week, but that the "single greatest priority" must be to end the conflict. "WFP appeals to all parties to protect civilians, respect humanitarian principles and allow for the safe delivery of food to families in need, no matter where they are," he said. This food aid is either already inside Syria or can be brought in to the war-torn country from neighbouring Turkey. Additional supplies for displaced families can also be diverted from WFP's monthly deliveries to Idlib, Aleppo and Hama, according to the WFP spokesperson. "Sufficient" nutrition supplies are also in place for 180,000 children and women for up to three months, Mr Verhoosel explained, before adding that the more than seven-year war had left 6.5 million Syrians food insecure and another four million are at risk of becoming so - twice as many as last year. And amid preparations for the potential mass displacement, UN Children's Fund UNICEF warned that the conflict has caused an education crisis, affecting Syrian youngsters nationwide. "Thousands of children in Idlib have been forced to leave their homes multiple times and are now living in overcrowded makeshift shelters, with food, water and medicine in dangerously short supply," said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director. "A fresh wave of violence could leave them trapped between fighting lines or caught in the crossfire, with potentially fatal consequences," she added. Even as the new school year started on 1 September, many schools are still lacking vital supplies, almost 7,000 classrooms are in need of rehabilitation, and over 2,300 teaching positions are currently vacant. Four million children throughout the country were due to go back to school, but two million cannot. As fighting intensifies, UNICEF is gravely concerned that potential airstrikes, ground military operations, and the use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas will be disastrous for children, said Ms. Fore. "Our request is simple: Protect children. Give us safe, sustained and unconditional access to them. Allow and enable those who want to leave to do so safely and voluntarily," she added. For UNICEF, education can help overcome trauma, foster reconciliation and repair a community's social fabric. Despite these benefits, however, the task of getting children into school has been made harder owing to a shortfall of some 180,000 education workers nationwide. In Idlib, where schools have been opening earlier than usual in an effort to provide more lesson time for some 400,000 children, "schooling is often suspended because of insecurity, shelling and violence", UNICEF spokesperson, Christophe Boulierac said, briefing reporters in Geneva on Friday. Outside Syria, education is also a major problem in refugee host countries, he added. "While the percentage of out-of-school children in these neighbouring countries dropped from 41 per cent in 2016 to 35 per cent in 2017, there continue to be 700,000 children out of school in the neighbouring countries." Faced with a severe funding shortfall amounting to $517 million, the UN agency fears that host governments in Turkey, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt, "who have spared no effort" to accommodate Syrian children, could change policies that have kept schools open to refugees. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address World Food Program Prepares For Possible Idlib Onslaught By Lisa Schlein September 07, 2018 The World Food Program (WFP) says it is making preparations ahead of a possible onslaught on Syria's northern province of Idlib to provide food to hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the midst of battle. Anticipating the worst, the organization says it has pre-positioned emergency food stocks inside Syria and Turkey for cross-border delivery into Idlib. WFP spokesman Herve Verhoosel says the WFP has enough ready-to-eat food for 850,000 people for one week. "In addition, we can use the ration, what is there from the normal distribution in north Hama, Idlib and rural Aleppo," he told VOA. "We can eventually use some of those in case of big displacements of population. And on the top of that also, we have nutrition supplies to support 180,000 children and women for up to three months." An estimated 3 million people live in Idlib, the last major stronghold of active opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's rule. The presidents of Turkey, Iran and Russia, meeting in Tehran on Friday for a summit of key foreign players in Syria's war, failed to agree on a cease-fire in Idlib. The United Nations warns a military attack on Idlib could send people fleeing toward Turkey because they have nowhere else to go. Turkey is expected to close its borders. It already is hosting 3 million Syrian refugees and says it cannot take more. The WFP is appealing to all warring parties to protect civilians and respect humanitarian principles. It is urging them to allow aid workers to safely deliver food to the many families in need, no matter where they are. It says its operation in Syria is very costly and that it needs $211 million to cover needs through February. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Fears of Bloodbath in Syria's Idlib as Russia, Turkey and Iran Meet By Henry Ridgwell September 07, 2018 The leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran are scheduled to meet Friday in Tehran under the so-called Astana format to discuss the fate of the Syrian province of Idlib, the last rebel-held area of the country. There are fears that Syrian and Russian forces are about to launch a big offensive, which likely would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe and set up a confrontation with Turkish-backed rebels. Russian and Syrian forces have conducted airstrikes on targets in Idlib this week. About 2.9 million people live in Idlib province, the last stronghold for Turkish-backed rebel forces and rival anti-Assad groups, including the al-Qaida-linked militant group Hayat Tahrir al Sham. The showdown is part of Syria and Russia's long-term strategy, according to Syria analyst Kyle Orton. "They packed them all into Idlib so that when it came time for this final showdown, they could frame the offensive in the language of the war on terror. Their target, though, is the civilian population that rose against Assad seven years ago. The aim is to finish off the rebellion and to re-establish total control of the country." Humanitarian crisis The United Nations' Syria envoy, Staffan de Mistura, warned this week of an impending humanitarian crisis of epic proportions. "That's why I appeal, if I may, to President [Vladimir] Putin and to President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan to talk and go beyond, perhaps, technical discussions and find a solution," de Mistura said. Turkey has stepped up its military presence in Idlib and along the Syrian border, raising the stakes in the proxy war for control of Syria, according to Orton. Dilemma for Russia and for Turkey "It does bring this confrontation, because the Russians have been able to so far have allies, or good relations with Iran and Assad in Damascus, with Israel and with Turkey. Now, they're made to choose between two partners Turkey, and Assad and Iran in Idlib. They're trying to finesse it by creating a deal that hands over the province to Assad and Iran without a conflict." Whether Erdogan would accept such a deal remains to be seen. "If Turkey could be sure that the PKK wouldn't come into Idlib, there's a chance they would do that. And if they weren't going to be flooded with refugees as well, they may well go for something like that. The problem is that the Iranians and the [Syrian] regime have started training the PKK and advertising the fact that they're coming in with their troops," Orton said. Observers say Western inaction has left the United States and its allies as peripheral to Idlib's fate, which looks set to be decided by Moscow, Ankara and Tehran. U.S. President Donald Trump said this week the world is watching the actions of the Syrian government and its Iranian and Russian backers, and warned the U.S. would, in his words, "get very angry" if there is a slaughter. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN Syria Envoy Warns of 'Perfect Storm' for Disaster in Idlib By Margaret Besheer September 07, 2018 The U.N. envoy for Syria warned Friday that all the ingredients exist for a "perfect storm" of a humanitarian catastrophe if the Syrian government, backed by Russia, carries out a large-scale military offensive on the northwestern province of Idlib. "The dangers are profound that any battle for Idlib could be would be a horrific and bloody battle," Staffan de Mistura told U.N. Security Council members via videoconference. "Civilians are its potential victims." Nearly 3 million people live in Idlib. Half of them have been displaced from other parts of Syria and moved to Idlib which is a "de-escalation" zone encompassing parts of Aleppo, Latakia and Hama provinces seeking safety. Along with the civilians, the United Nations estimates that 15,000 terrorist fighters are also in Idlib. "Efforts to combat terrorism do not supersede obligations under international law, in the moral conscience of humanity," de Mistura reminded members. "We must put the sanctity of human civilian life above everything else." Among Idlib's 3 million inhabitants are 1 million children. "There are more babies in Idlib than terrorists, and that should give those engaging in military action pause for thought," said British Ambassador Karen Pierce. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is backed by Russia, and the Kremlin has repeatedly warned Western powers not to interfere in efforts to clear the area of the fighters. "The Syrian authorities have the full right to fight for restoration of control throughout all of the country's territory," Russian U.N. envoy Vassily Nebenzia said. "Security Council resolutions explicitly state that no cessation-of-hostilities regime covers terrorist organizations. The fight against them needs to go on." Russia, Iran and Turkey form a group known as the Astana Guarantors, which oversees what were originally four de-escalation zones in Syria, of which Idlib is the last remaining. They held a summit Friday in Tehran to try to find a way to avoid a military escalation. "An effective solution would be a separation of armed opposition groups willing and desiring to participate in a political process, separating them from terrorists who remain a legitimate target for liquidation," Nebenzia said. Nebenzia accused Western countries of "stoking hysteria" around Idlib and trying to prevent the fall of the last "major terrorist stronghold" in Syria. He dismissed concerns of a potentially disastrous humanitarian crisis, saying previous alarm bells over Eastern Ghouta and Aleppo did not have their "apocalyptic prognoses crystallized." U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley urged Russia to consider its options carefully. "For Russia, continuing to support this murderous dictator, and isolating themselves from the international community, is the wrong choice," Haley said. She urged Moscow to stop Assad's assault on Idlib and to work with Washington, the U.N. and international partners to find a political solution to the more than seven-year-long conflict. She said there were many ways to effectively target terrorist groups without causing a humanitarian catastrophe. The U.N. has pre-positioned food aid and other supplies inside Syria and across the border from Idlib in southern Turkey in anticipation of a military offensive. De Mistura said his diplomatic efforts would continue. He plans to meet Monday in Geneva with the Astana Guarantors and on Friday with Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United States. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Erdogan Warns of Massacre as Syria Summit Ends in Deadlock By Dorian Jones September 07, 2018 Turkey is again warning that a "bloodbath" would result from any Syrian government military offensive on Syria's last rebel stronghold of Idlib. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated that warning Friday as a trilateral summit involving his country and Russia, and hosted by Iran, appeared to end in deadlock over efforts to avert conflict in the Idlib enclave. "We never want Idlib to turn into a bloodbath," Erdogan said at a news conference with his Russian and Iranian counterparts. "Any attack launched or to be launched on Idlib will result in a disaster, massacre and a very big humanitarian tragedy," Erdogan added. Syrian forces have been massing around Idlib, backed by Russian air power and naval might. The Tehran summit was touted as the last chance to avoid the looming military operation. Iran and Russia maintain that Damascus is right to deal with terrorist threats. "Fighting terrorism in Idlib is an unavoidable part of the mission of restoring peace and stability to Syria," Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said at the press conference, adding, "but this battle must not cause civilians to suffer or lead to a scorched earth policy." "The legitimate Syrian government has a right and must eventually take control of its entire national territory," Russian President Vladimir Putin said, supporting his Iranian counterpart. Russian bombers this week started to target Idlib ahead of an expected ground operation. Around 3 million civilians are believed to be trapped in the enclave bordering Turkey. Erdogan warned that with Turkey hosting millions of Syrian refugees, it cannot take in any others. "That [Idlib attack] would lead to a humanitarian wave adding to existing refugees, but because of the nature with Idlib, some of these refugees would be people associated with jihadist groups," said political analyst Sinan Ulgen, head of the Istanbul-based Edam research institution. "So it represents not only a humanitarian burden on Turkey, but also a very significant security risk going forward," he added. "So that is a scenario Turkey wants to prevent and relies on Russia's support." At the Tehran summit, Erdogan proposed a cease-fire in which the radical jihadist groups could be disarmed and removed from the region. Ankara is one of the main backers of the Syrian rebels, developing strong ties with myriad warring opposition groups. Turkey's relations with the opposition made it a key partner with Russia and Iran in their efforts to end the Syrian civil war under the so-called "Astana Process." Idlib is the last of four de-escalation zones created under the auspices of the Astana Process in which rebels and their families were transferred to designated areas protected by a cease-fire. Much to Ankara's anger, the other de-escalation zones were overrun by Syrian government forces and Russian airpower, the fate now awaiting Idlib. Twelve Turkish military outposts are located in the Idlib enclave as part of the agreement to create the de-escalation zone with Tehran and Moscow. Speaking in Tehran, Erdogan reiterated that the military posts were to protect civilians. Some analysts suggest that could be a thinly veiled warning. On Thursday, Ibrahim Karagol, a columnist closely linked to Erdogan, was more direct. "A possible attack on these military posts (in Idlib) or provocation by the Damascus administration or the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) and other organizations that act in cooperation with the regime will be met with an extremely harsh reaction from Turkey just as it should be," wrote Karagolin the pro-government Yeni Safak newspaper. Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist group. The PKK has been waging a long-running insurgency in southeastern Turkey. Earlier this year, a senior adviser to Erdogan warned against any attack on Idlib, describing it as a "red line." In the last couple of weeks, Ankara has been reinforcing its military presence in Idlib, reportedly including deployment of anti-aircraft missiles. Turkish tanks are also being deployed on the enclave's border, ostensibly to deal with a refugee exodus. Ankara's cooperation with Moscow on Syria has been the basis of a broader deepening of bilateral ties, at the same time as U.S.-Turkish relations deteriorate. Ties have been strained in part over Turkey's detention of a U.S. pastor whose release the United States has demanded. Turkey is calling on the U.S. to extradite a cleric accused of involvement in a 2016 coup attempt against Erdogan. The cleric, Fethullah Gulen, denies the accusation. Idlib, however, is providing rare common ground between Ankara and Washington, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning against a major offensive on the enclave; however, given what analysts suggest is the improbability of any U.S. military intervention, Ankara will be reluctant to sacrifice its ties with Moscow. "Ankara needs to be realistic. It cannot totally alienate itself from Russia, given that it still needs Russia as a partner in Syria," analyst Ulgen said. "Turkey would not want to find itself in a position it can no longer cooperate with Russia, because of their other concerns regarding Syria." Addressing one pressing Turkish concern, Rouhani appeared to reach out to Erdogan on Friday, condemning Washington's military support of a Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG. "The illegal presence and interference of America in Syria which has led to the continuation of insecurity in that country, must end quickly," Rouhani said. Ankara has repeatedly condemned U.S. support of the YPG Kurdish militia in its fight against Islamic State, calling it a terrorist organization linked to the PKK insurgency inside Turkey. "Terrorists are trying to establish a foothold there with the help of foreign powers and stay there forever," Erdogan said Friday. "We are very concerned with the attempts by the United States to empower and support those terrorist organizations." NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Turkey starts constructing site for Russian S-400 missile system: Report Iran Press TV Fri Sep 7, 2018 02:40PM Turkey has reportedly begun building a site for the advanced Russian-built S-400 air defense missile system, regardless of strong opposition from the United States to the plan and warnings that Ankara should not buy the anti-aircraft platform. Business and financial television news network CNBC, citing a source with firsthand knowledge of an intelligence report covering the subject, reported that the assessment was conducted a month ago, and it includes satellite imagery of a concrete launch facility as well as bunkers. The source further noted that the work at the site fits the pattern for Russia's S-400 surface-to-air missile system. The report gave no indication about where the site is located in Turkey. A number of the US-led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states have criticized Turkey over its planned purchase of the S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, stating that move could jeopardize Ankara's acquisition of F-35 fighter jets. On July 15, the top American Air Force general in Europe warned that the Turkish government's plan to purchase Russian S-400 systems would give the advanced air defense shield deep insight into the US radar-evading F-35 fighter jets. "Anything that an S-400 can do that affords it the ability to better understand a capability like the F-35 is certainly not to the advantage of the coalition," General Tod Wolters, who is also the NATO Allied Air Commander, said. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emphasized that Ankara would utilize sophisticated S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems if necessary. "We will not just buy the S-400s and place them in a storehouse. We will use them if need be. These are defense systems. What are we going to do with them if not use these defense systems? Are we going to depend on the United States again? We have been demanding them for years, but the answer given to us has been: The [US] Congress is not allowing. We are tired of this," he said in remarks broadcast live by private Turkish-language TGRT Haber television news network on June 12. Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said in the Turkish capital Ankara on April 3 that they had agreed to expedite the delivery of S-400 missile systems. The delivery is expected to start between late 2019 and early 2020. Turkey's English-language Hurriyet Daily News newspaper reported on December 29 last year that the loan deal for four S-400 surface-to-air missile batteries had been signed in Ankara. The developments came only two days after Sergey Viktorovich Chemezov, the Chief Executive Officer of Russian state corporation Rostec, told the Kommersant daily newspaper that Russia would supply Turkey with four batteries of S-400, worth $2.5 billion each, and Moscow was expected to begin the first deliveries in March 2020. Chemezov added that Turkey would pay 45 percent of the cost of the agreement up front, while Russia would provide loans to cover the remaining 55 percent. The S-400 system, whose full name is the Triumf Mobile Multiple Anti-Aircraft Missile System (AAMS), is an advanced Russian missile system designed to detect, track, and destroy planes, drones, or missiles as far as 402 kilometers away. It has previously been sold only to China and India. Turkey is striving to boost its air defense, particularly after Washington decided in 2015 to withdraw its Patriot surface-to-air missile system from Turkey's border with Syria, a move that weakened Turkey's air defense. Before gravitating towards Russia, the Turkish military reportedly walked out of a $3.4 billion contract for a similar Chinese system. The withdrawal took place under purported pressure from Washington. Ankara's ties with its Western allies in NATO have been strained over a range of issues. Erdogan has been critical of Washington for supporting Kurdish groups in Syria that he says are responsible for terror attacks inside Turkey. The Turkish leader has also slammed American officials for rejecting his requests to hand over Fethullah Gulen, a powerful opposition figure living in the US, whom Ankara accuses of having masterminded the July 2016 coup attempt. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Separatists In Ukraine's Donetsk Choose Zakharchenko Successor RFE/RL September 07, 2018 Denis Pushilin, the chairman of the "people's council" of the Russia-backed separatist formation called the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) in eastern Ukraine, has been selected as the acting head of the DNR. Russian media reported on September 7 that Pushilin, 37, had been selected for the post, which was vacated when Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko was assassinated by a bomb blast in a city cafe on August 31. Earlier, self-proclaimed prosecutors in the unrecognized formation annulled the appointment of Dmitry Trapeznikov to the post, saying it could only be filled by "a first deputy prime minister of the DNR." Pushilin reportedly survived two assassination attempts against him in June 2014. Also on September 7, the Donetsk separatists' "people's council" designated November 11 as the date for the election of a head of the DNR to replace Pushilin. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said on September 7 that neither Kyiv nor the the international community will recognize the elections on the "temporarily occupied territories" in eastern Ukraine. "If fake 'early elections' are conducted, their outcome will be legally void. They will not create any legal consequences and will not be recognized by Ukraine or the global community." The ministry also blamed Moscow for promulgating the elections and said they undermine the Minsk agreements. The move seemed to violate the Minsk accords for regulating the conflict in eastern Ukraine, under which the question of elections in areas controlled by the separatists must be agreed by the tripartite contact group that includes representatives of Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the separatists. After Zakharchenko's killing, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the bombing was "a Ukrainian provocation...obviously aimed at derailing the implementation of the Minsk agreements." Pushilin said on September 7 that "we have yet to decide on the DNR's representative in Minsk." "I believe there are lots of worthy people who are ready to represent the DNR on the Minsk platform," he said. "We will make the decision shortly." Although Russia denies involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, Moscow has provided military, economic, and political support to the breakaway movements controlling parts of Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions. In November 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC) determined the conflict to be "an international armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation." More than 10,300 people have been killed since the violence erupted in April 2014, as Russia was fomenting separatism in eastern Ukraine after pro-European protests drove Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych from power. With reporting by Interfax Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-separatists-choose -pushilin-zakharchenko-successor/29477272.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. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address KAMAZ-7850 Platform-O The "Platform-O" [Programma 0razvitiya = Development Program] experimental Special Wheeled Chassis and Tractor (SKShT) was created by KAMAZ for the new RS-26 Rubezh / Avangard Road Mobile ICBM, the replacement for the Topol-M and Yars missile systems. As recently as August 2018, this new transporter was clearly not ready for prime time, and debugging this buggy may delay deployment of the new RS-26 ICBM. At present, the mobile complexes Topol-M and Yars use Belarusian multi-axle chassis manufactured by the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant [MZKT]. The external similarity is due to the split cabs, which is the only possible layout of the chassis, designed for a long rocket. The external similarity is enhanced by the same dimensionality of the tires in the KamAZ and MZKT chassis (1600x600x685 mm). It was expected that the full transition to the new high-modular chassis platform will occur within the next 10 years. The chassis of KAMAZ-78504 type have the same configuration and frame structure, mounting seats for fastening special installations, practically the same distance from the rear wall of the engine compartment to the front dimension of the target load, the same base, the same value of the rear overhang parameters from the chassis of the type MZKT-7930. The declared total mass is higher for KAMAZ, although the speed parameters are not known. It is clear why, so that without problems for the developers of the target load to replace the chassis type MZKT-7930 of various modifications on the chassis of the KAMAZ-78504 type. To the family of chassis on the OCD "Platform are": K7850 with a wheel arrangement of 16x16 with a load capacity of 85 tons K78504 - a truck tractor with a wheel formula 8x8 for towing trailed systems with a mass of 90-165 tons and a ballast tractor with a wheel formula 8x8 for towing trailer systems weighing up to 75 tons K78509 with the wheel formula 12x12 with carrying capacity of 50 tons All machines were created by the mind and hands of the employees of PJSC "KAMAZ" and JSC "Special Car Factory /[Special Vehicles Company]" with the participation of wide cooperation of Russian enterprises. JSC "Zavod specialovykh car" (ZSA), a subdivision of Remdizel, is a team of about 500 people, including manufacturing specialists, technologists, designers and engineers. ZSA was established in 2013. The purpose of establishing ZSA was precisely to have a separate company with a new approach to developing new models and implementing new technologies. As is well known, ZSA, located in Naberezhnye Chelny, is responsible for the production of a wide range of special products, including armored cars of the Typhoon family, armored vehicles of the Vystrel family, and also assembles the experimental chassis within the OCD "Platform". The greatest mystery was shrouded in works on the last topic, which is known that, in accordance with the assignment of the Russian Defense Ministry, work has been carried out since 2010 on the creation of a "highly mobile modular platform" for various purposes of three types intended to replace the wheeled platforms of the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant in the Armed Forces of Russia (MZKT). JSC "Remdizel", the KAMAZ engine repair plant, was established in 1978 as part of the KAMAZ association. In the autumn of 2015 the Russian company Remdizel, a subdivision of KAMAZ, had problems during the state tests of technology samples developed for the Strategic Missile Forces. It was impossible to physically conduct the whole volume of tests before the end of 2016 on the "Platform-O". And this meant another shift to a later date for bringing the number of newest models of the Strategic Missile Forces equipment up to 100%, that is, not for 2022, and on the 2023 or even later. The factory knows about the criticism of their activities. Yakov Karpov, CEO of the Special Vehicles Company (ZSA) facility part of JSC Remdizel, was interviewed by Andrey Frolov: "There has been a lot of negative emoting and unfounded accusations in the press leveled at Platforma. In our own work with the MoD, however, there are no real emotions but there is a mutual understanding that this is the first project of its kind for both of us: for them as the customer who draws up technical requirements, and for us as the contractor. This is a unique program for the Russian machine-building industry. The customer has asked for something that has never been done before. A family of chassis has now been developed, incorporating a whole number of innovative solutions that provide an advantage over the competition. Frankly, I cannot name a single competing product in the same class, so this is a truly unique family of special hardware. "Looking several years back at our early designs, it is clear that our competencies have improved significantly. We have made a lot of progress in terms of the level of technology, qualified R&D personnel and technicians, the testing methodology, software, etc. At present, this product is undergoing state trials, and we are already developing vehicles for specific customers based on that design. We are even already making deliveries, although they remain small for the time being. In other words, we are very close to securing orders from other companies for this product, for use in their own R&D programs. We continue to develop this product, and we believe it has a lot of potential. Our customers are well aware of this. There has been sustained interest from the MoD, including several branches of the armed forces, and this interest will not wane. We must stoke it up by eliminating the teething problems, which are clearly still present." In 2015, the relations between OJSC TMZ and PJSC KAMAZ developed dynamically. The uniform type and technical characteristics of the new generation of TMZ-880 engines had been agreed. In the R & D plans, starting in 2016, the development of a new generation engine for the KAMAZ-7850 Engines TMZ 880 series will be equipped with basic parts made from special cast iron, a new cylinder-piston group with improved characteristics of surface finish, an adjustable turbocharger with increased efficiency, electronic fuel management system. The engine can be used as a base for creating a family of dual-purpose engines, and in terms of its technical characteristics and consumer qualities will correspond to the world level of diesel engines. The vehicles created within the framework of the "Platform-O" design are recommended by the results of the state tests to be accepted for supply to the Russian army. The order on this can be signed already in October 2018, advisor to the general director of PJSC KamAZ, the project manager of Platform-O, former chief of the Main Automobile Armored Directorate of the Defense Ministry Vladislav Polonsky, said on 06 September 2018. "After the successful completion of the state tests of the family of highly mobile modular platforms (VMP), an order is being prepared to supply them to our armed forces." I think that this order can be signed in October," Polonsky said. He specified that five samples developed by PJSC "KamAZ" will be supplied for supply in accordance with the tactical and technical task of the Ministry of Defense and manufactured at the site of Remdiesel JSC: three chassis of the VMP with a carrying capacity of 25, 50 and 85 tons with wheel formulas 8x8, 12x12 and 16x16, as well as heavy saddle and ballast tractors with wheel formulas 8x8 for transportation of heavy equipment in the structure of road trains with a gross weight up to 165 tons and towing of trailed systems and aircraft up to 400 tons. "As demanded by the government customer, the unification within the family of domestic VMPs, made according to the scheme of electric transmission "motor-wheel", is 86%. This high level of novelty of technical solutions, like this class of machines with a carrying capacity of up to 85 tons, in the world is still generally does not exist," said the adviser to the general director. Polonsky added that the prototypes of the VMP and heavy tractors had successfully passed all kinds of tests, including the ability to withstand the impact of the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion. "Certainly, some shortcomings were revealed during the state tests, there are remarks, but they do not influence the adoption of these unique machines for supply." In accordance with the plan of measures, the VMP will have to make certain improvements and improvements to the design, all this will be promptly done, "assured Project Manager. "Remdizel" expects that the platform will be in demand not only in the Strategic Missile Forces, but also in the military communications, the Land Forces, the Navy. The capabilities of the tractor on the "Platform-O" were demonstrated at the exhibition "Army-2018" within the framework of the dynamic display. In 2008, KAMAZ won a tender of the Ministry of Defense to conduct a research work "Platform" on the creation of special wheeled chassis and wheeled tractors (SKShT). The task was to fully ensure the technological independence of the Russian strategic nuclear forces, since mobile ground-based missile systems are now mounted on the chassis of the Minsk Wheel Tractor Plant. Already in 2010, the R & D progressed into the development work (R & D) "Platform-O". Within its framework, several samples were created, information on four of them was publicly presented in late May 2013. Thus, in the "Type of Military Automotive Equipment for the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for 2011-2020" (approved by the order of the Minister of Defense of November 26, 2012), in particular, it is stated that within the framework of the OC "Platform-O" a special wheeled chassis of 85 t (KAMAZ-7850), wheel formula 16x16; special wheeled chassis with the carrying capacity of 60 tons ("KAMAZ-78509"), wheel formula 12x12; saddle tractor for a semi-trailer weighing 90 tons ("KAMAZ-78504"), wheel formula 8x8; ballast tractor for a trailer weighing 75 tons (aircraft at the airport - 400 tons, "KAMAZ-78508"), wheel formula 8x8. Even the layman could easily guess that centipedes "KAMAZ-7850" and "KAMAZ-78509" are most likely intended for installation of launchers, and tractors can be used for towing weapons and military equipment. This chassis does not have clutch, gearbox, transfer box, drive shafts, differentials, which seriously reduces its weight. "Platform-O" is equipped with electric motors for each wheel, so for each of them, depending on the conditions of motion, exactly the torque that is needed is delivered. Special diesel-electric drive is used for tractors of this class for the first time. The lack of a complex transmission means there is no clutch, gearbox, transfer box, drive shafts, differentials, which seriously reduces the weight of the chassis. Secondly, the electric motors develop the maximum torque as soon as they are powered. Thirdly, such a scheme allows all wheels of the chassis to rotate at different speeds and even in different directions. Fourth, it is possible to use the braking energy recovery system. Fifthly, facilitates active traffic safety - any algorithms of the ABS type are programmed in the control unit and can act on each wheel individually. From the report of the representative of KAMAZ at the Innovation Day of the Defense Ministry, which took place on October 5, 2015, it followed that the developer was ready to abandon the use of the innovative electromechanical transmission (EMT) and switch to traditional, mechanical, and no motor wheels. Some believed there were more shortcomings in the KAMAZ scheme than advantages, and some of them can not be eliminated so far. For example, a blow when traveling at high speed (and the Defense Ministry constantly requires "speeding up", as the enemy develops weapons of destruction) in a terrain on which there are obstacles, can cause contact of the windings of the motor of the motor-wheel, which will cause the node to fail (to get the largest power, the gap between the rotor and the stator should be done as little as possible). Electric transmission can fly and at low temperatures (if it is necessary to disconnect the equipment for masking, after a while the moisture condenses on the windings of electric motors, and when power is applied, a shortage may occur). Also among the shortcomings of large radiation in the infrared spectrum. Almost simultaneously with the launch of the "Platform" research project, the Russian developer of missiles, the Moscow Institute of Heat Engineering (MIT) has already worked with the MZKT on the design of the chassis (MZKT-79291, wheel formula 12x12) under the APU of the prospective PGRK RS-26 (Rubezh). This six-axle chassis was first publicly shown on July 3, 2013 at the parade in honor of Independence Day in Minsk. Apparently, the Russian leadership was nervous about such a fundamental dependence on the obstinate Alexander Lukashenko , who has repeatedly made it clear that he is not going to be a boy running errands for the Kremlin. Moscow has been trying to buy MZKT from Belarusians for 5 years now, but all is unsuccessful. Last summer, Batka put him at an unacceptable price - $ 3 billion, whereas, according to experts, for $ 2 billion, you can build a new plant. However, this problem is unlikely to be resolved, since the question arises: where to get specialists? Minsk has been growing them for more than half a century. Director of the Center for the Analysis of the World Trade Igor Korotchenko and does believe that there is no need to make a Russian alternative to MZKT products. "I think we do not need to change the Belarusian chassis to Russian ones," he told BUSINESS Online. - Reliable cooperation with Belarus has been established, the entire system of technical support, the basing of the PGRK is based on MZKT products, therefore ... But everything in the hands of the Defense Ministry - he needs an alternative or not. The Strategic Missile Forces are fully satisfied with the chassis that MZKT gives." In 2015, the Belarusian president Lukashenko declared that Russia was not capable of producing super-weight trucks. "We are afraid that Russia will build 'centipede monsters' and use them to transport nuclear warheads. If they now have enough gray matter and money, what they are lacking, let them build it!". The new Russian K-7850 1616 special wheeled platform, which boasts of unconventional technical solutions, such as electromechanical transmission (EMT) and all-wheel steering, was demonstrated for the first time to the public at the Army-2018 forum, that held in the Moscow region from 21 to 26 August 2018. During the demonstration, there was a failure in the onboard electronics of the new chassis, which led to the fact that a number of wheels turned in the opposite direction. According to Russian media reports, the KamAZ-7850 encountered problems with almost all pairs of wheels. Specifically, initially when the car was going straight, suddenly two pairs of wheels in the middle suddenly turned to the left causing the car to lose control and have to stop.The representatives of the Russian Ministry of Defense and forum organizers declined to comment on the mechanical trouble of new K-7850 missile carrier. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address According to a news report, new joint committees are scheduled to be put in place starting this fall. The communities could pave to an eventual overhaul of how the island-wide decision-making body the agglomeration council operates. The mayor of Montreal West, Beny Masella, while speaking to Global news said that the Plante administration has agreed to meet and discuss the outstanding issues between Montreal and the suburbs. The meetings will be focusing on several issues such as giving the suburbs a bigger voice in the $5.5 billion island-wide budget. It will also focus on establishing a new formula thatll be used in billing suburbs to pay for shared island-wide services. Some of the service include the public transit, the fire department, and eventually lead to a complete overhaul of the agglomeration council itself. Weve actually set up some committees to look at some things that we feel need to be addressed short-term, Masella said. There have been several disputes over how the agglomeration council operates which has divided the mayor of the fifteen suburban towns on the island of Montreal with the city for years. An example of one of this issue says Masella, is thatbilling for police services is based on property values in a suburb and not the population. That especially hurts cities like Montreal West and Westmount which dont have large residential populations but have very high property values. We just want something that is fair and dynamic for the whole island, Masella said. Another suburban mayor also agrees with Masellas statement. Georges Bourelle of Beaconsfield told Global News that they needed to hit the reset button on how the entire agglomeration council operates. Our residents in the de-merged cities today pay a whole lot more than they should for actual services rendered, Bourelle said. There is, however, some light at the end of the tunnel. Masella says that Montreal has agreed to set up joint committees with the suburbs to look into the issue. For now, the Plante administration is yet to commit to reforming how the entire agglomeration council operates, so any real change will most likely happen very slowly for the mayors of the de-merged suburbs. The agglomeration council of Montreal has a deeply flawed structure. The system encourages micro-local levels of government throughout the citys 19 boroughs and the islands 17 de-merged municipalities. It also encourages them to operate independently of each other in an inequitable and highly inefficient manner. This puts the de-merged municipalities at a power disadvantage to the city. This fragmented system has turned political representation into a jumbled mess. Without the interest, time, and enough media coverage needed for voters to become acquainted with local candidates positions and platforms, the electorate of Montreals boroughs end up voting down the line for any party that beats the name of its Montreal mayoral candidate. Instead of having a truly democratic system, they are basically picking blindly, and thus end up with the least unpalatable of the choices for the top seat, a seat which is so far removed from the local issues of potholes, snow removal and local parks. How To Check Whether ITR-V Is Received By Tax Dept Or Not? Classroom oi-Roshni Agarwal After you have filed income tax return for the FY 2017-18 (Assessment Year 2018-19), another step to the tax filing process is to verify it as without verification the ITR will be deemed invalid and will not be taken up for further processing. The tax department has been constantly reminding taxpayers who have filed their ITR via the e-filing portal to verify their income tax returns. As per the current income tax rules, once the ITR has been filed, its verification has to be done within next 120 days. So if you fail to verify your ITR within 120 days, it will be considered that you have never filed your ITR. Verification of the ITR can be done either electronically using electronic verification code (EVC), one-time password (OTP) or physically by sending the signed ITR V copy i.e. a one-page ITR acknowledgment document to the Income Tax Department - CPC, Post Box No-1, Electronic City Post Office, Bengaluru- 560100, Karnataka, India. Different ways to verify the ITR It is to be noted that the document signed in blue ink can be send only via speed or ordinary post. You cannot courier the ITR-V. And if you are among those who have sent the ITR-V copy to the tax department as part of the income tax return verification process, here are listed few steps following which you can know the status of its receipt by the department. 1. Visit income tax e-filing portal of the government of India. 2. Under the tab 'Quick links', click on ITR status 3. Next, there will appear a new page wherein you need to enter details such as PAN, acknowledgement number of the ITR filed and captcha code. 4. Thereafter, the current status of your ITR V will be reflected in the system. So, to ensure that ITR-V has reached the CPC Bangalore office within 120 days from the date you have uploaded your ITR on the e-filing portal, you should keep checking the status of its receipt. Also as and when the Income tax department receives the ITR-V, it acknowledges its receipt by sending an SMS or e-mail to the taxpayer concerned. For the processing of the ITR, intimation by the department will be sent at a later stage. Goodreturns.in For investment related articles, business news and mutual fund advise Allow Notifications Story first published: Saturday, September 8, 2018, 12:33 [IST] The First Library in the World to Reopen The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal in Mosul. Baghdad -- It does not seem that the 3,000-year-old Royal Library of Ashurbanipal in Mosul will reopen soon, even though international institutions and universities pledged to donate hundreds of titles to the project. This library was one of the victims of the war and the fighting between the Islamic State and the Iraqi forces and Popular Mobilisation Forces. The library stopped operating in 2014. Work to revive the library began in 2001, two years before the US-led invasion of Iraq. Construction of the library building had been completed but the project was hamstrung by the invasion. It resumed in 2004 thanks to an initiative by the State University of New York at Stony Brook, which donated more than 1,000 books and periodicals. The library also received books from the British Institute for the Study of Iraq and other archaeological institutes but was generally neglected and probably remains near the bottom of the list of Mosul University's reconstruction concerns. "The reconstruction of the Assyrian library cannot be started because there are other priorities," said Thaer al-Samman, dean of the Faculty of Management and Economics at Mosul University. "The central library was destroyed and burned. The old and new university presidency buildings, as well as the internal departments, were destroyed by rockets. The Engineering School, the Veterinarian Sciences and the Medical Sciences schools, as well as the university hospitals, were razed. "Clearing the rubble has just begun. The University Press was also burned and its equipment looted. Not a single stone was left intact," Samman said. "As for the Faculty of Management and Economics, its ground floors had been burned and reconstruction work was completed just two days before this year's Eid al-Adha. It is clear from all of this that rebuilding the Assyrian library will be quite late." A British expedition in the mid-19th century at the Kouyunjik site in Nineveh governorate discovered 26,000 clay tablets inscribed in Akkadian that dated to the seventh century BC. The discovery was made at the site of the palace of the last ruler of the Assyrian empire, Ashurbanipal. The royal palace was burned when the ancient Assyrian city of Nineveh was destroyed in 612BC. The library contained important texts owned by King Ashurbanipal, such as accounts of wars, letters and treaties. They were catalogued in five volumes kept at the British Museum in London. Ibrahim Khalil al-Allaf, professor of modern history at the University of Mosul, said he had appealed to the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Mosul University and other authorities, including the Council of Ministers and the prime minister, to consider completing construction of the library. He said the operation would not require much money. He said UNESCO could be called upon to rehabilitate the library and open it to researchers. Allaf said many entities inside and outside Iraq, including the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Egypt, expressed a willingness to cooperate and provide the library with sources and references. The Egyptian initiative sought to outfit the Ashurbanipal Library with 100,000 books by having Mosul University solicit contributions from Arab scientific and academic institutions. The organisations contacted were the UAE Juma al-Majid Centre for Culture and Heritage, the Sultan Ali Owaiys Foundation and the Saudi Umm al-Qura University. A source in the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research said the University of Mosul adopted the project in 2001 to transform the library into a specialised hub servicing researchers and specialists in Iraqi history and monuments, organising conferences and scientific seminars and the publication of specialised books and scientific journals. The source said work on the project was proceeding as scheduled and continued after 2003 until the Islamic State occupied Mosul. The University of Mosul designed the large library building using elements and motifs characteristic of Assyrian architecture such as the winged bull, towers, corniced balconies, arches and terraces. While waiting for the construction to be completed, the university's central library dedicated part of its ground floor to a temporary unit. The Ashurbanipal Library consisted of five floors, two of which were underground and dedicated to storage of books and other materials. Plans called for the ground floor to have halls for seminars and conferences, display rooms for artefacts from the various periods of Iraq's history spanning the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, pre-Islamic and the different Islamic eras and rooms for displaying duplicates of the original cuneiform texts kept at the British Museum. Mosul University professors urged government agencies to seek the help of international cultural organisations to complete the Ashurbanipal Library project. Museums and universities in Britain, Germany and the United States have said they would provide the library with materials related to the Ashurbanipal era. De Beers hasn't even opened its first synthetic diamond store, but its looming entry into the market for man-made gems has already shaken the industry. The unit of Anglo American said three months ago that it plans to sell lab-grown diamonds at a fraction of the going rate, undercutting rivals like Chatham Created Gems and Diamond Foundry. That's already cut the price of man-made gems, furthering De Beers's aim of increasing the premium paid for the diamonds it mines in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Canada. De Beers will target younger consumers with its lab diamonds, sold under the Lightbox name for about $800 a carat. That's a fifth of the price of existing man-made stones and one-tenth of the cost of buying a similar natural gem. While De Beers says its strategy will eliminate customer confusion over man-made diamonds and their natural counterparts, some producers are crying foul. The lab-grown industry has filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, accusing De Beers of price dumping and predatory pricing. "De Beers aren't stupid," said Chatham Chief Executive Officer Tom Chatham, who filed the complaint. "They know how to grow diamonds, but this equipment is not cheap. They are selling below cost." De Beers CEO Bruce Cleaver has said he expects its lab-made gems to be profitable, while adding that it's not going to be a big business for the company. Diamonds grown in labs have the same physical characteristics and chemical makeup as mined stones. They're made from a carbon seed placed in a microwave chamber and superheated into a glowing plasma ball. The process creates particles that crystallize into diamonds in weeks. The technology is so advanced that experts need a machine to distinguish between synthesized and mined gems. While De Beers has never sold man-made diamonds for jewelry before, it's good at making them. The company's Element Six unit is one of the world's leading producers of synthetic diamonds, which are mostly used for industrial purposes. It has also been producing gem-quality stones for years to help it tell the difference between natural and man-made types. So far, De Beers's strategy seems to be working. The premium natural diamonds command has widened since the company's May announcement, with the 1-carat and half-carat stones it's going to be producing suffering the biggest prices declines, according to industry analyst Paul Zimnisky. The discount on a half-carat man-made stone has ballooned to 38 percent from 24 percent, Zimnisky's data shows. "There's no question that the announcement has caused people to question whether the margins people are currently making are sustainable," said De Beers's Cleaver. "I certainly wouldn't expect the premiums to be at anything like the current prices." While De Beers has said it isn't trying to disrupt existing lab-diamond producers, who have a small, but growing, share of the market, the company has a history of using price as a weapon. When Zaire -- now the Democratic Republic of Congo -- decided to sell its stones independently of De Beers in the 1980s, the company dumped huge amounts of similar stones onto the market, crashing the price. Within two years, the African nation had returned to the De Beers fold. The latest move also holds risks for De Beers. By offering lab-grown diamonds at such a steep discount, the company may erode demand for the industry's lower-quality products that sell for less than $200 at retailers like Walmart. The five-year slide in prices for this sort of diamond -- which make up about 80 percent of supply, but only 20 percent of profits -- has continued since the announcement. Still, its not all about price. Man-made diamonds have positioned themselves as an ethical alternative to natural stones, which have long been associated with conflicts in Africa and the massive environmental footprint of modern mining. Leonardo DiCaprio, who starred in 2006 blockbuster "Blood Diamond," is a backer of San Francisco-based Diamond Foundry, one of the most famous synthetic brands. "I think De Beers feel very threatened," said Ella Drake, founder of Monarc, a London-based jewelry retailer that sells Diamond Foundry stones. "Diamond Foundry know being ethical isn't enough. They'll have to possibly lower prices to meet that difference." A bird's-eye view of Connecticut's foliage Take some time to relax and enjoy the whimsical wonder of Connecticut's fall foliage with this visual experience of Fairfield County. In a major reversal, the U.S. hotel industry is prepared to launch an employee safety initiative this week, after unions coast to coast pressured major brands to give panic buttons to their workers, the Hearst Television National Investigative Unit has learned. Top executives of at least five of the biggest American hotel brands Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Marriott and Wyndham are scheduled to hold a news conference Thursday afternoon in Washington to unveil their plans, which will go "far beyond" the slice of hotel workers who belong to unions and will impact "hundreds of thousands" of employees, sources say. In addition, a representative of the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund, launched as part of the #MeToo movement combating sexual assault in the workplace, will also be part of the announcement from the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Hotels in Las Vegas; New York; Washington, D.C.; and some properties in Los Angeles provide panic buttons as part of union contracts. Safety devices are required by law in Seattle; Chicago; the unincorporated parts of Sacramento County in California; and Miami Beach, Florida. But not everyone supports them: the city council in Long Beach, California, has voted not to require them, and a bill in the California State Senate which had already been approved in the Assembly to require them statewide failed to move out of committee last month. CalChamber, which represents businesses, did not object to panic buttons themselves, but warned some of the requirements of hotels were "unworkable" and once called the bill a "job killer." 'We need this' When the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history occurred in October in Las Vegas, none of the unionized hotels provided panic buttons, including the Mandalay Bay, where the shooter rained down bullets and terror on the concertgoers gathered below. Now, less than a year later, almost all of the major hotels have agreed to give safety devices to their workers. The union that represents 50,000 hotel workers in Las Vegas and in Reno, the Culinary Workers Union Local 226, did have one worry about panic buttons, however: digital snooping. "It is a big concern," union leader Geoconda Arguello-Kline explained in an interview at the local union's headquarters off the Las Vegas strip recently. She led negotiations with Sin City's most famous hotels, extracting a promise that they would not use panic buttons to continuously track workers. Members had voted in May to authorize a strike if they didn't get panic buttons. Arugello-Kline said it amounted to an ultimatum. "We say: 'We need this. We need this because it's protecting people's lives," she told Hearst Television. Union member Dallamy Santos says a guest at the hotel where she's worked for 17 years once "offered me money" for a sex act. The hotel does not provide workers with panic buttons. "If they would like to have their workers safe," Dallamy said in an interview, "they will do it." 'Protect their loved ones' New, portable panic buttons on an iPhone, keychain, or wearable device use small Bluetooth beacons to overcome limitations in GPS. The current GPS determines a person's location based on latitude and longitude, but not which floor of a high-rise hotel a person is on. Bluetooth beacons and other Bluetooth-enabled devices such as thermostats and smart door locks, can triangulate a person's position down to within 5 to 10 feet, allowing first responders to know which floor, and which room, a victim of a shooting, assault or medical emergency is in. In an interview, Robb Monkman, the CEO of React Mobile, a provider of Bluetooth-enabled panic buttons, explained the sobering source of his inspiration for starting his Seattle-based company: a frightening home invasion. "Two guys, who were armed with guns, broke through our front door, they ended up holding us up at gunpoint, they robbed us and they ended up taking one of our roommates hostage," Monkman recalled. "I realized then that when you feel that steel of a gun pressed against [your] forehead, that it makes it just about impossible to reach for your phone to call for help." "We want to give people a useful tool that can protect their loved ones," Monkman added. He demonstrated for the National Investigative Unit the response times of the three main types of panic buttons his company sells to hotels, universities, railroads, and other industries. The cost to a hotel varies between $0.70 and $2.00 per room, depending on the size of the location and layout, Monkman said. There are many other companies that also sell Bluetooth-dependent safety devices. "You can click this as many times as you want and the alert will go off," Monkman explained while pressing a keychain panic button. A few seconds after he pressed the button, a siren wailed and a message box popped up on a laptop security monitor nearby that read, "SOS alert activated." NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) The Massachusetts home that once belonged to former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez is back on the market for $1.6 million. An open house for the 8,100-square-foot home in North Attleborough is scheduled for Sunday. Next time you go through airport security, it might be worth washing your hands afterward. According to the results of a new study published by Finnish and British researchers, half of plastic airport security bins may carry viruses that cause respiratory infections. The study, published last week in the BioMed Central Infectious Diseases journal, tested swabs from surface samples of the plastic bins at Helsinki Airport that were taken at three different times during the peak of the 2015-2016 flu season. Four of the eight samples contained the rhinovirus or adenovirus, which both cause cold-like symptoms. The lead authors of the article, who hailed from Finland's National Institute for Health and Welfare and the University of Nottingham, concluded that the screening trays "appear commonly contaminated," and that they are one of the surfaces at an airport where passengers are most likely to pick up harmful viruses. "We found the highest frequency of respiratory viruses on plastic trays used in security check areas for depositing hand-carried luggage and personal items," the scientists wrote in their journal article. "These boxes typically cycle with high frequency to subsequent passengers, and are typically seized with a wide palm surface area and strong grip." The results, they said, demonstrated that airports can serve as a potential risk-zone for an "emerging pandemic threat" - a prospect that has already become a major concern in the aftermath of the 2002 SARS outbreak, and the 2014 Ebola epidemic. And the preponderance of viruses on airport screening bins may be even more cause for concern among Americans, who are increasingly encountering TSA screeners instructing them to empty their food and snack items straight into the plastic bins. At the conclusion of the study centered on Helsinki Airport, the researchers concluded that airports should offer hand sanitizer to travelers before and after each security checkpoint, and that the baggage trays should be cleaned and disinfected more frequently. "This knowledge helps in the recognition of hot spots for contact transmission risk, which could be important during an emerging pandemic threat or severe epidemic," the scientists wrote in the article. But plastic bins aren't the only place in airports where researchers found frequent presence of cold-causing viruses. On the buttons of the Helsinki Airport pharmacy's payment terminal, 50 percent of samples tested positive for the rhinovirus or the human coronavirus. Of the samples taken at the desks and glass dividers at the airport's passport control checkpoint, one in three contained the rhinovirus. And when the scientists repeatedly swabbed a plastic toy dog in the airport's children's playground, they found that the toy played host to cold-causing viruses a whopping 67 percent of the time. In these cases, the scientists concluded, the best approach might be the simplest one: a good old-fashioned wipedown. "Many cleaning agents, household (antibacterial) wipes and anti-viral tissues are able to rapidly render influenza virus nonviable, offering multiple simple possibilities and opportunities for reducing the risk of indirect contact transmission," the scientists said. Frequent cleaning, they pointed out, is exactly the reason why an unlikely surface topped the list of the most virus-free spots in the airport: the toilet. Of the 42 samples taken on toilet lids, on the flush buttons, and on the door locks, there were zero samples where scientists detected the presence of a cold virus. "No respiratory viruses were detected in a considerable number of samples from the surfaces of toilets most commonly touched, which is not unexpected, as passengers may pay particular attention to limiting touch and to hand hygiene, in a washroom environment," the scientists said. The Qualcomm-Apple lawsuit regarding patent infringements have been set in motion with the pre-trial hearing concluding. The pre-trial aims to rule what is and what isn't allowed to be used in court for evidence. And it's advantage Apple after the Qualcomm legal team messed up. Qualcomm chose not to argue Apple's claims that the Cupertino-based firm has not infringed some of the patents involved in the case and that some of the others are invalid. Even the judge made that clear and outlined Qualcomm's mistakes. The chip maker then changed its mind and wanted to present the needed evidence, but Apple's law team argued that it's too late. The judge agreed and now Qualcomm is entering the trials at a serious disadvantage. Still, the judge didn't give the green light to all of Apple's expert testimony. If Apple was found guilty on infringing "essential technologies" for smartphones, then FRAND (Fair, Reasonable and Non-Discriminatory) rules apply and the patent owner is eligible to receive compensation. Via The upgrade from the Samsung Galaxy Note8 to the Note9 may be mostly about the the battery and S Pen, but it also brings the dock-less Dex feature, which gives quite a lot of extra freedom on the go. Instead of that dock wherever you go, a single USB-C to HDMI cable will be enough to move your work to the big screen. Why not even show off those crisp pictures you took on your last trip with the Note9 on that living room TV? Samsung's official dongle supports up to UHD resolution screens with 60Hz refresh rate. It supports HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.2 standards and it's currently on sale on Amazon. And while you are at it, why not snatching one of those discounted Note9 units on Ebay as well. Source Haiti - FLASH : Just appointed, a Minister removed from the new cabinet The lawyer Osner Richard, Minister of the environment appointed by presidential decree last September 5th https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25450-haiti-flash-official-ministers-and-secretaries-of-state-of-government-moise-ceant.html , candidate nominated by a consortium of political parties (ADEBAH, OPL, TRUTH, INITE, VERITE), was removed from the Cabinet Minister on the grounds of dual nationality (he holds a US passport). Recall that before being named Minister of the Environment, Osner Richard had signed a document certifying that he had never given up his Haitian nationality. But the Senate Commission, analyzing its documents, found that he held a US passport. Camille Leblanc, spcial advisor of the Prime Minister named , Jean Henry Ceant, confirms that Osner Richard told him "to have no other nationality". With the revelation of the Senate Commission, Osner Richard will have to answer in court for his false statements... The political consortium has appointed engineer Joseph Jouthe (former Technical Director at the Office of Monetization of Development Assistance Programs - BMPAD) to replace Osner Richard, pending its appointment in the official journal and that these documents be analyzed . See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-25450-haiti-flash-official-ministers-and-secretaries-of-state-of-government-moise-ceant.html HL/ HaitiLibre Bob Hemedy (29) panicked when he saw gardai as he knew they were aware he was disqualified. Stock photo A banned driver led gardai on a car chase through a housing estate before jumping out of a moving vehicle and running away. Bob Hemedy (29) panicked when he saw gardai as he knew they were aware he was disqualified. Judge David McHugh sentenced Hemedy to five months in prison, saying it was "an appalling incident". Judge McHugh said the defendant had shown "an appalling lack of responsibility", especially as he was a parent, and he had put the public at risk with his driving. The judge also fined Hemedy and banned him from driving for 12 years. The defendant, of Church Road in Mulhuddart, admitted before Blanchardstown District Court to dangerous driving as well as driving without insurance or a driving licence. The incident took place at Curragh Hall Crescent in Tyrrelstown on October 7, 2017. Garda Brian Masterson said he was on mobile patrol around 5pm when he saw a silver BMW travelling toward him. Crashed Gda Masterson said he recognised the driver as Hemedy, who he knew was a banned driver. He signalled for the driver to stop but he failed to do so. The defendant drove away at speed around the Curragh Hall estate and was pursued by gardai. Gda Masterson said Hemedy mounted a kerb and entered a wooded area before opening the driver's door, jumping from the moving car and tumbling away. The car crashed into shrubs as Hemedy ran away from the scene. He was later arrested and charged. The court heard Hemedy had four previous convictions for uninsured driving and was disqualified at the time. Defence lawyer Ciaran MacLoughlin said Hemedy, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo, came to Ireland when he was a young boy. The court heard Hemedy worked in a healthcare shop and had one daughter. In relation to this incident, Mr MacLoughlin said Hemedy had been driving a friend's car at the time. When he saw gardai he panicked and drove away because he knew gardai were aware he was a banned driver. Mr MacLoughlin added the defendant wished to apologise for his behaviour. Plans to develop a controversial sewage treatment plant in Dublin have been delayed after Irish Water failed to include key information in its planning application. An Bord Pleanala has ordered a further five-week public consultation period after being informed by the utility that technical information surrounding the impact the plant would have on the environment was not submitted as required. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report forms part of an application to develop a large sewage treatment plant in Clonshaugh, north Dublin. However, supporting evidence on the ground and marine investigations, as well as drawings of road and rail lines in the area chosen, were never submitted. This prompted local Fianna Fail TD Darragh O'Brien to raise concerns about the application. "If you can't even get a planning application right then it calls into question the approach that is being taken on this," Mr O'Brien said. Irish Water wants to build a major wastewater treatment plant to serve 500,000 people in the Greater Dublin Area. It also proposes building a biosolids facility, where sludge remaining from the treatment process would be stored. Missing An overflow pipe leading into the Irish Sea would also carry treated wastewater. Information missing from the application included drawings and data relating to the meeting points of existing underground gas and power lines with the proposed new water treatment infrastructure. Irish Water said data and conclusions within the EIA report, which will go back out for public consultation on Thursday, would not be affected as a result. It also said it would not affect the delivery of the plant within proposed timeframes. "The additional five-week consultation will not add significantly to the overall project delivery programme and sufficient allocation has been made," a spokesperson for Irish Water said. "The new regional wastewater treatment facility is being proposed in order to protect public health, safeguard the environment and facilitate the social and economic growth of the Greater Dublin Area." The plans for the plant on a 32-hectare site have faced objections from locals, who cite tourism and environmental concerns as their reasons for objecting. A total of 142 "valid objections" had been submitted to An Bord Pleanala when the original consultation period closed on August 17. Gangster John Gilligan has effectively sold up in the island of Ireland, the court heard Pint-sized gang boss John Gilligan - accused of money laundering offences after being arrested at a Belfast airport with a bag containing nearly 23,000 - must remain in custody, Northern Ireland's High Court ruled yesterday. John Gilligan was refused bail amid prosecution claims he had "sold up" and was leaving Ireland behind for a new life in Spain. A judge also heard all cash in the 66-year-old's suitcase came from family, friends and the sale of belongings such as a Rolex watch. Bundles Gilligan, of Greenfort Crescent, Dublin, is charged with attempting to remove criminal property. He was stopped at Belfast International Airport on August 23 as he was about to board a flight to Alicante. Prosecution lawyer Kate McKay said Gilligan informed a UK Border Force officer he had 23,000 in his luggage. Searches of a bag removed from the plane confirmed two bundles of cash which, along with currency he was carrying, came to 22,330. Gilligan was arrested and taken to Antrim Police Station, where he told National Crime Agency officers the money was a combination of donations from relatives and the sale of property. The cash was said to have been given to him to help start a new life in Spain. One man had allegedly purchased a watch from him for 5,000, the court heard. Opposing bail, Ms McKay accepted assertions that Gilligan is under a continuing threat to his life. She also expressed major concerns that Gilligan may flee if he was released. "He has effectively sold up in the island of Ireland, and was planning to leave the jurisdiction when apprehended," the barrister said. Defence counsel Plunkett Nugent argued it was Gilligan who notified customs about the money in his bag. Rejecting claims his client may abscond and not return, Mr Nugent pointed to his involvement in ongoing litigation in Dublin. Concerns Gilligan only intended to rent a property in Spain for a period, he added. Denying bail, however, Judge Patrick Kinney cited concerns the accused may flee. "I'm not satisfied any conditions can be attached to ameliorate those risks," he said. A Dublin man is facing trial on a money laundering charge after detectives allegedly seized more than 300,000 in crime proceeds. Mark Connolly (44) was served with the book of evidence when he appeared on bail before Blanchardstown District Court. Mr Connolly, of Harelawn Park in Clondalkin, is charged with handling or possessing a total of 311,740 in cash. The alleged incident took place at an apartment at Beacon South Quarter in Sandyford on May 4, 2017. Mr Connolly and a second man were arrested following the cash find. Evidence A State solicitor said the book of evidence was ready and had been served on the accused, who goes forward to the next sittings of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Judge David McHugh gave Mr Connolly the formal alibi caution. Defence solicitor Jonathan Dunphy and one junior counsel were assigned on free legal aid. The accused has not yet indicated a plea to the charge. Mr Connolly's co-accused was previously sent for trial. The men will appear before the circuit court on a date in October. An activist who occupied a building which had housed a sex offenders clinic, threatened to burn it down and told the owner it was "not over" as he was led away, a court heard. Steven Bennett (46) was allegedly involved in an 11-hour stand-off with gardai after he got out on to the roof of the building in south Dublin. The incident occurred last Saturday after gardai arrived at the building with its owner to remove activists. Charged The group was protesting after the building in Sallynoggin had been leased to Forensic Psychological Services (FPS), which provides therapy services to sex offenders. As part of his bail conditions, Mr Bennett agreed not to take part in any future protests in relation to FPS while the case is before the court. He also gave an undertaking to stay away from the owner of the building in Sallynoggin, as well as Dr Patrick Randall, who is a clinical and forensic psychologist with the FPS. The accused, of Pearse Green in Sallynoggin, appeared before Dun Laoghaire District Court charged with criminal damage at Church Place in Sallynoggin on September 1. Gardai had objected to bail, saying they had concerns that Mr Bennett might interfere with witnesses. Garda Sean White said Mr Bennett had been protesting against the use of the building at Church Place by the FPS, a counselling service for sex offenders. Gda White said protesters began picketing outside the building in July, and had occupied the building at the start of August. Broke FPS's lease of the building had finished, and Gda White said the owner of the building entered it with gardai on Saturday. The garda alleged that Mr Bennett broke a window while trying to get out on to a roof where he was involved in an 11-hour stand-off with gardai. Gda White further alleged that this provoked a large-scale public order incident and a group of up to 50 people tried to storm the building. The garda claimed that Mr Bennett threatened, in front of him, to burn down the building and told the building's owner that it was "not over". He alleged the owner was fearful of what might happen. Defence lawyer David Perry BL said Mr Bennett denied that he made any threats to the owner of the building. Mr Perry also said the accused was willing to abide by any bail conditions. Judge Anne Watkin remanded Mr Bennett on bail in his own bond of 500. As part of his bail conditions, Mr Bennett is to stay away from the building at Church Place as well as its owner. He has also been ordered not to obstruct the public's right to access buildings, public roads or footpaths. The court heard the Director of Public Prosecutions' directions were outstanding and Judge Watkin adjourned the matter to a date in November. Mr Bennett's daughter Saoirse, who is also an activist, as well as a small group of supporters, were in court for the bail hearing. A volunteer with a homeless charity caught with cocaine was earning 3,000 a week at the time and didn't know what to do with his money, a court has heard. Shane Dowling (23) was caught with the drug after gardai stopped and searched him. Judge David McHugh convicted and fined Dowling 200, telling the defendant that he now had a conviction for drugs. Dowling, of The Grove, New Bettyglen, Raheny, admitted possession of cocaine before Blanchardstown District Court, as well as having the drug for sale or supply. The incident took place at Kippure Park, Finglas, on March 16, 2017. Garda Sean Kelly said he was on mobile patrol shortly after 10pm when he stopped and searched the defendant. During the course of the search, cocaine with a street value of 1,920 was found. Addiction Gda Kelly said Dowling was taken to Finglas Garda Station and charged. The court heard that Dowling had five previous convictions, though none for drug-related matters. Defence lawyer Ciaran MacLoughlin told the court that Dowling had been earning 3,000 a week at the time of the incident. He was making a lot of money, he didn't know what to do with it and foolishly bought the cocaine. Mr MacLoughlin said Dowling was now working as a mechanic. He was single and had one child. The lawyer said the defendant had addiction issues in the past but no longer had any problems. Mr MacLoughlin also said that Dowling was a volunteer with a charity helping the homeless. Judge McHugh made a destruction order for the cocaine. A distressing image of a 93-year-old woman left waiting on a chair for 25 hours in a Dublin A&E has sparked outrage, following the worst month on record for hospital overcrowding. Gladys Cummins went to Dublin's Mater emergency department (ED) on Monday afternoon and 25 hours later she was still in a chair waiting to be seen, according to her daughter. "I'm starting to lose my faith in politics," said Dee Cummins on RTE Radio One's Liveline. "My mother went into ED at 2.15pm. She was left in a chair for 25 hours. She was moved from a wheelchair to the chair and back onto a wheelchair again, as she's not mobile. Lucidity "We wrapped blankets around her because she was in a corridor. Every time the paramedics came in, there was a draught." Ms Cummins and her two siblings waited while their mother was in the ED, as they didn't feel it was ever safe to leave her. "She doesn't have dementia, but at that time she was in and out of lucidity. She was fretting over the fact she wanted to get home, saying 'Why am I here'. It was tough to calm her. We couldn't leave her." According to Ms Cummins, from Glasnevin, there were a lot of elderly people who weren't being afforded much dignity so she took a photograph of her mother and put it on Facebook. "I felt people needed to see this," she said. "We talk a lot, between housing and healthcare, but nobody does anything. Rather than be a procrastinator and do nothing, I got up and took a photograph, put in on Facebook and asked people to share it. "I thought of a Facebook page called the Long Wait. People can put photos of their relatives on this page and the amount of time they spent waiting to see a medic. "I was hoping Simon Harris might do something. "We know there's no easy solution but surely we can afford people some dignity when they are in extremely vulnerable positions." Since putting up the photo of her mother, Ms Cummins has had a flood of responses from people who have had a similar situation with a loved one. "One girl told me her father died in a corridor in the ED and she screamed for him to get some dignity," said Dee. "There are hundreds of thousands of similar stories. The government is not up to the job obviously. It's not just Simon Harris. We have a Taoiseach and Tanaiste and Minister for Finance, in control of the purse. It's about them all. "The monies are going into administration costs more than the feet on the ground in the hospital. My mother was in a newly built ED. It's not big enough. They are still sitting on chairs in corridors." According to the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO), August was the worst month on record for overcrowding with 7,911 admitted patients waiting on chairs or trolleys - an increase of 2pc on August last year. A HSE spokesperson said the organisation regrets any delays. The Mater University Hospital said it cannot comment on individual cases, but apologised to any patients who have faced long delays in the last 48 hours. "Staff are striving to ensure that all patients are seen as quickly as possible," it said. "The hospital has been exceptionally busy with emergency presentations and admissions for this time of year, and patients are presenting with a variety of complex needs." State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy has announced that she will retire later this year, after nearly 15 years in the top job. Prof Cassidy (66) moved to Ireland from her native Glasgow in 1998 to take up the position of deputy to Professor John Harbison. She quickly became a noticeable figure as the only woman with such a senior job in pathology. She travelled daily across Ireland, visiting the most gruesome scenes. Vital Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan yesterday thanked Prof Cassidy for her years of dedicated service. "The Office of the State Pathologist is a vital part of the criminal justice system. The expertise of its scientists has helped resolve many crimes and bring perpetrators to justice, and in doing this work it has been expertly led by Prof Marie Cassidy," he said. "I would like to thank Marie for her valuable service to the Irish people. I know that she will be greatly missed, not just by her colleagues in the Office of the State Pathologist, but by all those who work with her in the criminal justice system. "I wish Marie a long and happy retirement." The minister also thanked Deputy State Pathologists Dr Michael Curtis and Dr Linda Mulligan, and the Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margo Bolster for their ongoing work. Prof Cassidy, a mother-of-two who lives in Swords, succeeded Prof Harbison as State Pathologist in January 2004. She went on to lead pathological investigations at murder scenes across Ireland throughout the next 14 years. Among the most infamous cases she has worked on was the killing of childcare worker Elaine O'Hara in 2012. In 2015, after Foxrock architect Graham Dwyer was jailed for life for the crime, Prof Cassidy admitted that she had not believed the murderer would be found guilty as she felt there had not been a great deal of pathological evidence. Grave Earlier this year, Ms Cassidy attended the remote south Dublin scene where the body of Jastine Valdez had been found. Ms Valdez, a bright, young Filipino student, had been abducted and murdered by Mark Hennessy, who was later killed after a stand-off with gardai. Prof Cassidy - who has Donegal roots - showed a different side to herself when she appeared on TV3 reality show The Restaurant in 2015. The channel - recently rebranded as Virgin Media One - was criticised when it publicised her appearance in a tasteless manner. A press release included puns like "hoping to blow the diners away", "dead set" and "a grave mistake". Warehouse fire in Spanish Fork visible throughout Utah County Billowing clouds of black and gray smoke, originating from Spanish Fork Wednesday evening, could be seen throughout Utah County. At 6:47 p.m. police, fire and EMS personnel were dispatched to Mountain Country Foods located at 185 E. 1600 North in Spanish Fork on a report of a large warehouse that was on fire. It was reported that the heavy smoke and flames were visible from the roof area of the building, according to the police report. Due to the size of the warehouse and reported size of the fire, several different fire agencies were dispatched to assist. The fire agencies that ... McCauley gets life without parole in teen Riley Crossman's death Andy J. McCauley was sentenced in Morgan County Circuit Court on Thursday to life in prison for the death of 15-year-old Riley Crossman. Irans fascination with local Enfield politics makes Joan Ryan a star in Tehran How a reporter from Jew-baiting, Israel hating, Iranian propaganda channel and Jeremy Corbyns former paymasters Press TV managed to live tweet Labours vote of no confidence in Jew friendly Joan Ryan, Enfield North MP and chair of Labour Friends of Israel is down to infiltration says the Telegraph. You might suppose the story would mention not only the Press TV hacks in the Labour members-only room defying a ban on media reporting but also Yasmine Dar. Shes just been voted onto Labours NEC, the governing body of the Labour Party. Dar, a councillor in Manchester, came first in the vote with an impressive 88,176 votes. As reported, shes attended an annual celebration of the Iranian Islamic Revolution in Manchester. One Times writer notes: Her speech was followed by a Q&A in which a rather notorious British academic carefully explained, among other things, that Hillary Clinton was a Zionist warmonger and that 80 per cent of the American media is owned by the Zionists. Dar seemed to be sitting in the front row for this and there was no sign of dissent. But, no. The Telegraph makes no mention of her. Beneath the headline: Iranian activists infiltrated Labour and were able to vote in pro-Israel MPs no-confidence ballot this infiltration was presumably facilitated by the cunning plot of joining the Labour Party and voting democratically we get the facts. Corbyn was paid 20,000 by the murdering Iranian dictatorship. So weve established that Blair and Corbyn are in the same boat, but Blair is better at negotiating his fee. https://t.co/hjI3dA5Gxz James Cleverly (@JamesCleverly) September 8, 2018 Ryan tells the Telegraph: Im horrified that theyve infiltrated the Labour Party in this way and I think it needs to be investigated, because it is incredibly serious. Im proud of my values, and I dont expect to be the toast of the mouthpiece of the Iranian regime. Tom Watson, Labours deputy leader, thinks it impossible to fathom how Press TV got in. This disorder makes a farce of the proceedings and is not how the modern Labour Party should conduct its affairs. Ofcom revoked Press TVs broadcast licence for airing the forced confession of tortured Iranian journalist Maziar Bahari. This account is followed by @johnmcdonnellMP and @labourlewis. pic.twitter.com/1SHtCwu4Sy Oz Katerji (@OzKaterji) September 7, 2018 The proceedings were nasty. The farce comes from banning the media. When pretty much everyone smart phone and a Wi-Fi signal, why bother? Let them film. Why should only Iranians desperate for party political news from Enfield get to see the show? One source in Enfield said a few years ago only 15 or 20 people would have tuned up to such meeting; now its anything from 200 to 80million. She might not be famous in Edmonton, but Ryan is a mega star in Tehran. Allow for an ad break, and Enfield could be coining it in. David Baddiel wonders what if Israeli media and not Press TV had been there: Still not heard much from the Labour members who voted a no-confidence motion against Joan Ryan as to why Iranian TV was in the room. I feel we might have heard a little bit from them if Israeli TV had been in the room. David Baddiel (@Baddiel) September 8, 2018 Ha. Silly stuff. As Jeremy Corbyn knows, Israeli media is always in the room. Anorak Posted: 8th, September 2018 | In: Key Posts, News, Politicians Comment | TrackBack | Permalink Abhishek Bachchan has given a quite a few memorable performances in his career, including in films such as Refugee, Yuva, Raavan and the Dhoom series. In the life of an actor there are many influences that become a part of their being. Often, they get advice from their co-stars, directors and friends. In his life, too, Abhishek has been advised by many and some of them he certainly cherishes. In a recent interview to Film Companion, the actor, who will next be seen in Manmarziyaan along with Vicky Kaushal and Taapsee Pannu, spoke about some of the best advice he has received and he recalled an instance when his wife, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, gave him a quirky tip. Whats interesting is that the advice was anything but philosophical--it was practical and hilarious too. The year was 2000 and it was seven years before they got married. And what was it? She told him to ensure that his teeth and nose were clean before giving a shot! The Deccan Chronicle quoted the actor as saying: My wife told me, Check your teeth, check your nose. Suddenly, the audience realises for time immemorial, Thats what he had for lunch. In our first film, Dhai Akshar Prem Ke, thats what she said. Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan with daughter Aaradhya at pre-engagement party of Akash Ambani and fiancee Shloka Mehta in Mumbai on June 30, 2018. (PTI) Speaking about the scenes that he finds tough to enact these days, Abhishek said they have to be the emotional ones, because in extreme anger and extreme sorry we tend to forget the character we are playing and become ourselves. To rein that in and direct it in a way that its the characters, was the most challenging for him. He also spoke of the time when he was simply unable to cry. It was the time when he would train at actor Anupam Khers acting school. He recalled the time when while doing an emotional scene during a training session he was unable to cry and that made him very upset. Thats when glycerine helped. However, he was quick to add that while glycerine helps with the first tear, eventually one has to have real tears. He also received unsolicited advice from young actors which was to use glycerine because it picks up light better than your actual tears do. Another piece of advice that has stayed with him was from friend and co-star Hrithik Roshan, who, after the success of Dhoom 2, had told him that from now on his real struggle would begin. I remember my dear friend Hrithik said something to me many years ago. We were at a success bash of Dhoom, which was considered my first successful film. And he came and hugged me and he was so happy because hes been through my journey and weve all started together and theres a huge amount of love and respect. He said, Your struggle starts now. And I was like, Ha? What have I been doing for so long? You just gave your first hit, now the tough part starts. This is whatll make you a better actor, because now you have something to lose. Follow @htshowbiz for more Gali Guleiyan Director - Dipesh Jain Cast - Manoj Bajpayee, Neeraj Kabi, Shahana Goswami, Ranvir Shorey Rating - 3.5/5 Cinema, by definition, invites us to step inside strangers lives, wear their skin and peep inside their minds. Those few hours in a darkened theatre can lead to a gamut of emotions -- joy, grief or catharsis. In Gali Guleiyan, the lasting feeling is that of claustrophobia. Manoj Bajpayees honest interview: Im tired of being frustrated Manoj Bajpayees Khudoos -- much like us, the audience -- is a voyeur who watches the labyrinthine Old Delhi stretching around him through a complicated web of close-circuit cameras. Long back, he turned his back to the real world, with the hazy CCTV images being his only link. That, and one loyal friend Ganeshi (Ranvir Shorey) who fusses over Khudoos like a mother would and tries to keep him sane. Watch the Gali Guleiyan trailer here Brilliantly portrayed by Bajpayee, Khudoos is imprisoned in the maze thats the old city and inside his mind. A compulsive loner, his grasp on reality is slipping. His only refuge is his decrepit old shop, which is inhabited by outdated technology and years of loneliness. Thats where he first hears the cries of Iddu (Om Singh), a teenaged boy chained to his abusive father (Neeraj Kabi). Like Khudoos, Iddu wants an escape from his smothering neighbourhood and familial ties. Their two lives are joined by an unseen umbilical cord and saving Iddu from abuse becomes the only reason for Khudoos existence. Before long, their lives intersect as Khudoos begins his feverish search for the boy. Gali Guleiyan is set in Old Delhi. Promoted as a psychological thriller, Gali Guleiyan is light on suspense and you can see the twist a mile off. However, as the psychological portrait of the character, it is perhaps one of the best films to come out in a long time. Bajpayee makes Khudoos humane and vulnerable, his body language saying what he never can voice. The actor described the film as his Godfather, his Taxi Driver and it is indeed the performance of a lifetime. Neeraj Kabi plays an abusive father. Debutante actor Om Singh does a fine job of playing Iddu too -- his anger at his father is palpable but just under the surface. Kabi and Shahana Goswami are effective as the parents, the camera perking up every time the mother played by her is in the frame. Manoj Bajpayee most recently appeared in Satyameva Jayate. There is another character in the film who writes everyones fate and seals them -- the social dystopia thats Old Delhi. Coloured in grey, brown and yellow palette, it is a maniacal presence without any empathy. Director Dipesh Jain ensures it has nothing in common with the kite-flying bonhomie with which we have associated the space till now. His Old Delhi is not about new beginnings, it is about the dead ends. Author tweets @JSB17 Follow @htshowbiz for more Arjun Kapoor has every reason to be happy in life. With some interest projects under his belt such as Namaste England, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, Indias Most Wanted and Panipat, he is on a career high. On personal front too, despite the tragedy that hit their family in the wake of the sudden passing away of Sridevi, he is definitely in a more centred space, bonding with his father Boney Kapoor and his half sisters, Janhvi Kapoor and Khushi Kapoor. However, theres one person he both loves and is in awe ofhis paternal grandmother. In an interview to Mumbai Mirror, he revealed that on his birthday this year his dadi (grandmother) has issued a stern warning to him and he had every intention of honouring it. On his 33rd birthday, Nirmal Kapoor has issued a threat and a request, a bribe and a command that he get married. Laughing, Arjun was quoted as saying, Dadi has never articulated her feelings so firmly. Before this, it was all said in jest, this time shes put a tick to it, and since dadi has few expectations from me, I intend to fulfil this demand at the right time with the right person. Of course, he would like to see his sister Anshula and cousin Rhea get married first. He went on to say, Besides, there have just been two weddings (Mohit Marwah and Sonam Kapoor) and we should give the family time too, else theyll get tired attending weddings. Mujhe bas thodi si mohlat de do (just give me some time), please. Speaking further about his family, he is delighted and proud of the manner in which Janhvi has conducted herself in public. He said he has come to realise that she is a sensible girl, who is pretty sorted in her head and conducts herself with dignity. All these are important attributes for a good actor. None of us start out being perfect, I didnt, but in Janhvis case the foundation is strong, shell build on that and get better with every film. I see tremendous potential, Dhadak was just the tip of the iceberg. Staying on Dhadak, he added how he was impressed with her performance in the film. Shes very young and it was her first film, but I saw nuances youd expect from someone more mature. When Janhvi was on screen, you couldnt take your eyes off her, he raved. Shes an introvert and needs time to come out of her shell. We are really proud of her and while as a family our reasons are emotional, I can say as an actor that Janhvi Kapoor is here to stay. Dhadak, he further added, was the right launch for Janhvi and its success proved that both Ishaan Khatter and Janhvi had been accepted by the audience. Meanwhile, on his work front, the trailer of his upcoming film, Namaste London was unveiled on September 5, where he will be seen with Ishaqzaade co-star Parineeti Chopra. In it, Arjun can be seen as the quintessential munda, happy with Punjab, love and wife Parineeti. Vipul Amrutlal Shahs Namaste England begins from Punjab, move to Ludhiana, then goes to Amritsar, Dhaka and all the way to Paris followed by Brussels and finally to London again. The film promises to be a quintessential Bollywood fun fare. The Arjun Kapoor, Parineeti Chopra film releases on October 19. Follow @htshowbiz for more Kangana Ranaut gets into the skin of the character in all seriousness. In a new still released by her team, Kangana looks every bit a fierce warrior queen she is playing in her upcoming period drama, Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi. Sharing the still on Instagram, the handle wrote: The Warrior Queen, getting ready to battle. #KanganaRanaut, bloodied & resilient, shoots for #Manikarnika s Action sequences with Hollywood Action Director #NickPowell #ManikarnikaOn25thJan. In it, we see Kangana with blood on her face. She is in warriors clothes. She has an armour on and is possibly holding a sword and giving her directions is Hollywood action director, Nick Powell. Kangana is a picture of concentration. Meanwhile, Manikarnika has been mired in controversy for long. First, director Krish left the project mid-way. Then, there were rumours that Kangana had hijacked the film as its director. Much later, there were reports that actor Sonu Sood, who plays an important character in the film, quit. On the issue of Kangana hijacking the project, the maker of Manikarnika, Kamal Jain had refuted the claims outright. He had said Kangana was considered the best person to take over the mantle to complete patchwork and to direct a few additional scenes for Manikarnika, when Krish moved on to his new film. Later, a source close to the actor had detailed how Kangana was handed the reins of the project. The makers of Manikarnika were upset seeing the rough cut of the film and hence asked Kangana to take over. Basically, when the producers saw the rough cut they were upset with Krish and were not happy. Hence Kangana was asked to take over. From a logical point of view if a director is under contract and is being paid by the producers then he has to reshoot if there are any changes too. But, they chose to let him go and not insist on him taking the reigns again cause they werent happy. They then asked Kangana to step in. Only 20-30% of what Krish shot is being retained and the other portions that is 60% are being reshot. The initial budget was around Rs 60 crores but the producers are ready to give in Rs 20 crores more for the reshoot as they trust Kangana. Earlier Kangana had been quoted as saying that Sonu, who she thought of as a dear friend, walked out as he refused to work under a woman director. Stung by the criticism, the actor had shot back saying that was not the case; he had worked with a female director (Farah Khan in Happy New Year) and that issue was competence. The issue snowballed into a major controversy with both parties training guns at each other. However, not all had been lost. Kanganas co-star in the film, Ankita Lokhande, has strongly endorsed Kangana as her new captain and sounded happy at the prospect of shooting her first song for the film with her. She had even posted pictures of them together and had written: I feel my feet lighter. Rehearsing for my first bollywood song with master ji @ganeshacharyaa and our new captain kangana ranaut @team_kangana_ranaut Super excited to be part of it. #jhalkaribai Much much gratitude #kamaljain #zeestudios #manikarnika #releasingon25th jan #swipelef. Follow @htshowbiz for more Looks like the Pataudis and Kemmus holiday in the Maldives is far from over. While pictures of Kareena Kapoor Khan, Saif Ali Khan and their son Taimur Ali Khan havent been seen of late, Kunal Kemmu and Soha Ali Khan have been posting pictures from the island nation. The most recent one includes Saif. Kunal posted an Instagram story in which he can be seen with Saif, wearing diving gear and sitting in a boat. Kunal captioned it as: Diving buddies. In it, both Saif and Kunal are wearing black-coloured diving suits; in fact, Saifs diving fins are also visible in the picture. Saif Ali Khan and Kunal Kemmu take a selfie on a boat. Kareena and Saif, with their son Taimur and Soha, Kunal with their daughter Inaaya, have been enjoying their Maldives vacation to the hilt. Theyve been sharing pictures and videos from the beach, the resort and even from inside the pool. Many other pictures show them enjoying a peaceful swim with the babies, Kareena and Saif posing together, Inaaya and Taimur in a colouring session and much more. On September 6, Soha posted a lovely picture of her daughter Inaaya with a message of hope. In a picture, where Inaaya is seen crawling out of a multi-coloured rainbow play tunnel, she wrote: There is light at the end of the tunnel!!! #freedom. It resonated well with the Supreme Court verdict decriminalising same-sex relationships earlier in the day. Getting back to Saif and Kareena, the duo had gone for more than a month on a London vacation this June, around the time her film Veere Di Wedding was set to hit the screens. Saif came back just in time to promote his first Netflix series, Sacred Games. They earlier vacationed with Taimur in Switzerland. On the work front, while Kareena will begin work on Karan Johars period drama, Takht, and a comedy, Good News, with Akshay Kumar, Saif has already begun shooting for his next film, Hunter, in which he plays a Naga Sadhu. Kunal, meanwhile, has been shooting for Kalank, which has an ensemble cast including Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Dutt, Alia Bhatt and Varun Dhawan. Follow @htshowbiz for more God is not invoked these days. Not pointedly, at least. Thank God as an exclamation is used mechanically with not much thought about God or even about thanks. It is just a sigh of relief. And so I could not help notice two invokings of God that were dead serious on the last but one day of August. The first came from Jinson Johnson on winning the Mens 1500-metre race at the Asian Games. Watching him on the tracks was beyond excitement. It was exhilarating. Calm, to the point of being expressionless, he started comfortably, confidently and with no tension on his face. He was at second place for a major part of the race, falling to third and then fourth place. When this happened I gave up all expectations and resigned myself to disappointment nothing new for us in international sport. But then something stirred in him. It stirred very quietly, very unobtrusively and before anyone could figure out what was happening he was back at number three, then at number two and to my amazement, was level with number one. Bolt upright, as expressionless as always, his legs moving like some leopards, his arms whirring like two fans. Come on, Jinson! Go for it Jinson! said practically everyone who was watching and sure enough there he was ahead of number one, ahead by a small distance first, then by a bigger, then by a yet bigger distance, until he was well ahead, was first and was going to hit gold and did. And on winning, he did nothing dramatic, he did not fall to the ground, cross himself or do anything that would show a thrill. When asked the usual questions later, Jinson just said he thanked God, thanked God alone, and he said he did that for he had been praying for the result that was now his. Without doubt every runner on that track may be assumed to have prayed in some form or other like Jinson but Jinsons reference to God was different. He was acknowledging his faith, his surrender to Gods will. And his handing over his win to God. The Kerala Christian was doubtless aware that he was saying something that was very personal, very intimate and that, in times when God is not invoked in public any more. At least not that pointedly or that often. I found this sobering. The second invoking of God came at a public meeting in Chennai on August 30. This was a mammoth meeting called by the just-elected president of the DMK, MK Stalin to pay tribute to his late father, the five-time chief minister of Tamil Nadu, M Karunanidhi. A galaxy of political leaders attended the event and spoke about the departed leader, his democratic, secular federal politics and his administrative skills. More than one speaker referred to Karunanidhis faith in rationalism, a derivation from the fervent atheist Periyar. And all said it was now up to Stalin to take his fathers legacy forward and reclaim Indias democratic spirit from what most speakers described as the assault on dissent, on democratic freedoms, individual liberties. When the turn came to Farooq Abdullah to speak, he said struck an altogether distinct and distinctive chord. He said he was a believer. This was obviously said with the rationalist background of the DMK. And he said that as that believer in God he was sure that Stalin would show the way to an India of the kind that its founders had in mind. I believe in God, he said more than once and each time with enhanced conviction. And referring to his own dear Kashmir he said that Kashmiris teamed up with India because of one reason and one reason alone and that was that they trusted Karamchand Gandhi, the Mahatma, a man of God. Sitting in the audience that heard the former chief minister of J&K with rapt attention, I found his repeated reference in a political speech to God, quite distinct and distinctive. This was not a May the Almighty bless thing. It was an urgent, passionate invoking. No two persons can be as different as Keralas Jinson Johnson and Kashmirs Farooq Abdullah and yet within the 24 hours both Indians had invoked God, fervently, one in thankfulness and the other in prayerfulness. We are a secular nation but a deeply religious society and it made me feel very grateful for two reflections of this faith that were utterly non-sectarian, non-bigoted and sublime. Gopalkrishna Gandhi is distinguished professor of history and politics, Ashoka University The views expressed are personal I first went to Kerala in 1993, in the company of the ecologist Madhav Gadgil. We had been asked to speak at a meeting organised by that remarkable peoples science organisation, the Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad. We were received at Ernakulam Railway Station by the zoologist M. K. Prasad, a doyen of the KSSP. Despite his high status in society, Professor Prasad had come by bus, and he dressed very simply, in bush shirt and rubber chappals. I have been back to Kerala many times. As a historian, what has impressed me most is the states manifest egalitarianism. This was witnessed afresh in the response to the recent floods, when, regardless of caste or religion, all came forward to help with relief and rehabilitation. Ideologues from outside the state sought to pit Hindus against Christians and Muslims, but the Malayalis would have none of it. From the wealthy expatriate in the Gulf who opened up his cheque book to the fisherfolk who worked day and night to rescue victims, everyone set aside their social and political differences in this moment of tragedy. The first lesson of the Kerala floods, therefore, is this; earthquakes and floods do not recognise distinctions invented by crafty humans to divide, and to rule. But there is a second lesson, which may be harder to comprehend and act on. This is that if we abuse nature and disregard the limits it sets on human behaviour (and especially human greed), it will take its revenge upon us. If Kerala wishes to heed this second lesson, then the person they must listen to more attentively is the scientist I first went to that state with. Madhav Gadgil left the prospect of a dazzling career in the Western academia to join the Indian Institute of Science, where he established a Centre for Ecological Sciences. Through his own books and essays, and through the students he has nurtured and inspired, he has worked ceaselessly for ecological responsibility. The contribution of Madhav Gadgil most relevant to the present context is the report of a committee he chaired. Commissioned by Jairam Ramesh when he was Union environment minister, this presented a comprehensive analysis of the threats posed to the Western Ghats by reckless resource extraction. The Gadgil Report noted that the Ghats had been torn asunder by the greed of the elite and gnawed at by the poor, striving to eke out a subsistence. This is a great tragedy, for this hill range is the backbone of the ecology and economy of south India. Then it added: Yet, on the positive side, the Western Ghats region has some of the highest levels of literacy in the country, and a high level of environmental awareness. Democratic institutions are well entrenched, and Kerala leads the country in capacity building and empowering of Panchayat Raj Institutions. Drawing on many decades of field experience and the latest scientific studies, the Gadgil Report sought to harmonise economic growth with environmental sustainability. Development plans, it said, should not be cast in a rigid framework, but ought to be tailored to prevalent locality and time-specific conditions with full participation of local communities, a process that has been termed adaptive co-management. This would marry conservation to development, and not treat them as separate, incompatible objectives. The Gadgil Report underlined that ecological sensitivity is not merely a scientific, but very much a human, concern. It argued that modern science must be enriched with the folk ecological knowledge of peasants, artisans, pastoralists, and fisherfolk. It pointed out that excessive centralisation of regulatory control does not, and has not worked well. It advocated that the political system strengthen resource and environmental federalism in the Western Ghats, and move towards more polycentric forms of governance, and many centres of decision-making, which will enable more innovative responses, learning, cooperation and better adaptation to ecosystem pressures and changes. The Gadgil Report closely examined different sectors of economic activity: agriculture, animal husbandry, forests, fisheries, power, industry, roads, etc. It looked at existing practices in each of these sectors, and how, with the aid both of cutting-edge science and participatory decision-making, they could be made more efficient and sustainable. There was a particularly telling section on mining, which had destroyed forests, degraded soils, polluted the atmosphere, and depleted water sources. Mining had also gravely damaged human health, and thrown farmers, pastoralists, and fisherfolk out of work. All across India, unregulated mining runs rampant, with politicians collaborating with contractors to destroy nature and impoverish local communities. Field reports suggest that landslides, soil erosion, and deposits of debris caused by stone quarrying and sand mining had contributed substantially to the intensification of the floods in Kerala. The Gadgil Report which was commissioned by Jairam Ramesh was junked by the person who succeeded him as environment minister. This minister even sought to have it banned from circulation; fortunately, an upright Information Commissioner made sure the report was uploaded online. In the wake of the recent tragedy, it deserves to be read afresh and widely discussed. For its lessons apply not only to Kerala, but also to Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra, whose own Western Ghats districts have been ravaged in recent decades. Indeed, the ideas behind the Gadgil Report apply directly to that even more vulnerable mountain system, the Himalaya. Had it not been for deforestation, mining, careless road widening and construction on river banks, the loss of life and property in the 2013 Uttarakhand floods would have not been so substantial. In the Himalayas, as in the Ghats, wise and far-sighted resource use is absolutely imperative. To bring this about, corrupt politicians and greedy contractors must be contested, and checked; by citizens action and by scientific knowledge, working hand in hand. Ramachandra Guhas books include Gandhi Before India The views expressed are personal The prime ministers recent statement blaming the crisis in the banks on naamdars, or influential people, arranging loans for industrialists by phoning a bank reminds me of an experience my former colleague Satish Jacob had. Satish went to his bank manager for an extension of his mortgage because he had retired and his income was reduced. The manager said very firmly, Mr Jacob you know that is not allowed under the rules. Satish asked how the bank could bend the rules to fund corporate debts but couldnt bend them to help a humble retail customer. The manager replied, You know, the telephone. In his new book The Billionaire Raj, James Crabtree, for five years Financial Time correspondent in Mumbai, writes of the timidity of bankers when faced with tycoons demands for loans. He quotes the former governor of the Reserve Bank Raghuram Rajan saying , They (the bankers) knew these guys (the tycoons) had so much more power relative to them and more influence in the corridors of power. Although the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code will hopefully draw a line under the loan mela that created the banking crisis it is important that its excesses are remembered so that the government and bankers are aware of all the tricks corporate borrowers can get up to. James Cabtrees book will serve as a reminder. The heart of the book is the chapter called The House of Debt. It tells the story of credit flowing all too freely creating billionaires with huge holes in their balance sheets which they papered over, and financial information hidden by opaque corporate structures. Banks lent money for over-valued investments which enabled promoters to avoid investing their own money and to pocket some of the banks money. This became known as gold-plating. Then there was ever-greening borrowing money from one bank to service a debt to another bank. Bills were inflated well beyond the real value of the goods or services supplied and the proceeds were shared between suppliers and the customer. Creative accounting hid the reality of conglomerates finances. At the corporate level, billion dollar debts were being greened by breaking banking rules while at the grassroots bank officials were enforcing rules on customers with the customary zeal of Indian minor bureaucrats . The manager of a branch in a small Karnataka town told me he could not lend a farmer money unless the farmer got certificates from all the local branches of other banks stating that he didnt owe them any money. The manager admitted that the farmers would have to pay for each certificate. Why didnt the holes in the corporates finances show up on their audited balance sheets? That was a question I put to a small group of chartered accountants over lunch. They pointed out that auditors can only audit the documents companies show them. One said If a document is created through collusion to give an impression of reality its very difficult for the auditor to discern that. Companies can collude with constructors over the cost of a plant they are building, there can be collusion with valuers over the value of stock, and there can be collusion with suppliers over invoices. I was told that auditors drawing up a banks balance sheet have to depend on the audits of individual branches or clusters of branches. They dont supervise those audits so there can be collusion between managers and auditors at the branch level. I was reminded by one that Nirav Modi had conducted most of his business with one comparatively small branch of a bank.The accountants summed up our discussion with a verdict one pronounced by a judge, an auditor can only be a watchdog not a bloodhound. Bankers cant be bloodhounds either. But at least now when they pick up the telephone they can warn naamdars and the promoters they represent that the new Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code means those who borrow money they cant repay may well lose their companies. The views expressed are personal Students union elections in 101 government and 50 degree colleges, and five universities in Uttarakhand were held peacefully on Saturday. Polling was done through paper ballot system. For the first time in the state, students union elections were held on the same day in both Garhwal and Kumaon regions. In Dehradun, elections were carried out without untoward incidents in DAV PG College, DBS PG College, MKP PG College, and Shri Guru Ram Rai (SGRR) PG College. There was a heavy deployment of police force in all the four colleges. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the students wing of the RSS, swept the DBS College polls in Dehradun. Mandeep Singh from the organisation was elected as the president. Shruti Chauhan and Shivam Joshi were elected as vice president and general secretary, respectively. Both the candidates contested independently but had ABVPs support. They joined the ABVP after winning. The posts of university representative (UR), treasurer and joint secretary were also bagged by ABVP candidates Rohan Joshi, Ajay Negi and Amit Singh Chauhan, respectively. In DBS College, 939 votes were cast against a total of 1,524 students, bringing the poll percentage to 61.6%. DAV, the biggest college in Garhwal, recorded 55.6% polling. A total of 3,363 votes were cast in the college where the student strength is 6,049. Counting will take place in DAV on Sunday. MKP PG College for women saw a low turnout. Election officer of the college Tushti Maithani said 38% students turned out to vote. Independent candidate Pravind Gupta was elected as the president of SGRR PG College, bagging 550 votes out of 879. Mohamad Asif from the National Students Union of India (NSUI), a wing of the Congress, and independent candidate Akmal Ali were elected as the vice president and general secretary, respectively. The other three seats in the panel were also bagged by NSUI candidates. Election officer Pradeep Singh said the college recorded the highest polling percentage in recent years, with 69.2% students coming out to vote. In Kumaon, voting took place in all 42 colleges. MB PG College, biggest college of the region with 9,461 students, recorded 33.8% polling. DSB College of Nainital witnessed 59% turnout whereas PNG College in Ramnagar recorded 68.9% voting. LSM College, Pithoragarh and SSJ College, Almora recorded 51 and 50% polling, respectively. In Champawat, 68.9% students of Government College turned up to cast their votes. In the elections at Kanya Gurukul, girl student wing of Gurukul Kangri University, Neha Kaushik has been unanimously elected as president of the student union. Rakhi was elected as vice president, Manisha Bajaj secretary, and Chanchal Tanwar as treasurer. University vice chancellor Prof DK Maheswari said all the newly elected office-bearers were given oath of pledge with performance of Vedic rituals. Registrar Dinesh Bhatt and Kanya Gurukul coordinator Dr Sangeeta Vidyalankar apprised the new office-bearers about their responsibilities. At DAV College, Roorkee, Nidhi Pawar was elected as president of the student union. At Shri Sanatan Dharm Prakash Chand Kanya PG College, Kaushar Jahan was elected as president, Nur-e-Daksh as vice president and Chetna as secretary. Principal Archana Mishra gave oath to the newly elected office-bearers. At Shravan Nath Muth Jawahar Lal Nehru College, students under the NSUI banner opposed the cancellation of student union election. Students staged a sit-in at the city magistrate office, alleging that local BJP political leaders pressured the college principal to cancel the elections. Polling percentage at colleges: DAV PG College, Dehradun - 55.6% DBS PG College, Dehradun - 61.61% MKP PG College, Dehradun - 38% SGRR PG College, Dehradun - 69.2% MB PG College, Haldwani - 33.8% DSB College, Nainital - 59.16% PNG College, Ramnagar - 68.9% LSM College, Pithoragarh - 51% Government College, Champawat - 68.9%, SSJ College, Almora - 50% Former secretary-general of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon visited the Delhi government-run mohalla clinics and polyclinics on Friday and was all praise for the systematic way in which primary healthcare services were provided to the citys poor. Former Norwegian prime minister Gro Harlem Brundtland accompanied Ki-Moon during his visit as part of a team of The Elders, a global organisation founded by Nobel Laureate Nelson Mandela that works for peace, justice and human rights. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendar Jain accompanied the delegation that visited citys first mohalla clinic in Peeragarhi and a polyclinic in Paschim Vihar. The former UN secretary general said he was deeply touched and impressed with the clinics. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has great vision to make sure that primary healthcare is available to the poor and the vulnerable people. Mohalla clinics and polyclinics are the examples of what governments and politicians should do for the people. I deeply appreciate the chief minister and the health minister, he said. I have travelled to many, many places. What I have seen today, the clinics are much systemic, well-organised and well kept. I am very impressed Brundtland, who has also served as the director general of the World Health Organisation, said she witnessed impressive work being done at the mohalla clinic and the polyclinic. In Delhi, with mohalla clinics and plans to develop them, you are approaching what needs to be done for all people, for every Indian and everyone in every country. So, we are happy to see what is being done here in Delhi and what the government has been planning and implementing on the behalf of the people of this region. It needs to be done all over India, she said. The first mohalla clinic started in Peeragarhi in 2015, and so far Delhi is running 188 of them. It is a moment of immense pride for us that such leading global personalities have come down to Delhi to witness the revolution being carried out in the health sector, said Kejriwal. Days ahead of the Jawaharlal Nehru University students union election, the varsity administration on Friday cancelled the nomination of the presidential candidate fielded by Congresss student wing National Students Union of India (NSUI). According to the NSUI members at the university, the nomination was cancelled without citing any reason. We have not been told the reason behind the cancellation our candidates nomination. We were just sent an email by the Dean of Students Welfare (DSW) saying that the candidature of Vikas Yadav was cancelled, said Sunny Mehta, NSUI coordinator at JNU. NSUIs national in-charge Ruchi Gupta alleged that the decision has been taken under political influence. They had cleared his nomination earlier after scrutinising his records. If they had any issue with his nomination, they should have highlighted it earlier. They had allowed him to participate and campaign also. Whats the point of all the scrutiny? she said. While the members of JNU Election Commission (JNUEC) said the matter was yet to be finalised, the DSW officials refused to comment on it. Later in the evening, the NSUI members at JNU held a protest outside the Vice Chancellors residence. We will not leave the protest site till we are given a valid reason behind the move, Mehta said. Last year, the candidature of NSUIs presidential candidate Rocky Tuseed was cancelled by the Delhi University (DU) administration. Afterwards, the students group had moved to the Delhi High Court and restored his nomination. Tusheed won the top post in the DU Students Union (DUSU). The Delhi Polices Special Cell has arrested a 37-year-old member of Manipur-based banned terrorist outfit, Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP-PWG), for allegedly threatening and extorting businessmen and influential people, police said Saturday. The accused, Moirangthem Rana Pratap alias Paikhomba, self-styled General Secretary of the banned outfit, was arrested from Bishnupur area on September 4, they said. He along with his associates was allegedly threatening and extorting money from businessmen and influential people, said Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Earlier on August 28, Oinam Ibochouba Singh alias Khoirangba, a top commander and self-styled acting chairman of the banned outfit was arrested from south Delhis Kotla Mubarakpur area, he said. Police said it was Paikhomba, who had directed Khoirangba to go to Delhi and set up a base here to conduct their activities. On his directions, Khoirangba had allegedly given threats to Manipur chief minister, the senior officer said. Khoirangba was in the process of setting up a base in Delhi allegedly to carry out anti-national activities. He had allegedly threatened Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh and some other ministers, he added Paikhomba is also wanted by National Investigative Agency (NIA) and a reward of Rs two lakh was declared on his arrest by the agency, the officer said. He has been brought to Delhi on transit remand from Manipur, the officer added. KCP (People War Group) was formed in January, 2016 by a combined extremist group of KCP-Poirei faction, KCP-Tamnganba faction and KCP-Paikhomba faction under the chairman of Laishram Ranjit Meetei. In January 2017, the Special Cell arrested the self-styled convener of KCP/PWG Ranjeet Singh Porai alias Rocky and, in August 2017 busted a module of KCP/PWG with the arrest of top leadership including commander-in-chief of KCP-Tamnganba faction Laishram Ranjit Meitei. The Supreme Court of India, in a landmark judgment that opened with quotes by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Arthur Schopenhauer and John Stewart Mill, declared that homosexuality was no longer a crime in India. The top courts Thursday verdict was a defiant one, celebrated in most sections of liberal India and hailed as a welcome bit of good news in the increasingly confrontational times that we live in. But one of the more perceptive reactions to the judgment came from comedian Hannah Gadsby, who recently created quite the conversation around her masterpiece stand-up special, Nanette She wrote that she was thrilled at the verdict and in awe of all those that fought for this change. But pay closer attention to her choice of words and youll notice a cautious tone of voice. India has made it safer for the LGBTQ population, she wrote, almost as if to ask: Is the worst really over? Does this really mean things will change? Were safer but are we entirely saved? The centuries of injustice might have taken away some of the optimism, but never the spirit. And the fight on the streets has often been mirrored in the arts - which, for years have served as an avenue for the oppressed to express themselves. For the longest time, films about homosexuality were somehow perceived as being aimed towards that community and not meant for regular audiences. We all know now how inaccurate this thought is - or, at least, thats the hope. The watershed moment probably came in 2005, with the release of director Ang Lees Brokeback Mountain. It paved the way for several significant gay-themed films - Carol, Moonlight, Call Me By Your Name, Milk and The Danish Girl (whose TV premiere the CBFC quashed, by the way) - that have found great success in popular culture and have even been validated by the Oscars. Meanwhile, on TV, there has never been a better time for LGBTQ representation, with Trasparent, Looking, Queer as Folk and Orange is the New Black - among many others - flying the flag with pride. We will not talk about any of these films or shows this week. Instead, we will shine a light upon those that perhaps havent been as widely accepted as some of the others; the films that have mostly remained in their insular communities, bursting for the opportunity to introduce themselves to the world. Pariah The film announced the arrival of several blazingly talented voices - director Dee Rees, star Adepero Oduye and cinematographer Bradford Young. It is perhaps the most searing black LGBTQ movie behind Moonlight, and almost as difficult to watch. But like most challenging movies, it is also rewarding. Its sort of a romantic notion to believe that one can be changed fundamentally through great art, but if youre willing to surrender to a black teenage girls coming-of-age story - regardless of where you are on this planet - then youll come out a different person, more empathetic to the lives of others, and therefore more open to understanding them. The Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy Director Gregg Araki has long been at the forefront of the New Queer Movement in cinema. His films Kaboom and Mysterious Skin even found some festival success, winning, like several films on this list, the Queer Palm at Cannes. But it was his Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy that opened the doors to where we are today. Each of the three movies - Totally F**ked Up, The Doom Generation and Nowhere - embody his unique blend of violence and comedy, explicit sex and raw emotion. I Killed My Mother Xavier Dolan is one of my favourite directors working today. Six out of his seven feature films have premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, and have won him numerous accolades. And he is still in his twenties. His debut feature, I Killed My Mother, however - written, produced, directed by and starring a 20-year-old Dolan - is a phenomenal encapsulation of his storytelling style. Its part pop-art, part high-art, infused with his unique musicality and vulnerability and anger. Dolan has described the film as a semi-autobiographical story about coming-of-age as an outcast - although, several of his movies could fall under this category. Interior.Leather.Bar If you thought Radhika Apte was omnipresent, observe, for a moment, what James Franco was up to in 2013. He was a part of 10 films, in different capacities. Three of them were directed by him. One was based on a book hed written. He got roasted on Comedy Central, he guest starred on a popular sitcom, he published two books, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Franco has always had an over-the-top manner in expressing himself - always through his art, perhaps because he isnt all that expressive on screen - and how he chose to express his longstanding support for the LGBTQ communities made all sorts of sense. In 2013, Franco produced, shot and directed a 60 minute documentary called Interior.Leather.Bar. The idea was to reproduce the one hour of explicit footage that was cut from the 1980 Al Pacino film, Cruising - a film about a detective who infiltrates New Yorks gay subculture. Cruising is considered a landmark film for gay representation in Hollywood - a confrontational moment of reckoning - and its graphic nature caused much controversy around the time of its release. Keeping with his experimental attitude, much screen time in Interior.Leather.Bar is devoted to Francos cast of adult performers confused as to why hed want to do this in the first place. When one of them asks him, Franco basically replies with a shrug. Pride Perhaps the most uplifting movie of its year, director Matthew Warchus comedy-drama about a group of LGBTQ characters who decide to support a miners union, is one of those films that could have developed a reputation as a modern classic had the stars aligned in its favour. In it, a group of gay activists, empathising with a group of protesting miners - who have become the polices new targets because of their daily disputes over their rights - offer to support their cause. Initially, the miners resist - do they really want the support of another oppressed community, particularly the gays? - but eventually, the clashing personalities find common ground, and realise that at the end of the day, everyone wants the same thing: To be treated with respect. Pride is absolutely beautiful; its empowering and unabashedly optimistic and has a message that should be plastered on banners and thrust in the faces of the cruel bigots. Perhaps save this one for last. Follow @htshowbiz for more The author tweets @RohanNaahar Chris Pines new film, Outlaw King, opened the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival, but all anyone seems to want to talk about is his full-frontal nudity. While the film, a medieval epic modelled on Braveheart and Game of Thrones, wasnt received quite as ecstatically as anyone involved would have liked, Pines penis quickly became the talk of the town. Vulture, in a post titled, Chris Pines Penis Dazzles Audience at Opening Night of Toronto Film Festival wrote, The sex scene that ensues can only be described as Wiseauean, both in the way the camera lovingly lingers on the male leads backside, and in its willingness to go on for a beat longer than is comfortable. Its kicked off by a split-second shot where Robert disrobes, unveiling the full majesty of his medieval bush. Its a level of nudity you dont often see from male movie stars, and quite frankly, it makes Justin Theroux look like Buffalo Bill. Meanwhile, Esquire declared that two Johnsons are the stars of the film, and one of them is Aaron Taylor Johnson. For Variety, Peter Debruge speculated that it was all a ploy by Netflix - thats where the films headed - to gain new subscribers. Netflix has a strategy to gain millions more subscribers this November: inserting a gratuitous Chris Pine nude scene in the middle of bloody, muddy Scottish battle epic Outlaw King, he wrote. OUTLAW KING gives you a FULL view of Chris Pine and his Johnson...and I dont mean Aaron Taylor. Prolly the most important thing you wanna know about the movie #tiff18 J Don Birnam @ TIFF 2018 (@jdonbirnam) September 7, 2018 Outlaw King: further proof 2018 is a real bad year for horses in movies. oh also, Chris Pine is fully naked. like, everything, all hangin out #TIFF18 e. oliver whitney (@cinemabite) September 7, 2018 Chris Pine. Full frontal. OUTLAW KING. That's my pretty much my review. #TIFF18 Yolanda Machado (@SassyMamainLA) September 7, 2018 OUTLAW KING: i deeply resent any movie that makes me think "Mel Gibson did it better." Netflixs "Braveheart" spinoff is interminable. but Florence Pugh rules, and you *do* get a peek of the Chris Pine peen if youre into that. my #tiff18 review: https://t.co/sMmh5W3dFr pic.twitter.com/HWOU31CsPQ david ehrlich (@davidehrlich) September 7, 2018 Lets see how many of these #OutlawKing reviews mention Chris Pines full frontal. Matt Donnelly (@MattDonnelly) September 7, 2018 #TIFF18 report card, day 1 a rough start!: SHADOW: B- OUTLAW KING: C+ (and if you think that plus is for the Chris Pine peen, well, you are not wrong) Adam B. Vary (@adambvary) September 7, 2018 Had a great time seeing colleagues tonight here at one of the years biggest cultural events and discussing Chris Pines penis Richard Lawson (@rilaws) September 7, 2018 Chris Pine rearranged is: Rich Penis the signs were there all along Alex Zalben (@azalben) September 7, 2018 Outlaw King, which reunites Pine with his Hell or High Water director David Mackenzie, is an epic drama about Robert the Bruce, a Scottish king who tries to retake his throne after he is banished. The film will be available on Netflix in November, and several people online are already joking that its destined to become the most paused movie ever. On his part, Pine downplayed the nudity in a press conference following the premiere. He offered a philosophical explanation for their choice to include the scene. Some talk will be (about) the full frontal or the sex and the sensuality of it, but that is also humanity in itself its violence and sex, he said. If we reduce it ultimately to some base elements: hunger, food, feeding, procreation, and power (there are) elements like air, water, and fire in this film that we have to show due respect for. Pine expressed his frustration at the fact that the nudity is attracting more attention than the films violence. We all have certain body parts, and people want to talk about that, but theres so much deboweling and beheading in this film, it nearly makes your mind spin, he said. That somehow [the violence] to a human modern audience is not nearly as interesting or revelatory than someone showing a sex scene or a penis. Follow @htshowbiz for more As promised, Avengers 4 is heading into its final round of shooting in September - not reshoots, mind you - and stars Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo have dumped a bunch of new information for fans. In an appearance on the Marvelists podcasts, Ruffalo - who you might remember spoiled the Avengers: Infinity War ending a year before the film even released - clarified that the cast hadnt assembled for reshoots but to finish the movie. Were not just doing reshoots, were going to finish the movie, which we really didnt get to finish totally when we left it last year, he said. Perhaps aware of the ruckus he has caused in the past, Ruffalo played it coy when he spoke about Avengers 4s plot. I dont even know that they really know exactly, Ruffalo said. Some of it is happening while were there. Its pretty amazing. And well shoot some stuff and a few days later come back and reshoot it cause we wanna take it in another direction. Its a very living organism, even as we approach it being a locked picture, were still working on it. The actor, who plays the Incredible Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, said that he hopes for Wolverine to join the MCU in the future, and for Hugh Jackman to reprise his role as the clawed mutant. Itd be cool to see I mean, people talk a lot about Wolverine and Hulk hooking up, I think that would be a really great combo, he said. And I love Hugh, and it would be cool to do something with him, if hes up to doing it. Hes always teased Hulk versus Wolverine would be pretty fun. Incidentally, Ruffalos fantasy might not be that far-fetched. With Disneys takeover of 20th Century Fox, the X-Men could potentially crossover with the MCU, as has been teased by several people involved in the films. Meanwhile, fans of Hawkeye can rest easy. After being absent from Infinity War and causing a minor protest, Jeremy Renner is back on set, sporting a brand new hairdo. The Oscar-nominee posted two pictures from the films sets, teasing his new identity, which many have speculated could be Ronin. In one picture, he even appears to be wearing Ronins black costume. It has been speculated that Hawkeye travelled to Japan after the events of Captain America: Civil War and will be called back into action by Black Widow in Avengers 4, due out in May, 2019. Follow @htshowbiz for more In 1927, a most curious book was published, and sent the Hindi literary world in a moral tizzy. Tited Chocolate, it was a collection of short stories in Hindi, written by the famous nationalist writer Pandey Bechain Sharma Ugra, that chronicled stories of desire between men -- a man brings his lover home, a teen becomes the object of desire in his school, an illicit relationship blooms between two men. The stories always end badly but the portrayal of the relationship is kind, and the description of sexual tension, and act, lurid. Nowhere in the book is the relationship referred to by name, but no reader is left in doubt about what is being alluded to. Men seduce each other, read poems to each other, give kisses, lie in each others laps, see movie together, gift each other clothes and chocolate, and catch habits from each others. The words used are laundebazi, chakletpanthi, masti, mitr, dost. These words become both celebration and crisis, erotic and phobic, explains Akhil Katyal, a professor at Delhis Ambedkar University. The Supreme Courts landmark decision this week decriminalising homosexuality has pushed the words Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) into the mainstream, but same-sex desire has blossomed for far longer than activism around Section 377. People of diverse gender and sexual expressions have thrived in public, sometimes away from prying eyes, forming bonds that mirror friendship, adjusting to the pace of small towns and villages -- and despite the endemic abuse and humiliation that is the everyday reality for queer people, refused to give up on love. Maya Sharma, a 68-year-old Vadodara-based activist recalls speaking to women who loved women in Gujarat and Rajasthan, explaining their relationships with words such as saheli, sakhi, saathin, dost. They made a commitment to each other, said we will stay together forever, and share happiness and sorrow. Babu is a word for transmen and Rangali for women, she says, elaborating on friendship bonds or Maitri Karar, which werent legally recognised but widely used by women to signal their relationship. In the 90s, some women in Delhi came together to form a Single womens Club; there was also, the Red Rose Society, signifying the flower that was often used to hint at ones sexual orientation. In Urdu and Hindu literature, Katyal explains, words such as aadat, rangeen shauk, nawabi shauk, lat, masti, dosti were often used to describe same-sex desire. Many of these, such as masti, continue to find widespread prevalence today, especially in smaller towns. In Urdu or Hindi, writers such as Ismat Chughtai, Ugra, Amar Kant, Firaq Gorakhpuri showed same sex desire as excess, beauty, habit and addiction. In the 1940s, Chughtai could not decide whether to call it lat or marz, a habit or an illness. She knew her Freud and she knew the world around her and the jury was out on what to call it, Katyal explains. In the cramped bylanes of old Lucknow and Delhis walled city, for example, the word laundeybazi might mean more than gay. In the parks of Kolkata that have played home to generations of queer people, kothi or dhurani is a far more likely term to be used. A generation of Mumbai would swear by masti. And in Tamil Nadu, the words thirunambi (transmen) and thirunangai (transwomen) are all products of the Periyarite self-respect movement. In Karnataka, people replaced the word Hijra with mangalamukhi. Likewise, aravani is a term in Tamil that refers to the legend of Aravan, but Periyarite transwomen prefer thirunangai, said Karthik Bittu, a professor at Ashoka University. None of these words are calcified in time, they grow and evolve and change, mirroring the thriving culture of cruising among these communities -- where people seek out others for companionship, gossip, conversation, intimacy or sex at the most public of places -- a bus stand, a public toilet, a park in the evening. As Indias LGBT movement grows in popularity and public exposure, it is important to recognise these histories because a vast majority of queer people live outside metropolitan cities and do not watch the 9o clock news. I came across the term gay in a teen magazine in the late 90s. It was easy for me to associate with the description: Male - attracted sexually towards other men. Simple. But over the years as I met people I learnt not many people were comfortable identifying themselves with the term. One reason might be because they had lived most part of their adult life desiring men without a label. And a sudden label made them uncomfortable, explains Moulee, a Chennai-based professional and writer. Raina Roy, a Kolkata-based activist, remembers how she was unfamiliar with the term transgender or rupantorkami when she came into activism, and that she drew inspiration from the sex-workers movement. Even today, we use words such as Kothi or Dhurani. And, there is another danger in pivoting too much to using English words. Dhiren Borisa, a professor at Delhi University, says all terms hold caste, class and gender anxieties, and are shaped by that background. When I was growing up in a small town, I heard many more terms, which we now hear of less and less. So Kothi is now used for effeminate men who are poor, but gay and queer are aspirational categories. It is as if there is something wrong in being kothi, he adds. Same-sex desire is around us everywhere. It is dripping out of suggestive youtube home videos, stories of clandestine exploring in hostels, of women leaving houses to stay together, of working class folk in rural areas struggling to make a living but not compromising on their gender expression, of dark cinema halls, private hotel rooms and the comfort of south Delhi bedrooms. For this diversity, we need an ocean of words. Each word gives its own world of possibilities and constraints.Same-sex desire has many words in our part of the world. Gay or lesbian is just two of them, Katyal says. The defence ministry on Saturday announced that Aero India 2019, Asias largest airshow, will be staged in Bengaluru next year, ending speculation that the biennial event may be moved out the Karnataka capital, its traditional venue, to Uttar Pradesh. The show will be held at the Yelahanka air base from February 20 to 24, a government spokesperson said. This five-day event will combine a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries. Besides global leaders and big investors in aerospace industry, the show will also see participation by think tanks from across the world, said a defence ministry statement. The uncertainty surrounding the venue of the 12th edition of the airshow and its timing had upset both Indian and foreign companies, which plan their calendar for such global events several months in advance. Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath had appealed to defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman to allow his state to host the airshow, with the Bakshi ka Talaab air base in Lucknow being projected as a likely venue. Speculation was rife that the show could be held in UP in November 2018. The Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress government in Karnataka had also launched a campaign against any possible shift of Aero India out of Bengaluru. Besides giving a fillip to the domestic aviation industry it would further the cause of Make in India,; the defence ministry statement said, referring to the government programme aimed at promoting manufacturing and foreign investment. The department of defence production is committed to make this a successful and result-oriented show. The announcement was welcomed by industry. Its a great move to stick to the traditional venue and announce the dates well in advance so that exhibitors can plan their participation, said the representative of an aviation company. The airshow is being held at a time the defence ministry is pursuing a raft of modernisation programmes including a fresh hunt for fighter planes, naval helicopters, infantry weapons, artillery guns and mid-air refuellers. One of the biggest projects likely to be cleared by the government is that for equipping the air force with 110 new fighter planes. It is likely to get the ministrysso-called acceptance of necessity (AoN) soon, kicking off a long-drawn acquisition process. Foreign manufacturers will compete for the order by stitching up alliances with Indian firms under the governments strategic partnership model to locally produce the jets. In August, the defence acquisition council, headed by Sitharaman, cleared projects worth Rs 46,000 crore, including a Rs 21,738-crore programme to build 111 naval utility helicopters under the SP model to replace the navys outdated fleet of French-designed Chetak choppers. The number of sky marshals on flights to Kathmandu and Kabul, particularly from Delhi, has been significantly increased. This was done after the security forces and aviation agencies received an intimation of a possible hijack attempt of flights operating to these regions. In India, sky marshals are commandos handpicked from the National Security Guard. They are deployed on flights in plainclothes. These men are specially trained to counter hijack and hostage situations, which may arise on board a flight. They identities are kept secret, officials said. A senior officer associated with aviation security confirmed that the number and frequency of sky marshals in flights bound for Kabul in Afghanistan and Kathmandu in Nepal have been increased. Requesting not to be named, the officer said the measure has been taken as certain threats were recently flagged on these routes by intelligence agencies. It is not certain when this threat perception will be called off, he said. The number of sky marshals per flight varies from two to six, depending upon the threat perception on a particular route. They are mostly deployed on high-risk international flights to and/or from sensitive areas. Occasionally, they are deputed on domestic flights as well, following specific inputs. In a hijack situation, sky marshals are the only line of defence between passengers and hijackers. Their identity and positions in a flight is strategic, the officer said, adding that they are known to be armed with pistols and guns with rubber bullets to neutralise offenders without damaging the aircraft. They also carry tasers, handcuffs, etc. A pilot from a budget domestic airlines said the identity of a sky marshal is kept secret. No one is aware of their presence on an aircraft, not even the airline officials. It is at the last moment that the cockpit crew is informed about their presence. We know their seat numbers and how many of them are travelling. Nothing more is disclosed to us, the pilot said. In 2015, onboard a flight to Kathmandu, a flight steward had outed sky marshals identity to passengers during an on-board announcement. The employee was put off duty by the airline for this error. India started flying sky marshals after an Indian Airlines aircraft on way to Delhi from Kathmandu was hijacked by Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, a Pakistan-based terror group, on December 24, 1999. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah, who will lead the party in the 2019 general elections, on Saturday said that the Narendra Modi government will sweep back to power with a bigger mandate, while dismissing the proposed opposition grand alliance as an eyewash and asking party activists to counter its misleading attacks on the economy. In his address on the opening day of the two-day meeting of the BJP national executive, Shah said the party would win next years Lok Sabha polls with a mandate bigger than 2014, when it bagged 282 seats out of 543, due to the Modi governments record, as per Union minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Meanwhile, before the crucial meeting in which the party will brainstorm on its strategy for the coming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Mizoram and possibly Telangana, there was a separate closed-door deliberation of national office bearers and state presidents where it was decided that Amit Shah, whose term is till January, will stay in the post till the 2019 general elections. It was also decided that organisational elections will also be postponed. Briefing the media on the first day of the meeting, Sitharaman quoted Shah as saying that the 2019 polls will be fought on the basis of the achievements of prime minister Modi, who leads the party, unlike former prime minister Manmohan Singh who merely follows his party, and the strength of the BJP organisation. The BJP chief expressed confidence that the partywill easily win the 19 states where it is in power and benefit from the anti-incumbency factor in states like Bengal, Odisha and Telangana where it is in second place . He said the party will perform well in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu too. Listing the several pro-people policies of the Modi government, he asked activists to inform the people of them while challenging the misleading attacks of (former Union finance minister) P Chidambaram and company. Attacking the opposition for being in denial mode and displaying its frustration in Parliament, he cited the case of the no-confidence motion it had brought, despite absence of the two key conditions - the government losing its majority or widespread public discontentment against the government. Asserting the Modi government is working for making India, he accused the Congress of working for breaking India, she said. Shah also said that the opposition Mahagathabandan wont make any difference as it is built on lies and will flop in the coming elections. Terming the proposed alliance a facade, and an eyewash, he said it comprised parties that the BJP had defeated one after the other in the 2014 general elections and after. On the National Register of Citizens (NRC), recently implemented in Assam, Sitharaman quoted Shah as saying it will be so operationalised to ensure that not even one more infiltrator can enter India now. Supporting the Maharashtra government and chief Devendra Fadnavis on the arrests of five lawyers and activists across India for being involved in Maoist groups and the violence in Pune earlier this year, Shah rapped the Congress for playing vote-bank politics on the issue of urban Naxalites. Sitharaman also said that Shah mourned the absence of late former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was one of BJPs founding members, in the first executive meeting after his death, saying that the void he left could never be filled. She said that Shah had also spoken about the devastating floods in Kerala and elsewhere and asked all sections to help in relief and rehabilitation of the affected people. Later, the agricultural resolution was passed at the meeting. Briefing reporters, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said it maintained that the party should treat as a mantra prime minister Modis vision of doubling farmers income by 2022. It also resolved to ensure every farmer had access to irrigation for his fields, called for linking of rivers and praised the governments measures to increase soil health. It also lauded the Modi government for reforms in procurement of crops and ensuring farmers a higher minimum support price. A Hurriyat activist was shot dead by gunmen in Jammu and Kashmirs Sopore on Saturday, hospital officials said. Hakeem Rahman was shot from close range near his house at Bomai area. He was immediately shifted to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival, a police official was quoted as saying by news agency IANS. The activist was affiliated with the group led by Syed Ali Geelani and had been recently released from jail. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, who was part of five member bench that decriminalised consensual gay sex this week, on Saturday said no right was absolute or arranged in a hierarchy, and balancing rights can sometimes be a difficult task. Delivering the Dr Patangrao Kadam Memorial Public Lecture Series at Bharti Vidyapeeth in Pune, Misra said while in a democratic set up, every right matters and no right is absolute. There is no hierarchical order in rights. A particular fundamental right cannot exist in isolation, he said, adding that everyone has a right to speak out but no one can use this right for defamation. On the conflict between two fundamental rights, the CJI said the judgment in such cases should be based on facts of the case and the fundamental structure of Constitution. He gave example of the euthanasia case, which he heard with four other Supreme Court judges, to demonstrate the conflict between two fundamental rights and how they can be balanced. The court earlier this year had recognised a living will by a terminally-ill patient for passive euthanasia while laying down guidelines on who would execute the will and how the nod for passive euthanasia will be granted by the medical board. Everyone has a right to life but at the same time he or she has a right to life with dignity. If he/she is unable to live with dignity because of prolonged illness, from which he/she will not overcome then in such cases he/she has right to die with dignity. This is what balancing of rights mean. Mishra said. The CJI said adjustment, acceptance, compromise and settlement comes in the balancing of rights and for coexistence of rights we have to balance them for the well being of mankind. The lecture was also attended by Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, Supreme Court justice AM Khanwilkar, acting chief justice of Bombay high court Naresh Patil, chancellor of Bharati Vidyapeeth Shivajirao Kadam and secretary of Bharati Vidyapeeth Vishwajeet Kadam. Himachal Pradesh government, which has witnessed a spurt in drug related cases in the past ten months, has now decided to rope in corporate and hydel power project promoters to combat drug menace in the state. The state government will involve two main hydel power projects Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited(SJVNL) and National Hydro Power Corporation(NHPC) in setting up rehabilitation centres for drug addicts. SJVNL runs the largest power stations-1500 megawatt, Nathpa Jhakri and 412 megawatt, Rampur projects, while the NHPC has four main projects in Himachal including 180 megawatt Baira Suil project, 1071 megawatt Chamera stage I, II, III project and 520 megawatt Parbati III. The government has decided to set up rehabilitation centres in the state with the help of two power project promoters and other companies, said a senior government official. The power companies are being encouraged to set up centres under corporate social responsibility he added. The state government has also urged industrial houses in Himachal to contribute in setting up the rehabilitation centres. As of now, the government has decided to set up four de-addiction centres in the state. In the absence of drug de-addiction centres, addicts are approaching centres outside the state. We have not received any formal request from the government as of now. We will act as per the corporate social responsibility guidelines as and when we get the request, chief general manager, SJVNL, Nand Lal Sharma said. Drug menace has raised serious concern in the hill state. The issue was also discussed in the monsoon session of Vidhan sabha and lawmakers had called for taking strict measures to curb the menace. Chitta, the new lifestyle drug Chitta a new lifestyle chemical drug is quickly catching up with youth, ringing alarm bells for the government as well as for anti-narcotic drug agencies in the state. The white-powdered drug, Chitta, is an extract of opium laced with synthetic drugs, which is cheaper than heroine. This year, so far, the Himachal Pradesh police has registered a total of 788 cases under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the state. During a campaign, police had arrested 1,002 peddlers, including nine foreign nationals mostly Nigerians. Kullu district is the main hub for illegal cannabis trade in the state. Traditionally, the villagers in Kullu used hemp fibre to make baskets, ropes and slippers for selling in the market. However, foreign tourists in the late 70s taught villagers to extract an intoxicating resin from the cannabis. Since then, Hashish from cannabis sativa is being sold at exorbitantly high rates to drug cartels in the Parbati valley for the past four decades. Hashish produced in Malana, known as the Malana Cream is famous all over the world and is said to have given a boost to nacro tourism. Chitta gives run to cannabis Kullu has been infamous for producing world famous marijuana and charas that has high demand in the international market. Lately, the synthetic drug, Chitta is causing havoc in the state. Many youngsters in the district have died due to drug overdose. The families, however, hide the deaths due to social stigma. More cases of synthetic smuggling are coming to light in Kullu district. Synthetic drugs have caught up with people in the region, Kullu superintendent of police, Shalini Agnihotri said. Himachal Pradesh government initiated a special drive to nab drug peddlers but the porous interstate border and paucity of staff in the police force was one of the factors that impacted the anti-drug drive in the state. Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur had also taken an initiative to bring chief ministers of the northern states together to combat drug menace. The government has also directed police stations to constitute Nasha Nivaran Samitis to disseminate the ill-effects of drugs and collect intelligence on drug smugglers in the state. During the anti- drug campaign, police had sensitised students in 1,025 schools in the state. The police has also roped in mandals and self-help groups (SHG) to fight drug abuse. A total of 2,05,835 citizens have been covered under the awareness campaign carried out by HP police till date. Many people deny that homosexuality exists in India, dismissing it as a phenomenon of the industrialised world. Others acknowledge its presence but condemn it as a capitalist aberration, a concern too individualistic to warrant attention in a poor country like ours. Still others label it a disease to be cured, an abnormality to be set right, a crime to be punished. The present report has been prepared with a view to showing how none of these views can stand the test of empirical reality or plain and simple common sense. This is how a small, 70-page booklet with a pink cover titled Less than gay: A citizens report on the status of homosexuality in India starts. Published in 1991 by a collective called the Aids Bhedbhav Virodhi Andolan (ABVA), the report was the first document of its kind that broke the silence around the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). What struck me about the Less than Gay report was its rigour and how it drew on historical and theoretical discourses. Less than Gay was the first such document on gay and lesbian lives in India, said Jaya Sharma, an activist who knew Siddharth Gautam, a young advocate who co-founded ABVA, and worked extensively on the report with the group. A film festival in his memory was started in 1993. One of the most powerful aspects of Less Than Gay was its detailing of LGBT stories from around India from Mizoram in the Northeast to Siliguri in north Bengal to Virar in Mumbai. It spoke to a wide range of LGBT experiences, from violence, heartbreak, loneliness, to the thrill of discovering finding companionship. Less than Gay, which we call the Pink Book, broke the silence around homosexuality. It tempted you to come out, said Maya Sharma, a 68-year-old Baroda-based activist. The 1990s were a tumultuous time for the public expression of gender and sexuality in India. The ABVA filed a petition against Section 377 in 1994 in the Delhi high court but it lay in cold storage. Outside the courts, though, the world was changing. In 1991, Delhi-based activist Giti Thadani started a network called Sakhi where lesbian women could communicate via letters. In the same year, Delhi-based womens group Jagori started a research project on single women (Ekal Aurat). Several of them would met informally in each others homes. Some of us were not open to using English terminologies, preferring to use sakhi which pertains to female friendship, and which allowed women to address their sexual identity while retaining privacy, recalled Maya of her association with Jagori. Pratibha Parmar, a London-based filmmaker of Indian origin was prolific at this time, making short films that dealt with womens sexuality. Riyad Wadias Bomgay and A mermaid called Aida were released in 1996. Both short films dealt with queerness, the latter was a film about a famous trans-woman called Aida Banaji, a well known personality in the Bombay of the 1980s. Contemporary artist Bhupen Kakkar routinely depicted same-sex intimacy on canvas. Organisations such as Kolkatas Counsel Club, Mumbais Humsafar Trust and Delhis Sangini would receive letters Expression of diverse sexuality also flowered in smaller towns filled with curiosity and questions surrounding same-sex desire. Notions of what it meant to be trans and public were also changing. When we were young, we saw older transpeople sitting in small circles, spending their evenings in adda at Esplanade, at Curzon park. We didnt have big celebrations like now, but our festivities were in the everyday. We would go for picnics, run away from home for trips, bunk college for picnics. We didnt have the internet and our everyday celebration was like oxygen, we couldnt live without it, said Raina Roy, a Kolkata-based activist. The word transgender was not very familiar for us. I remember the first time I was inspired was at a sex workers rally. In the later half of the 90s, films such as Fire and Darmiyan also moved the needle on portrayal of queer and intersex characters. For the first time, people like us were shown on the screen. The halls would be empty but we would go again and again, said Roy. The impact of Less Than Gay lives to this day. Rakesh, a 27-year old resident of Nadia district in West Bengal (he goes by only his first name) remembers reading the report as a lonely adolescent. The place I grew up, there was no one who looked like me. The report changed my life. I learnt there were people other than me, who felt like me. On Thursday, as the Supreme Court decriminalised homosexuality, reading down the controversial British-era section 377 of the penal code, Mumbai-based Arnab Nandy took to social media to express his joy, as many across the country and the world were doing. I am so Gay today he wrote in a coming-out post that has since gone viral. But while Nandys choice of word was bang on that day, how did a word that had originally meant light-hearted, carefree or cheerful, become associated with a community whose life has been often been anything but? The Oxford English dictionary traces the history of the word gay to the French word Gai. Merriam Webster takes it further back to a Germanic origin akin to the Old High German Gahi that meant quick or sudden. According to both dictionaries, in English the use of gay to mean happy, excited, merry, carefree or bright started in the Middle English period that stretches between the 12th and the 16th century. All For An Identity While some books and websites on the history of the global homosexual movement claim the word gay was used as a secret code by homosexuals to identify themselves even as far back as the early twentieth century, professor Ashley Tellis says it was in the 1960s that the word came to be popularly associated with the community. R Raj Rao, writer and professor of English at Pune University, adds: The Stonewall Riots (a series of violent confrontations between members of the LGBT community and the police in New York in 1969) are the beginning of most gay-rights movements in the world. It was around this time that the community started using the word gay to identify itself. In the beginning, gay was also an acronym for Good As You. In India, while Tellis says the use of the word gay to mean homosexuals started in the 1970s and 80s with Indian men who travelled to the West and came back, Rao and writer Hoshang Merchant say the word started getting used here in the 1990s after the setting up of Bombay Dost, the countrys first LGBT magazine, by activist Ashok Row Kavi. Globally, the community preferred gay to homosexual, says Tellis, because the latter had a negative feel to it it was a more clinical term, suggestive of a medical condition. As an article on the website of The New England Journal of Medicine mentions, it was only in 1980 that homosexuality was deleted from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, thus changing the view that it was a behavioural disorder. Whereas homosexuality is just a word denoting a sexual preference or tendency and used derogatorily, gay is an identity. Ever since Stonewall, sexual politics had come into play and identifying as gay was a way for the community to be a part of that politics, says Rao. It was a subversion of the established vocabulary by the community. The same way that queer would be used, later on, he adds. While the conventional meaning of queer is weird, and it is a discriminatory term in itself, the community has been using it as an identity, he points out. The LGBTQ have their own vocabulary, one that often varies from city to city, and has taken on regular words that mean something quite different when applied to themselves or used within the community, says Ashok Row Kavi. In Bombay for example, the LGBTQ community uses the word ghodi to mean a plainclothes policeman, he explains. A New Use Today, though gay has become synonymous with homosexual, the Washington Post in 2017 published an article on whether social perceptions about the two are really the same, after a news website reportedly published an article with the headline Homosexual eases into 100 final at Olympic trials, following Olympian Tyson Gays qualification for the 100-metre run final. According to the Washington Post article. The mistake was caused by the sites editorial filter, which changed the athletes last name automatically in keeping with the outlets policy against running stories that use the term gay, replacing it with homosexual instead. The first definition of gay in the Oxford dictionary is: adjective; (of a person) homosexual (used especially of a man), though Rao clarifies that gay is not gender specific, as lesbian is. While lesbian refers to a homosexual woman, gay, though more commonly used for men, is not gender specific. Those of us who teach gender studies, use the phrase gay man while referring to a homosexual man, he says, adding, Queer as an identity is more radical. A few years back, a petition was started in change.org to make the Merriam Webster dictionary change the order of its definitions of gay. The first definition of gay in Merriam Webster is still happily excited. Of, relating to, or characterised by a tendency to direct sexual desire toward another of the same sex is the fourth definition of gay in that dictionary. But as Merchant questions, Who uses gay to mean happy anymore? Despite the LGBTQ communitys efforts to use it as a more positive word than homosexual, however, the negative perception of the community among many has also tainted the word gay. A 2008 BBC report refers to a study that found that the word gay was the most frequently-used term of abuse in schools. Also, the claiming of identity does not change the fact that if one goes by its Middle English meaning happy, merry or cheerful the communitys use of the word gay for itself is somewhat paradoxical. For years homosexuals have been fighting social discrimination and legal challenges. Gay men and women have been branded mentally ill and thrown out of jobs and homes. Merchant agrees, In the first Broadway gay play The Boys in the Band there is a line, show me a happy homosexual and I will show you a gay corpse. India has sought increased US involvement in facilitating its entry into Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) at the inaugural two-plus-two dialogue between the defence and foreign ministries of the two countries in New Delhi on Thursday. India is making a renewed push for membership of the NSG, an elite club of 48 countries that deals with trade in nuclear materials and technology. The NSG works on the principle of consensus for admitting new members. Unlike other existing NSG members, India has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). New Delhi has maintained that it has impeccable non-proliferation credentials that have enabled India to win a waiver from the grouping to operationalise the India-US nuclear deal and enter nuclear commerce. A recent decision by the United States to put India in the list of countries eligible for Strategic Trade Authorization Tier-I License Exemption,which eases the export of high-tech items to it, is seen as another validation of Indias robust and responsible export control policies. In our meeting we also agreed to work together to secure Indias membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group at the earliest, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said. Barring the NSG, India is a member of all three export control regimes, namely the Australia Group, the Wassenaar Arrangement, and the Missile Technology Control Regime. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government is keen that India becomes a member of all the four grouping before the end of its term next year. The United States welcomed Indias accession to the Australia Group, the Wassenaar Arrangement, and the Missile Technology Control Regime and reiterated its full support for Indias immediate accession to the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a joint statement issued after the two-plus-two dialogue said. In August, during his interaction with Russian interlocutors, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale sought Moscows help in getting the support of other countries to back Indias entry into the NSG. India had also taken up the matter with China this year. Experts believe that the improvement in India-China ties could change Beijings stance against Indias NSG membership. If China comes on board, New Delhi doesnt see any other country becoming a likely hold-out. India has impeccable non-proliferation credentials and is a member of the three of the four export control regimes. There has been a visible change in their bilateral ties after Modis meeting with President Xi Jinping in Wuhan ... So if China withdraws its objection, India could be a member of NSG, said ex-foreign secretary Lalit Mansingh. A group of nuns took to the streets in Keralas Kochi on Saturday protesting the delay in action against Jalandhar bishop Franco Mulakkal who is accused of sexually exploiting a nun. Holding placards and banners, the nuns, along with activists, staged a sit-in at the High Court junction in the city, saying they had been denied justice by church authorities and police. More than 70 days have passed since the nun filed a police complaint against the bishop. We have given clinching evidences also. It seems police are reluctant to take action due to pressure. Church and police both let us down. Now, we pin our hopes on the judiciary, said a nun who did not want to be named. She accused the police of delaying action by finding loopholes in the complaint and called the Kerala police teams visit to Jalandhar a drama. She said the nuns were planning to move a petition in Kerala high court on Monday. The 43-year-old victim nun will hold a press conference in Kottayam on Sunday. She had in her complaint alleged that the bishop had sexually abused after summoning her on the pretext of discussing an important issue in 2014. He later raped 13 times in the next two years. However the bishop said he was implicated for taking action against her. Bishop Mullakkal, hailing from Kottayam, was appointed as the Auxillory Bishop of Delhi diocese in 2009 and made the Bishop of Jalandhar in 2013. She had complained to the church last December, but filed a police complaint in July after it failed to take action against him. Veteran Marxist leader VS Achuthanandan said authorities should take steps to redress grievances of agitating nuns. Many activists and church insiders have also pledged support to agitating nuns. Perhaps, this is the first time nuns are coming out in the open against church authorities and police. Their wails should be heard. Wedded to religion, they sacrifice their lives for the cause of Jesus and the church is duty-bound to hear them, said Father Paul Thelekkat, former spokesman of the Syro-Malabar church. A second Kathua horror appears to be unfolding after 19 children including eight girls were rescued from an illegal orphanage on Friday and the pastor, Thomas Anthony, 62, placed in police custody for seven days by a local court. Kathua deputy commissioner Rohit Khajuria told Hindustan Times that serious charges of sexual abuse, torture and physical assault have been levelled by the rescued children against the accused and added that these would be investigated by the police. The orphanage has been sealed by the police and Anthony booked under sections on rape and sexual violence against children. The investigation into the case will be conducted by deputy superintendent of police (headquarters) Nikhil Rasgotra. In January 2018, an eight-year-old girl was gang-raped and murdered in Kathua in a case that polarised the state, and resulted in the central government passing an ordinance recommending the death penalty for rapists of children below the age of 12. The Pentecostal Mission in Pathankot has denied it issued permission to any such orphanage in Kathua. The rescued children belong to Gurdaspur in Punjab, Sanji Morh, Samba, Bari Brahmana and Jammu. The medical examination of the rescued children, 19 to be precise, which included eight girls, was conducted at the Kathua district hospital late Friday night. Their medical reports are awaited, Khajuria said about the investigation. The children are under medical treatment. All the children were found to be suffering from scabies and we have given them new clothes, he added. According to the deputy commissioner, the children were kept in a cellar at the rented accommodation where the illegal orphanage was being run. Assistant commissioner (revenue) Jitendra Mishra, who led the raid on Friday evening, said that the children will be united with their families after due process. The orphanage was being run in Parliwand ward number 7 of Kathua town for the past four years, said locals familiar with the matter. The flood-battered north Kerala district of Wayanad is experiencing a strange phenomenon -- mass death of earthworms in many parts of the hilly district known for its rich biodiversity and spice cultivation. Thousands of earthworms are emerging from the soil and perishing everyday, according to farmers and local residents. Agricultural and environmental scientists who visited the area attribute the phenomenon to excess heat in the earth. After the top soil was washed away by gushing flood waters, the new soil that replaced it doesnt work like a sponge; it is unable to absorb enough water and moisture, the farmers say. For the last two days we have been experiencing this. Hundreds of worms are coming out and they break themselves up and die in the open. Initially I thought it was only confined to my cultivation area, but later many others also complained, said a small-time coffee planter, John Thomas, in Kalpetta. Soon after the rains stopped and the sun came out, the wet earth started drying up rapidly, leaving many cracks, he said, adding that a detailed study would establish the cause. We cant blame top soil alone. Waynad is part of the Deccan plateau, where the soil is very sensitive and an unpredictable change is occurring in the soil structure of the district. Vanishing meadows, big concrete constructions and mindless quarrying have done damage to the fragile ecology of Wayanad, said P Rajendran, associate director of Regional Agricultural Research Station in Ambalavayal. If the situation continues, it will affect microbes in the soil which will also impact crops like paddy and pepper that have feeble roots, he said. Known for its rich aroma and flavour, the black pepper of Wayand is considered one of the best in the world. It is a lesson for all of us. We exploited nature mindlessly. Development should not be at the cost of the fragile ecology. At least now we should mend our ways; otherwise, we will be doing a big disservice to for the coming generations, said Rajendran. Climate aberrations that are rampant these days can change biological cycles easily, said P V Karunakaran, principal scientist at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History. Earthworms are very sensitive. We cant blame heat alone. There are chances that water saturation could have triggered this. We need a better study to unearth this phenomenon, said Karunakaran. On Friday, the Kerala government decided to conduct an assessment of biodiversity loss in the massive floods that ravaged the state last month, claiming over 400 lives. Kerala state womens commission chief tried to dismiss the charges of sexual harassment against CPI(M) MLA PK Sasi, saying mistakes do happen earlier this week, and refused to take action, citing lack of a formal complaint. We are all human beings, mistakes do happen. People inside the party may also have committed such mistakes, the panels chairperson, MC Josephine said on Wednesday, according to ANI, when asked about what action was taken in the case. Sasi was last week accused of sexual harassment by a woman, but the state womens commission chief said they did not initiate action as a complaint was yet to be filed. We have not gotten any complaint. Even for suo moto case, we at least need the basic details like the nature of complaint which could be revealed either by the media or the victim themselves. In this case, that hasnt happened. Then how can we register a case? she asked. However, the National Commission of Women (NCW) had taken cognisance of the matter and asked the Kerala police to investigate the matter. Josephine also said that the CPI(M) would deal with the case internally. Thats up to the party to decide. The Marxist party will have their own system of dealing with these complaints; its not a new thing. Since its inception, the party has handled such complaints, she said. On Friday, the CPI(M) had issued a statement saying it had received a complaint against party MLA on August 14 following which an enquiry was ordered into the matter, and promised to take appropriate action in the matter. The Nepal Army has withdrawn from the first Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) military exercise to be held in India following a political row in the country over participation, a media report said on Saturday. Nepals Prime Minister KP Oli, asked the national defence force not to participate in the drill, according to a report in the Kathmandu Post. The decision was taken just a day before the Army squad was set to travel to Pune, where the drill will commence on Monday, it said. The governments decision came after strong criticism from different quarters, including influential leaders from ruling Nepal Communist Party. BIMSTEC is a regional grouping comprising Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal. Armies from all seven members states had agreed to send a squad for the exercise. China and Nepal on Friday finalised a transit protocol that will give Kathmandu access to four Chinese ports, a move that will effectively end Indias monopoly on trade routes used by the landlocked Himalayan country. Nepal depends heavily on India for essential goods, including fuel, and the use of its ports for trade with other countries. Kathmandu has sought access to Chinese ports to reduce dependence on India after a border blockade in 2015-16 left the country short of fuel and medicines. Officials from the two sides finalised the protocol of the Nepal-China Transit and Transportation Agreement that will allow Nepal to use the Chinese ports of Tianjin, Shenzhen, Lianyungang and Zhanjiang, said a statement from the industry and commerce ministry. The statement said China also agreed to allow Nepal to use its land ports at Lanzhou, Lhasa and Xigatse. The arrangements will come into effect when the protocol is signed after the completion of internal procedures by both countries. It is expected that the signing will be done when Chinese President Xi Jinping visits Nepal in 2019. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli signed the transit agreement with China during his first stint in the post in March 2016. Once the protocol is signed, Nepal will no longer be dependent only on India for trade with other countries as it will be able to use Chinese sea and land ports. The Nepalese side was led by joint secretary Rabi Shankar Sainju while Wang Shuiping, director general in department of transport services, led the Chinese delegation. This is one of the milestones because we are getting access to four Chinese ports in addition to two ports in India, Sainju told Reuters. On Tuesday, teams from the two sides made a field visit to Kurintar, where the proposed Nepal-China rail link is expected to cross and a new north-south corridor is to be built. They examined the roads and geography of the area. A local court in Kathua on Saturday sent pastor Thomas Antony to seven day police remand a day after the Jammu and Kashmir police and civil administration busted an illegal orphanage which he ran and rescued 19 children including eight girls. Police have sealed the orphanage for investigation following allegations that the 62-year-old Antony had sexually abused the children. The accused who is from Kerala, has been booked under section 376 (rape) of the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) and J&K protection of children from sexual violence ordinance. The investigation into the case will be conducted by deputy superintendent of police (headquarters) Nikhil Rasgotra. The rescued children belong to Gurdaspur in Punjab, Sanji Morh, Samba, Bari Brahmana and Jammu. The medical examination of the 19 rescued children which included eight girls was conducted at the Kathua district hospital late Friday night. Their medical reports are awaited, Kathua deputy commissioner Rohit Khajuria told Hindustan Times. The children have been shifted to Nari Niketan and Bal Ashram, he said. The children are under medical treatment. All the children were found to be suffering from scabies and we have given them new clothes, he said. The deputy commissioner further said, Though serious charges of sexual abuse, torture and physical assault levelled by the children against the accused will be investigated by the police, they seem to be true. Khajuria also said that the accused had kept the children in a cellar at the rented accommodation where he was running the illegal orphanage. The orphanage had a modern kitchen and nothing suggested that the children were ever starved but he had kept them in a cellar, said the DC. Assistant commissioner (revenue) Jitendra Mishra, who had led the raid on Friday evening, said that the children will be restored to their families after proper verification. Sources said that the orphanage was being run in Parliwand ward number 7 of Kathua town for the past four years. Scores of farmers and Congress workers were injured on Friday evening when police cane charged and lobbed teargas shells to disperse a crowd in Rajasthans Sri Ganganagar district barely an hour before chief minister Vasundhara Rajes Gaurav Yatra was to pass through the site. Eyewitnesses said some shots were fired in the air, but police denied the charge. One police officer was also injured in the clashes. Police arrested 15 people, including Sri Ganganagar Kisan Samiti convener Ranjit Singh Raju and Congress leader Prathipal Singh Sandhu, who were among 300400 people who had assembled at Padampur road in Sri Ganganagar, from where the yatra was to pass. The Samitis leaders said they wanted to submit a memorandum to Raje on their long-pending demand of water for irrigation and purchase of crop at minimum support prices (MSP). When they learnt that the chief minister would not meet them, they assembled at CC Head on Padampur road to stage a protest. Some Congress leaders were also present with black flags, sources said. Initially, the police tried to pacify them and asked them to lift the road blockade, but the crowd refused to budge, and subsequently police had to use force to disperse the mob. A chaos ensued and some protesters started to jostle with police personnel following which police intensified the cane charge and lobbed teargas shells. Some of them were admitted to a local hospital. A circle inspector who suffered injuries on his face was also admitted to the hospital. Samiti member, Rajendra Godara said they were peacefully waiting to present a memorandum to the CM. Suddenly, the police attacked us with the canes and fired rubber bullets targeting the farmers. Police also fired several rounds in the air. Inspector general of police, Bikaner range, Dinesh M N said, Charges of firing rubber bullets or firing rounds in the air are false and baseless. The police had earlier detained 105 people, including farmers and a former Congress MLA Daulatraj Sameja, from another location in Sri Ganganagar district for planning to stage a protest. Congress leader and former chief minister Ashok Gehlot said it was unfortunate that the government was using force to suppress farmers protest. While the chief minister talks about listening to peoples grievances, she had no time to meet the farmers who are demanding water for irrigation and purchase of crop at minimum support prices (MSP), he tweeted. Rajasthan BJP spokesperson Mukesh Parikh said some organisations provoked the farmers to disrupt Rajes Gaurav Yatra. All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) president Amra Ram said the cane-charging on farmers had shown the true nature of the government and promised to launch an agitation. Rajes 40-day Gaurav Yatra was launched on August 4 and is scheduled to culminate on September 30. Rajasthan goes to polls later this year. BJP MLA Ram Kadam, under fire over his will kidnap girl remarks, was caught on the wrong foot again Friday after he tweeted that Bollywood actor Sonali Bendre was no more, only to retract it after realising that the news was not true and facing massive backlash. Bendre is currently undergoing treatment for cancer in the US. Kadam tweeted in Marathi that Bollywood and Marathi diva Sonali Bendre has passed away in America and condoled her demise. After he was trolled for believing a baseless rumour, he deleted the message. He posted another tweet, saying, About Sonali Bendre ji, it was rumour for the last two days. I pray to god for her good health and speedy recovery. Bendre revealed in July that she has been diagnosed with a high grade cancer and is undergoing treatment in the US. On Monday, Kadam sparked off a storm of protest with his remarks at a Dahi Handi (Janmashtami) celebration in Mumbai. A video clip showed him saying that youngsters often seek his help after girls reject their proposals. Come with your parents. What will I do if your parents approve? I will kidnap the girl and hand her over to you, he was heard telling the crowd. Uttar Pradesh minister Mukut Bihari Verma sparked a controversy on Saturday with his comments that the Ram temple will be built in Ayodhya because the Supreme Court is ours. Mandir hamara aradhya hai .. mandir banega .. mandir bananey ki liye hum log sankalpbadh hai (Temple is our resolve. It will surely come up and we are all committed to it), he said, talking to journalists in Bahraich on Saturday. When a journalist reminded him that the verdict in the temple case in the Supreme Court is yet to be delivered, the minister casually said, Supreme Court main hain tabhi toh! .. Supreme Court bhi toh hamara hi hai na, Supreme Court bhi hamara hai ... nyay palika bhi hamari hai .. Vidhan Palika bhi hamari hai .. yeh desh bhi hamara hai .. mandir bhi hamara hai (yes, precisely because the matter is with Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is ours, isnt it? The judiciary is ours, the country is ours and the temple is ours too). Verma, a four-term BJP lawmaker from Bahraich, is the minister for cooperatives. Some in the opposition felt that such remarks were a deliberate attempt to keep the temple issue in the news in the hope it would help polarise the atmosphere ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. As his remark started being played out on news channels, Verma told HT on the phone that he was quoted out of context. But in his bid to explain, the minister again ended up repeating the same statement. I merely meant that the Supreme Court too is part of this country and belongs to us and that we are sure the temple will come up in Ayodhya, he explained. Humne kya galat kaha ki Supreme Court bhi hamara hai ... arrey bhai hamara toh sabhi kuchh hai ... jab yeh desh hamara hai toh sabhi kuchh hamara hi hai na (What wrong did I say? If the country is ours, then so is the SC and everything else), he said. When told that the judiciary was neutral and that his remarks could be construed wrongly, he said, Of course we all have deep respect for the courts. I have been an advocate too and hence I know this for sure. UPs labour minister Swami Prasad Maurya, who was sitting by Mukut Bihari Vermas side in Bahraich, refused to comment on the controversy. The opposition parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress, attacked the BJP over the remarks, saying they showed how disrespectful and arrogant the ministers have become. We all hold the courts in the highest esteem but even if you consider that the minister meant something else, the casual approach with which the remarks have been made show that now the ministers in UP dont think while making a statement. The minister needs to apologise to the nation, which has great faith in the judiciary, said Tariq Siddiqui of the Samajwadi Party. The remark is dangerous and shows the growing arrogance of BJP ministers and their total lack of respect for constitutional bodies, said Congress leader Devendra Pratap Singh. Last month, deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had said the BJP government at the Centre could consider bringing a legislation on Ram temple if the matter was not resolved in the court. After the dengue virus, bacterial scrub typhus disease, seen in Nagpur for the first time, is taking its toll on residents of the city and surrounding areas. Around 90 cases have been reported so far, out of which 15 people have died over the last one week and another 15 are battling for their lives. From the around 90 persons diagnosed with the disease, the toll rose to 15 on Friday evening with one patient at the government medical college and hospital succumbing while 70 are under treatment there and some private hospitals. Most of the patients are in the age group of 30 to 45. According to the medical college and hospital, over 60 affected people are admitted there out of which 15 are on ventilators and battling for their lives. The patient who died on Friday evening was identified as Madhukar Pudke of Nandanwan area of east Nagpur. Scrub typhus, also known as bush typhus, is a disease caused by bacteria called Orientia tsutsugamushi. It spreads among human being through bites of infected chiggers (larval mites). The most common symptoms of scrub typhus include fever, headache, body aches, and sometimes rash. Dr Abhimanyu Niswade, the dean of the government medical college and hospital, said that the number of its patients is increasing rapidly in the city, while most of the patients in the hospital are from other districts of the region and a few are from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states. Maharashtra minister for public health Deepak Sawant visited the medical college and hospital a few days ago and instructed the authorities to take adequate steps to curb the disease. But hospital officials said they did not have the necessary infrastructure. Talking to HT, a senior government medical college official however asked how could the hospital provide proper treatment and other aides when it was not equipped with equipment and medicines for this new disease. The government is not trying to understand the basic issue, he alleged, calling for opening an emergency service for the disease at the hospital with experts and equipment. Admitting that the city was facing such new disease for the first time, Niswade said: However, we are giving proper treatment to the patients. The city had recorded over 500 dengue cases in August though no casualties were reported. A militant of the Islamic State in Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) was shot dead in Srinagar on Saturday afternoon, hours after a Hurriyat activist was killed by unidentified gunmen in Sopore, police said. The militant was shot near Naseem Bagh in the Hazratbal area and died on the spot, said a police officer. A pistol and a magazine was recovered from him. An i-card of the Islamic University in the name of Ishfaq Ahmad was found on him but the varsity denied he was its student. The killed youth was later identified as Asif Nazar Dar of Awantipora in Pulwama district, reported IANS. Based on preliminary information, police had earlier said Dar belonged to Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind - an affiliate of al-Qaeda in the valley led by Zakir Mussa A police spokesman said that Dar was active since January 2017. Initially he had joined the proscribed terror outfit HM (Hizbul Mujahideen) but later got associated with the Eisa Fazili group of terrorists, he said, according to a PTI report . Eisa Fazili alias Eisa Roohullah al Kashmiri, a son of a Kashmir University employee, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag in March along with two other ultras. The ISJK had said that he was their operative. Earlier on Saturday, Hurriyat activist, Hakeem Rahman, was shot at close range near his house at Bomai area of Sopore. He was immediately shifted to a hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival, a police official said. The activist was affiliated with the group led by Syed Ali Geelani and had been recently released from jail. United States President Donald Trump took aim Friday at trade relations with India, China and other developing nations saying they unfairly received subsidies from the US as growing economies and vowed to stop the practice. We have some of these countries that are considered growing economies, they are considered nations that are not mature yet so we are paying them subsidies, Trump told supporters at a rally in Fargo, North Carolina. The whole thing is crazy. You know, like India, like China, like others, we say oh they are growing so I say I want to put us in that category, too we are growing they call themselves developing nations we are a developing nation too. And under that category as developing nations they get subsidies, we pay them money... but we are going to stop it. We have stopped it. The president did not explain the reference to subsidies, but he might have been alluding to the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a trade programme under which the US eliminates duty on thousands of products it imports from 120 beneficiary countries that are considered poor and developing. India has been the programmes top beneficiary, with an estimated $5 billion worth of duty-free exports to the US in 2017. And the US has initiated a review of Indias eligibility to continue as a beneficiary, along with some other countries such as Indonesia and Kazakhstan. For India, the review is based on concerns related to its compliance with the GSP market access criterion, the office of the US trade representative, the body that monitors US trade relations, has said. It has cited complaints from US dairy and medical devices industries that India has erected tariff barriers against their goods. India has challenged that contention in principle, but negotiations are underway between trade teams of the two countries to address those and other trade issues created by President Trumps tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. India has threatened retaliatory measures and gone to the World Trade Organisation. The world trade body has also been in the crosshairs of the American president. Trump has called the agreement establishing the WTO the the single worst trade deal ever made and has threatened to pull out of it. The president reprised his problem with the WTO at the rally again on Friday, calling it probably the worst of all deals. But a lot of people dont know what that is, that allowed China to become this great economic power. He has also said before that the world body has been historically unfair to the US, settling disputes mostly against it. With that, he segued to China and his problem with the large trade surplus it has over the US, which he is trying to fix with tariffs, leading to retaliatory levies from China, which is not a beneficiary of the GSP. Trump has now threatened to expand tariffs to cover almost all imports from China. Negotiations are underway at the same time, but thats been the presidents carrot-and-stick approach towards trade deals. The US is moving towards protectionist policies wherever possible. These arguments are part of that. But there is always scope for negotiations in trade. But one particular statement should not be taken seriously unless it is repeated in other forums. Basically, we need to wait and watch, said economist Manoj Panda, director of Delhi Universitys Institute of Economic Growth. Social activist Yogendra Yadav was on Saturday detained in Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu while he was on his way to take part in a protest against the Chennai-Salem eight-lane green corridor project. Yadav had flown down to the state to meet farmers, public and address a meeting arranged by local activists. Near Chengam in Tiruvannamalai district, he was stopped by the police and detained. TN police has detained me and team in Chengam police station, Tiruvannamalai district. We came on the invitation of the movement against Chennai Salem eight-lane green corridor project. We were prevented from going to meet farmers, phones snatched, manhandled and pushed into a police van. First-hand experience of the police state in TN!, tweeted Yadav. TN police has detained me and team in Chengam PS, Thiru Annamalai district. We came on the invitation of Movement Against 8Lane Way. We were prevented from going to meet farmers, phones snatched, manhandled and pushed into police van. First hand experience of police state in TN! Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 Supdt. Police, Thiru Annamalai is here to tell me hay they apprehend law and order problem due to my presence! I am saying I will only visit farmers inside their homes. SP says I am not allowed! Gandhian disobedience is the only way out, it seems. Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 The Swaraj Abhiyan leader said that he was detained soon after he spoke with Tiruvannamalai collector Kandasamy. I had spoken to Kandasamy, Collector, Tiruvannamalai about the acquisition and complaints of police excesses for eight-lane project. He completely denied any police interference. Within minutes of the phone call police detained us, he tweeted. In another tweet, the former AAP leader said the Thiruvannamalai SP told him that they had apprehended law and order problem due to his presence. Fuel prices in the financial capital touched a new high on Friday, with petrol prices soaring by 48 paise, and diesel 55 paise a litre one of the steepest single-day rises in Mumbai in recent months. On Friday, petrol sold at Rs 87.39 a litre, while diesel cost Rs 76.51 a litre. Fuel prices have been on the rise since mid-August, going up almost every day, owing to a weak rupee and a rise in crude oil prices. In some cities in Maharashtra, petrol prices touched Rs 90 a litre for instance, in Amravati, Buldhana, where they were selling for Rs 88 and Rs 77 a litre. Petrol pump operators said over the past 10 days, the maximum fuel prices rose to was 42 paise a litre. Friday was the first time the prices went up by more than 50 paise a litre. Transporters ar enow demanding that fuel prices are revised quarterly, instead of daily. Harsh Kotak, a leader of bus operators in Mumbai, said this was the first time the price has gone up 50 paise a day since June 2017, when the government began revising fuel prices every day. Until June 2017, state-run fuel retailers such as Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum, revised fuel rates on the 1st and 16th of every month, based on average international price in the preceding fortnight and the currency exchange rate. The government should immediately stop the daily revision of fuel prices and start revising every quarter, Kotak said. Although fuel prices are going up by 50 paise a day, we cannot ask our clients to increase contract value daily, as this can only be done in case of a quarterly review. The School Bus Operators Association, has already warned that they would increase monthly fee by Rs 100. The school bus operators and other federations of the transport industry are also demanding bringing petrol and diesel under the ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST). Considering the consistent rise in fuel prices across the country, city politicians and activists have launched a scathing attack on the governments, both the state and Centre, accusing them of not addressing the problems faced by residents as the fuel prices continue to rise significantly. The Indian National Congress party has called a nationwide bandh on September 10 to oppose the fuel prices hike. Ashok Chavan, Congress state unit president, said, The government has turned a deaf ear to the problems that the citizens are facing owing to the petrol price rise in the state as well as in the country. Although the international crude oil prices are low, the government is not reducing the price of the petrol and diesel. Chavan said that the party is also seeking the support of Nationalist Congress Party to take part in the bandh. Vivek Velankar, RTI activist and founder of city-based NGO Sajak Nagarik Manch, said, Although the petrol price in the city has touched Rs 87.27, which is at an all-time high, the government has been continuously ignoring such a crucial issue. Accusing the governments of being hand in glove with the oil companies, Velankar said, While the government is not acting against the oil companies for high prices saying that the companies will have to incur heavy losses, the oil companies have however registered a profit of over 75 per cent in the last fiscal year. This clearly indicates the fact that the government is not in any mood to reduce the prices leaving the citizens to suffer eventually, said Velankar. A senior official from the petroleum dealers association requesting anonymity said, The Indian government has decontrolled the commodity and has totally no control on the rising price. However, it wont be entirely correct to blame the government this time as the rise is driven by higher global prices of crude oil. The All India Petrol Dealers Association (AIPDA) has recommended to freeze levies at this level, said the official. Police on Friday arrested former Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Bhaur after a video in which he is allegedly seen using objectionable language against Dalit-dominated Dera Sachkhand Ballan leader and Guru Ravidas follower Ramanand Dass surfaced. Ramanand was murdered in the Austrian city of Vienna in 2009. A case was registered under Section 295-A (malicious acts to outrage religious feelings) of the IPC and Section 66-A of the Information Technology Act against Bhaur. The move came after hundreds of members of the Ravidassia community gheraoed Bhaurs residence at Banga and raised slogans against him. A team led by Banga DSP Deepika Singh rushed to the spot and tried to bring the situation under control. Deputy inspector general (DIG, Ludhiana range), also visited the protest site. He said Bhaur was nabbed in Mohali. Satpal Kahlon, the complainant, said the video has hurt the sentiments of their community. We suspect that Bhaur is behind the murder of Guru Ramanand Ji, he stated. Bhaur joined the AAP ahead of 2017 assembly polls but has been politically inactive since. Ahead of the SGPC presidents elections last year, he had formed a outfit, Panthic Front. London-based economist Imran Rasul became the second member of governments Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to resign following the exclusion of US-based academic Atif Mian, who quit following Islamist backlash over his Ahmadi origins. With a heavy heart, I have resigned from the EAC this morning, Rasul, a professor of economics at University College, London, tweeted adding he profoundly disagrees with the circumstances in which Mian was asked to resign from the council. Rasul spoke in favour of Mians appointment to the advisory council, saying if there was one academic on the EAC that Pakistan needs, it was him. The formation of the EAC and its composition offered a great opportunity to devise a better economic policy, he added. Mian was part of the initial team announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan to guide his government on the economy. Within three days of its rhetoric about the rights of minorities, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government bowed down to pressure from religious groups and asked Mian to step down. While announcing his resignation, Mian said the government was facing tremendous pressure over his appointment from Muslim clerics and their followers. Hours later, another EAC member Asim Ijaz Khwaja, professor of international finance and development at the Harvard Kennedy School, announced his decision to resign from the council. The man who stabbed Brazils presidential front-runner, Jair Bolsonaro, at a packed street rally said he was acting on divine orders, according to a video obtained by local news outlets. Adelio Bispo de Oliveira, 40, was detained Thursday after witnesses said he carried out the attack against the far-right candidate in the southeast state of Minas Gerais. The moment was captured on video, the politician wincing as the knife plunged into his gut. De Oliveira confessed and said he acted alone, his lawyer said Friday. He said he acted due to political and religious reasons, against Bolsonaros prejudices, Pedro Possa said in a phone message. He acted without anyone elses participation nor on anyones order. A Facebook page in de Oliveiras name that dates back several years features posts criticising Bolsonaro, and others purporting to expose a Freemason conspiracy. The profile contains an About with only one sentence: It doesnt matter for which party you fight, nor the ideology you believe or the faith you practice, if you take pleasure in the triumph of justice, then we are all brothers!!! In May, he posted a photo of himself at a small protest beside a hand-made sign reading Useless Politicians. In early July, he checked into a shooting club in southern Brazil and, later that month, changed his profile picture to the scales of justice. In the video posted on local news websites, de Oliveira says no one but God above ordered him to carry out the attack. In recent years, the attacker had begun talking to himself, responding out loud to television political news, and presenting disturbing ideas to relatives, his niece Jussara Ramos told BuzzFeed. Possa declined to comment about his clients mental health. De Oliveira isnt affiliated with any political group although he was a member of the Socialism and Liberty Party between 2007 and 2014, local magazine Veja reported. Federal police hadnt released information about the arrested man by Friday morning. A supporter lights a candle for presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro in front of the Albert Einstein hospital after he was stabbed in Juiz de Fora, in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Reuters Photo) Bolsonaro is in good condition, continuing treatment in ICU, doctors at Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo said Friday. He underwent two hours of surgery to treat wounds to his intestine and contain severe internal bleeding the evening before, the doctors who treated him said at a news conference. Im fine and recuperating! Bolsonaro said it on his Twitter page Friday afternoon. Earlier, he said in a video recorded at the hospital by Senator Magno Malta he has never done harm to anyone and added he was prepared for a moment like this. (This story has been published from an agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.) Pakistan on Saturday assured China that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will remain the top priority of the new government, describing it as proof that Beijings Belt and Road Initiative is a sustainable project. The CPEC is proof of how seamless the Belt and Road Initiative can become with the help of all stakeholders, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said while addressing a joint press conference with his visiting Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. In his remarks, the top Chinese diplomat defended BRI, rejecting criticism that the project has saddled Pakistan with huge debt. CPEC has not inflicted a debt burden on Pakistan, rather when these projects get completed and enter into operation, they will unleash huge economic benefitsand these will create considerable returns to the Pakistani economy. Wang said the CPEC, which is the Pakistani portion of the BRI, has helped increase economic growth by 1 to 2% and has contributed 70,000 jobs. He said 47% of Pakistans debt comes from the IMF and the Asian Development Bank, adding that 22 operational CPEC projects, of which nine have been completed, have triggered investment worth $19 billion so far. He also rejected concerns about the transparency of CPEC, saying those worries were false as all the projects had undergone necessary approvals. Wang, who is currently in Pakistan on a three-day official visit, said the two sides have decided to initiate a strategic dialogue and further enhance bilateral economic relations. Qureshi said he had extended assurances that the country will ensure the security of Chinese officials working in Pakistan. The two sides discussed various matters of mutual interest, including special economic zones along with the CPEC, he added. The minister said that Wang had extended an invitation to prime minister Imran Khan to visit an expo in China in November as a guest of honour. His visit came weeks after the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan took oath as the prime minister. The visit also acquired special significance as it took place days after a trip by US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Joseph Dunford. Pakistan and the US had agreed to reset their ties and reached an understanding that the Trump administration and the new Pakistani government would try to deliver on each others expectations. Chinas foreign minister says Pakistan has played a key role in eliminating terrorism and the world should support Pakistan in its efforts to fight extremism. Wang Yi met his counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday to discuss matters of mutual interest, including the China Pakistan Economic Corridor. Wang arrived Friday night for a three-day visit. He said in a news conference that China wants to help strengthen and stabilize Pakistans economy and enhance strategic relations between the two countries. He said China, the US and other powers should support Pakistans effort to fight terrorism and improve governance and socio-economic conditions. Qureshi said they discussed regional security, the peace process in Afghanistan and strengthen strategic cooperation. Wang will also meet the prime minister, president, army chief and other top officials. Civil unrest fuelled by anger against perceived corruption and misrule by Iraqs political elite intensified across the south of the country on Friday, as protesters stormed the Iranian consulate in Basra while others briefly took workers hostage at a nearby oilfield. After five days of deadly demonstrations in Basra in which government buildings have been ransacked and set alight, protesters broke in and damaged the consulates offices, shouting condemnation of what many perceive as Irans sway over Iraqs political affairs. Security sources said the consulate was empty when the crowd burst in. Iraqs foreign ministry said the storming of the consulate, which it deeply regretted, had nothing to do with protesters demands. The targeting of diplomatic missions is unacceptable and detrimental to the interests of Iraq, said ministry spokesman Ahmed Mahjoub. Iran, however, blamed Iraq for failing to protect its embassy and said it expected Baghdad to identify and punish the attackers quickly, Bahram Qassemi, the spokesman for the ministry, told journalists, according to state media. The Iraqi ambassador to Tehran was later summoned to the foreign ministry over the complaints. Several foreign governments have consulates in the city, including the United States and Russia. In a statement, the US state department condemned the violence against diplomats and called on all parties, including security forces and protesters, to uphold the right of peaceful protest and to protect diplomats and their facilities. Late in the day some 65 kilometres north-west of Iraqs second biggest city, another group of protesters entered a water treatment facility linked to the West Qurna 2 oilfield, managed by Russias Lukoil . Oil prices were steady on Friday, with US crude slipping on weak global equity markets while Brent inched up on geopolitical factors, including violent protests in Iraq. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures settled down 2 cents at $67.75 per barrel. Brent crude futures settled up 33 cents at $76.83 a barrel. [O/R] The protesters held two Iraqi employees hostage for about an hour before leaving the facility peacefully, according to a Lukoil source and a source with Basras energy police. Production was not disrupted, a manager at the oilfield said. The unrest in Basra could have deeper implications for a country that imports most of its food. Since Thursday, protesters have shut Iraqs only major sea port at Umm Qasr, 60 km (40 miles) south of Basra. It remained shut on Friday, local officials and security sources said, although oil exports, carried out from offshore platforms, have not been affected. Sweep Clean Residents say they have been driven to the streets by corruption that allowed infrastructure to collapse, leaving no power or safe drinking water in the heat of summer, with protests intensifying on Monday. Since then at least 12 demonstrators have died in the city of 2 million, mostly in clashes with security forces, as demonstrators torched government buildings and the offices of political parties, whose leaders are all vying to form Iraqs ruling coalition. On Friday, two protesters died from gunshot wounds and 39 were wounded, local health and security sources said. A curfew was imposed shortly before 9 pm local time, but residents still targeted a building belonging to Iraqs Popular Mobilization Forces, the grouping of mostly Iran-backed Shiite militias. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadis national security council met on Friday and said it was investigating casualties at the protests. The storming of the consulate came hours after Iraqs most revered Shiite cleric called for a political shakeup in Baghdad and a halt to violence against the protesters. Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the ultimate authority for devout members of Iraqs Shiite majority who normally holds himself above day-to-day politics, placed blame for the unrest with political leaders and said a new government should be formed, different from its predecessors. Smaller protests also took place on Friday in other cities including Karbala and Baghdad. New Crisis The unrest has thrust Iraq into a major new crisis at a time when politicians have yet to agree a new government after an inconclusive election in May. The new parliament finally met on Monday for the first time, but broke up after a day having failed to elect a speaker, much less name the next prime minister. Parliaments interim leader summoned lawmakers to an emergency session on Saturday to discuss the unrest. Leading political figures, embroiled in government formation negotiations in Baghdad, have scrambled to respond to the crisis, condemning rivals for inaction. Iraqs political factions mainly came together in the past four years during a war against Islamic State. Baghdads two most influential allies, Washington and Tehran, also backed the government despite their deep hostility to each other. But since Islamic State was largely defeated last year, divisions have resurfaced. Shiites in the south, where most of Iraqs oil wealth is produced, say Baghdad politicians have squandered state funds while leaving them desperate. Moqtada al-Sadr, a populist Shiite cleric whose electoral bloc came first in Mays election, said on Twitter that Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi must release more funds for Basra. Sadr, the former leader of an anti-American Shiite sectarian militia who has reinvented himself as an anti-corruption campaigner, has allied himself with Abadi. Their alliance is competing to form a government against a rival bloc backed by Abadis predecessor Nuri al-Maliki and the leader of an Iran-backed Shiite armed group, Hadi al-Amiri. Amiri called on Abadi to resign over the crisis on Friday. Masked assailants hurled rocks and bottles at a Jewish restaurant, injuring the owner, in an apparently anti-semitic attack on the sidelines of a wave of neo-Nazi protest in an east German city, authorities and reports said Saturday. A spokesman for the regional interior ministry said a politically-motivated act with an anti-semitic background was the most plausible explanation for the attack in Chemnitz, late last month. The city has been convulsed by violent far-right, anti-immigration demonstrations since the killing of a German man, allegedly by asylum-seekers, on the last weekend of August. Police in Saxony confirmed to the newspaper Die Welt that they had received a complaint of the attack on the Schalom restaurant on the sidelines of the demonstrations. A mob of around a dozen people, wearing black with their faces covered hurled rocks, bottles and a metal pipe at the restaurant on August 27, according to reports in Die Welt and the Freie Presse newspaper. Owner Uwe Dziuballa suffered an injury to the shoulder during the attack, the reports said. The restaurant, which was opened in 2000, has been attacked several times before. The Chemnitz knife attack is the latest in a series of violent crimes by refugees that have garnered massive media attention and stoked anger at German Chancellor Angela Merkels decision to allow in more than one million migrants and refugees since 2015. Far-right groups and thousands of local citizens have taken to the streets since the stabbing, with some seen flashing the illegal Nazi salute. The visit of US secretary of state Mike Pompeo could be described as successful if one were to read the Pakistani media, or unsuccessful if the American papers were anything to go by. Pakistanis are now confused whether the trip actually helped relations between the two countries. The local media, under direction from intelligence agencies, removed certain references in the meetings and gave it a positive spin. Local English language daily Express Tribune quoted foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi as saying that an impasse in Pakistan-US relations has been broken during the talks. Qureshi told the media that the US administration has reviewed its policy in Afghanistan and now it is amenable to talks with the Taliban in an effort to end the 16-year-old conflict in the battered country. This point was highlighted by other media as well, including most of the TV news channels, which extensively quoted Qureshi in their reporting but failed to get a single quote from any American official to deny or confirm the contention of the Pakistani side. The Dawn newspaper also took the line that the two sides had decided to reset bilateral ties after the positive initial engagement on Wednesday resulted in an understanding between the Trump administration and the new Pakistani government on delivering on each others expectations. The positivity shown by the two sides after their meeting deeply contrasted the clouds of negativity under which US secretary of state Mike Pompeo arrived in Islamabad, the paper said. The American media, many of whom had accompanied Pompeo to Pakistan, were more wary of the situation. The Wall Street Journal in its report quoted Pompeo as saying that the US and Pakistan have still got a long way to go to reset troubled ties. The paper commented that the two sides didnt reach any concrete agreements during the five-hour visit to Pakistans capital but Pompeo said there were a lot more discussions to be had as he boarded a flight to India after meeting with Pakistans new leaders. The LA Times was equally unenthusiastic. It described the meetings between Pakistani and US officials as "brief" less than half an hour at Khans official residence and an additional 40 minutes at the foreign ministry. These meetings, the paper said "appeared to have achieved little of substance. Other American media outlets gave similar reports on the visit in sharp contrast to the Pakistani media which seemed to suggest that relations between the two countries are on the mend. It was important to spin this into something positive given how the US announced cancellation of military aid ahead of the visit," commented analyst Ghouse Mohiuddin, who added "the Imran Khan government has to show that it came out better from the visit." Stressing the importance of Tibet as a natural security barrier, a senior Chinese leader has described the region as a key gateway to South Asia through Nepal. Qi Zhala, chairperson of Tibet Autonomous Region, was speaking on Friday at the 4th Tibet Tourism and Culture Expo, aimed at attracting more tourists to TAR a symbol of opening up of a region that continues to restrict foreign tourists and entirely ban diplomats and journalists except with a government permit. Tibet is a sacred and inseparable part our great motherland. It is an important national security barrier and ecological security barrier, Qi said at the inaugural function of the expo. China has continued to militarily strengthen its border areas with India. Its Western Theatre Command is mainly responsible for mountain warfare at the border area with India. The Sino-India Line of Actual Control stretches to 3,488-km including the high altitude Tibetan plateau. The nationalistic tabloid Global Times had reported earlier this year that China had upgraded its air defence system in the region with fighter aircraft. International delegates at the week-long Lhasa expo include a large group from Nepal, the only country that has a consulate in remote Lhasa, located at an altitude of over 3,600 metres. In his speech, Qi referred to the two countries signing a deal in 2017 to construct a cross-border economic zone.The Chinese ministry of commerce had then said it was an important project under President Xi Jinpings Belt and Road Initiative. The construction of the zone is currently on. The construction of the Jilong international port (on the China-Nepal border) is solidly promoted and the construction of the China-Nepal Cross-border Economic Cooperation Zone and the Lhasa Comprehensive Bonded Zone is accelerated, Qi said. The Gyirong, or Jilong, port is considered to be Chinas gateway to South Asia and in 2017, the TAR government declared the land port as an international port to encourage trade between China and Nepal. The statement from Qi came the same day as China and Nepal finalised new protocols for cross-border trade in Kathmandu, under which Nepal will have access to Chinas land and sea ports. The TAR will play a key role in the bilateral trade. Officials from the two sides finalised the protocol of the Nepal-China Transit and Transportation Agreement that will allow Nepal to use the Chinese ports of Tianjin, Shenzhen, Lianyungang and Zhanjiang, said a statement from the industry and commerce ministry of Nepal on Friday. The statement added that China had agreed to allow Nepal to use the TAR land ports at Lanzhou, Lhasa and Xigatse. The United States constantly sends messages to Iran to begin negotiations, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday in a speech broadcast on state television. Tensions ramped up between Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic last month. Trump has said he would meet Irans leaders. From one side they try to pressure the people of Iran, on another side they send us messages every day through various methods that we should come and negotiate together, Rouhani said. He added, [They say] we should negotiate here, we should negotiate there. We want to resolve the issues... should we see your message?.. or should we see your brutish actions? Washington aims to force Tehran to end its nuclear program and its support of militant groups in Syria and Iraq. US sanctions targeting Irans oil sector are scheduled to be reimposed in November. Iran is facing an economic, psychological and propaganda war, Rouhani said Saturday, pointing to America and Israel as the Islamic Republics main enemies. The US has threatened sanctions against key officials of the Maldives if it fails to hold free and fair elections that are due on September 23, saying it was concerned about democratic backsliding in the country. Absent Maldives return to a democratic path, the United States will consider appropriate measures against those individuals who undermine democracy, the rule of law, and a free and fair electoral process, US state department spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement on Thursday. She said the restoration of democratic institutions and practices, including a free, fair, and inclusive election is of critical importance. The European Union has already threatened sanctions against officials responsible for human rights violations and neglect of rule of law. The tiny Indian Ocean nation has been in a political crisis since February when President Abdulla Yameen imposed a 45-day emergency, and forced the countrys top court to overturn an earlier order quashing the conviction of nine opposition leaders, including former president Mohamed Naheed. Nauert called for the release of the falsely accused political prisoners, and honouring the Supreme Courts ruling overturning their conviction. The Maldives, she added, must put an end to executive interference in the Parliament and judiciary; respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; and holding a free and fair election that reflects the will of the Maldivian people. India has watched developments in the Maldives with mounting concern as the current government there has sought to steer the country away from its traditionally warm relations with India and forge closer ties with China. Uber is committed to partner the government in this mission to Move India forward. New Delhi: Ride hailing app Uber Saturday said its top executives met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and showcased its futuristic aerial taxi service under Uber Elevate. Eric Allison, Head of Aviation Programs, Uber and Nikhil Goel, Head of Product, Aviation met the PM on Friday, on the sidelines of Global Mobility Summit MOVE, and discussed how a multi-modal mobility platform can contribute to the economy, while helping reduce pollution and congestion, Uber said in a statement. During the meeting, Allison apprised the PM "of the potential of Uber Elevate, showcasing the exciting future Uber Air can bring to the region and to the world," it said. Allison also highlighted the importance of a strong foundation for the next generation of innovations, including eVTOLs, carpooling and autonomous vehicles, the statement said. "Uber is committed to partner the government in this mission to Move India forward. I am very excited to be in India and to be discussing the future of urban mobility with one of the most visionary leaders in the world today, PM Modi," Allison said. Uber is considering India among five global locations (like Japan and France) for its futuristic aerial taxi service and is in talks with regulators in the country to gauge the modalities and constraints of offering such a service that could be launched in the next five years. Uber has already named Dallas and Los Angeles as its first two launch cities in the US and has been on the prowl to select an international city as its third partner. Allison has already stated that the company is looking at large Indian cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru as potential candidates. The company is also meeting representatives from various ministries like civil aviation, as well as local authorities and thought leaders to explore options. Uber has already said it hopes to start operating demonstrator flights in 2020 and begin commercial operations in 2023 in the three cities, depending on the regulatory clearances. It believes that its aerial service has tremendous potential to help create a transportation option that bypasses congestion, instead of adding to it. The company had said its final decision, which will take about six months, will be based on factors like size of the market, and availability of enabling conditions. Uber Elevate will also take into account a third criteria of local commitment, where it will work with respective governments and communities to make the dream project a reality. Uber plans to use vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft for the service. A fancy video by the company depicts the future scenario where riders book an aerial ride from their smartphones and hop onto the VTOLs via helipads atop a high-rise. The proposal, announced just a month ago, was met with a backlash from the movie industry and film reviewers. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided not to go ahead with its proposed new 'popular film' Oscar category at next year's awards ceremony. The proposal, announced just a month ago, was met with a backlash from the movie industry and film reviewers, who said it would create a two-tier system of 'popular' and 'unpopular' films. "There has been a wide range of reactions to the introduction of a new award, and we recognize the need for further discussion with our members. We have made changes to the Oscars over the years, including this year, and we will continue to evolve while also respecting the incredible legacy of the last 90 years," Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said in a statement. Changes to the 91st Oscars include restructuring and shortening the length of the telecast to three hours. To honour all 24 award categories, six to eight categories will be presented live, in the Dolby Theatre, during commercial breaks. The winning moments will then be edited and aired later in the broadcast. Selected categories will be rotated each year. The Academy will collaborate with the show producer(s) to select these categories. The 2019 Oscars ceremony will take place in Los Angeles on February 24. Also the 2020 Oscars are moving to an earlier date on the calendar. Instead of taking place toward the end of February, the 92nd Oscars will be held on February 9, 2020. Sophomore guard Jabari Bird of the of the Boston Celtics has been arrested for what the Boston police call a "domestic incident." This means, according to the Boston Globe, that he (allegedly) "assaulted, choked, and kidnapped somebody." Whatever happened in the "domestic incident" or later when the police were arresting Bird, it was violent enough to land the young player in the hospital where he is being "guarded" by the police. the victim of the "incident" has been taken to another hospital for treatment with injuries sustained, according to John Boyle, a spokesperson for the Boston Police. The Celtics seem to be as unclear on the specifics as the rest of us. They released a statement saying: we are actively gathering information and will reserve further comment at this time, saying also that they are taking the whole thing "very seriously." Doubtless the team is not excited about the news, especially considering Bird's growing potential and the faith they've already put in him, signing him (a 58th-overall pick) to a $3 million dollar, two-year deal in July. The signing came after Bird averaged 19.3 points in the G-League this past season. In the summer league this year he put up a 57% shooting percentage. Jabari Bird will appear in court on Monday. Kodak Black has returned from prison a man possessed. What transpired behind bars is anyone's guess. Upon his return, Kodak swore off sexual intercourse, thereby promising to channel that energy into his craft. Then Paranoia set in, to the point where he became suspicious of the activity taking place in his vicinity. Kodak is all but certain that "culture vultures" are running off with his sound. These concerns weighed heavily on his mind as recently as Friday night, when Kodak was filmed spazzing outside a Hollywood nightclub. The unedited clip is completely up for grabs (down below). It's hard to make out exactly what Kodak Black is trying to articulate. As TMZ reported, Kodak's tirade became so boisterous that a police officer began trailing his every move. In the end, Kodak left without incident or a booking, but not before gesticulating to every camera in his vicinity. "The realest n**** in the industry, a real n**** from Florida," shouted Kodak as he crouched in front of three cameramen. As you can see in the above video, Kodak Black didn't stay in one place for too long, as if he'd tapped into an energy reserve left dormant during his 7-month bid. Hopefully this grudge will help galvanize the potential we've only begun to see intermittently. Mac Miller's hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania will be holding a vigil in his honor, Tuesday at 7pm. The memorial will spawn on the grounds of Blue Slide Park, a public space he named his debut album after, which itself is but a portion of Pittsburgh's sprawling Frick Park. On said album, Miller rapped about his childhood experiences in the park. The park setting never lost its significance to Miller, who then repurposed the locale as a 420 buffer zone in his early teens. Fans have already started adorning the site with flowers and tokens in his honor, the jungle gym becoming a drapery of Mac Miller beach blankets and paraphernalia. "I like that he incorporated Pittsburgh so much into it, said a fan interviewed by CBS News. I grew up in Blue Slide Park, like this was my favorite childhood park, and listening to it brings back those childhood memories." "We were just in his dorm, and we just all needed to come here," said Morgan Schneider, another fan who spoke with CBS News field reporters "I was like, we need to go to Blue Slide Park right now." It's only fitting that Mac Miller's memorandum cycles back to his hometown quarters. Pittsburgh's distinct working class culture had a profound effect on the man he soon became. Since the dawn of recorded music the industry has been dominated, like most big industries, by a small amount of big companies. In this case, it's what are usually called "major labels" like Sony, EMI, Warner etc. Even since the internet has made it possible to publish music without the help of a label, these companies are the still the gatekeepers to stardom. Spotify's new initiative may change that. According to a report from the New York Times, Spotify has begun, over the past year, signing deals directly with independent artists, cutting out the middleman of the record label. The benefit of the deal, for the artists, is "full ownership of their recordings" and a much bigger cut of the streaming revenue: Spotify typically pays a record label around 52 percent of the revenue generated by each stream, or play, of a given song. The label, in turn, pays the artist a royalty of anywhere from 15 percent to, in some cases, 50 percent of its cut. By agreeing to a direct licensing deal with Spotify, artists and their representatives are able to keep the whole payout. The new Spotify deals, which have been in the works for the past year, "are not exclusive, leaving the artists free to license their songs to other streaming companies, like Apple Music and Amazon." Spotify's CEO Daniel Ekmaybe afraid of losing the deals they have with the major labelswas careful to stress that Spotify is not becoming a record label, saying that "Licensing content does not make us a label, nor do we have any interest in becoming a label. We dont own any rights to any music, and were not acting like a record label. Although nominally not a record label, Spotify may be charting a course for the future of the music industry, where the medium of distribution and the label are not separate. The artists signed to Spotify have, at the time of writing, yet to be announced. A 37 year old man believed to be UK rapper Young Spray, is in serious condition after being stabbed at the GRM Daily Rated Awards in West London. The event, which was being held for the 4th year running, was taking place at the Eventim Apollo. a spokesperson for the venue was on hand to corroborate a report from the Metropolitan Police Service stating the particulars of the incident. "During an event at the Eventim Apollo, an incident occurred where a male was seriously assaulted," read the statement. "The individual received immediate medical care onsite and was taken to hospital by ambulance." Eventim Apollo reiterated their full cooperation with the law enforcement agencies tasked with the investigation: "The matter is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Service, and we are assisting them with their enquiries." In 2016, two men were assaulted as they left the same award ceremony, which was then housed in a different venue. GRM Daily is one of the leading purveyors of UKG, Grime, Drill and UK rap. Not3s, producer Steel Banglez and Michael Dapaah aka Big Shaq, were among the winners on the night. Grime legend D Double E was presented with a lifetime achievement award a the trusted GRM Daily panel. For the record, GRM Daily sees itself as "the most visited urban music website in the UK." The weather may still feel straight out of Dante, but let me be the first to wish you this: Happy New Year! No, Im not jumping the gun by a full quarter; September is when every Houston new year really starts. Really. Of course, Texas is slightly out of whack by sending its offspring back to school in August why, God, why? and the smells of dry-erase markers and Axe body spray are definitely in the air. After its season of torpor, the city is waking up. The Houston Ballet season will begin a little later than usual (thanks, Hurricane Harvey), but the Alley Theatre and Houston Grand Opera are just two of the many arts organizations that do ring in their new year this month. You have your season tickets, right? And as folks roll back into town from summering in Colorado, the social scene will begin its annual whirl. This is why we dont have to pretend that some awful, booze-filled night in the middle of winter is significant, or even fun. Theres no magic to Jan. 1. People in the Near East have long celebrated the infinitesimal increase in daylight after the December solstice. Imagine a conversation 20,000 years ago. Ancient Human No. 1: Hey, I think today was maybe a minute longer than yesterday. Ancient Human No. 2: Cool! Whats a minute? The Romans called this period Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, the birthday of the Unconquerable Sun, which is admirably metal. But since we got cities, central heating and electricity, we dont have to care. This January business was the brainchild of Julius Caesar, who set Jan. 1 of 45 B.C. as the start of the new year. He liked the idea of beginning a year with the month named after Janus, the two-faced god of doorways and gates. It was already the official start of the consular year and thus served as a not-subtle reminder to Romes conquered peoples of who was boss. At some point after the fall of Rome, when Christianity became cool, some Christians began celebrating March 25, or the Feast of the Annunciation, as the start of the new year. But it didnt catch on widely, maybe because starting the year with the day somebody found out she was pregnant is, lets face it, super weird. Enter Pope Gregory XIII, who in 1582 gave us a vastly improved calendar, with leap days, that restored Jan. 1 to its former status. But thats just the West. Around the world, the new year shows up, well, whenever. The Persian New Year, Nowruz, arrives with the vernal equinox, usually March 21. The Lunar New Year, or Chinese New Year, or Tet, will be on Feb. 5 in 2019. In parts of Southeast Asia, including Cambodia and Laos, a new year is based on the positions of stars, and it falls on April 14 in 2019. In Islam, its the first day of the month of Muharram, and it moves 11 Western days every year. This year, the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashana, literally the Head of the Year starts Sept. 20. Your companys fiscal year is whenever. In other words, a new year celebration is a completely human construct. It can be whenever we want it to be. In Houston, August is languid, but September is active. Augusts social calendar is empty; Septembers is full. In August, you bolt from car to office to car to house. In September, you can venture out into the yard. In August, your boss is gone. In September, your boss is back and brimming with lame ideas. In August, feet sweat in sandals. In September, you can start thinking about boots. Boots! Are you on board yet? If so, raise a glass of young rose to a coming season of health, prosperity, love and black tights. With your boots. During two-day meet, BJP is likely to highlight the Modi-govt's steps for 'social justice' and 'economic successes'. BJP president Amit Shah will deliver the inaugural address in the presence of the party's top leaders, including Prime Minister Modi, on Saturday afternoon, while the latter is scheduled to give the valedictory speech on Sunday. (Photo: File | PTI) New Delhi: Amid signs of unrest among the upper castes over its push for pro-ST/SC laws, the BJP will hold a two-day meeting of its key decision-making body in Delhi starting Saturday, in which the ruling party is likely to highlight the Narendra Modi government's steps for "social justice" and "economic successes". The national executive of the Bharatiya Janata Party is also likely to respond to concerns over the rise in oil prices and refer to the previous UPA government's "mismanagement of the economy" as it meets ahead of the Assembly polls in five states, with the Lok Sabha election less than eight months away, party sources said. BJP president Amit Shah will deliver the inaugural address in the presence of the party's top leaders, including Prime Minister Modi, on Saturday afternoon, while the latter is scheduled to give the valedictory speech on Sunday. Significantly, the party has chosen the Ambedkar International Centre, which works to promote the works and ideas of BR Ambedkar, for hosting the meeting. However, it will have to do a balancing act as groups claiming to represent the upper castes, its core vote bank, have been protesting the government's decision to restore the original and stringent provisions of a law on atrocities, after the Supreme Court had relaxed those. The groups had called a "Bharat Bandh" on Thursday. Senior BJP leader Kalraj Mishra has gone on record seeking a rethink on the law. The issues of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), passage of key bills -- including the one to restore the original provisions of the law on atrocities against scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and another that accorded constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) -- in Parliament will also come up for discussion at the national executive meet, the sources said. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain told reporters that the executive will discuss all the topical issues. He, though, did not elaborate further. It will be the first such meeting of the party following the death of its stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The executive will pay tribute to the former prime minister, Hussain said. The sources said the hike announced by the government in the Minimum Support Price for a number of farm produce and the rise in the economic growth in the last quarter to 8.2 per cent would also find a mention, besides the ongoing "Gram Swaraj" campaign to cover the poor with a host of welfare programmes. PM Modi has often cited his government's pro-poor programmes and push for laws to empower the Dalits and Other Backward Classes as an evidence of its work for "social justice", a theme likely to be picked by the BJP national executive. The BJP is likely to present itself as a party that has promoted the interests of the backward classes -- a constituency it has constantly been wooing to big electoral successes since 2014. Party leaders said the government's "honest" image and "successful" handling of the economy, besides the Hindutva credentials of the organisation, would keep its core constituency tethered to it in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. They added that the likely alliance of its rivals such as the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samajwadi Party and other regional parties would be a red herring for the upper castes. The BJP national executive is meeting almost after a year. Sometimes, I wonder what in Gods name is even going on in Washington, D.C., these days. Clearly, theres a fair amount of chaos in the White House. Im looking forward to reading Bob Woodwards book on the subject, which will be released in the coming days. But I wasnt expecting Donald Trumps West Wing to be a well-oiled machine. He had never held political office, prior to being elected president. That was actually a central part of the sales pitch he made to voters, while campaigning in 2016 and if youre trying to drain the swamp, you can expect the swamp creatures to object, surely. Congress, though? Congress confuses me. Republicans control both chambers, but are struggling to wield their power to any practical effect, except when it comes to confirming Trumps judicial nominees. Democrats, in response, are trying to make a virtue of their own ineptitude; we saw that this week, as the Senate Judiciary committee held hearings on Brett Kavanaugh, Trumps second Supreme Court nominee. Kavanaugh, who has served since 2006 on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, will almost certainly be confirmed. No one seriously disputes whether hes qualified. And his confirmation is unlikely to change the balance of power on the Supreme Court. The seat he would fill was vacated by Anthony Kennedy, a Reagan appointee who retired in July after 30 years on the high court. Kennedy was considered a swing vote, but that doesnt necessarily mean he was a moderate and he would have been able to anticipate that a Republican president would pick his replacement, even if the party has changed a bit since he joined the Court. Furthermore, theres no reason to be outraged by the fact that Trump has the opportunity to appoint Kennedys replacement, because theres no reason to think Kennedy would have given Hillary Clinton the opportunity to do so had she been elected. Also, Trump has, since becoming president, nominated a few outright bozos to various positions of power, so we should all be relieved that he avoided doing so in this case. Kavanaugh, if confirmed, will have a lifetime appointment. All things considered, then, Democrats should have kept their powder dry this week. I could easily sympathize with the frustration they felt as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell whisked Neil Gorsuch through the confirmation process last year, after refusing to even hold hearings for Barack Obamas nominee, Merrick Garland, who is chief judge for the D.C. Circuit on which Kavanaugh serves. But even if Democrats retake the Senate in November, they cant compel the White House to withdraw Kavanaughs nomination in lieu of a progressive jurist, like Ruth Bader Ginsburg. And Ginsburg, as it happens, is 85 years old. Trump might well have the chance to nominate her replacement, too. If so, theres nothing to stop him from picking someone like Jeanine Pirro, a controversial and fiery former judge from New York who now hosts a program on Fox News. So it baffles me that so many Democratic leaders have taken such a combative attitude toward Kavanaugh himself. Over the course of this weeks hearings, which were repeatedly interrupted by protesters, hes been cast as a potential crook as well as a conservative extremist who would rubber-stamp Trumps agenda, as well as his increasingly frantic attempts to undermine the rule of law. I can see where such concerns are coming from. After everything weve seen in recent years, many Americans find it hard to trust Republican leaders. They have been remarkably loyal to Trump. And since being nominated, Kavanaugh has declined a number of invitations to criticize the president, or disagree with him about various things including Trumps seemingly broad view on executive power. But Kavanaughs refusal to denounce Trump isnt suspicious, if you think about it. Clearly, the president is paranoid. Beyond that theres no indication that Kavanaugh has any personal affinity for Trump, or a past relationship with him. His involvement with the GOP predates Trumps decision to run for the partys presidential nomination by several decades; in the 1990s, Kavanaugh was among the lawyers who helped investigate Bill Clinton, under independent counsel Ken Starr; later, he served in the White House, as staff secretary to George W. Bush. And Kavanaugh, if confirmed, would be under no obligation to side with the president, whose ability to pressure the Supreme Court is circumscribed by the fact that he cant fire any of its justices, even if he nominated them. Trump may not realize that, but Kavanaugh certainly does; and so do the Democrats who spent this week grandstanding against his nomination, and who may come to regret crying wolf during the course of this fight. erica.grieder@chron.com twitter.com/ericagrieder The Sandra Kay, a clunky-looking dredge made of metal beams and cables, moves slowly over the surface of a murky pond in southeastern Montgomery County. Its odd appearance notwithstanding, this floating contraption is a vital tool in a flourishing industry that fuels the construction of roads, bridges and buildings across greater Houston and around the world. The Sandra Kay is owned and operated by Hallett Materials, which runs one of the largest sand mining operations on the San Jacinto River. Workers extract about 1.2 million tons of sand per year from Halletts 1,100-acre property near Porter one of about 30 similar operations on the east and west forks of the San Jacinto upstream from Lake Houston, according to state data. Sand is a key ingredient in concrete and asphalt, the basic building materials of a growing metropolitan region. Demand for the product is insatiable. Except for some weekend breaks, the Hallett facility operates 24-7. Theres a lot of concrete being poured in the Houston area, said Tim Mallicoat, the chief operating officer for the Rasmussen Group, Halletts parent company. Over the past year, though, concern that sand mines may have worsened floods triggered by Hurricane Harvey has brought renewed scrutiny to the industry, which now faces pressure to embrace practices used elsewhere to protect the environmentally sensitive areas where the mines operate. Legislators representing affected communities say they will push for stricter regulation when the Legislature reconvenes in January. The current fines are not robust enough to discourage illegal dumping and poor business practices, said state Rep. Dan Huberty, a Kingswood Republican who sponsored a 2011 law that imposed the first state licensing requirements on sand and gravel mines. Huberty said he and Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, intend to push for more regulation in the coming session. Read more: As sand shrinks river capacity, Kingwood residents feel like sitting ducks for floods The sand and gravel industry, backed by some experts, has consistently maintained that its operations were not responsible for the sedimentation of the San Jacinto River and Lake Houston, which reduced the capacity of those waterways to hold floodwaters during Harvey. Nevertheless, industry leaders have met with Huberty and Creighton and are prepared to work with lawmakers on a common-sense approach to regulation, said David Perkins, the executive director of the Texas Aggregates and Concrete Association, or TACA. Continuing that dialogue as we lead into the session is critical, Perkins said. Concern about sand mines on the San Jacinto River, however, didnt start with Harvey. Years earlier, environmental groups were sounding alarms about the impact of the growing industry. In 2006, American Rivers, a nonprofit focused on keeping the nations streams healthy, included the San Jacinto River on its annual list of the nations 10 most endangered waterways. Its report said nothing about the best-known environmental problem on the river: the San Jacinto waste pits, a carcinogen-laden Superfund site near Baytown, miles downstream from the Lake Houston dam. Instead, the report focused on sand mines. Sand mining threatens to permanently damage the San Jacinto watershed, the report stated. Sedimentation caused by the sand mines, it said, increased turbidity, or cloudiness, in the river and downstream in Galveston Bay, harming fish, freshwater mussels and other aquatic life while reducing the supply of drinking water available from Lake Houston. Editorial: Texas needs a sand plan for preventing floods Ten years after the American Rivers report, another national conservation group called the sand and gravel industry a major threat to water quality in the west fork of the San Jacinto River. The rivers east and west forks originate in Walker County, flow through Montgomery County and merge near Lake Houston; from there, the river flows southeast to Galveston Bay. The 2016 report by the Trust for Public Land noted that mining operations use open pits that remove topsoil and completely eliminate vegetation. It said the portion of the west forks floodplain affected by sand mining had grown from 7 percent in 1995 to 25 percent in 2014. Similar concerns are emerging around the world as development gobbles up a resource once seen as virtually inexhaustible. Humans consume nearly 50 billion tons of sand and gravel every year, most of it used to make concrete, journalist Vince Beiser writes in a new book, The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How it Transformed Civilization. Beiser notes the ubiquity of a substance that few people consider except when they go to the beach: Take a glance out the window, he writes. All those other buildings you see are also made from sand. So is the glass in that window. So are the miles of asphalt roads that connect all those buildings. So are the silicon chips that are the brains of your computer and smartphone. Mining the sand needed to make these products, Beiser writes, has exacted a cost: All around the world, sand mining is slaughtering river-dwelling fish and birds, damaging coral reefs, undermining bridges and causing riverbanks to collapse. The potential for effects like these on the San Jacinto River troubled Jennifer Lorenz when she was the executive director of the Houston-based Bayou Land Conservancy, which works to conserve land adjacent to the areas waterways. The 2006 American Rivers report was based in part on Lorenzs research. Around the time the report came out, Lorenz said, she and others urged state legislators to regulate the industry. Those efforts led to passage of a 2011 bill requiring so-called aggregate processing operations sand and gravel mines to register with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Lorenz, now a nonprofit consultant, said the 2011 law was a first step toward effective regulation. But additional requirements and stronger enforcement, including stiffer fines, are badly needed, she said. The law was basically a hand slap, Lorenz said. We didnt get a hammer; we got a teeny-tiny nail. The TCEQ conducted 251 surveys of sand and gravel mines in 2017, issued 143 notices of violations and assessed $291,201 in penalties, according to its annual enforcement report. Most of the violations involved discharges that occurred when dikes separating mines from rivers were breached. Most penalties were in the range of $4,000 to $6,000 per violation, agency records show. Huberty, the Kingwood state legislator, pointed to best practices for sand and gravel mining in Louisiana as a possible model for Texas. These practices, developed jointly by the state and industry leaders, include planting vegetation on stream banks to reduce erosion and maintaining a minimum 100-foot buffer zone between mines and streams. Bob Rehak, a Kingwood retiree who has spent much of the year since Harvey researching sand mining and its effects on the San Jacinto River, has developed his own list of recommended practices. He posted them on his website, reduceflooding.com, which has become a go-to resource about Harvey and flooding issues for Lake Houston-area residents. Rehak said the mines should be moved out of floodways, where most of those on the San Jacinto are located. (Floodways are the areas of swiftly flowing water at the center of floodplains.) He also called for requiring performance bonds to reduce cleanup costs, increasing the width of dikes separating mines from rivers, and decreasing the slope of the dikes. In addition to potential new regulations, Huberty sees potential for collaborative efforts that would benefit the sand mining industry and the surrounding communities. The industry, he said, could use its equipment and expertise to dredge silted-up rivers such as the San Jacinto, then process and sell the dredged sand. Such an arrangement could save taxpayers a lot of money. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently began a $69.8 million, federally funded dredging project on a 2-mile stretch of the San Jacinto River near Lake Houston. The $2.5 billion flood bond package passed by Harris County voters on Aug. 25 includes $50 million for potential additional dredging of the San Jacinto. Rehak estimated that dredging the entire affected area could cost $270 million or more. Experts agree that siltation upstream from the Lake Houston dam will continue when the dredging project is finished. Perkins, the industry spokesman, said the companies he represents are eager to assist with dredging projects. The public would benefit through a cleaner river with greater capacity, while the companies involved could process and sell the removed material. Pushback: Sand mining industry answers critics as cause of Harvey flooding TACA has pushed back against allegations that its members operations were a key factor in the sedimentation of the San Jacinto River during and after Harvey. The organization argues that the water that flows into its excavations during floods doesnt move fast enough to carry sand back into the river. Two experts a private hydrologist and an Army Corps hydraulic engineer have publicly supported the industrys position, saying most of the sand clogging the San Jacinto came from Cypress Creek, which joins the San Jacinto just upstream of Lake Houston. Rehak said these arguments are based on faulty assumptions, and a number of elected officials representing the area remain unconvinced. Whatever the source of the sedimentation in the river, its effects on water quality have not been studied extensively. Justin Bower, a senior planner for the Houston-Galveston Area Council, serves as the project manager for an ongoing study of the rivers west fork. But the study focuses mostly on fecal bacteria from development in the watershed rather than sediment, Bower said. However, Bower said, its clear that sediment deposits can harm aquatic life by decreasing the amount of light that penetrates to the river bottom. The absence of light can also allow harmful bacteria to flourish, he said. When you have an excess of sediment, Bower said, thats usually a negative thing. Sedimentation also creates challenges for Houstons water treatment plant on Lake Houston, which supplies 10 percent to 15 percent of the citys drinking water. Drew Molly, an assistant director in the city water department, said water with high turbidity levels must be treated with additional chemicals that enable the suspended solids to drop out. This issue is much more extreme on Lake Houston than at the citys two other water treatment plants, he said. mike.snyder@chron.com A man was rushed to the hospital after being shot in the back in southeast Houston early Friday evening. Officers were called around 5 p.m. to a home in the 10500 block of Sagewick Drive to reports of a shooting. When they arrived, they found a person shot in the back near the house, police said. While Dominos have made some improvements to their processes, they should be closely monitoring their stores to ensure employees are being paid correctly, said Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker. The FWO also found the majority of Dominos store owners came from non-English speaking backgrounds and were not fully aware of workplace regulations in Australia. The agency said major franchisors like Dominos could be held accountable for violations of their franchisees, and that businesses should not have to rely on the FWO to identify systemic issues within their networks. Parker urged Dominos to set clear expectations with their stores, provide them with comprehensive training and support, and regularly check that workplace laws are complied with. The FWO will continue to support the efforts of Dominos by responding to requests for assistance and assessing any intelligence we receive, said Parker. Had also raised questions about jail conditions in India, his personal safety and health among others, they added. New Delhi: More trouble seems to be brewing for Mehul Choksi as the pending Red Corner Notice (RCN) request against the fugitive billionaire will be taken up by an internal committee of the Interpol next month. According to sources, the Indian investigative agencies have made a strong case against Choksi and urged the Interpol to issue the pending RCN against him at the earliest. The RCN request was put on hold by the Interpol after a representation by Choksi during which he had alleged that the cases against him were a result of political conspiracy, sources said. The fugitive billionaire, wanted by the Indian agencies in connection with the multi-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case, had also raised questions about jail conditions in India, his personal safety and health among others, they added. A five-member Interpol committees court, called Commission for Control of Files, which will next month examine contentions of both the sides and give its ruling on the request for RCN against Choksi, sources said. The Interpol had already issued a RCN against Choksis nephew Nirav Modi, who was allegedly his partner-in-crime and has been located in the United Kingdom after he fled from India in the first week of January this year. After his location was confirmed, Indian investigative agencies sent an extradition request against Nirav Modi to the authorities concerned in the UK through diplomatic chanxnel. Meanwhile, the Interpol recently issued a RCN against Mihir R. Bhansali, right hand man of Nirav Modi, in connection with the PNBs money-laundering case. The RCN, which is as an international arrest warrant, states Bhansali, CEO of Nirav Modis jewellery firm in the USA Firestar International, is wanted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of money laundering. The ED had informed the Interpol that Bhansali was likely to visit the US, the UK, Hong Kong, China or the UAE. We will not do anything that will dent BJPs prospects but if we contest, we can dent the BSPs vote bank here, he said. Lucknow: Union minister Ramdas Athawale, on Friday, rejected the demand for withdrawal of the amendment in the SC/ST Act and said that all political parties had supported the amendment in Parliament. Mr Athawale said that the Act cannot be changed now and it was the duty of all castes to support Dalits on this issue. He said that he would soon meet representatives of upper castes and clear any misconceptions they may have. There is a need for a better coordination between upper castes and Dalits and this is what Dr Ambedkar also wanted. The apprehensions of upper castes about misuse of the SC/ST Act are baseless and chances of cases against them over verbal abuse are negligible, he said. The minister blamed the opposition for triggering violence in BJP-ruled states on the issue. Replying to a question, Mr Athawale who heads the Republican Party of India (A), said that his party was ready to contest the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the BJP. We will not do anything that will dent BJPs prospects but if we contest, we can dent the BSPs vote bank here, he said. Mr Athawale said that the BJP would increase its tally to 300 seats from the 282 it was won in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modis concept of Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas had made the BJP popular with all sections of society. Imperial Valley News Center Presidential Proclamation on National Days of Prayer and Remembrance Washington, DC - Presidential Proclamation on National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, 2018: During the National Days of Prayer and Remembrance, we pause to honor the memory of the nearly 3,000 innocent people who were murdered by radical Islamist terrorists in the brutal attacks of September 11, 2001. We come together to pray for those whose lives were forever changed by the loss of a loved one. We strengthen our resolve to stand together as one Nation. Darkness, hatred, and death marred that fateful September morning, 17 years ago. Our Nation watched with stunned silence, tears, anger, and utter disbelief as multiple tragedies unfolded. Although shaken and heartbroken, we were not defeated. Even in the midst of the devastation and sorrow, the indomitable spirit of our country emerged, as first responders selflessly rushed into the heart of danger. The evil attacks, intended to warp our way of life, instead ignited a flame of national unity, strengthened our will, and mobilized our volunteer spirit. The faith of our Nation may have been tested in the avenues of New York City, on the shores of the Potomac, and in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, but our strength never faltered and our resilience never wavered. The passage of time cannot ever lessen our commitment to freedom, our heartbreak for those who perished, our compassion for those who lost a friend or loved one, and our gratitude for the first responders and other heroes who braved death to save so many. We must recommit ourselves to ensuring that future generations of Americans always understand this defining moment in our Nations history. During these annual days of prayer and remembrance, we pray that all find peace in the love of God, courage to face the future, and comfort in the knowledge that those who were lost will never be forgotten. We pray for guidance, wisdom, and protection for the men and women in uniform who fight each day to protect America from terrorism, and we pray for the unity of our Nation, both in times of peril and peace. NOW, THEREFORE, I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Friday, September 7, through Sunday, September 9, 2018, as National Days of Prayer and Remembrance. I ask that the people of the United States mark these National Days of Prayer and Remembrance with prayer, contemplation, memorial services, the visiting of memorials, the ringing of bells, and evening candlelight remembrance vigils. I invite all people around the world to share in these Days of Prayer and Remembrance. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this seventh day of September, in the year of our Lord two thousand eighteen, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-third. DONALD J. TRUMP Governor Brown Issues Proclamation Declaring Admission Day Sacramento, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. issued a proclamation declaring Sunday, September 9, 2018, as Admission Day in the State of California. PROCLAMATION Soon after the outbreak of war in 1846, United States forces invaded the Mexican province of Alta California. Seven months later, on January 13, 1847, representatives of both countries signed the Treaty of Cahuenga in the San Fernando Valley, ending the fighting. For three years thereafter, California remained under American martial law. During this period, our population exploded following the discovery of gold, giving impetus to the demand that California be admitted to the Union. In 1849, leaders from around the future state met in Monterey to draft the first constitution, which was approved on November 13 of that year by a vote of 12,061 to 811. Peter Burnett was elected governor, and in January, 1850, the State Legislature began its first two-year session. As our lawmakers went about establishing the basic institutions of state governance, the United States Congress argued about whether to admit California to the Union as a slave or free state or as two separate states, one slave and one free. The issue was resolved by the famous Compromise of 1850, and on September 9th of that year California was admitted to the Union as the 31st state. The observance of Admission Day was once prominent in the civic life of our state and nation. On September 9, 1924, by order of President Coolidge, the Bear Flag flew over the White House in honor of Californias admission to the Union. In 1976, I vetoed a measure to remove the observance of Admission Day as a state holiday, writing: For 125 years California has celebrated its admission into the Union on September 9th. To change now comes a bit late in our history and hardly seems in keeping with the Bicentennial Spirit. In 1984, however, Governor Deukmejian signed legislation eliminating our traditional observance of Admission Day on September 9th in favor of a personal holidayconvenient to some but in no way respectful of our storied founding. Californias early history is too often neglected in schools and among our citizens. For that reason, I call upon Californians to pause and celebrate Admission Day this year by reflecting on how it was that California became the 31st state. NOW THEREFORE I, EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor of the State of California, do hereby proclaim September 9, 2018, as Admission Day. IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 7th day of September 2018. ______________________________ EDMUND G. BROWN JR. Governor of California ATTEST: ________________________________ ALEX PADILLA Secretary of State Department of State Inaugurates New Regional Antiterrorism Training Facility in Senegal Washington, DC - The Department of State and the Government of Senegal today inaugurated a new regional counterterrorism training facility in Thies, Senegal. U.S. and Senegalese officials formally dedicated the new Regional Tactical Training Center, which was funded, constructed, and equipped through the Department of States Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) program. The new center is ATAs first regional training facility in West Africa. Once fully operational, the training center, part of a pre-existing Senegalese training facility, will expand ATAs capacity to train Senegalese and other West African partner nation law enforcement officers at this regional counterterrorism training hub. ATA will provide training in hard skills such as crisis response, explosive incident countermeasures, post-blast investigations, and rural border patrol operations. The ATA program has been delivering counterterrorism training in Senegal since 1985. The new training center further cements our relationship and underscores the continued close partnership that the United States has with Senegal in advancing the counterterrorism capacities of law enforcement agencies in the region. For more information on the Department of States Antiterrorism Assistance (ATA) program, please visit: https://www.state.gov/m/ds/protection/terrorism/c8583.htm. Modi said better mobility reduces the burden of travel and transportation and can boost economic growth. New Delhi: Pitching for clean energy and environment-friendly transport technology, Pri-me Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for greater investments in manufacturing of electric vehicles and smart charging facilities. Asserting that mobility powered by clean energy is the most powerful weapon in the fight against climate change, he said the focus must go beyond cars to other vehicles such as scooters and rickshaws. Congestion-free mobility is critical to check the economic and environmental costs of congestion, Mr Modi said addressing the first Global Mobility Summit MOVE, organised by government think tank Niti Aayog. The NDA government has been aggressively batting for usage of electric vehicles, however affordability of batteries and lack of charging infrastructure in the country, are the two major challenges which it will face before moving any further in this direction. Noting that mobility is a key driver of the economy, Mr Modi said better mobility reduces the burden of travel and transportation and can boost economic growth. It is already a major employer and can create the next generation of jobs, said Mr Modi. Common public transport must be the cornerstone of mobility initiatives, Mr Modi said, adding that clean mobility powered by clean energy is our most powerful weapon in our fight against climate change. With CEOs of global auto majors in attendance, he informed that the government is keen on investments across the value chain from batteries to smart charging to electric vehicle manufacturing. The government is targeting electric vehicles to account for 15 per cent of all vehicles sales in five years in a bid to curb greenhouse gas emissions and reduce dependency on fossil fuels. My vision for the future of mobility is based on 7 Cs Common, Connected, Convenient, Congestion-free, Charged, Clean and Cutting Edge, he added. Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program Marks 40th Anniversary With Alumni Conference Johannesburg, South Africa - The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program will celebrate 40 years of bringing international professionals to the United States to engage in study and collaborate with U.S. counterparts at African Humphrey Voices: Building a Better Future for Our Continent, a Pan-African alumni conference Sept. 1416, 2018, in Johannesburg, South Africa. The three-day event will focus on economic development and good governance and will acknowledge the legacy of the nearly 6,000 Fellows and Alumni and the communities enriched by them. Founded in 1978 in honor of the late Senator and Vice President, the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program provides a year of professional enrichment and leadership development in the United States for mid-career professionals from countries across the developing world. The Humphrey Program fosters a mutual exchange of knowledge, builds professional capacity, promotes lasting ties, and enhances international cooperation. Each year approximately 150 Fellows, funded by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, engage in graduate-level non-degree study and related professional experiences at leading U.S. universities in fields critical to U.S. relations with the developing world. The program now has a network of nearly 6,000 fellows and alumni in 162 countries around the world working to improve their communities. The Humphrey Program was launched as a Presidential initiative in 1978. Over the next year, the State Department, working closely with the Institute of International Education, aims to acknowledge the extraordinary professional achievements and impact of Humphrey alumni during the Fellowships first 40 years through a series of events around the world. The Humphrey Program begins its anniversary events in Johannesburg in recognition that thirty percent of all Humphrey alumni are from Sub-Saharan Africa, the largest regional concentration in the world. Change is coming to the financial sector. For a long time, the industry believed that tech startups couldn't challenge traditional financial institutions. The incumbents were too big and the industry too regulated. But the last two years has seen a major shift in attitudes, as financial institutions have been forced to respond to the success of their new tech competitors. Goldman Goes Digital Last year, for example, Goldman Sachs unveiled GS Select, a new digital lending service that extends the capabilities normally reserved for its Private Wealth Management (PWM) clients to non-PWM, non-GS clients. Independent advisors can now tap GS assets through GS Select, and they can borrow up to $25 million dollars to on-lend to their clients. While GS Select is not a true lending platform - yet, anyway - it represents a big shift for Goldman. Conventional wisdom would have had it that corporations are better off running small competitors out of the market. Large institutions like Goldman Sachs could crush or acquire the competition due to their size, reputation, expertise and excess capital. But today, you're seeing the big players like Goldman embracing platform innovation out of necessity, as peer-to-peer lending platforms such as Prosper and Lending Club have crowded the personal lending market. Just those two platforms alone accounted for $26 billion in loan issuances by the end of 2016. Goldman Sachs's loans receivable that same year stood at $49.7 billion. Payments, Quants and Alternative Investments Investment banks aren't the only ones feeling the pressure. The growth of payments platforms like PayPal and Venmo has retail banks worried too. Similarly, money transfer startups like TransferWise have challenged the traditional cross-border payments model supported by banks and service providers like Western Union. In response, 30+ banks , including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, and Capital One, banded together to launch Zelle in September 2017. Zelle, meant to be the banks' Venmo competitor, enables peer-to-peer payments direct from your bank account. It's joint-ownership structure is reminiscent of the early days of card networks Visa and Mastecard, which started as bank-owned cooperatives that were launched in response to the growing threat of closed-loop credit card networks like American Express. The hedge fund industry is also facing change. It's hefty 2-and-20 fee structure has attracted startups like Quantopian, which has raised equity capital from Andreesen Horowitz and an investment fund from Steven Cohen. Quantopian is a platform for quants, in essence creating a crowd-sourced hedge fund. It gives away tools and data for free to enable anyone to create their own quantitative investment strategies. The best performing strategies get put to use and the creators get paid. Several other startups, like Numerai and QuantConnect, are taking a similar approach. Finally, platforms have had a big impact in the alternative investments space, with startups like AngelList. AngelList matches tech startups looking to raise equity capital with investors. It has also launched an innovative syndicate model, which enables individual investors to pool together and back mini-funds that will then lead investments into startups on AngelList. These syndicates help individual investors by taking ownership of the due diligence as well as sourcing new deals that these investors would otherwise not be able to access. Finance for All Across the board, platform startups have created a big shift in finance. An industry that was once aimed largely at servicing the wealthy few has been opened up to a much wider group of both consumers and service providers. These platforms are democratizing access to financial products for investors, as well as lowering barriers to entry for everyone from sophisticated quants to small-to-midsize lenders. However, the landscape of startups that exists today is just the beginning. Most of these companies have focused on the low-hanging fruit of those who already had access to traditional financial institutions but who were underserviced by the status quo. As these platforms grow, they will start to open up even more to the unbanked and those who lack access to traditional credit today. For financial institutions who believe they have shown that they can compete with the latest wave of tech startups, they shouldn't get to comfortable. The initial traction these startups have shown has attracted the attention of the big tech monopolies like Amazon, Google and Facebook, while those who have already had major success abroad like Alibaba and Alipay are eagerly expanding to new markets. And that's to say nothing of the potential of blockchain, which is still likely years away from having a big impact in finance. On Aug. 31, American Airlines flight 663 from Phoenix to Kona experienced an issue with the lavatories during its journey to Hawaii. It was later discovered that a diaper has been flushed down one of the toilets, which also caused a malfunction. We are very sorry for the trouble this caused the 187 passengers on flight 663. Our customer relations team will be reaching out to all of the passengers on this flight to extend our apologies. At American, lavatories must be working properly prior to departure. If an American flight is in the air, and all lavatories become inoperative, the flight will divert to the nearest suitable airport in order for maintenance to rectify the situation. Due to the location of the aircraft, the flight continued to its intended destination. The issue was subsequently rectified upon arrival in Kona, and our flight returned to Phoenix as scheduled. Southwest Airlines passengers on four flights last month got a disturbing letter recently, saying that they could have come into contact with a fellow passenger who has measles. And while Southwest seems to have acted as soon as it found out and consulted with the Centers for Disease Control, there's a special circumstance about Southwest that makes this a potentially bigger deal than it might have been on other airlines. First, the flights: August 21: Flight #5, Dallas (Love Field) to Houston (Hobby) August 21: Flight #9, Houston (Hobby) to Harlingen August 22: Flight #665, Harlingen to Houston (Hobby) August 22: Flight #44, Houston (Hobby) to Dallas (Love Field) In an emailed statement, the airline told me that it reached out to every single passenger who was on any of the flights--more than 500 people, going by the average capacity of a Southwest 737. And that's what actually makes this a bigger deal than if it were on another airline. Because one of the defining features of flying on Southwest Airlines is that there is no assigned seating. In fact, that feature contributed to it being ranked the #1 carrier for families: if you're traveling with children under 6, passengers can board in the second group (after "A" but before "B"), which means it's almost always pretty easy to make sure that families can sit together. But in a situation like this one, rare though it might be, that policy works against Southwest. Because not only does Southwest almost certainly not know what seats the passenger who has measles was sitting in; it doesn't have any idea which passengers were sitting in which other seats. This matters because the CDC would normally mandate that an airline notify everyone who sat within two rows of an infected passenger. But without assigned seating, the airline had to notify literally everyone who took any of the four flights, even though the vast majority of people likely didn't actually come into contact with the infected passenger. So, all 500-plus total passengers from those flights are being warned to watch for fevers, colds, and rashes. "The rash begins on the face as flat, red spots and spreads down the neck and trunk to the rest of the body," as The Dallas Morning News summarized, and "other symptoms include a fever over 101 degrees, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes." Since the incubation period runs 21 days, as Dallas County health officials put it in a letter to one passenger: "It is very important for you to watch for symptoms of measles through Sept. 11, 2018." That passenger, who shared the letter with a Dallas-area television station, said sure enough, she has a rash. "Mostly, like I said, rash appeared on my legs. I did speak to the health department and explained my symptoms, so their advice was to go to the doctor. They didn't think that it may or may not be measles but they advised me to visit my physician," the woman, Monica Nicholas, told NBC 5 Investigates. Here's Southwest's statement about the whole thing: The members of Britains three biggest trade unions overwhelmingly support a referendum on the final Brexit deal, it has been reported. Members of Unite, Unison and the GMB all support calls for the public to be given the chance to decide whether or not to accept a deal, if there is one, or decide whether or not to leave without a deal. The Independent launched a Final Say campaign demanding the electorate is given a vote before the UK leaves the EU in 2019 and so far more than 780,000 people have signed the petition. A poll by YouGov found that members of Unite, the countrys biggest trade union, supported calls for a vote on the final deal 59 per cent to 33 per cent, The Observer reported. Unison members backed a fresh vote by 66 per cent to 22 per cent, and GMB members by 56 per cent to 33 per cent. GMB general secretary Tim Roache announced that his union would back another referendum after consulting its 620,000 members. Peter Kellner, the former president of YouGov, said the results of the poll were significant. Its not that rank and file trade unionists are indulging in gesture politics or ideological breast-beating, he said. They are worried about the impact of Brexit on jobs, taxes, living standards and the National Health Service. They fear that Brexit Britain would find it harder to sell products and services abroad. 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 The Independents Final Say campaign has the backing of senior members of parliament, including ex-cabinet minister Dominic Grieve, who said it was a sensible way out of the UKs current political crisis. Labour MP Chuka Umunna and Liberal Democrat MP Layla Moran have also backed the campaign, arguing that giving the public a vote on the final deal was becoming more urgent. For much of the English-speaking world, the term triangular trade refers to one thing only: the transatlantic slave trade. Many school history books feature maps with arrows linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with mindboggling figures and icons representing the commodities exchanged. From the perspective of Britain, France and the Netherlands, triangular trade is an apt descriptor. But from the perspective of Brazil, Cuba, and others, the term has much less validity. When the European powers abolished their slave trades, merchants in the Americas built on many years of experience in their own bilateral trades to keep it going. According to the latest figures from Voyages: The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database, an authoritative source which contains information on over 80 per cent of all slaving voyages, nearly 40 per cent of all enslaved Africans arrived in the Americas aboard vessels that had sailed to Africa directly from New World ports. That means that almost two-fifths of the entire slave trade traced a bilateral, rather than a triangular pattern. So there was no single transatlantic slave trade. And this makes it very difficult to generalise about the slave trade. Understanding this dimension also underscores the global nature of the trade, which was organised by merchant networks spanning not only the Atlantic but also the Indian Ocean. Brazils trades By far the most important of the bilateral traders was Brazil. This is hardly surprising, since Brazil imported more captives than any other New World region, receiving just under half of all of the Africans transported across the Atlantic. While many of these Africans arrived aboard vessels sailing from Portugal, the vast majority perhaps nine in 10 came aboard vessels that had originally sailed from Brazil. Merchants in Brazil began trading in earnest in the 1630s, when parts of the colony were occupied by the Dutch, but increased participation dramatically after the Dutch expulsion in 1654. After British abolition in 1807, Britain went on a crusade to get other countries to end the slave trade, pressuring them to sign treaties. But Brazils ability to supply its own market for captives helped it to resist British pressure to stop slave trading even after Brazil, which declared independence from Portugal in 1822, formally renounced slave trading in 1830. (Transatlantic Slave Trade Database/Statista) Brazilians managed to do this by trading their plantation surpluses for slaves in Africa. The most important of these was cachaca, the Brazilian sugarcane spirit, but tobacco also played a key role, along with gold. Traders supplemented these goods with Indian textiles, which they obtained via the global Portuguese mercantile networks, and with sophisticated financial instruments that allowed them to transfer credits around the globe. Portuguese-Brazilian merchants in south Atlantic ports such as Luanda in Angola played a key role in assembling trade goods and procuring captives, which they often shipped on freight to Brazil. Unlike the north Atlantic model, in which the organisers of a voyage owned the vessel, the trade goods, and captives, Brazilian traders were often shipowners whose vessels carried captives as freight for multiple owners from Africa to Brazil. Caribbean merchants build their own trade Although Brazil was by far the largest bilateral slave trading power, it was not alone. As my own ongoing research is showing, merchants in the British Caribbean, Barbados especially, also participated, although at much lower levels. Their trade was concentrated in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, motivated by the chronic inability of the Royal African Company, the British slave trading monopoly, to deliver enslaved African labourers in the numbers they desired. (Transatlantic Slave Trade Database/Statista) Like the Brazilians, British Caribbean merchants monetised their plantation produce in the form of rum and traded it for captives. And like the Brazilians, they supplemented their rum cargoes with textiles, British woollens more than Indian cottons. Merchants in the New England colonies, principally Newport, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, began a similar trade. Theirs was unique in that it ran in triangular fashion from New England, to Africa, to the Americas the only New World-based trade to do so. During the colonial period, most of these captives were taken to the British Caribbean, but after independence in 1776 Americans supplied captives to their own markets, as well as to Cuba. As a slave-trading power in its own right, the Spanish colony of Cuba was a latecomer. Large-scale plantation slavery only emerged there in the second half of the 18th century. Few there had any experience slave trading, largely because the British and Americans supplied most of the captives. However, when those two nations abolished their slave trades in 1807-8, Cuban traders became more involved. For a few years they served an apprenticeship of sorts, then began operating their own slave trade, establishing commercial connections on the African coast. Like the other traders, they exchanged cane spirits and tobacco for captives, but also British textiles and manufactures, and even some silver. After 1820, all of this was illegal under an Anglo-Spanish treaty, in which Spain committed to ending its slave trade, but by then merchants had created a multinational, polyglot network of traders, bankers, shipbuilders, and traders that operated illegally. This network operated for four more decades before finally succumbing in the 1860s. The common denominator in all of these trades was an ability for these colonies to turn slave-grown plantation produce into goods that were exchanged for captive slaves. Cane spirits rum, cachaca, aguardiente was the backbone for most, but tobacco figured in some of them. All but the Americans supplemented these goods with manufactured products, textiles for the most part. Most of these came from Asia via trade networks that extended into the Indian Ocean, but Britain was also a major source, especially in the 19th century. Even when restricted to the British, French, and Dutch trades, the term triangular trade conveys the false impression that it was a closed system. In reality, the slave trade was a vast enterprise, assembling goods from across the globe, exporting and re-exporting them to Africa for captives who were then carried to the New World to labour at a variety of tasks. Geometry doesnt even begin to capture it. Sean Kelley is a senior lecturer in global history at the University of Essex. This article first appeared on The Conversation Umberto Eco, late professor of semiotics and author of Foucaults Pendulum and The Name of the Rose, once suggested a whole list of oxymoronic book titles. The one that sticks in my mind is Antarctic Agriculture. Not much to say on that subject. And youd think that something similar would apply to Surfing in Gaza. But there you would be wrong as is amply demonstrated by the beautiful and poignant documentary film, Gaza Surf Club (director Philip Gnadt). Gaza, it turns out, has decent waves. And a handful of competent Palestinian surfers. Are they since it seems impossible to avoid the question antisemitic? The answer is, no, but maybe they are, fundamentally, anti-semiotic. A brief shout-out to the glorious Peoples Film Club of Hackney and therefore its founder, Kate Hodkinson who recently put the film on and kindly invited me to introduce it. They specialise in new and unexpected narratives and screen powerful films, accompanied by speakers who understand the issues best." I was surprised, given his pro-Palestine stance, they didnt ask Jeremy Corbyn. Just for once, he was neither present, nor involved. You will not see the Labour leader in shorts in this film. Seeing Gaza Surf Club, I realised that there is a hitherto unacknowledged overlap between Palestinians and Polynesians. After Captain Cook, most Hawaiians were dispossessed and wiped out, either intentionally or otherwise. Then the islands were subjected to a coup mounted by wealthy Americans, annexed, and finally incorporated as the 50th state of the United States. It turns out Gaza has pretty good waves (AFP/Getty) Surfing, despite the best efforts of evangelical Puritans, who denounced it as sinful, survived. As a native Hawaiian once said to me: The beach is all we have left. The Palestinians in Gaza Surf Club marginalised, disenfranchised, endangered, but stoical, with a disarming sense of humour were saying something very similar. In the case of Hawaii, a few years back, Congress, under Bill Clinton, finally issued an apology (a resolution apology) for colonising the place. This hasnt yet happened where Palestine is concerned, unless you count Noam Chomsky as a representative of the American government. By pure chance Jung would call it synchronicity I had recently been in touch with Ibrahim Arafat, one of the stars of the film. Ibrahim, who looks a lot like Ronaldo, after many abortive attempts and spending large sums of money, and the intervention of his American guardian angel, Matthew Olsen (founder of Explore Corps, and ambassador of Surfers for Peace) spoiler alert! finally makes it out to Hawaii. He is currently in Houston, Texas, studying nursing, while working in construction. It will be obvious to anyone seeing this film, that nursing and construction are the two most in-demand areas of employment in Gaza. I ended up exchanging emails with him thanks to Deya Leonard Dresner, an American-Palestinian who is the director of the Leonard Education Organisation, bringing young Palestinians to America for their college education. 'DNA and archaeology mean nothing without a narrative to make sense of them' (AFP/Getty) Like many another participant in a documentary film, Ibrahim said the film left out all the important stuff. True, but I think a lot of it is there by implication. No one needs to say, Gaza is a prison. This is Shawshank Redemption with waves. When Ibrahim gets out, its like he is escaping, like Houdini miraculously managing to release himself from all the knots and the chains. His mission, when he leaves, is to learn about how to make boards in Hawaii, and to bring boards and board-making equipment with him back to Gaza. But has he succeeded in this mission? Set aside the whole dubious history of Israel, the events of 1948 that the Palestinians refer to as the Nakba (or Catastrophe), the Six Day War, the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, the continued imperial expansion and slow-motion ethnic cleansing known euphemistically as settlement. Even set aside, most recently, the Nation State law that spells out, reiterates and reinforces a condition of apartheid. Do you want to know the final straw? They wont allow surfboards into Gaza. They are obviously part of some sinister Hamas-inspired conspiracy. They may exhibit coded subversive messages on stickers applied to their decks, such as Lifes a beach, or Surfs Up, Dude. Ibrahim got the boards in Hawaii OK, but he tells me we couldnt send them to Gaza because we didnt get permits for that from the Israel government. At the risk of labouring the point, let me repeat that: Israel prohibits the importation of surfboards. Israel is, in effect, outlawing surfing, just as the buttoned-up East Coast evangelicals tried to do in Hawaii. I met a lot of people after the film, Ibrahim wrote to me, and they wanted to support us and build the club and they offered to send boards to Gaza, but Israel prevents any kind of equipment or boards getting to Gaza. No boards, no surfing. By a strange concatenation of historical circumstances, surfing, in the 20th century, became synonymous with hedonism. So by extension Israel is outlawing the pleasure principle in Gaza. Only pain what Freud calls the reality principle is permissible. Or compulsory. Surfing used to be a fantasy, a myth, the dream of the landlocked (I should know, being born in Forest Gate, East London). Surfing was a song, sung first by Hawaiian bards, and later by the Beach Boys. Surfing, in films like Big Wednesday, or Point Break the original in which Keanu Reeves learns to surf in approximately five minutes was pure Hollywood. Now surfing is reality, perhaps the last remnant of a reality that is fast receding, and everything else is fantasy. As the Gaza Surf Club film demonstrates, the spirit of surfing is manifestly our natural state. The appeal of surfing, the nexus with the wave, is transnational, universal. Surfing is a practical exercise in transcendence. Anti-semitism is real, but also liable to be over-diagnosed and mis-attributed. Are the Gaza surfers anti-semitic? Is Jeremy Corbyn? No, but they are anti-semiotic. Semitism (like its opposite) depends on semiotics, or the dissemination of myths and meanings. We are constantly mythifying ourselves and others by stereotyping, or conjuring up imaginary timeless identities. The implicit drift of a documentary film is to draw our attention to the fictions that otherwise tend to occupy our minds. And our minds are at risk of becoming yet another occupied territory. There are no borders only boarders (AFP/Getty) Israel as Edward Said (Orientalism) and Rashid Khalidi (Resurrecting Empire) have demonstrated has been brilliant at semiotics, at selling (especially in the US) a narrative about its own existence, which goes back to David and Goliath and beyond. But at its core its another form of stereotyping, fairy tales we tell ourselves, a mix of deification and demonisation. The Bible is nothing but a constellation of legends to which we have accorded quasi-sacred status. At the same time, Palestinians (mirror-images of the Philistines, those hostile and mysterious others without a culture) have been on the receiving end of a narrative which they did not choose. They are being mythified to death. Hence the curious kinship between those two arch metaphysicians, exponents of a brand of anarchistic epistemology, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Both believe that truth is not truth, but rather (as Nietzsche would say) a mobile army of metaphors, metonyms and anthropomorphisms. But with the emphasis on army as anything but a metaphor. This is myth being fired out of the barrel of a very big gun. Gaza Surf Club, as Kate Hodkinson says, is a reminder of the grim reality of life for the Gazans. And it thereby gets away from stereotypes. The director, Philip Gnadt, said he was drawn to the subject because it was refreshing to hear something other than occupation and terrorism for a change. But the film is also a powerful exercise in demythification. This is surfing as positivism, impatient with abstraction and rhetoric. The oldest surfer in the crew, Rajab, aged 42, says at one point, We have no hope. And if you think there is hope, please point it out so we can search for it. Where is the hope? Hope is non-empirical. Lets stick to the facts. He probably has the funniest line in the whole film in which he makes the case that in the event of a hurricane, he will rush to look after his surfboards rather than his children, because I can replace children, but I cannot replace surfboards. Recommended Young Palestinians take hold of their futures at a new tech hub The surfers are predominantly guys but there is one superb girl surfer, Sabah, who is squeezed out when she becomes a woman, but heroically battles back again, supported by a rebel father. A patriarch who is non-patriarcha Surfing is not perfect. Nobody ever said it was. Its just as flawed, venal, vicious, even murderous, and futile, as any other sphere of human activity. And its just as feel-good, benevolent, creative, life-enhancing, and awareness-raising. One thing has always struck me about Hawaii and surfing in general: you think at first its something totally marginal, peripheral, but it turns out to be more like a microcosm of society in general with a lot of hard truths. And you might think surfing in Gaza is even more tangential. This film shows that it isnt. Surfing and Gaza are synonymous, united in their oceanic feeling. Kate Hodkinson said that she wanted people to share the humanity of the people of Gaza rather than reducing them to numbers in an international conflict. And if you want a clear example of the universality of the surfing mentality, you only have to look at Ibrahim Arafat when he says that, no matter what, when the waves are good, thats it: I HAVE to go surfing! I can always go to work later. And then adds, later, that the hardest thing is going back to work after the beach. One more thing that my correspondence with Ibrahim Arafat brought home to me. There are no borders. There are (this is his surf-inflected spelling) only boarders, ie we alone are responsible for surfing those borders into existence in the first place, and we can erase them too. As Jean-Paul Sartre neatly pointed out in his one known homage to surfing (in Being and Nothingness): The ideal of sliding is therefore a sliding that does not leave any trace: that is, sliding on water. Andy Martin is the author of Reacher Said Nothing: Lee Child and the Making of Make Me. He teaches at the University of Cambridge. The Peoples Film Club can be found on Twitter @PeoplesFilmClub and at the Institute of Light, Hackneys cheapest cinema. Ibrahim Arafat can be found on Instagram at ibrahimnihad The government could be preparing to backtrack on a key post-Brexit pledge on animal welfare a ban on live exports, campaigners fear. They are lobbying environment secretary Michael Gove to stick with his plan to halt exports of live farm animals for slaughter. And the curb should be widened to exclude a potential loophole that would allow the trade to continue, activists say sheep and cattle sent abroad for further fattening. Otherwise unscrupulous dealers could be exporting farm animals for slaughter under the guise of fattening. Official figures show that each year at least 4,000 sheep are transported from the UK to Europe for slaughter, with an estimated 6,000 calves exported from Northern Ireland. Animal lovers celebrated when, in April and May, Mr Gove held a public consultation on a proposed ban of living creatures for slaughter. They had battled for years to highlight the cramped, unnatural conditions on export trucks during long journeys with insufficient water in often sweltering temperatures. But now environment and food officials have asked advisers on the Farm Animal Welfare Committee (FAWC) to review the conditions animals are subjected to during long-distance live transport and to make recommendations on improving them. Campaigners from charity Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) say this raises suspicions that the government may be backing away from a ban on the cruel and completely unnecessary practice. Its such a shame to take an issue and not go far enough that it actually deals with the issue Deborah Meaden More than 320,000 petition signatures were handed to the government asking it to ensure that live animal exports would be banned post-Brexit. However, there are fears that ministers could be about to cave in to pressure from the Scottish government, which opposes a ban. Scottish farmers regularly send young, unweaned calves to countries such as Spain on journeys lasting 100 hours or more, and Scotlands Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing says a ban would cause substantial harm to the nations livestock sector. Last year more than 5,000 very young calves were packed into lorries and sent from Scotland to Spain. The 2017 figure was a rise on 2016 because of the dispute between Westminster and Holyrood over the future of the trade. A cross-party motion to instruct the Scottish government to end the trade has been put down. The Ulster Farmers Union is also against the planned halt to the live export trade. David Brown, of the union, said: The live export of cattle and sheep forms an integral part of the Northern Ireland livestock sector, injecting in excess of 70m into local farm businesses per year. It was essential for farmers to have access to European markets, he added. The UKs National Sheep Association has also defended the practice as it helps to raise prices. Calves and sheep suffer from overcrowding and overheating in transport lorries, say critics (Reuters) CIWF warns that from Europe some UK animals may be re-exported to the Middle East or north African countries such as Libya, where conditions for handling and slaughter are very far below EU standards. Wouldnt it be easy to evade a ban by simply relabelling a slaughter consignment as being for fattening? An ineffective law is undesirable in principle and would deeply disappoint people who have been encouraged by Mr Goves statements, said a CIWF spokesperson. Dragons Den star Deborah Meaden has backed a ban on exports for fattening. Its such a shame to take an issue and not go far enough that it actually deals with the issue. If you honestly believe its the wrong thing to do, shut it down! she told CIWF head Philip Lymbery. The group has launched a new petition for a post-Brexit ban on live exports for both slaughter and fattening. Supporters are also lobbying Mr Gove to enshrine recognition of animal sentience the ability to suffer and feel fear and pain into UK law after the UK leaves the EU. Last month Defra said it was delaying moves to put sentience into law, announcing it was still working on it with the intention of introducing any necessary legislation before Brexit. The EU Withdrawal Act 2018 did not include provision to transfer recognition of sentience into UK law but Mr Gove pledged that it would happen. A Defra spokeswoman said the public consultation this year was on both curbing live exports and animal welfare during transport, and that FAWC was reviewing just transport. The two should not be conflated, she said. Fur Farms Show all 31 1 /31 Fur Farms Fur Farms Polish fur farm Open Cages Fur Farms Polish fur farm Open Cages Fur Farms Polish fur farm Open Cages Fur Farms Polish fur farm Open Cages Fur Farms Polish fur farm Open Cages Fur Farms Polish fur farm Open Cages Fur Farms Polish fur farm Open Cages Fur Farms Polish fur farm Open Cages Fur Farms Norwegian fur farm Network For Animal Freedom Fur Farms Norwegian fur farm Network For Animal Freedom Fur Farms Norwegian fur farm Network For Animal Freedom Fur Farms Norwegian fur farm Network For Animal Freedom Fur Farms Norwegian fur farm Network For Animal Freedom Fur Farms Norwegian fur farm Network For Animal Freedom Fur Farms Norwegian fur farm Network For Animal Freedom Fur Farms Norwegian fur farm Network For Animal Freedom Fur Farms Norwegian fur farm Network For Animal Freedom Fur Farms Finnish fur farm Oikeutta Elaimille Fur Farms Finnish fur farm Oikeutta Elaimille Fur Farms Finnish fur farm Oikeutta Elaimille Fur Farms Chinese fur farm Humane Society International Fur Farms Chinese fur farm Humane Society International Fur Farms Chinese fur farm Humane Society International Fur Farms Chinese fur farm Humane Society International Fur Farms Canadian fur farm Jo-Anne McArthur Fur Farms Canadian fur farm Jo-Anne McArthur Fur Farms Canadian fur farm Jo-Anne McArthur Fur Farms Canadian fur farm Jo-Anne McArthur Fur Farms Canadian fur farm Jo-Anne McArthur Fur Farms Canadian fur farm Jo-Anne McArthur Fur Farms Canadian fur farm Jo-Anne McArthur We remain fully committed to controlling the export of live farm animals for slaughter when we leave the EU and are considering next steps following our call for evidence. All options, including an outright ban, are on the table. In addition we have asked the Farm Animal Welfare Committee to make recommendations on how we can improve the welfare of farm animals during all transport, including journeys within the UK. We look forward to receiving their findings later this year. And in terms of sentience we will continue to work with welfare organisations to ensure that animal sentience is properly recognised in our legislation once we have left the EU. A murdered exile believed he had previously been poisoned by mystery Russians who brought him champagne, a paramedic who treated him said. Former Aeroflot deputy director Nikolai Glushkov was found apparently strangled in his home in New Malden, south-west London, a week after the Novichok poisoning of the Skripals. Paramedic Keith Carr on Friday told how he treated Mr Glushkov in November 2013 for suspected poisoning, after the exile shared drinks with two men from Moscow in a Bristol hotel. The suspected poisoning came some six months after Mr Glushkov accused the Kremlin of murdering his friend and Vladimir Putin critic Boris Berezovsky. The Guardian reported that detectives are now reinvestigating that night in the Grand Hotel as part of the murder inquiry. Mr Carr, then working with South Western Ambulance Service, said he responded to a report that Mr Glushkov had collapsed on the carpet the morning after the drinks. "He had been visited by two Russians the night before," Mr Carr, now 71, told the Press Association. "They (the visitors) brought champagne. They drank the champagne together. "He woke up on the carpet the next day. He had carpet burns to his face and he was unsteady." Mr Carr said his patient had an abnormal heart rhythm, which was very fast. "In 47 years as a paramedic I've never had anybody deliberately poisoned so it wasn't foremost in my mind until he said, 'I think they poisoned me'," Mr Carr, of Bristol, said. "I thought it was a bit far-fetched but when I saw the cardiac dysrhythmia I thought something's wrong, it's not like any normal heart rhythm, so somebody's got to him." Mr Glushkov was treated in Bristol Royal Infirmary Hospital. The disclosure comes after police named two men said to be Russian military intelligence agents as suspects in the nerve agent poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal. Counter-terrorism police led the murder inquiry after Mr Glushkov was found dead on March 11. Mr Glushkov claimed political asylum in the UK after Russia accused him and Mr Berezovsky, who died in March 2013, of a criminal conspiracy in relation to Aeroflot. A Scotland Yard spokesman said the "incident" in Bristol in 2013 was a matter for Avon and Somerset Police, and added: "We are not prepared to discuss specific lines of inquiry in regards our investigation." Press Association In Sydney, Australia, they sailed a ship along the harbour flying banners with their message. In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, youth groups organised flash mobs to raise awareness. And in Durham, here in the UK, activists locked themselves onto mining machinery in a bid to close a pit for the day. Hundreds of thousands of climate change protestors are gathering at some 850 events across 90 countries and seven continents in what is one of the biggest ever days of global action highlighting the issue. They are marching in cities from Kathmandu to Copenhagen, Lagos to Lisbon, Bogota to Berlin. Support has even come from Antarctica, where the astrobiologist Cyprien Verseux has pictured himself holding up a banner featuring the days official moniker, Rise for Climate. Later, things will climax with the painting of the worlds biggest street mural in San Francisco. Climate change is the defining issue of our time, it is a crisis of democracy, justice and human rights, said May Boeve, executive director of 350.org, the New York-based campaign group behind the day. The climate movement is made stronger by its sister movements: for human rights, economic justice, democracy, and much more. Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Show all 26 1 /26 Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Quezon City, Philippines Tens of thousands of people joined over 830 actions in 91 countries under the banner of Rise for Climate to demonstrate the urgency of the climate crisis Leo Sabangan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Bangkok, Thailand Communities around the world shined a spotlight on the increasing impacts they are experiencing and demanded local action to keep fossil fuels in the ground Pongsit Nopmaneepaisan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Port Vila, Vanuatu 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures New York, US There were hundreds of creative events and actions that challenged fossil fuels and called for a swift and just transition to 100% renewable energy for all qphotonyc.com/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Apia, Samoa Pacific Climate Warriors Samoa want to ensure that children get the futures they deserve. Four schools and four church youth groups participated in a challenge. A challenge to transition to renewable energy and #RiseForClimate 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Quezon City, Philippines Event organizers emphasized community-led solutions, starting in places most impacted by pollution and climate change Leo Sabangan Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Solomon Islands 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Quezon City, Philippines Leo Sabangan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures New York, US qphotonyc.com/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Bangkok, Thailand 350.org Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Uganda - Green festival Over 15 thousand children accompanied by parents, school patrons and guardians thronged the Kololo Airstrip independence grounds to be part of Africa's biggest sustainability event. The annual event this year took on the Rise For Climate umbrella in solidarity with the rest of the globe. At the event 10 thousand fruit Tree seedlingS were given out thanks to their partners the National ForetForestry 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Quezon City, Philippines Leo Sabangan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Nepal Nepalese Youth for Climate Action (NYCA) rally 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Surabaya, Indonesia Committee and participants of the Surabaya Rise for Climate Ananta P/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Sydney, Australia 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures New York, US qphotonyc.com/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Adelaide, Australia 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Wellington, New Zealand 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Quezon City, Philippines Leo Sabangan/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Newcastle, Australia SW Carter/350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Scotts Head, Australia 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Melbourne, Australia 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Chortkiv, Ukraine Bike rally 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures Brisbane, Australia 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) Rise for Climate: protests across the world in pictures 350.org (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) This weekend Rise for Climate will demonstrate the growing strength and diversity of the climate movement. People power is accelerating the change we need to see, and usher in a new era of clean air and better health. Communities everywhere will show loudly and clearly what is expected from decision-makers to deliver on real climate leadership and build a fossil-free economy. In the UK, events are being held in places ranging from London to Wigan, Bradford to County Durham. As part of the latter, activists have locked themselves onto mining machinery at Field House opencast pit in a bid to stop work for the day. Another group has also stationed themselves at the nearby Bradley opencast site for the same purpose. The protesters also want to draw attention to the campaign to fight the opening of a new mine in the nearby Pont Valley. We take direct action to challenge the destructive fossil fuel industry, the groups said in a statement. We stand in solidarity with the locals and protectors at Pont Valley, and those on the front lines fighting the fossil fuel industry globally. The events come ahead of the Global Climate Action Summit, which starts in San Francisco next week and will see politicians and city leaders from around the world gather to discuss the climate crisis. Yogendra Yadav was detained while on his way to meet farmers protesting against a proposed eight-lane expressway. In his tweet, Yogendra Yadav, alleged that the police prevented him from meeting the farmers, accusing cops of manhandling and pushing him into police van. (Photo: Twitter Screengrab | @_YogendraYadav) Mumbai: Psephologist and academic turned politician Yogendra Yadav was detained on Saturday in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvannamalai district while on his way to meet farmers protesting against a proposed eight-lane expressway. In tweets, Yadav, alleged that the police prevented him from meeting the farmers, accusing cops of manhandling and pushing him into police van. "TN police has detained me and team in Chengam PS, Thiru Annamalai district. We came on the invitation of Movement Against 8Lane Way. We were prevented from going to meet farmers, phones snatched, manhandled and pushed into police van. First hand experience of police state in TN!" Yadav tweeted. TN police has detained me and team in Chengam PS, Thiru Annamalai district. We came on the invitation of Movement Against 8Lane Way. We were prevented from going to meet farmers, phones snatched, manhandled and pushed into police van. First hand experience of police state in TN! Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 Yadav said he was arrested minutes before he spoke to senior district official over the phone about complaints of forces acquisition of land for the eight-lane expressway and police excesses. "I had spoken to Mr Kandasamy, Collector, Thiru Annamalai about acquisition and complains of police excesses for 8 lane way. He completely denied any police interference. Within minutes of the phone call police detained us," Yadav told in another tweet. I had spoken to Mr Kandasamy, Collector, Thiru Annamalai about acquisition and complains of police excesses for 8 lane way. He completely denied any police interference. Within minutes of the phone call police detained us. https://t.co/KYrA0oHJ26 Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 Yadav said Superintendent of Police did not allow him to meet the farmers inside their home citing law and order problems. "Supdt. Police, Thiru Annamalai is here to tell me hay they apprehend law and order problem due to my presence! I am saying I will only visit farmers inside their homes. SP says I am not allowed! Gandhian disobedience is the only way out, it seems (sic)," Yadav tweeted. Supdt. Police, Thiru Annamalai is here to tell me hay they apprehend law and order problem due to my presence! I am saying I will only visit farmers inside their homes. SP says I am not allowed! Gandhian disobedience is the only way out, it seems. Yogendra Yadav (@_YogendraYadav) September 8, 2018 In 2017, Yogendra Yadav launched the Jai Kisan Andolan, a campaign for farmers' rights. A section of locals including farmers and environmentalists have been opposing the Rs 10,000 crore eight-lane Salem-Chennai expressway. Farmers fear that they may lose their land while environmentalists are opposing to felling of trees for the project. Yogendra Yadav founded Swaraj India in 2015 after he was evicted from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) for taking on party convenor Arvind Kejriwal. A crowdfunding campaign to have Boris Johnson prosecuted over his claims about Brexit has received 24,000 in donations in just two days. The "Brexit Justice" campaign has hired barristers to work on a legal case relating to an alleged "abuse of public trust" by Mr Johnson over his claim that Britain pays 350m a week to the EU. The former foreign secretary has previously been warned by the UKs official statistics watchdog that the figure is a misuse of public statistics Almost 700 people donated to the fund within 48 hours of it being launched, while celebrities such as Sir Alan Sugar and Paloma Faith tweeted their support. The campaign has instructed barrister Lewis Power QC in an attempt to have Mr Johnson put on trial for criminal charges of misconduct in public office. The offence carries a maximum punishment of life imprisonment. Mr Power, who specialises in cases relating to organised crime, war crimes and terrorism, believes there are sufficient grounds for prosecuting the MP. The campaigners are now seeking to raise 500,000 in 42 days to cover the costs of bringing a private prosecution against the former foreign secretary. They have published a 48,000-word document detailing their evidence against Mr Johnson. Once the money has been raised, a case against him will be presented at the magistrates court. The attempt is being organised by campaigner Marcus J Ball, who wants to bring criminal cases against politicians he says have abused their duties and the trust of the public over Brexit. He has already crowdfunded 200,000 to appoint the legal team to work on the case, and the extra money is needed to bring their case to court. Mr Hall said: Our prosecution case rests upon Mr Johnsons claims that the UK sends, spends or pays 350m every week on EU membership. The UK does not send, spend or pay this amount of money. There is an abatement, not a rebate. The abatement money is deducted from the total before the rest is sent to the EU. We have evidence that Mr Johnson is fully aware of this, yet decided to advance knowingly incorrect claims on multiple occasions. Put simply, he lied. This is an abuse of public trust and contrary to the public interest. He denied the campaign was an attempt to stop Brexit, saying: As far as were aware, the courts do not have the power to reverse Brexit or order a second referendum. What the courts do have the power to do is address knowingly false statements advanced by elected officials to further their agendas. He added: If we win this case, we could establish a precedent in the common law making it illegal for elected representatives to lie to the public about public spending. It is also possible, given the criminal nature of the offence, that Mr Johnson will receive a prison sentence. Mr Johnson has previously been rebuked over the 350m a week claim. Last year, Sir David Norgrove, head of the UK Statistics Authority, wrote to him saying: I am surprised and disappointed that you have chosen to repeat the figure of 350m per week, in connection with the amount that might be available for extra public spending when we leave the European Union. This confuses gross and net contributions. It also assumes that payments currently made to the UK by the EU, including for example for the support of agriculture and scientific research, will not be paid by the UK government when we leave. It is a clear misuse of official statistics. Boris Johnson: 'It is not too late to save Brexit' Sir Davids predecessor, Sir Andrew Dilnot, had also called use of the 350m figure misleading. Mr Johnson has previously defended his use of the figure. Earlier this year he told The Guardian: There was an error on the side of the bus. We grossly underestimated the sum over which we would be able to take back control. As and when the cash becomes available and it wont until we leave the NHS should be at the very top of the list. Mr Johnsons team did not respond to request for comment. Ministers have admitted that more than 150 countries have yet to agree to rollover EU deals on everything from trade to flights and nuclear safety after Brexit, triggering a fresh accusation of looming chaos. Countries including the US, Canada, Switzerland and Norway will only be free to give consent once the EU releases them to do so, the government has acknowledged and no date has yet been set. At stake are more than 750 deals with at least 168 non-EU countries enjoyed because of EU membership stretching far beyond trade to airline services, nuclear parts, fisheries, agriculture and data sharing. Aerospace chiefs have already warned that planes with UK-made parts could be grounded if they lose their recognised safety certificates, for example. Now the government has confirmed that none of the 168-odd countries have given clear agreement to roll over any deals and that there is no date set for asking them to do so. The UK has agreed that the EU will decide when the process can begin and Brussels is expected to give the go-ahead only when Theresa May signs a withdrawal agreement. Those negotiations remain deadlocked over avoiding a hard border in Ireland, the EU having rejected the prime ministers Chequers proposals for future trade. Asked to reveal the number of countries which had promised to roll over agreements, the Department for International Trade (DIT) said it does not hold any information relevant to your request. It said it was up to the EU to notify the other parties to its international agreements that it was willing for the UK to still enjoy their benefits, adding: The notification will issue in due course. The position was set out in response to a freedom of information (FoI) request submitted by Charles Marquand, a barrister and former Treasury legal adviser, who told The Independent: Were now facing a real prospect of chaos. Regardless of the type of Brexit we end up with, there is very little time to ensure these third countries with which we have agreements are happy to roll them over. 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 At the very least, you would expect the government to be finding out how these countries will react but as it turns out, it seems they just dont know. It would take a legal miracle to reach agreement with 168 countries by Brexit day next March, given some might have to pass their own legislation, he said. The admission comes despite the prime minister claiming to have reached agreement to replicate an existing deal with six southern African nations, while on her recent trip to the continent. In fact, the small print acknowledged the agreement was not legally binding and was without prejudice to any changes those countries might demand before it was. The government has acknowledged the risk of a loss of trade after Brexit with such countries, admitting they could exploit the opportunity to demand more favourable terms before agreeing a rollover. An analysis earlier this year found the UK, through EU membership, had 49 agreements with Switzerland, 44 with the US and 38 with Norway part of the 759, across 168 countries. As well as potential renegotiation, a further huge headache will be creating a separate ability for the EU to safeguard nuclear material and certify airline parts or pilots licences, for example. Defending its stance, DIT wrote in the FoI response: The notification will issue in due course and, following this, third countries will be able to confirm their clear agreement to the continued application of international agreements. In advance of the notification issuing, a number of countries have already made public statements of support for this approach. In addition, we are taking forward discussions with third countries to put in place successor agreements which will take effect after the implementation period. Britains trade unions are set to take a major step towards backing a Final Say on Brexit when they gather in Manchester for their annual conference. The leadership of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), which brings together all Britains major unions, is expected to call for the option of a second public vote to be kept on the table amid growing fears of a no-deal Brexit, The Independent understands. The organisations General Council will issue a statement on Sunday in which it is expected to deepen its opposition to a hard Brexit and take a significant step towards backing a Final Say vote. Union delegates could demand an even stronger stance later in the week when they vote on two motions that explicitly call for a public vote on any deal Theresa May negotiates with Brussels. Recommended Former Tory minister joins calls for public to get final say on Brexit It comes as a new poll revealed members of Britains three biggest unions Unite, Unison and the GMB backed a new referendum by an overwhelming margin. The Independents own campaign calling for a Final Say has now been backed by more than three quarters of a million people. GMB, the UKs third largest union, and TSSA, which represents transport workers, have already joined the growing calls ahead of the 150thTUC conference, which runs until Wednesday. The TUC moving in the same direction would add to pressure on Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party to back a Final Say referendum. Frances OGrady, the TUC general secretary, hinted at a shift earlier in the week when she told The Independent that people deserved a say on the final Brexit deal. Admitting that there was a growing appetite for another public poll, she said: Im a trade unionist and there is no way that union negotiators would go into a negotiation about what is going into a deal without getting the approval of the membership. The hardening of the TUCs position is understood to result from growing concern about the prospect of a no-deal Brexit and its impact on workers. A TUC spokesperson said: We will be advancing our policy in light of the governments failure to move negotiations towards a deal that will give working people the protection they need for their jobs, workplace rights and livelihoods. 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 Mr Corbyns team will be closely following the TUCs deliberations for signs of shifting sentiment among Labours union allies and their members. The party has so far refused to support calls for a second vote, with Mr Corbyn insisting last month: Its not our policy to have a second referendum, its our policy to respect the result of the referendum. However, the Labour leader appeared to soften his stance earlier this week and left open the possibility of backing a Peoples Vote, telling reporters: We dont have a position on it yet. And the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, today said Labour would keep all options open. On Monday, union delegates at the TUC conference will vote on two motions demanding the organisation back calls for a referendum on the final Brexit deal. One has been tabled by the TSSA union, a strong backer of Mr Corbyn. It points out that union members are given a vote on collective deals negotiated on their behalf, and calls on the TUC 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. 2.6 million Leave voters have abandoned support for Brexit since referendum, major new study finds The second motion, proposed by the Royal College of Midwives, says: Congress, recognising the real risk of a collapse in the talks, a deal that does not deliver on the TUCs priorities, or parliamentary deadlock, therefore calls for the option of a public vote on the final Brexit deal to be kept on the table. It expresses concern that inept mishandling of the exit negotiations and bitter divisions on the government benches pose the very real risk of a disastrous no-deal Brexit, adding that in such a scenario workers will be the ones who are hit hardest. A third motion, tabled by UKs largest union, Unite, says the option of a public vote should be kept on the table. The 150th TUC Congress will hear from Mr McDonnell and Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Mr Corbyn has attended in previous years but will not be in Manchester this year. A Conservative MP who resigned as a government minister in July has joined calls for the public to be given a final say on Brexit. Guto Bebb stepped down as a defence minister in order to vote against the government in key votes on Britains future relationship with the EU. As Theresa May struggles to convince her MPs to back her strategy, and amid growing support for a second vote, Mr Bebb said a public poll on any final Brexit deal was the only way to resolve gridlock in parliament. He joins a number of other Tory MPs who have already called for a final say vote, including former ministers Anna Soubry, Phillip Lee and Justine Greening. The Independents campaign in support of a Final Say on Brexit has now been backed by more than 770,000 people. Mr Bebb told BBC Radio 4s Today: Its very clear from my perspective that theres no support for any particular means of doing Brexit in parliament. I think we are looking at gridlock in parliament. I think its reached the point where we need to allow the people who decided to leave the European Union to actually decide whether they are happy with the deal the prime minister secures, whether that deal secures the support of parliament or not. Suggesting it would be undemocratic not to give the public another say on Brexit, he suggested more Tory MPs were coming round to the idea of a peoples vote. Increasingly there is a view that the people who made the decision to leave the European Union, the people of this country, have the right to express a view on any agreement or no agreement if it is no agreement before we actually pull the plug, he said. Mr Bebb is expected to tell a Peoples Vote rally in Cardiff on Saturday that the governments Brexit plans could not be further from what was promised. Speaking alongside Labour MPs Owen Smith and Stephen Doughty, he will say: I voted Remain but I accepted that the country voted differently. As such, I supported the prime minister as a whip and minister for over two years. However, the Brexit that is being delivered today could not be further from what was promised. With the hardline Brexiters threatening to vote down any deal, and a deal is crucial for jobs and business, we now face gridlock in parliament, and the growing risk of a disastrous no-deal Brexit. 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 Mr Bebb will say he resigned from government because he could not vote for amendments tabled by Tory Brexiteers, which he called a deliberate attempt to undermine the prime minister and our negotiations with the EU. He is expected to say: Brexit is a big deal, but its not yet a done deal. And the path we take now will affect the future of our country for generations to come. Thats why its not good enough for ministers to decide something behind closed doors, seemingly caring more about the ideological whims of no-deal Brexit advocates than the concerns of employers and workers. Ms May has repeatedly ruled out the prospect of another Brexit vote. Earlier this week she said: In the summer of 2016, millions came out to have their say. In many cases, for the first time in decades, they trusted that their vote would count; that after years of feeling ignored by politics, their voices would be heard. To ask the question all over again would be a gross betrayal of our democracy and a betrayal of that trust. With hindsight, the earthquake that shook British politics three years ago this week feels more like a gentle tremor. Since then, commentators have been regularly overwhelmed by the temptation to recast the unlikely landslide election of Jeremy Corbyn as leader of the Labour Party as either the forewarning or even the direct cause of the more violent tectonic activity that has followed it. Without Corbyn there is no Brexit, with no Brexit there is no Trump, so the theory goes. But the counterfactual bears consideration. In the Corbyn-free branch of history, it falls to Andy Burnham to save the world. You may wish to draw your own conclusions. For those who view Corbyns election as an unnatural disaster, the clean-up was meant to have been completed by now. The radioactive leaks contained, normality restored, the Labour Party area declared safe again. But that has not happened. Not only is his position as leader of the party both unassailable and entirely legitimate, but it would take no small amount of bravery to bet on anyone but Jeremy Corbyn emerging victorious whenever the UK gets around to having another general election. The future of Brexit is anything but certain. Donald Trump may yet face impeachment. Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, is free and clear and after some of the most bitter and vicious internal fighting in the partys history, the consolidation of his control over it is reaching its end point. He has earned the right. He has brought into the party hundreds of thousands of new supporters. In a general election that caught the party somewhat by surprise, he nevertheless managed to win 13 million votes, and gain seats when annihilation was predicted by all. He has also transformed the party into a vast social movement unlike any that has been seen in British politics before. We are in extraordinary times, says Laura Parker, who is the national coordinator for Momentum, the now supremely powerful campaigning and activism arm of the Labour movement which grew from the Corbyn4Leader campaign group of 2015. There can be no half measures. People dont want Britain tweaking with. They want real change. It is Momentum that is compelling young people to get involved in politics in their tens if not hundreds of thousands. We are a bridge, really, she says. We sit between the Labour Party on the one side and a whole range of activists and groups, be they to do with health or housing or what have you. We are a bridge between the wider Labour movement and the party. What Momentum has correctly identified is that people who want to be involved in politics dont necessarily want to be involved in the minutiae of local party organisation, the procedural stuff. And also, people dont necessarily find that their local party is the place for them. Manchester Momentum puts on a disco every month, Ms Parker says. Bristol Momentum meetings have campaign stalls from every kind of campaign group right across the city. You do not get that from a local Labour Party meeting. We are a bridge to something beyond the party. It is about innovation. The Labour Party is a very large organisation, and changing it will take a very long time. You might want to get involved but be in a bit of a country where there have been no Labour MPs for a long time, or where it is all a bit stodgy, or youre in a bit of the country where the local party has not embraced the policies of the new leadership. It is here where Momentum and the wider pro-Corbyn movement falls onto controversial ground. Two victorious leadership elections and an unlikely general election success later, the only area of the party still holding out against Corbyn is a large but shrinking portion of its MPs. Momentum, and others, stand accused of seeking to deselect them. Ms Parker describes the infighting in the parliamentary Labour Party as out of kilter, and says that recent votes of no confidence in more centrist MPs in local parties are a case of the parliamentary party catching up with the membership. Deselection is also not how they see it. We are quite unique in Britain, in this idea that you get elected candidate for the Labour Party in a safe labour seat and its assumed its a job for life, for 40 of 50 years, says Steve Howell, who worked as Labours deputy director of political strategy and communications during the 2017 election, and tells the story of it in his book, Game Changer. Its part of the culture here. Its not part of the culture anywhere else. In America, for example, candidates have to go through primaries for their seats all the time. But some of the tactics have been unsettling. The Derby MP Chris Williamson is currently touring the constituencies of outspoken anti-Corbyn MPs on what he has called his democracy roadshow. On Thursday night he posted pictures online of a local meeting in the Streatham constituency of Chuka Umunna, showing all hands raised in a unanimous vote in favour of mandatory reselections. You do not need to be the most diligent student of history to know what kinds of democracies feature 100 per cent of voters voting the same way. One anti-Corbyn MP who stood down at the 2017 election could hardly be more scathing: Before he became leader, I had never met him once. I never saw him. He would come in for foreign affairs questions in his luminous green jacket, ask about Palestine and that was it. He was just an eccentric. People are saying that there needs to be a new party in British politics. I saw earlier this week Alastair Campbell saying that there already is a new party in British politics, its just got an old name, the Labour Party. Hes right. It is a whole new party. The top team has changed, the headquarters has changed, the NEC has changed. It has all been comprehensively taken over. It was always a social democratic party that believed in a mixed economy. Now the fundamental values of the party has changed. It is a party committed to state socialism, to mass nationalisation. Internationally the leadership has a very different view on defence, counterterrorism, the special relationship, the nuclear deterrent. When he got elected leader, it was totally miserable. I had a feeling of impending doom. I thought, we are in a very bad place. I took a moral decision that i would speak out against him. I did lots of interviews, and I know it annoyed him. But, I thought, weve got to keep the thread of an argument alive about centre-left politics. About the need to win elections, about being in the right place on immigration, national security, defence. We cant just let that argument die. Corbyn arrives in Commons to applause At Labour Party conference in a couple of weeks, the partys Jewish MPs are expected to hire bodyguards. A large number of MPs are suffering severe personal strain, from what one calls the levels of orchestrated threats of physical violence and sustained social media abuse. One former MP says that Corbyns victory was the moment that life in his local party changed. Suddenly, a guy from [the trade union] Aslef turned up at my meetings to make long, angry, shouty speeches about parts of the world hed never visited. He didnt look like hed ever even been on a train let alone driven one. These sorts of people took over. When you see the pictures of these people, at these meetings at the moment, they look unpleasant. There are profound mental health problems in those rooms, and they are changing the party. They are emboldened, spiteful. They are tolerant of antisemitism. These are not nice people. It is a cult. All this kinder, gentler politics stuff. This Im comfortable with a little dissent? Hes not. Hes profoundly intolerant, bad tempered, and not used to having to work very hard. When he does these petulant interviews its because hes knackered. He used to wing by parliament once a month to raise the issue of Venezuela then fly out there as a guest. The cult of Corbyn is a term you hear often, but is not entirely fair. Wherever he goes he can get a crowd, and this is very unusual in British politics, says Matt Zarb-Cousin, a young Labour activist who worked in the Labour leaders office for 18 months leading up to last years election. If Corbyn says hes going to get a thousand people hell get more. There is something that appeals to people about him. They think hes a genuine person. They think hes trying to do the right thing. He cares about people. It is a charisma that we dont normally associate with politicians. When people talk about politicians with charisma, usually they think of people who are sharp like Blair or Macron or Cameron. People who look good in a suit. The charisma Corbyn has is different. People feel like they relate to him, like they know him. It is hard to argue with this point. The latest, and most serious, chapter in Labours antisemitism crisis has now been going on for four months, but it is doing the party no harm whatsoever in the opinion polls. It is a crisis the general public seem not to fully understand, with its complexities concerning clauses and definitions, and what wreaths were and werent laid where by whom. When Danny Dyer appeared on national television to memorably call David Cameron a t***, not once but twice, another of his pronouncements in that short interview was subsequently all but forgotten. Though it may have helped that Jeremy Corbyn was sitting yards away from him, he was nevertheless described as a decent man. The idea that Jeremy Corbyn is himself a racist, a legitimate question but one that has come to prominence via the front pages of the Daily Mail, is one that the public is not swallowing. In two weeks the party will hold its annual conference, and there is much speculation about whether its anti-Corbyn MPs will seize that moment, or indeed any moment, to formally split from the party. In various MPs WhatsApp groups there is much disagreement about strategy and tactics. They have furious rows among themselves on these groups, says one, a former member of Corbyns first shadow cabinet. What is your plan? theyll say. Or, Well Ive just won this vote on my local committee. The tide is turning. Or someone will say, What if Corbyn had left in 1997? Weve got to stay and fight even if it takes 20 years. I dont know what the answer is on all of that. Personally, I think the moderates will just wither on the vine. But this idea that he is on the brink of winning an election? I dont think so. The Tories will not go in to another election with Theresa May and a host of bad retail policies. And one thing they never managed to get traction on in 2017 was, What will be the dire consequences of Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister, or if John McDonnell becomes chancellor? They could get no traction for because no one believed there was a remote chance it could happen. And Labour MPs were complicit in this. They knocked on doors and said, Vote for me. I hate him even more than you do. I joked about this with some of them at the time. I said to one of them, so your message on the doorstep is, If you absolutely definitely dont want to see a Labour government, then vote Labour, and they said to me, Thats exactly right. Jeremy Corbyn: Sharpening up his style Show all 6 1 /6 Jeremy Corbyn: Sharpening up his style Jeremy Corbyn: Sharpening up his style Fashion tips for the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been described as too untidy, too scruffy for the tastes of many voters Rex Jeremy Corbyn: Sharpening up his style Fashion tips for the Labour leader One of Mr Corbyn's appealing qualities is that people believe he is truthful. He should keep that central to his image and dress to suit his personality Rex Jeremy Corbyn: Sharpening up his style Fashion tips for the Labour leader Beige is not the colour to choose when trying to come across as the most powerful, assertive person in the world Rex Jeremy Corbyn: Sharpening up his style Fashion tips for the Labour leader There's no need for Jeremy Corbyn to go to Savile Row for a pinstriped suit. All thats required is a little sharpening up from geography teacher to headteacher perhaps Rex Jeremy Corbyn: Sharpening up his style Fashion tips for the Labour leader Mr Corbyn has been described by one of his own activists as the only man who buys his clothes at the Dalston Co-Op Rex Jeremy Corbyn: Sharpening up his style Fashion tips for the Labour leader By wearing a tie Jeremy Corbyn shows he knows how to conduct himself in business meetings or dealing with foreign leaders AFP That Corbyn and his supporters, having won two leadership election victories, want control of the party back from this section of the party is hardly surprising and hardly unreasonable. Ms Parker, who was on the civil service fast stream and not a member of the Labour Party during the Blair years, says it is only through Corbyn that the party is reclaiming its traditional values, not abandoning them. I think the 20 years of neoliberal Labour they were the aberration. Thats why it lost its way and lost hundreds of thousands of members. We are about a reaffirmation of Labours starting values. About community, about public ownership. Obviously its 2018, the challenges are different, but there is nothing that Jeremy Corbyn or John McDonnell stand for that is out of kilter with Labour values. Who knows, in 2018, where the next three years will carry us. They stand every chance of being even more tumultuous than the last. Political soothsaying has never been more of a mugs game. That the possibility of Prime Minister Corbyn grows ever more realistic might, given the nature of recent events, come to mean it in fact wont happen. But there are precious few reasons to suspect that, in the years ahead, Corbyn and Corbynism is on its way out. It is far more likely that we have witnessed only the beginning. The real earthquake may be yet to come. A local Labour Party branch is investigating how the Iranian state broadcaster was allowed to film a meeting at which members passed a vote of no confidence in a pro-Israel MP. Press TV, which is banned in the UK, recorded a party meeting in the Enfield North constituency at which Joan Ryan lost a no confidence motion. Ms Ryan, a former minister under Tony Blair, chairs the Labour Friends of Israel group and has been highly critical of Jeremy Corbyns handling of antisemitism in the party. She lost the vote by 94 votes to 92. Speaking afterwards, Ms Ryan said Press TV had infiltrated the Labour Party. Im horrified that theyve infiltrated the Labour Party in this way and I think it needs to be investigated, because it is incredibly serious, she told The Telegraph. Im proud of my values and I dont expect to be the toast of the mouthpiece of the Iranian regime. The chair of Enfield North Labour, Siddo Dwyer, said there would be an investigation into how Press TV was allowed to attend the meeting. This is totally unacceptable, he wrote on Twitter. In my capacity as chair, Ill be writing to formally complain to Press TV for their broadcasting of our meeting. The national Labour Party has been informed about filming by Iranian state TV of our CLP meeting. An investigation will take place and a formal complaint lodged. Mr Dwyer said the Press TV crew had been told not to film but ignored instructions. Warnings were issued about filming, including a direct warning to the member in question, he said. It didnt occur to any of us at the time that they were from a state broadcaster. Protests against Labour antisemitism Show all 14 1 /14 Protests against Labour antisemitism Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters clashed during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of the Jewish community hold a protest against Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn and antisemitism in the Labour Party AFP/Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Protesters hold placards and flags during a demonstration, organised by the British Board of Jewish Deputies for those who oppose antisemitism, in Parliament Square Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Hundreds of people gathered in Parliament Square to protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP Luciana Berger speaks during the protest PA Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester blows through a shofar during the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism Members of London's Jewish community protest in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn outside parliament EPA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour MP John Mann speaks during a protest against antisemitism PA Protests against Labour antisemitism People protest against antisemitism in the Labour Party as Jewish community leaders have launched a scathing attack on Jeremy Corbyn, claiming he has sided with antisemites again and again PA Protests against Labour antisemitism Labour politicians Stella Creasy and Chuka Umunna leave after attending the demonstration Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A pro-Jeremy Corbyn protester holds a placard during a counter-protest Getty Protests against Labour antisemitism A support of the Labour Party hold up a placard during the demonstration Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism Jeremy Corbyn supporters during the demo Reuters Protests against Labour antisemitism A protester holds up a sign reading For the many, not the Jew AFP The Tehran-backed broadcaster disputed this, telling CNN: At no point were we asked to stop filming at last nights Joan Ryan vote even though we filmed openly. We would have stopped had we been asked to. There were no no filming posters up and there was no public announcement. We just did our reporting job. A spokesperson for Labour said filming of party meetings was not permitted and that the Enfield North branch will be reminded of this fact. Press TV was banned by UK broadcast regulator Ofcom in 2012 after it found that editorial decisions were being taken in Tehran. The station was fined 100,000 a year earlier for broadcasting an interview with an imprisoned journalist that had been conducted under the threat of execution. Its presence at the Enfield North meeting was condemned by Labour MPs, including Tom Watson, the deputy leader, who said: Impossible to fathom how Iran state TV was able to live-tweet the Joan Ryan no confidence vote at Enfield North from inside the CLP meeting. This disorder makes a farce of the proceedings and is not how the modern Labour Party should conduct its affairs. Owen Smith, who ran against Mr Corbyn for the party leadership in 2016, said: Iranian State TV is now live-streaming Labour Party meetings, as part of their propaganda campaign against Israel. Labour members should reflect on that for a moment and ask if you are comfortable with what we are becoming in the eyes of the world. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby praises Labour MPs for adopting IHRA definition of antisemitism It comes as Labour was accused of failing to inform victims of antisemitism that it was investigating threats involving them. An LBC investigation found 10 of the partys MPs had not been told that Labours disciplinary bodies were looking into threats of violence against them. Those affected include Jewish MPs Margaret Hodge and Luciana Berger. John Mann MP, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group Agaimst Antisemitism, told the radio station there should be an investigation into whether there had been a conscious decision to not pass on the information. He said: If it was a conscious decision then that itself would need referring to police if it was a conscious decision and any evidence of that. I dont have any paperwork that suggests that but that needs to be part of an investigation now. A Labour spokesperson said: When the party is made aware of a serious and possible criminal threat against an MP or party member, that individual is informed and the matter is referred to our Safeguarding Unit to report it to the police. Forecasters have warned that Tropical Storm Florence may strike the US East Coast next week possibly as a major hurricane. The storm, which forecasters began warning about as early as 31 August, has lessened in intensity over the past week. But gradual restrengthening was expected over the weekend, and the storm was projected to become a hurricane as early as Monday, according to the National Hurricane Centre (NHC). The storm was making its way over the Atlantic at about 9 mph (14 km/h) as of Saturday morning. It was unclear, however, exactly where it would make landfall or if it would strike land at all. Some models predicted the hurricane hitting the East Coast early in the week, while others showed it curving away from the shore, according to the Associated Press. Regardless, the NHC said swells generated by the storm were likely to cause life-threatening" surf and rip current conditions in Bermuda and on the East Coast. The centre encouraged residents of these areas to review their hurricane plans as a precaution. There's still plenty of time for major changes to this forecast, but we need to start preparing for the likelihood of a major impact, tweeted University of Minnesota meteorologist Eric Holthaus. "That's what every reliable weather model we have now shows. Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma Show all 7 1 /7 Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma Inez Gibbs During September of 2017, the Caribbean was hit by two powerful hurricanes, Irma and Maria. Almost a year after the rebuilding effort continue at a slow pace and with fear of what this year hurricane season could bring. who is diabetic, lost everything except her bed and her teddy bears. Cash assistance from the Red Cross helped her to support herself while she waited to return to work. These and my bed are the only things I saved. The teddy bears are my buddies, they are my friends. I bought them here from Jamaica 20 years ago. Everything else I had I lost. The cash I got was very helpful because I wasnt able to work after the hurricane so it helped me to pay my bills and buy my medication. Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma Cleve Pennyfeather, Disaster Response Officer at BVI Red Cross Cleve has been working for the British Virgin Islands Red Cross since January this year, working with local communities to help them recover from Irma and prepare for future hurricanes. The house he grew up in was badly damaged by the hurricane. This house is very sentimental to me - it has been in my family well over 80 years and it means a lot to us. I grew up in this house as a little boy until I left for high school. It belonged to my grandparents, and now belongs to my uncle who is 91. Irma completely destroyed the roof, but thankfully the Red Cross provided him with some cash so that he could buy materials to get it rebuilt. Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma Joan Chimney, 56 Joan runs the popular Sugar and Spice cafe on the island of Jost Van Dyke. She was on holiday in Grenada when the hurricane hit, but returned home to find her business badly damaged. Everybody always comes to my restaurant and says theyre here for my patties. I make them every morning, wake up and come down to my shop to make them from scratch. The hurricane did some damage to my restaurant though - all the windows and doors gone. Its a good thing that the Red Cross was there to give me some help buying them back so I could keep my business going. Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma Lorie Rymer, 70 Lorie, a keen viola player, saw his most treasured possession damaged in Hurricane Irma, all he has now is the broken remains. My house I will build back, but theres no way that I could replace my instrument, my viola, I cannot replace it. It was just precious, I can still hear it in my mind how it used to sound. I would give anything if I might be able to purchase one again, a used one. It has to be very old and seasoned wood, maybe 30, 40, 50 years old. Im going to take this one with me to the UK and have it repaired. Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma Lucia Harrigan, 81 81-year-old Lucia, who had lived in her home for 60 years before it was destroyed by Hurricane Irma, is looking forward to returning to her own home. When I see the destruction and I see what I had loved so dearly I sit down and I cry. The whole roof went, the shutters, and a brand new washer that I had just bought. I lost all my dining chairs, my living room set and a lot of my clothes, but Im not worried about that, as long as I could find something to wear. But I saved a few things, maybe some are salvageable or maybe not. My favourite thing that I lost is the deeds to my land. I hope that I will get back in the house soon, because when you get to my age you like to be by yourself. Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma Darrel Turnball Hurricane Irma destroyed almost everything Darrel owned, including his much-loved photo-album, but he managed to recover one of his favourite childhood toys. This is my best friend I have carried him with me my whole life. When I got married he was with me, when I got divorced he was with me, he goes everywhere I go. I was so happy when I realised he hadnt been damaged in the hurricane. Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross Things lost and saved: One year on from Hurricane Irma Rasheed Jennings, 20 When Irma hit, Rasheed sheltered in the bathroom with his mother, father and brother - from there all they could do was watch as Irma shattered their home. The first thing that Irma blew out was the windows and then once the wind started to circle through the house it lifted up the doors and the roof, and once that was gone there was no protection and everything just started to float through the doors. Even my computer and PlayStation and all my gaming stuff was blown away, I didnt even think to protect them. We could see the damage through the window in the bathroom but there wasnt anything we could do at that point. Dennis Rivera/British Red Cross North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency on Friday, urging residents to make preparations. South Carolina's Emergency Management Division also urged residents to make emergency plans, and the US Navy ordered ships stationed in Virginia to be moved out of the port. While its still too early to know the storms path, we know we have to be prepared, Mr Cooper said in a press release. ...We are entering the peak of hurricane season and we know well the unpredictability and power of these storms. Hurricane Lane wreaks havoc on Hawaii's Big Island Forecasters were watching another tropical storm, Helene, as it travelled over the Atlantic just behind Florence. A hurricane watch was in effect for the Cabo Verde islands of Santiago, Fogo, and Brava on Saturday morning, and the NHC warned of possible flash floods. The Atlantic Ocean is really heating up and we are clearly in the peak of hurricane season with multiple tropical entities, the National Weather Service tweeted on Friday night, over a satellite image of several storms. This weekend take a few minutes to review your hurricane preparedness plan or develop one. Donald Trumps personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, has said the president may still answer special prosecutor Robert Muellers questions about possible obstruction of justice. The former mayor of New York City backtracked on his original statement to the Associated Press, which he told the matter was a no-go. Later, Mr Giuliani told NBC News the president has "not ruled in or out whether to submit to questioning in the FBI investigation of alleged collusion between the 2016 campaign team and Russian officials, as well as any alleged efforts made by Mr Trump to derail the probe. One such example of obstruction could be the May 2017 sacking of former FBI Director James Comey, despite the presidents legal ability to do so. "We're very opposed to that [but] we're not closing it off 100 per cent," Mr Giuliani told Politico, adding that he did not want to mislead [prosecutors] and have them think it's easy, but we have also not closed our mind to it". He noted any questions regarding alleged obstruction are a post-presidential issue, not to be asked while Mr Trump was still in office. He stopped short of explaining the legal reasoning behind his assessment. Rudy Giuliani tells Chuck Todd: 'Truth isn't truth' when it comes to the Mueller investigation "We have said we would agree to written questions on Russia after we review questions but no further commitment on interviews. After we finish this we will assess it with no agreement to any post-presidential questions, Mr Giuliani said. For his part, Mr Trump appeared to be willing to sit down with Mr Mueller and his team despite repeatedly calling the investigation a witch hunt and denying any collusion took place. Mr Giuliani indicated the presidents personal legal team was still discussing the issue but that it would likely be resolved by next week. 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 No one from Mr Muellers team has made public statements about the process of the investigation, but the latest letter sent to the presidents personal lawyers left out any mention of questions about obstruction, the AP reported. Legal experts have been discussing whether it is possible for Mr Mueller to subpoena the president and what kind of court battle could ensue as a result since the possibility was brought up in March 2018. The US Supreme Court has not ruled on whether a sitting president can be compelled to testify in such situations, but once again the Russia probe is being compared to former President Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. In 1974, the court had ruled Mr Nixon was obligated to provide recordings and documents that had been subpoenaed in the matter. According to unnamed source who spoke to NBC News, besides firing Mr Comey, Mr Mueller wants to ask the president about attorney general Jeff Sessions recusal from matters relating to the FBI investigation and his role in drafting a statement about son Donald Trump Jrs, son-in-law Jared Kushner, and former campaign manager Paul Manaforts June 2016 meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. Former Donald Trump campaign advisor George Papadopoulos has been sentenced to 14 days in prison for lying to the FBI during its investigation into Russias interference in the 2016 presidential election. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty in October last year to lying to FBI agents in a voluntary interview in January of that year about the timing and significance of his contacts with Russians, including a professor who told him the Russians had dirt on Mr Trumps Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton. He is the first former campaign aide to be sentenced in special counsel Robert Muellers Russia probe, which is also investigating any possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. Federal District Judge Randolph D Moss cited the gravity of the investigation and the need to send a message to the public as the reason for the imprisonment. Judge Moss said that Papadopoulos deception was not a noble lie and that he had lied because he wanted a job in the Trump administration and didnt want to jeopardise that possibility by being tied to the Russia investigation. In some ways it constitutes a calculated exercise of self interest over the national interest, the judge said. In addition to the prison time, Papadopoulos was sentenced to one year of supervised release and 200 hours of community service after his jail time is complete. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $9,500 (7,400). Papadopoulos apologised for his actions, telling a judge that he had made a dreadful mistake and was eager for redemption. I hope to have a second chance to redeem myself, Papadopoulos said. I made a dreadful mistake but I am a good man. 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 Papadopoulos joined the Trump campaign as a foreign policy advisor in March 2016, aged 29. A month after that, a contact of his, London-based professor Joseph Mifsud allegedly promised Papadopoulos incriminating information on Ms Clinton in the form of thousands of emails. Mr Mifsud also introduced the campaign advisor to a woman named Olga, who claimed to be a niece of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and a man named Ivan Timofeev, who claimed to have a connection to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Prosecutors said Papadopouloss false statements to the FBI contributed to their inability to secure an interview with the professor. The defendants lies undermined investigators ability to challenge the professor or potentially detain or arrest him while he was still in the United States, they wrote in court papers, noting that Mr Mifsud left the US in February 2017 and has not returned. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of six months in prison. They said Papadopoulos thwarted a national security investigation with his false statements Trump says he chose Sessions for his loyalty In court on Friday, prosecutor Andrew Goldstein said Papadopouloss cooperation didnt come close to the standard of substantial assistance. He said Papadopouloss deception required investigators to scour more than 100,000 emails and gigabytes of data to reconstruct the timeline of his contacts with Russians and Russian intermediaries. Lawyers for Mr Papadopoulos a former foreign policy advisor had asked for leniency, claiming the 31-year-old was in over his head on the campaign and never intended to derail a federal investigation. They are asking for a sentence of probation, but no jail time. [Papadopouloss] motives for lying to the FBI were wrongheaded indeed, but far from the sinister spin the government suggests, his lawyers wrote in a sentencing memo. Caught off-guard by an impromptu interrogation, Papadopoulos misled investigators to save his professional aspirations and preserve a perhaps misguided loyalty to his master. In court, Papadopouloss lawyer, Thomas Breen, criticised Mr Trump for calling the Russia probe fake news and a witch hunt. The president of the United States hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever could, Mr Breen said. Mr Trump looked to distance himself from Papadopoulos in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One on the way to an event in Fargo, North Dakota on Friday. I see Papadopoulos today; I dont know Papadopoulos, I dont know, Mr Trump said, adding: They got him, on I guess, on a couple of lies. he has According to court documents, Papadopoulos boasted about his contacts at a 2016 meeting with Mr Trump and other senior campaign officials, including then campaign advisor, now Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He also proposed setting up a meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Putin a proposal Mr Sessions has said he pushed back against. Papadopouloss lawyers challenged Mr Sessions version of events in their filing last week, writing: Mr Trump nodded with approval and deferred to Mr Sessions who appeared to like the idea and stated that the campaign should look into it. Other Trump associates have been charged with lying to federal investigators. Former national security adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty to lying to federal agents in December, and former campaign official Rick Gates pleaded guilty to the same charge in February. Both men have yet to be sentenced. Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report Andrew Hall watched from within the courtroom as four of Richard Nixons top advisers were sentenced to prison for their roles in the Watergate coverup. He had been hired as counsel by John D Ehrlichman, the former presidents senior adviser for domestic affairs, who was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and perjury. Ehrlichman created The Plumbers, a covert special investigations unit inside of the White House that began conducting illegal operations under his watch, leading to one of Americas most extraordinary political scandals. Now, Mr Hall says hes watching history repeat itself, with Donald Trump and his associates awaiting a similar fate in the days and weeks ahead. The coverup is always worse than the crime, the attorney said in an interview with The Independent. And this one is very shady. We have a sitting president who will undoubtedly be impeached. Recommended The DNC lawsuit makes parallels with Watergate hard to ignore Explosive reports from inside the White House have recently arrived in the form of an anonymous New York Times op-ed penned by a senior administration official, as well as a 448-page book by Bob Woodward, one of the journalists famous for exposing critical information in the Watergate scandal. Both describe an administration in disorder, complete with an aloof president in Mr Trump who appears incapable of leading the nation. Aides are reportedly swiping documents from his desk. Several have allegedly formed a steady resistance to thwart his worst inclinations. Meanwhile, the underlying question of whether or not Mr Trumps campaign conspired with Russian officials to impact the 2016 election remains at the heart of a federal investigation spearheaded by special counsel Robert Mueller, who, aping Mr Nixon, the president has threatened to fire. In a scene from Mr Woodwards Fear: Trump in the White House, the presidents former attorney John Dowd told Mr Mueller he worried the president would perjure himself after conducting a mock cross-examination. The White House has denied the practice examination took place while pushing back on Mr Woodwards new book. However, if it did in fact take place, it may very well have been the smartest decision the presidents attorneys made, according to Mr Hall. The idea to prepare a witness in and of itself is a good idea, but the fact that hes incapable of being truthful throughout the entire exam is pretty scary, he said. It raises a whole lot of issues. If a lawyer knows his client is not telling the truth, he cant sit by and let that happen, he cant participate and he must disassociate himself with that activity otherwise, they lose their licence for facilitating perjury. Donald Trump suggests he would override his legal team submit to interview with Robert Mueller Mr Woodward, who exposed major gaps in Ehrlichmans story and other crucial information in the Watergate scandal, can certainly be expected to deliver more bombshells when his book hits shelves next week. Some of those revelations could lead to Mr Trumps impeachment an historic event that will undoubtedly occur in the presidents first term, according to Mr Hall. The November elections have an enormous impact on how this plays out, he said. If the Democrats take the Senate, or enough Republicans switch over, there will be a successful impeachment. Still, the attorney doesnt foresee impeachment proceedings removing Mr Trump from office. He will resign, Mr Hall said in the event of impeachment proceedings beginning after the 2018 midterm elections. However, the end of the Trump presidency doesnt mark the end of his associates legal troubles, just like that of Mr Nixons tenure. In fact, those who remain in the presidents inner circle could soon find themselves in even greater jeopardy if Mr Trump were to lie to the special counsel. Rudy Giuliani is in worse trouble if the president lies to Mueller, Mr Hall said. Giuliani can be indicted. The president cannot while sitting. Mr Muellers office reportedly agreed to a small concession in its ongoing probe, allowing the president to provide written answers to questions about whether his campaign conspired to work with Russian officials throughout the election. 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 In the event that Mr Trump provides those written statements to the special counsels office, its likely his attorneys would take part in drafting the answers. If it ends up where someone made a change to his statements which is not truthful, its deception, which is illegal. Then you have a false statement to agents. Already, several associates to Mr Trump have faced a bevy of convictions, from his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, to his longtime attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen. The president has suggested he would be willing to pardon Manafort, and possibly other aides who refuse to cooperate with investigators. Whether or not he follows through with pardoning his associates appears to be the one event Mr Hall cannot predict. In Mr Nixons case, the former president promised his aides pardons, before eventually reneging that vow. Trump may pardon them as his final act, he said. In Watergate, Nixons top advisers all of them were facing jail time. In this case, I think the presidents top advisers will, too. And they should. If you are a top adviser to the president you should know better. Later Karnataka CM also wrote a letter to PM insisting that Bengaluru would be the best choice for the event. New Delhi: The defence ministry on Saturday stated that the next edition of Aero India considered as Asias largest aerospace exhibition will be held in its traditional venue of Bengaluru between February 20 to 24 next year. The clarification put to rest speculation on the issue after last months request by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath to defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman to select Lucknow as the venue for Aero India, triggering angry reactions from various political parties in Karnataka. There was speculation that the venue for the mega event may be shifted after the defence ministry indicated that it was examining requests from a number of states including Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh to host the 12 edition of Aero India. The government has decided to hold Aero India 2019 in Bengaluru from February 20-24, 2019, the ministry said. Since its inception in 1996, Bengaluru has been hosting the event. The ministry said a number of global defence majors and big investors in the aerospace industry will participate in the five-day event besides leading think tanks from across the world. Besides giving a fillip to the domestic aviation industry, it would further the cause of Make in India, the ministry said in a statement. In his request to host Aero India near Lucknow, Adityanath had on August 11 said such a move would give a fillip to the proposed defence corridor in Uttar Pradesh. Days later Karnataka chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, insisting that Bengaluru would be the best choice for the event. Bengaluru being the hub for defence and aviation majors of the country, is certainly the most suitable place to conduct the show, he had said in the letter. In the budget for 2018-19, the government announced to set up two defence corridors one in Tamil Nadu and other in Uttar Pardesh to romote defence manufacturing. The corridor in Uttar Pradesh will pass through six districts Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow and Chitrakoot. White House officials secretly met with Venezuelan military personnel seeking to overthrow the countrys government, according to reports. Trump administration staffers are said to have attended multiple meetings with rebel leaders seeking to stage a coup against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, starting in the autumn of 2017. The officials eventually decided not to help the rebels and never provided any material support, but reportedly engaged with at least one Venezuelan military official currently under US sanctions. The meetings came as the Venezuelan economy took a massive downturn and Mr Maduros government became increasingly restrictive, causing thousands of citizens to flee and countless others to starve. At least three factions of the Venezuelan military were plotting against Mr Maduro at the time, according to the New York Times, which first reported the claims. At the same time, President Donald Trump had signalled his openness to a possible intervention, stating publicly that a military option was something the US certainly could pursue. He had also privately asked several advisers about the possibility of invading the country, according to CNN. Donald Trump 'considered invading Venezuela', reports say Early in Mr Trumps term, one of the rebel factions reportedly attempted to reach the White House through a US embassy in a European city. The White House was hesitant first, thinking they were being set up, but eventually decided to listen to what they had to say, a senior administration official said. The White House reportedly dispatched a senior diplomat to attend the meetings purely on listening mode, with instructions not to a negotiate. The official attended a total of three meetings before talks dissolved. The rebels tried several times to stage a coup on their own, but were unsuccessful at each turn. The White House did not deny the reports, saying in a statement to the Times that it was important engage in dialogue with all Venezuelans who demonstrate a desire for democracy in order to bring positive change to a country that has suffered so much under Maduro. A turbulent year in Venezuela Show all 11 1 /11 A turbulent year in Venezuela A turbulent year in Venezuela Demonstrators scuffle with security forces during an opposition rally in Caracas, Venezuela, April 4, 2017. Venezuelan security forces quelled masked protesters with tear gas, water cannons and pepper spray in Caracas after blocking an opposition rally against socialist President Nicolas Maduro. The clashes began after authorities closed subway stations, set up checkpoints and cordoned off a square where opponents had planned their latest protest against the government and the crippling economic crisis. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: "For me that was the day that made a difference, never before had I seen the protesters and police clashing men-to-men and struggling back and forward. From then, the strategy of the police changed and they never faced the protesters so close again." Reuters A turbulent year in Venezuela A man who was set on fire by people accusing him of stealing during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro runs amidst opposition supporters in Caracas, Venezuela, May 20, 2017. Marco Bello: "I spotted a man running in front of me as a group of protesters, most of them hooded and with makeshift shields, were chasing him so I followed them. Some 100 meters down the street, the protesters caught the man and surrounded him. When I walked up and went through the circle of people to take pictures, someone had already poured gasoline over the man and set him on fire. Reuters A turbulent year in Venezuela "Rowdy groups of government supporters busted into Venezuela's opposition-controlled National Assembly. There were several clashes happening at the same time, so I tried to follow a small group of attackers as they pushed their way through the main building. By the time I got into the building, they had already finished hitting people and were on their way out, leaving behind an opposition lawmaker covered in blood. I quickly went over to the politician, Leonardo Regnault, whose grey suit was spattered in blood. He was up against an ornate wooden door, clearly in a state of shock. Another opposition lawmaker, Luis Stefanelli, was standing next to him, hands up in a sign of surrender and pleading with the attackers to stop the beating. Reuters A turbulent year in Venezuela A member of the riot security forces points a gun through the fence of an air force base at David Jose Vallenilla, who was fatally injured during clashes at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, Reuters A turbulent year in Venezuela A demonstrators attends a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 19, 2017. Ivan Alvarado: "I was under the highway photographing some protestors who had surrounded a woman they accused of stealing a phone from someone. I turned around to check what was happening behind me and saw this man appearing from the shadows to see what was going on. The white on his face is salt, which the protestors said helped to reduce the effects of the tear gas." REUTERS A turbulent year in Venezuela Riot security forces clash with demonstrators as a motorcycle is set on fire during a protest against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in San Cristobal, Venezuela, May 29, 2017. Carlos Eduardo Ramirez: "Security forces arrived to disperse demonstrators that already had burned two taxis and a bus, throwing tear gas and pellets and the demonstrators' response was to throw molotov cocktails and one of those petrol bombs reached a National Guard member, setting him and the motorbike on fire." Reuters A turbulent year in Venezuela Riot security forces detain a demonstrator during a rally against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, July 28, 2017. Rock-throwing Venezuelans braved tear gas and rainstorms, blocking streets in protest against a legislative super-body to be elected two days later that critics call an attempt by President Nicolas Maduro to create a dictatorship. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: "After many hours of very violent clashes between the demonstrators and security forces, the National Guard in an attempt to end the situation, suddenly advanced their line very quickly, even going beyond where I and other photographers were taking cover. All the protesters who did not react fast enough to leave the place were detained." Reuters A turbulent year in Venezuela Opposition lawmaker Carlos Paparoni is hit by jets of water during riots at a march to the state ombudsman's office in Caracas, Venezuela, May 29, 2017. A group of young Venezuelan lawmakers has risen to prominence on the violent front line of anti-government marches that have shaken the South American country for three months, bringing 75 deaths. On the streets daily leading demonstrators, pushing at security barricades and sometimes picking up teargas canisters to hurl back at police and soldiers, the energetic National Assembly members are heroes to many opposition supporters. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: "I remember clearly how instants after I spotted Paparoni standing in front of 'The Whale', the common name of the water cannon armoured cars, he was flying through the air due to the unstoppable power of the water, as if he was a feather. Fellow protesters had to drag him out of the place, because from where I was, he seemed to have been unconscious." Reuters A turbulent year in Venezuela Flames erupt as clashes break out while the Constituent Assembly election is being carried out in Caracas, Venezuela, July 30, 2017. Deadly protests rocked Venezuela as opposition voters boycotted an election for a constitutional super-body that unpopular leftist President Nicolas Maduro vowed would begin a 'new era of combat' in the crisis-stricken nation. Carlos Garcia Rawlins: "Suddenly, a bomb exploded in the capital during an opposition protest and wounded seven police officers in what seemed to be the spread of more aggressive tactics. We were taking photos from close by but the police panicked and chased everyone away, firing teargas, rubber bullets and pellets." Reuters A turbulent year in Venezuela An injured opposition supporter is helped by volunteer members of a primary care response team during clashes with riot security forces at a rally against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela, June 22, 2017. Ivan Alvarado: "This image was taken next to an airforce base where another protestor was fatally injured that day. I don't know how this man was injured, I first saw him as the first aid volunteers carried him out from the midst of the tear gas. You can really see the pain in his expression as he cries out. After I took the image the motorbike speeded off down the highway." Reuters A turbulent year in Venezuela A demonstrator shouts slogans in front of police officers during a women's march to protest against President Nicolas Maduro's government in Caracas, Venezuela Reuters Former President Barack Obama rebuffed the rebels when they reached out to his administration years ago, according to the Times. But the Trump administrations willingness to entertain the idea of a coup is not entirely unheard of, and plays into a long history of US intervention in the region. Starting in 1812, US president James Monroe declared the US would no longer tolerate European colonisation of South America a proclamation that became known as the Monroe Doctrine. A corollary coined by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1904 reaffirmed the United States dominance over other interests in the region. The US also intervened in South America several times after the Second World War, in hopes of stopping the spread of Communism. Under President John F Kennedy, the US trained and funded a group of rebels seeking to overthrow President Fidel Castro in Cuba. In Chile, the US helped General Augusto Pinochet overthrow the left-wing government of Salvador Allende. Footage allegedly shows drone blowing up mid-air during alleged attack on Venezuelan President Maduro In 2015 Mr Obama declared, in relation to Latin America, that he hoped to move past the days in which our agenda in this hemisphere presumed that the United States could meddle with impunity. The Democrat did however oversee the expansion of US military operations elsewhere, with a troop surge in Afghanisation and drone strikes in a number of countries. The White House did not immediately respond to The Independents request for comment. Five people have been arrested outside a Melbourne hotel where Nigel Farage was speaking on the latest leg of his tour of Australasia. Around 200 people met for the protest outside the Sofitel Hotel on Friday, where Mr Farage was delivering the last of the series of speeches. One person was arrested for criminal damage, another for riotous behaviour and a third for assaulting the police and covering their face, according to The Guardian. Two other arrests were made for unrelated matters. The protest was led by the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism, an activist group dedicated to fighting the far right. The group's organisers described Mr Farage a "far right global leader" on their Facebook page. "His UKIP was designed to popularise the far right and give them a respectable veneer," organisers wrote. The former Ukip leader has spent five days on a speaking tour of Australia and New Zealand for which tickets for a one-to-one meeting and a photo went for AUS$295 (166). Mr Farage spent the tour speaking about Brexit, Ukip and his friendship with US President Donald Trump. The former Ukip leader's tour has triggered outrage from other groups. Protesters from the activist group United Against Bigtory and Racism gathered earlier this week at a venue in Perth where Mr Farage was due to speak. Some heckled audience members who walked into the venue, labelling them "Nazi scum". Mr Farage has suffered other setbacks during the tour. Earlier this week he was forced to move a speech from the 2,500-seat International Conference Centre in Sydney to a smaller venue, according to The Guardian. He later spoke at a smaller venue in Pyrmont, where a spokesman said 1,000 people attended. If youre accused of having notions in Ireland, it means youre getting a bit above your station - having delusions of grandeur. Its an affliction which has infected the political landscape over this silly season, with a plethora of people coming forward to suggest that they should be elected president on 26 October. Follow the news from abroad and youd think pretty much anyone can have a pop. Irish presidential elections werent always like this. In the past, there have been few entrants for a largely ceremonial job seen as a retirement present for elder statesmen. Only recently, through the tenure of Mary Robinson and Mary McAleese, has this been reimagined. Then the first truly modern contest came in 2011, in which a record seven contestants piled on, only to be subjected, one by one, to brutal character assassinations - as if the whole thing was being scripted by Agatha Christie. By the end, all that remained was the elfin Michael D Higgins, who was duly elected, quickly became beloved by the nation, and is now seeking a second term. Because of this particularly nasty episode in our political history, many in Ireland think youd have to be mad to run for president - and theres no shortage of people showing that theyve got what it takes. With all the main parties supporting Higgins (bar Sinn Fein, who will run their own candidate), independents must seek the support of 20 members of the Irish parliament, or four county councils to get on the ballot. This has led to a motley crew of individuals showing up at various council meetings around the country to give presentations which have been anything but dull. Donegal-born artist Kevin Sharkey wants to be the countrys first black president, but his Ireland First platform is not proving popular. He is calling for stricter immigration, and even bringing back the death penalty for crimes against the elderly. Investigative journalist Gemma ODoherty wants to use the platform to tackle corruption, although she is routinely accused on social media of being a glorified conspiracy theorist. In a recent tweet, she said her presidency would honour Madeleine McCann, saying those who conceal the truth about what happened to her must be held to account. Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Show all 55 1 /55 Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis celebrates the Holy Mass at the Phoenix Park, in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis arrives at Phoenix Park for a Papal Mass of the World Meeting of Families in Dublin EPA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies from the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home in Tuam. The vigil coincides with the Phoenix park mass which is taking place in Dublin held by Pope Francis. Excavations at the site in 2017 revealed underground structures which held babies bodies with ages ranging from 35 weeks to three years old with most of the dead buried in the 1950s when the facility was run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a Catholic religious order of nuns who received unmarried pregnant women to give birth Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures An aerial view of the crowd at Phoenix Park Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Children queue for communion during Pope Francis' closing Mass PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures The Stand4Truth rally gathers outside a former Magdalene laundry in Dublin as part of the demonstrations against clerical sex abuse PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis leads the Holy Mass at Phoenix Park AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis arrives to celebrate the Holy Mass at the Phoenix Park AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures The names of the victims are read out as a vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies from the Bon Secours Mother and Baby home Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis leads the Holy Mass at Phoenix Park AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A member of the clergy carries a bowl of incense PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A vigil takes place at the site of the mass grave which contained the remains of 796 named babies Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Members of the public pray as they watch Pope Francis deliver a Papal Mass of the World Meeting of Families at Phoenix Park EPA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis attends the closing Mass at the World Meeting of Families at Phoenix Park in Dublin PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis passes by a banner of a protester as he leaves St Mary's Pro-Cathedral AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis speaks during his visit to the Capuchin Day Centre for Homeless in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on Christchurch PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on College Green PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Members of the public wave at Pope Francis as he travels through the city Getty Images Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis laughs as he leaves St Mary's Pro Cathedral during his visit to Dublin Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Two boys wave flags after climbing a post as they wait for Pope Francis Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pairs of baby shoes are hung from black ribbons on Gardiner Street in Dublin in memory of the children who died at the Bon Secours Mother and Baby Home in Tuam, Co Galway PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Crowds on O'Connell Street PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures WMOF2018/Maxwell Photography/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis memorabilia on sale on O'Connell Street PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis arrives at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral during his visit to Ireland to attend the 2018 World Meeting of Families AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis waves to the waiting crowds on O'Connell Street PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis addresses the congragation at St Mary's Pro-Cathedral AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Stephen O'Brien selling bottles of holy water from the St Mary's Pro Cathedral PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis prays inside St Mary's Pro Cathedral Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A man waves a rainbow flag behind a model of a pope which stands in the window above a bar Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures People hold a banner against Pope Francis on the way to St Mary's Pro-Cathedral AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Nuns wait by the side of the road for Pope Francis Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A model of a pope is placed in the window above a bar as crowds wait for Pope Francis to travel through the city Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Crowds on O'Connell Street, Dublin waiting to see Pope Francis as he travels in the Popemobile PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis waves to wellwishers as he arrives at Dublin Airport Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures His visit, the first by a Pope since John Paul II's in 1979 is expected to attract hundreds of thousands of Catholics to a series of events in Dublin and Knock PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis talks to journalists aboard a plane flying from Fiumicino aiport to Dublin AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures LGBT protestors from Dublin Pride and We Are Church with flags and umbrellas on Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin to remember the victims of clerical sex abuse ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Francis PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis disembarks from the aircraft as he arrives at Dublin Airport Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Woman wait for Pope Francis to drive past, in Dublin Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Taoiseach Leo Varadkar delivers a speech watched by Pope Francis in St. Patrick's Hall at Dublin Castle WMOF2018/Maxwell Photography/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Protesters hold banners during a demonstration against clerical sex abuse, in Dublin Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis plants a tree during a meeting with Irish President Michael D Higgins, at Aras an Uachtarain PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis walks with the President of Ireland Michael Higgins at Aras an Uachtarain WMOF2018/Maxwell Photography/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Reuters Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis, center, is flanked by Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, right, as they arrive to meet authorities, in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Protestors wearing baby shoes, to signify the children who died in mother and baby homes in Ireland, protest in Dublin ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Franci PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar AFP/Getty Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Pope Francis speaks with President Michael D Higgins in his study during a visit to Aras an Uachtarain in Phoenix Park, Dublin PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Navy band march prior to the arrival of Pope Francis at the Presidential residence in Dublin AP Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures Eddie McGuinness from Dublin LGBTQ Pride carries a rainbow flag across Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin ahead of the start of the visit to Ireland by Pope Francis PA Pope Francis visits Ireland in pictures A message left by Pope Francis in the visitors book at Aras an Uachtarain in Phoenix Park PA One person, named only as Candidate X, submitted a presentation in absentia in which they proposed doing two things: closing all the mosques in Ireland, and going to Downing Street to demand the six counties of Northern Ireland back. Then theres performance artist Sarah Louise Mulligan, who says shell dress up as Marilyn Monroe for President Trump if elected. Hell be visiting Ireland on the week of the inauguration in November. Amidst this chaos, of course there are candidates who should be taken more seriously. Businessman and Dragons Den star Gavin Duffy was a surprise entry, who already has one council nomination under his belt, as has psychologist and mental health advocate Joan Freeman - even though he has no political experience, and she has only been a senator for two years. The real spanner in the works came last week when another Dragons Den tycoon entered the ring - Sean Gallagher, who ran in 2011 and came second. He had been the favourite to win until the final TV debate just days before the election, when an embarrassing anecdote about a signed photo, a rogue tweet, and his incensed reaction brought the whole thing crashing down around him. Notions were quickly quashed. The entry of a third Dragon - US-based Peter Casey - was baffling even to the other two, and has made for a curious dynamic to proceedings. A reality TV businessman as president - what could possibly go wrong? There is one more candidate yet to come and that is the Sinn Fein choice, who wont be announced until 16 September. Having led calls for Higgins to face challengers, the party has remained largely silent over the summer, perhaps waiting for the more colourful characters to burn themselves out before getting down to business. When their Irish speaking MEP Liadh Ni Riada was given a prime time RTE radio interview in July, it was fairly clear she was being road tested for the job. Whoever it is, Sinn Fein's candidate is the only person Higgins is guaranteed to face at the ballot box. The independents have until 26 September to try and get the required backing. At this point, a betting man might put money on Joan Freeman and Sean Gallagher making the cut, with the latter being the strongest challenger to Higgins out of the group. But, considering his very high approval ratings - and the dubious calibre of the people who have presented themselves as alternatives - its looking like our incumbent will be easily re-elected. With a little bit of political theatre along the way... The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said he is willing to consider new ways to solve the Irish Border issue. The 67-year-old Frenchman also said he was very concerned about the Irish Border issue but that the EU was open to discussing different - possibly dispersed and new technological - ways of checking goods crossing the Border. "We are ready to simplify these checks, to have them carried out at a number of different places and have checks, thanks to technical means, which could take different forms," he said in a transcript released by the British parliament. "They could be dispersed. They could take place in different places, on board vessels, in ports outside Ireland, they could be done using technological means, they could be dispersed, as I said, or simplified in technological terms." Meanwhile, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin has hit out at the lack of a "working relationship" between the Taoiseach and British prime minister. Addressing an audience at the British-Irish Association in Oxford last night, he said Anglo-Irish relations "are worse than at any time in at least the last 30 years". "The Taoiseach and prime minister appear to have no substantive working relationship and go long periods without talking to each other," he said. "It is inconceivable that Bertie Ahern and Tony Blair, or Brian Cowen and Gordon Brown would have gone seven weeks without talking at any time - let alone during a crisis." He added that he "genuinely cannot see how it is constructive" for Simon Coveney to be criticising old videos of Jacob Rees Mogg online. But equally he said the "scale of ignorance of Irish issues" among some in the UK government was "startling". Catherine Murtagh is crossing her fingers that her Co Cavan farm gets the right result in the Bovine TB test - which is being carried out this week - so that things can get back to normal at the family's dairy enterprise. And as insurance policy on the test, Catherine made sure she said some devout prayers for a happy outcome when she was in the Phoenix Park for the recent papal visit. "It was only an unseen badger or deer which caused the TB problem, and that was two years ago, but we have had a clear test completed and are very hopeful about this week's test," says Catherine, who farms in partnership with her husband Tony, son Patrick, and daughter-in-law Emer across 180 acres, with 20 acres under forestry and an additional 70 acres leased near the village of Cross in south Co Cavan. "You would imagine the authorities here and in the North and Britain, where the problem also exists, would have a single coordinated approach to clearing up the Bovine TB problem but they don't and this causes delays," she points out. The Murtaghs had to cull 60 animals from their herd when the TB was discovered and, while compensated by the Department of Agriculture, the outbreak has played havoc with their farm breeding plans, to say nothing of the avalanche of paperwork and form-filling for Agriculture House. Otherwise things are fine on the farm and it's onwards and upwards for the family, who milk 150 Friesians and followers, selling to Lakeland for what Catherine describes as a "good enough cents per litre" current price. The Murtaghs have been in dairying all their lives, though husband Tony dabbled for a while in horse breeding and bred Cruise Hill, who was ridden by Army rider Capt David O'Brien during his career and still holds the RDS Puissance record for an Irish horse. The family have been farming in Cross for four generations now and look certain to get to a fifth generation through their grandson Edward. Although a mere year-and-a-half old, Catherine delights in saying that Edward started "talking to the cows on the farm before the adults". Catherine, who also works with Progressive Genetics as a milk tester, sees Irish farmers as being in the "health business", producing high-quality traceable food for the Irish and international markets She believes this will stand to Irish agriculture when the current Brexit/WTO trade negotiations are completed and once Britain leaves the EU. She is hoping for a positive outcome to this Brexit situation. She praises Agriculture Minister Michael Creed for his recent initiatives on the fodder crisis but would like the Cork politician to bang the cabinet table more on behalf of Irish farmers. "He represents the farmers after all," she adds. Catherine has also developed a small orchard on a half-acre plot on the farm. "It's only producing apples, plums and berries for the family and neighbours," she says. Catherine enjoys experimenting with the various apple varieties and battling with the blackbirds, who gorge themselves on her berries. She recently had to enclose and cover her berries in this ongoing battle. Off-farm, Catherine's main interest is social dancing - "waltzing and jiving in Cross and nearby in Mullagh," as she puts it. "It's good exercise and it is good for the mind and body. We get people from as far away as Kildare, Donegal and Tyrone coming to these dances," she explains. In conversation with Ken Whelan Galway medtech firm Novate is to be sold in a deal that could reach $150m (130m). The buyer is London healthcare firm BTG. Novate makes a "blood filter" known as Sentry. It's designed to tackle blood clots and pulmonary embolisms. The product has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The deal will see Novate's owners paid $20m up front with the potential for another $130m if milestones are met. "This bolt-on acquisition further enhances BTG's strength in the vascular space," said Louise Makin, BTG's CEO. "Novate's unique IVC filter offers our existing customers a highly complementary product." BTG said it expected the deal to boost its adjusted earnings per share from the second full year of ownership. The company was founded by entrepreneurs Chas Taylor and Paul Gilson and has received backing from Seroba Life Sciences, Enterprise Ireland and ACT Venture Capital. Novate's latest annual return lists around 60 shareholders, including the principals and a mix of private Irish backers and international institutions. The Sentry product is designed to stop blood clots migrating to the lungs. BTG plans to launch it on the US market in the coming months. Dr Daniel O'Mahony from Seroba said: "Since Seroba first met with the Novate team, we were confident that the Sentry device would become a truly disruptive product in the protection of patients from PE (pulmonary embolism) and we were excited to help fund the necessary development and clinical trials." "We are delighted with the BTG acquisition as we believe they have the vision, sales force and infrastructure to bring the Sentry device successfully to market in the USA." A number of safety issues have arisen with other blood filter devices designed to achieve the same result as Sentry. As part of the process to get FDA approval its clinical trials showed no evidence that these issues occurred with Sentry - something cited yesterday by Seroba and BTG as a key selling point. At the end of 2016, the company had racked up accumulated losses of almost 37m, according to its most recently filed accounts. It had not generated any revenue at the time as it had not received FDA approval for product sales. The deal is another win for Irish medtech after the sale of Adapt Pharma, led by entrepreneur Seamus Mulligan, to US business Emergent Biosolutions. That deal will see as much as $735m paid for Adapt, with $635m up front and the rest dependent on whether it achieves milestones. Adapt makes an antidote for drug overdoses administered via a nasal spray, making it a much less invasive alternative to other, similar products. Seroba managing partner Peter Sandys said: "Novate is based in Galway, one of the largest medtech hubs in the world. "With more than 200,000 patients dying annually from PE in US hospitals alone, we're delighted that the Sentry device, developed in Ireland, is now an option that doctors can use to treat patients at high risk for this condition. "BTG is a highly synergistic acquirer and a great fit for Sentry," he added. "The sale to BTG represents another endorsement of the strength and quality of the Irish innovation ecosystem in general and of the medtech cluster in particular." Irish power firm Viridian, which trades as Energia, could be put up for sale by its US private equity owner in what would be the company's second change of ownership in as many years. I-Squared bought Viridian in 2016 for about 1bn from Bahrain's Arcapita. This is the second time in about a year that there's been speculation the US firm is looking at selling all or part of Viridian. News agency Bloomberg reported that I-Squared is now sounding out potential buyers to gauge their interest in Viridian. A sale would also come following a tumultuous year for Viridian. In January, Viridian signalled that it was planning to close its gas-fired power stations at Huntstown in north Dublin after one of the plants failed to secure a capacity contract from national grid company EirGrid under the new Integrated Single Electricity Market (ISEM). The ISEM is the new wholesale electricity market arrangement for Ireland and Northern Ireland. The new market arrangements are designed to integrate the all-island electricity market with European electricity markets, enabling the free flow of energy across borders. One of Viridian's Dublin power plants was awarded a capacity contract under the ISEM, but another of the Huntstown plants was not. The plants are operated by Energia. Viridian said at the time that because one of the facilities did not secure a contract, the two plants would not be able to recover their costs from May. But Viridian later successfully appealed the decision by EirGrid not to award one of its plants a capacity contract. An appeals panel had ruled that the Huntstown power plants - which, combined, generate up to 747MW of electricity, or up to 20pc of Ireland's total power output - were needed to maintain security of supply in Dublin. Accounts for Viridian Energy, which trades as Energia, show that it made an operating profit of 39.3m in the financial year to March 2017, compared to 26.5m a year earlier. The company said that this reflected increased residential customers, as well as improved non-residential margins. It had 145,300 residential electricity and gas customer sites at the end of last year, compared to 117,600 a year earlier. Its revenue fell by 32.5m to 801.9m in the 2017 financial year, primarily due to lower non-residential revenue. Viridian's Power NI unit in Northern Ireland generated 445.8m (499m) in revenue in the 2017 financial year, and a 33.1m (37m) operating profit. Meanwhile, interim results released yesterday for Northern Ireland Electricity Networks, the distribution company owned by the ESB, show that excluding amounts attributable to public service obligation charges, its group operating profit in the first six months of the year fell almost 10pc to 46.7m (52.2m), reflecting 7.1m in redundancy costs. Those redundancy costs were incurred because of the impact on the business of new price controls and cost reduction challenges. Q: I work in the Defence Forces and my wife works as a teacher. My aunt, who is a retired teacher, said to me recently that I should check if I qualify for some type of tax relief which is based on my job, and the same for my wife. She was light on detail, but she said that as a teacher for years she was able to get tax relief. A: What your aunt is referring to is flat rate expense relief. And your question is timely because, while it wasn't in place for the Defence Forces previously, it has become available in the last number of weeks. Flat rate expenses are a type of tax relief for PAYE workers in specific trades and professions and if you have a job in one of these areas you can reduce the amount of tax you pay each year by the designated amount, according to commercial director of Taxback.com Eileen Devereux. She estimates that less than 10pc of employees are aware of the flat rate expense allowance. Many are missing out on this "free money" as a result. The amount you can claim really depends on what job you have because the rates are set by Revenue each year for various classes of employee. You can find a full list of jobs and associated reliefs on the Revenue.ie website. In your case you can now claim flat rate deduction of 150 per year. This means you reduce your taxable income by this amount. Your wife is entitled to a deduction of 518 as a teacher. But you do not automatically get the flat rate expenses deduction. You have to claim it yourself. Q: My son is starting college this month. We live in Meath and he is going to college in Dublin. As rental prices for accommodation are proving extortionate, we have decided to get him a car and let him commute. Given that he is 19 and he has only been driving a year and is insured on my car, I know that insurance is going to be a big issue. While I'm ready for a hefty premium quote I'm wondering is there anything we can do to push the premium down? A: Your son will probably be quoted an expensive premium, but there are things you can both do to bring this down. Year one is likely to be relatively expensive, but if your son takes certain steps within the year then more affordable premiums should be available in year two. The steps include getting 12 professional lessons, attaining his full licence and earning a one-year, no-claims bonus. Managing director of CoverInAClick.ie Jonathan Hehir says taking these measures could see the premium slashed by 76pc or more. Consider the impact your car choice will have on your son's insurance. Cars that are older than 10 years tend to be harder to insure. Try to choose one that is maybe no older than seven years. When it comes to engine, a smaller one is better. Don't be tempted to be the primary policyholder on your son's car. Insurers take a zero tolerance approach to this in the event of a claim, Mr Hehir warns. Another sure-fire way of reducing premiums is to obtain a full licence. If he passes the test mid-policy, certain insurers will even refund some of the premium. Finally, choose your insurer wisely. Some companies only want a certain type of driver on their books, while other specialise in getting the best value for other cohorts of drivers. Q: I'm taking in two student lodgers this month. Should I let the taxman know? I just want to make sure that I do everything above board. I'm retired so I'm not sure if that makes a difference. A: Since you are letting to students for the academic year/term in your own home, then this rental income will fall under the rent-a-room relief and you won't need to pay tax on it. Your gross income from rent and related services must not be over 14,000 per year (which is 2018 threshold). You still need to let the taxman know and you can do this online and enter the amount of exempt income on a Form 12. You will then receive the relief due, according to commercial director with Taxback.com Eileen Devereux. The fact you're retired doesn't affect this. You may claim rent-a-room relief even if you are not in receipt of income from any other source. Deirdre McCarthy of InsureMyHouse.ie stresses that it is important to disclose any material fact about the use of your property to your insurers so that you are not to be caught out in the event of a claim. She suggests that anyone thinking about renting out a room or doing AirBnB contact a broker that has access to a panel of underwriters who take on risks such as these. If Centre doesnt end ambiguity on Article 35A, well boycott polls. Srinagar: Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on Saturday said that he wants to convey it explicitly to all in the country that if Article 35A and Article 370 are flawed provisions of the Constitution then the States accession with the Indian union is also wrong. He said, If Article 35A and Article 370 are wrong then the accession is also wrong. Mr Abdullah who is the president of J&Ks oldest political party National Conference (NC) also said that if the Centre does not end ambiguity in its stand on Article35A then it (NC) will boycott also the State Assembly and Lok Sabha elections. The NC had earlier this week in a significant development, announced that it will not contest the upcoming rural and urban bodies elections in the State unless and until the Centre clears its position vis-a-vis Article 35A. It also said that the situation is not conducive in the State for holding these elections. While speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a rally held beside the mausoleum of his father and legendary Kashmiri leader Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah to commemorate his 36th death anniversary, on Saturday Mr. Abdullah said that the NC will not run away from elections but it was the unanimous view of the party men that the Centre should first make its stand on Article 35A known publicly. We will not run away from elections but want justice should be done with us first, he said. Elaborating, he said that it would be impossible for his party to go to the people to seek their votes when the government is not clear on its stand vis-a-vis Article 35A. The Prime Minister like (Adolf) Hitler announced from the ramparts of Lal Qilla (Red Fort) that local bodies elections will be held in J&K later this year, he said. He asked, On one hand, they talk about holding elections and, on the other, want to scrap Article 35A. What will we tell the people? Mr Abdullah added, Agar tumhara woh rasta hai to harama rasta alag hai (If this is the way you have chosen for you then we are poles apart. We wont fight elections, not only this election but also Parliament and Assembly elections. You may bring in whichever people you want to. He asked the government to invite the leaders and representatives of all mainstream political parties for a threadbare discussion on the issues related to Articles 35A and 370 for arriving at consensus. Talk to usinvite all leaders and tell them what do you want to do, he said. Article 35A guarantees special rights and privileges to permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir and thereby prohibiting non-permanent residents from permanent settlement and from acquiring immovable properties, government jobs and scholarships in the State. The provision also empowers the State Legislature to define such permanent residents and provide special rights and privileges to those permanent residents. However, a petition seeking removal of Article 35A is currently pending before a three-judge bench of the SC. An NGO, We the Citizens, believed to be an RSS think-tank, challenged 35A in the SC in 2014 on grounds that it was not added to the Constitution through amendment under Article 368 and that it was never presented before Parliament, and came into effect immediately. The Supreme Court had on August 31 deferred the hearing on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A in lieu of upcoming local body elections in the state. Gardai are assisting in the search for escaped child killer John Clifford, who absconded from custody last Sunday. The notorious criminal failed to return to Maghaberry Prison after being temporarily released to attend an appointment. On Friday a spokeswoman for An Garda Siochana said: "An Garda Siochana are assisting the in the PSNI in their investigation into man unlawfully at large." He had been released from Burren House on the Crumlin Road, a facility housing 22 inmates nearing the end of their sentences and is a satellite unit of Maghaberry. He is believed to possibly be in the Republic after being spotted boarding a train at Lanyon Place Station - formerly Central Station - on Sunday just after 1pm. He was last seen using a distinctive three-wheel mobility scooter with the registration plate EXZ4974, which has since been found. Expand Close Child killer John Clifford is unlawfully at large after failing to return to Maghaberry Prison / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Child killer John Clifford is unlawfully at large after failing to return to Maghaberry Prison He was wearing a dark-coloured beanie-style hat, with glasses and a dark heavy coat and was carrying a dark-coloured backpack. He is 1.75m tall with green eyes and fair hair. He is of medium build with a fresh complexion. Detective Inspector Michael McDonnell said: I would like to thank those members of the public who have contacted us with information. "I would again appeal to anyone who may have seen him, or who may have information about his whereabouts to contact us immediately on 101. I would also appeal directly to John to hand himself in. The 56-year-old killer was originally jailed in 1989 for murdering his niece Sue Ellen. Clifford raped and strangled the eight-year-old, before leaving her on a deserted railway line in 1988. He was freed in 2005 but thrown back behind bars in 2007 for breaching the terms of his probation. A climbing guide has hit out at "scumbag" vandals who spray-painted rocks in one of Kerrys top beauty spots and he went quickly to work to remove the offending material. Piaras Kelly of Kerry Climbing washed off the unwanted message using a wire brush and some good old fashioned elbow grease. "Incidents like this are few and far between but youll always notice the bad egg in a batch. Its a disgrace," he told the Kerryman. This is the second case of graffiti on the Kerry mountains in recent weeks as it first appeared at the iconic Turnpike Rock on the Gap of Dunloe when someone decided it would be a good idea to spray their initials. Piaras takes groups on trips to the mountain, which he calls his office, and he is immensely proud of the fact we live in such a beautiful county. He also believes that people need to take it upon themselves to clean off graffiti where they see it to avoid it from becoming a more serious problem. "The F***k Kerry is the worst as its not just unsightly but also contradictory of the beautiful landscapes that surround it. I think we all need to do something whenever we see stuff like this on the mountain." Piaras concluded: "There are scumbags everywhere but if we just turn a blind eye it only becomes a bigger problem. Its probably worse walking past it as and you would hope that everyone would have the spirit and good will to remove it. "The worry is that if its ignored it will get added to overtime. A day in the mountain is about leaving no trace, and leave the mountain as you see it." Gangster John Gilligan must remain in custody accused of money-laundering offences after being arrested at a Belfast airport with a bag containing nearly 23,000. Gilligan was refused bail at Northern Ireland's High Court amid prosecution claims he had "sold up" and was leaving Ireland for a new life in Spain. A judge heard all the cash in the 66-year-old's suitcase came from family, friends and the sale of belongings such as 5,000 for a Rolex watch. Gilligan, with an address at Greenforth Crescent, Dublin, is charged with attempting to remove criminal property. He was stopped at Belfast International Airport on August 23 as he was about to board a flight to Alicante in southern Spain. Crown lawyer Kate McKay said Gilligan informed a UK Border Force officer he had 23,000 in his luggage. Searches of a bag removed from the plane confirmed two bundles of cash which, along with currency he was carrying, came to 22,330. Gilligan was arrested and taken to Antrim police station where he told National Crime Agency officers the money was a combination of donations from relatives and the sale of property. The cash was said to have been given to him to help start a new life in Spain. Opposing bail, Ms McKay expressed major concerns he may flee. "He has effectively sold up in the island of Ireland, and was planning to leave the jurisdiction when apprehended," the barrister said. Defence counsel Plunkett Nugent rejected claims his client may abscond and not return. Denying bail, however, Judge Patrick Kinney cited concerns the accused may flee. A primary school in Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's home town has been told to get its house in order after inspectors found a "serious breakdown in trust" in key relationships. Inspectors from the Department of Education said the problem at the 450-pupil multi-denominational Castleknock Educate Together National School, Dublin, was affecting its ability to enhance pupils' learning experiences and was causing low staff morale and poor communications systems. The findings are based on a Whole School Evaluation (WSE) inspection conducted last January, the report of which is now was published. According to the report, breakdowns of trust between the board and the parent-teacher association, the board and the in-school leadership team as well as within the in-school leadership team were contributing to weaknesses in the quality of leadership and management. Inspectors noted there had been "concerted and sustained efforts" by the board, principal, staff and parents to address many issues but, at the time of the inspection, matters remained unresolved. "It is now incumbent on all school personnel, board members and parents to work collaboratively to address unresolved issues in order to realise the full potential of the school," the inspectors advised. In its response to the findings, which is included in the WSE report, the school board of management said "significant efforts have been made to date to address complex relationship difficulties over the past number of years" including engaging the service of outside professionals. It added that alongside that "significant investment", it would work on remaining unresolved issues and would continue to seek guidance from the Department of Education's inspectorate on how to address these matters. When contacted by the Irish Independent yesterday, a spokesperson for the school said it had no further comment to make beyond what is published in the WSE. A WSE looks at all aspects of a school and the report included many positive findings, including "very good" pupil attendance levels, while support for pupils' well-being was described as a "particular strength". Inspectors said teaching, learning and pupil achievement were of a "high standard" overall, although they found "quite a variance" in the quality of teaching across the 10 mainstream classrooms and six support settings they visited. They said that the board and the principal were to be "highly commended" for their work regarding the upgrading of the school's infrastructure, and the provision of an attractive learning environment and many educational resources. The heartbroken family of a young woman who died suddenly are taking comfort from the fact that she will help up to 30 people through organ donation. Hilary Ferris, a retail manager from Newtownabbey who would have celebrated her 24th birthday on September 18, passed away within three days of being diagnosed with a rare brain cyst. She was taken to hospital on Sunday and underwent two emergency operations to drain a build-up of fluid caused by a chordoid glioma cyst that was putting pressure on her brain. Despite doctors' best efforts, she died on Wednesday, surrounded by her parents, Ivan and Heather, sister Erin (28) and boyfriend Gavin Carmichael (26), who had planned to propose this Christmas after four years together. Hilary had been due to move to England to join Gavin soon. Speaking yesterday, Hilary's father, a Presbyterian minister, said "the word 'devastated' doesn't come anywhere near" how his family is feeling. "Up until 6.30am on Sunday, Hilary was a normal child, then suddenly this whole process started, which ended with her being pronounced dead on Wednesday," he added. "They think she may have had the condition since birth, and from our point of view, with our faith, we believe that Hilary's days were numbered and her time was up, although that doesn't make it any easier for us." Recalling the events that led up to his daughter's death, he said Hilary had been suffering pain thought to have been linked to her sinuses. "Hilary had been having problems at the top of her nose one or two months back, which were thought to be linked to her sinuses," he explained. "She got something to help clear it and there was nothing else wrong. "Two weeks ago she started getting a pain at the top of her nose and into her head, which she still felt was linked to the sinuses - we all did. "On Saturday night she had been out with a friend from work and her head started to get very sore and she was feeling sick. "At 6.30am on Sunday she phoned and asked me to pick her up, and when I collected her she just wanted to lie down and sleep. "We contacted the out-of-hours doctor, who phoned and told us to take her to hospital. "We took her to the Mater at 12pm on Sunday, and blood tests showed her white cells weren't normal. Then they did a CT scan on Sunday evening and it showed that there was a cyst putting pressure on her brain, causing fluid to build up. "They got a special ambulance to begin preparing Hilary for surgery on the way to The Royal, and she went straight to the operating table at 10pm on Sunday night. "They put in a tap to ease the pressure, and the surgeon said she was in a very bad way - that she was a very sick wee girl and he suspected he might have to do another operation. "There was another CT scan and he phoned us five minutes after we left to say she was back on the table for another operation to drain the fluid." At 5am on Monday morning, Hilary was moved into intensive care and placed in an induced coma in the hopes it would help her brain recover. "Everything was going well, then suddenly there was a problem with the vital stats on Tuesday lunch time, so they decided to remove all drugs and started checking her signs at 1pm on Wednesday," Mr Ferris said. "Shortly after 4pm, they confirmed that she had sadly died. On Wednesday evening I had to go and inform my parents and my wife Heather's parents, who are in their 80s, of her death. We are still coming to terms with what has happened." Despite their grief, Hilary's loved ones are drawing comfort from the fact that up to 30 people will benefit from her organs. "She was a fantastic daughter, my youngest child, and she signed the organ donation register for all her organs as she felt strongly that if she couldn't use her organs then others should be able to," Mr Ferris said. "They were able to take 20 samples of organs, and we have been told that 25 to 30 people could benefit. "Within two weeks we will receive a letter detailing all the people that have been helped. "This was Hilary's choice -even though she is dead, she is saving lives, and that gives us comfort. "I would encourage everyone to sign the organ donation register." Mr Ferris said his daughter, a former Belfast Royal Academy student who graduated from Edinburgh's Queen Margaret University with a first in marketing, public relations and events management, was "kind" and "glamorous." "She worked in a supervisory management role at REISS in Victoria Square; she was quiet to a degree, but she was outgoing and made friends easily and put people at ease," he continued. "She was a lovely girl, kind and caring, who was part of a group of six close female friends who had come through school and stuck together. "On Thursday night,three of the five girls who are left appeared at my door - the other two are still in London - and one by one they hugged me and sobbed their hearts out. "They went up to Hilary's room and they FaceTimed the other two so that the five of them were together in Hilary's room. They felt Hilary's presence. They wanted to be close to her and remember her. "Her funeral is on Monday and the girls will be involved, as well as Gavin. "Gavin was going to propose at Christmas. He was about to ask my permission, and the answer would have been, 'Go ahead'." Mr Carmichael also paid tribute to the young woman who he had hoped to make his wife. "We met in Edinburgh at university, and our anniversary was on Christmas Day - we would have been together four years," he said. "She meant everything to me. Hilary was feisty, glamorous and determined, and on Saturday we had packed up the car with her things so I could take them to Southampton. "I was going to drive the stuff over and she was going to fly. I thought that we had a bright future." Hilary's funeral will take place at 11.30am on Monday at Whiteabbey Presbyterian Church, followed by burial at Carnmoney Cemetery. Legacy: The Phoenix founder John Mulcahy was both an outsider and part of the establishment Josh Mulcahy, the publisher of 'The Phoenix' who has died at the age of 86, liked to cock a snook at the establishment while, at the same time, being very much a part of it. It is a mark of his acumen as a publisher that he kept the satirical magazine going for decades in a notoriously precarious business, with a circulation hovering around 20,000. Journalists, politicians, legal eagles and business people, whose foibles were covered in its pages in gory detail, might complain that it was rarely as funny as 'Private Eye', its British counterpart. But, at the same time, the movers and shakers of the establishment could not wait to read the latest gossip. Mulcahy's timing in founding 'The Phoenix' in 1982 was perfect. By the early 1980s, newspapers could still be stodgy, somewhat humourless and deferential. Some might baulk at some the magazine's political stances - a type of Dublin 4 republicanism - but Mulcahy, who lived in an elegant period home in Ranelagh, moved deftly among the great and the good. When the art connoisseur joined the board of the National Gallery in 2008, he lined up alongside society figures such as the Knight of Glin, businessman Lochlann Quinn and Loretta Brennan Glucksman. For many years he could be heard as the distinctive voice of 'The Phoenix' alter ego 'Goldhawk' on radio ads for the magazine. Mulcahy was born on May 17, 1932, in Perth, Australia, where his grandfather had emigrated from Tipperary half a century earlier. His father Daniel died when he was a child and his mother Josephine brought her family back to Ireland, settling in Ballinakill, Co Laois. Educated at Clongowes, Mulcahy studied economics and history at Trinity College Dublin. After working in the motor industry, in 1968 he took the plunge into publishing when he bought 'Hibernia' magazine. Mulcahy transformed it into the first incarnation of 'The Sunday Tribune'. His involvement was shortlived, as he sold his share of the paper and set up 'The Phoenix'. There were visits to the courts to defend libel actions. And Mulcahy could probably paper the walls of the magazine's headquarters above Larry Murphy's pub on Baggot Street with solicitors' letters. In 2008, Anglo Irish Bank even threatened the magazine with an injunction for saying the bank was technically bankrupt. He bought the 'Irish Arts Review', a quarterly publication, in January 2002. Again, it was good timing as the art market in was taking off. Mulcahy is survived by his wife Nuala and seven children, Nick, Michael, Stephen, Brigid, Jack, Hugh and Aengus. He was predeceased by daughter Natasha. The mother of an Irish woman who was raped and murdered in India wants a direct apology from the Taoiseach after she was declined a meeting because her daughter had travelled on a UK passport. Danielle McLaughlin (28) from Buncrana in Co Donegal, was found dead in a secluded spot in Canacona, an area of Goa popular with holidaymakers, in March last year. Her mother requested a meeting with Leo Varadkar to discuss how families could be better supported when a loved one dies abroad. But Andrea Brannigan says she was told by Government officials that it was "probably not worthwhile" as her daughter was not an Irish citizen. Expand Close Vikhat Bhagat, accused of raping and murdering Danielle McLaughlin, is escorted by a police officer in India / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Vikhat Bhagat, accused of raping and murdering Danielle McLaughlin, is escorted by a police officer in India The distraught mother was advised to contact British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. In a statement, the Department of Taoiseach said officials "incorrectly concluded" Ms McLaughlin was a British citizen as Ms Brannigan said she was travelling on a UK passport. The statement said: "The Taoiseach is aware of the tragic circumstances surrounding the death of Irish citizen Danielle McLaughlin, and extends his deepest sympathy to Danielle's family. "The letter received by the Department of the Taoiseach from Danielle's mother indicated that Danielle was travelling on a British passport, leading officials handling the matter to incorrectly conclude that Danielle was a British citizen. "This was the basis on which the office advised Danielle's family that the matter would be most appropriately handled by the British authorities. "Having now clarified the facts surrounding this case, the department can confirm that consular services of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have and will continue to be provided to Danielle's family, as appropriate. "The department sincerely regrets the misunderstanding that arose in this case." Mr Varadkar is expected to travel to Co Donegal on Tuesday for an unrelated matter. Pat "The Cope" Gallagher, a Fianna Fail TD for the area, said he was shocked and disappointed at how the matter has been dealt with. He said: "Danielle's mother and family requested a meeting with the Taoiseach but this week received what I can only call a reply lacking in all compassion, stating that due to the fact that Danielle was not an Irish citizen the Taoiseach would not meet with them. "This is a disgraceful response to send to anyone, but to send a response to a mother who lost their daughter in such a horrific way is beyond the pale. "While I am led to believe that the Taoiseach will now meet Andrea this week, the lack of compassion and consideration beggars belief. "There has been an eruption of anger and shock here in Donegal since the family received this reply. "While I don't believe it actually matters, Danielle held an Irish passport previously and had lived most of her live here in Donegal. "I spoke with Danielle's mother Andrea earlier today and their trauma and anguish has been exacerbated by this callous act. "What they have been put through has been made worse by the lack of empathy and compassion from the Taoiseach's office. "The statement from the Government apologising is nothing more than the Government's spin unit working overtime. "I have written to An Taoiseach expressing my concern at how this matter has been handled." Priscilla Grainger remembers a time she thought she was going to die. After she was thrown against a radiator and left in agony with a broken jaw and injured ribs, Priscilla thought that her time had come. The Dublin mother-of-one's message to other women in this situation today is simple she says: "Get a plan and get out now." Priscilla recalls how she was married for just two days when her new husband began abusing her. "I met the man of my dreams and he was an absolute gentleman up until we decided to get married. On the second night of our honeymoon in Florida he beat me senseless because I didn't do what I was told. "We were having a few drinks and I was tired so I decided to go up to the room but he wanted to stay down and have a few drinks. I went up to the room and read my book and the next thing he came up and said 'you left me on my own down there... you'll do as you're told'. "He had never done anything like that before so I laughed and he got very angry. He said 'you're married to me now, you shouldn't have left me' and I told him not to speak to me like that. He just pushed me and hit me at the side of the neck. Then he kicked me in my side. I was absolutely shocked." Priscilla said the next morning her new husband said she was "blowing it out of proportion" and that he had had too many drinks. "I put it down to be a one-off. I noticed quickly after that he started to take control of our finances. I realised there was a problem, but love is blind." She added that the abuse continued when she returned home after their honeymoon. "After a year, I had enough and walked out. He pleaded that he would get help for his gambling so I came back. He got help, but it didn't last. Soon I was pregnant with my daughter Ainie." Priscilla said she was abused by her husband twice during this pregnancy. "He threw a vase at me and hurt me quite badly. It brought me into early labour and they had to give me injections to develop her organs. "After Ainie was born, things got worse. It got so bad because he was jealous of the baby. He said his needs weren't being taken care of. He wanted a mother, not a wife. I had to work in the family business and I would come home and he would be sitting on the couch with Ainie, and she wouldn't have been changed since I left that morning at 7am. When I asked why Ainie wasn't looked after he would become very abusive." When Ainie was nine-months-old, Priscilla made her escape. "I left on New Year's Eve in the middle of the night. I knew he was out drinking so I took Ainie and we drove around the city. I had hot water bottles in the car to keep her warm. I had nowhere to go. My parents were in Leitrim but it was too late in the night to go down to them. "I got out for a week and he pleaded with me. He threatened suicide, he threatened everything. I went back to my death. I reckon he would have killed me. He beat me senseless. I didn't want to go to the pub one night so he flung me against a radiator and I fell and broke my jaw. My ribs were injured. I never realised. I thought it was normal in a marriage." Priscilla said she didn't go to the hospital because she felt that nobody would believe her. "The next morning I couldn't move. I went to a chiropractor and he pleaded with me to go to the guards and I did. A fantastic woman guard helped me and said if I didn't do something, she would talk to social services about Ainie so I said I would take action. The next morning, my father died and I wasn't strong enough to take any action." The mother-of-one said that all of a sudden, the physical abuse stopped, but her husband began mentally abusing her. "He mentally destroyed me. I'd turn on the cooker and he'd turn it off." The final straw came for Priscilla when she heard her husband was having affairs. "I put a safety order in place and I threw him out. I had to get a security company to help me throw him out. I got the strength and I said enough is enough." Today more than a decade later, Priscilla and her daughter Ainie have set up an organisation called 'Stop Domestic Violence in Ireland' to help other women escape domestic violence. "We help women plan their escapes as well as offering counselling, legal advice and emergency supplies. We always tell women that you need to plan a month in advance your escape from your abuser." The organisation also campaigns to get domestic violence recognised as a crime in Ireland. "If you're at home and your partner hits you, that's not a crime. We're fighting to get it legalised and to get gardai trained in dealing with domestic violence. A lot of our victims feel blame for their abuse and they're not taking seriously by gardai. "If domestic abuse isn't recognised as a crime, it tells victims that their crimes aren't important. When I went to the guards in 2010 I was told to go home and that my husband just probably had a couple of pints in him. The Government doesn't realise how serious of an issue this is." In 2017, Women's Aid responded to 18,197 calls to their helpline and recorded 19,385 disclosures of domestic violence against women and children. On October 13, 'Stop Domestic Violence in Ireland' is holding an event on North Circular Road in aid of Dress for Success. "We have a number of music stars and beauty experts coming to the event and we're hoping to raise 3,000 to donate to Dress for Success who work with victims of domestic violence." To find out more about this event, or to get in contact with Priscilla, you can visit their Facebook page here If you have been affected by any of these issues you can contact Safe Ireland on 1800 341 900, Women's Aid on 1800 341 900 or see a list of local help centres here Hospital emergency departments are not prepared for the threat of another winter of record overcrowding and are at risk of becoming "war zones" within weeks, nurses have warned. As temperatures are set to dip and the cold and flu season beckons, union representatives warned the HSE is still without a "winter plan" to ease the trolley crisis. The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) claimed yesterday the HSE more or less admitted it did not have a plan during a meeting at the Workplace Relations Commission yesterday. The INMO also said HSE officials admitted that they have been unable to fill 169 nursing posts in emergency departments across Ireland, for which they have funding. INMO director of industrial relations Tony Fitzpatrick said: "On top of this, an additional 57 nurses would be required to provide minimum levels of safe care, according to recognised staffing ratios. Yet extra funding for the posts is not available." The union is facing into talks with employers after the report of the Public Services Pay Commission last week failed to recommend an overall wage increase. It recommended that the nurses allowances be increased and the time it takes to reach maximum pay reduced from 20 to 17 years. Mr Fitzpatrick said that during the meeting officials also revealed that they have not decided how to ensure safe staffing in emergency departments this winter. He claimed they also could not say how they would re-allocate services to ease emergency departments, and health officials also were not able to guarantee replacements for nurses who are on maternity leave. "It's impossible to think that things could get any worse. But winter is coming and there's still no plan. It will simply be impossible to provide safe care. "Emergency departments are overcrowded now, in summer. They'll be war zones once winter comes. "Despite record overcrowding this summer, the HSE still don't have a plan to deal with winter. Community health services are being cut, so emergency departments will face a tsunami of desperate patients with nowhere else to go. "The recruitment and retention crisis is deepening, with hundreds of nursing vacancies in hospitals across Ireland. Nurses and midwives will be protesting at some of the worst-affected hospitals in the coming weeks. We cannot go on like this. The HSE has to be honest with the public." In response a spokesman for the HSE said emergency department attendances and admissions continue to rise. He said: "A&E departments are under increasing pressure to meet this new level of demand and ensure the provision of timely, safe and effective care for patients. The HSE remains committed to minimising delays for patients." The HSE told the WRC hearing the number of nurses employed in emergency departments had increased from 1,231 at the end of 2015 to 1,500 now. "Winter planning is currently well under way and the HSE is working with the Department of Health, hospital groups and community health organisations to finalise plans as quickly as possible to ensure preparedness for winter." While 169 posts are currently vacant, across 29 emergency departments including the children's hospital, a significant number are filled through overtime and agency staff. Women at the centre of the CervicalCheck scandal and bereaved relatives are to be briefed on the findings of the report of Dr Gabriel Scally next week. Dr Scally delivered his scoping report to Health Minister Simon Harris yesterday. It examined a range of issues, including safety of cervical screening. He spent months examining documents obtained from the HSE and has visited the laboratories where tests are carried out. A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said the report will be forwarded to the Attorney General prior to submission to the Government and publication. "The minister intends to meet Dr Scally next week to be briefed on his report, after which the minister will bring it to Cabinet. The minister also intends to liaise with Dr Scally on arrangements to brief the women and their families on the contents of the report," she added. The BJP president gave credit to the team of Atal-Advani for bringing the party at the present level from the days of having just two MPs. New Delhi: The BJP on Saturday sounded the poll bugle in its national executive meet and gave the slogan of Ajeya (invincible) BJP for the coming Assembly and Lok Sabha polls, asking its cadre to remember just two things Bharat Mata (Mother India) and Kamal (partys lotus poll symbol) for the next few months to ensure a bigger victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 as compared to 2014. Insisting that the party would bag a bigger majority in the next Lok Sabha polls, the BJP chief asserted that while the Modi government is working for making India, the Congress is working for breaking India and termed the Opposition partys effort to stitch a non-BJP front as an illusion and a myth, which peddles lies. The saffron party has also decided to fight the Lok Sabha elections under Mr Shahs presidentship and extend his tenure beyond January when his three-year term comes to an end. The partys organisational polls scheduled for January are likely to be suspended to give Mr Shah an extension in the top post. In his presidential address on the inaugural day of the two-day BJP national executive meet, Mr Shah sought to build a narrative about his party around the theme of development, especially targeting the poor, and nationalism, while painting the Opposition as those sympathising with urban Naxals and working for breaking India in its frustration over electoral losses. The BJP meet at the Ambedkar International Centre and was attended by party top brass including Mr Modi, party veteran L.K. Advani, Union ministers, state presidents and other senior leaders from the central and state units. Despite many political watchers suggesting that the BJP may find it hard to repeat its 2014 feat, Mr Shah said that the party would easily win in 19 states where it is in power and also emerge victorious in states such as West Bengal, Odisha and Telangana due to anti-incumbency factor against regional parties in power there. The BJP president asked leaders and cadre to shun complacency and take the message of the Modi governments achievement to each and every house, asserting that the Central governments schemes have touched each and every section of the society. Union defence minister Nirmala Sithaman, who briefed the media about the closed door national executive meeting, quoted Mr Shah as saying, We will return to power strongly and with a good majority. We will win with a bigger majority than what we got in 2014. The BJP had won 282 seats out of 543 in the 2014 parliamentary election. She said in the beginning of his presidential address Mr Shah paid homage to former Prime Minister and late party patriarch Atal Behari Vajpayee, who passed away last month, and said that the void created in Indian politics due to his demise is impossible to fill. The BJP president gave credit to the team of Atal-Advani for bringing the party at the present level from the days of having just two MPs. Exuding confidence, Mr Shah said that the BJP is stronger in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Mizoram, where Assembly polls is scheduled by the end of this year. Telangana where the Assembly got dissolved recently may also go to polls along with the other four states. While the first three state are BJP ruled, Mizoram has a Congress government and TRS K. Chandrasekhar Rao is the caretaker chief minister in Telangana. Listing achievements of the government including increase in the minimum support price for farmers, Ayushman Bharat scheme, constitutional status for the backward classes commission, unhindered urea supply and improved economic indicators, Mr Shah asked party leaders to challenge the Opposition, including former finance minister P. Chidambaram and company with facts. The BJP is likely to bring in two resolutions, one on current political scenario in the country and other on the benefits given by the government to the agriculture and allied sectors, sources said. Mr Shah also broadly referred to the recent legislation by the government to overturn the Supreme Courts decision on the SC/ST Act, which has angered the BJPs core votebank, the upper castes. The government was forced to bring in the legislation after violent protests by dalit groups, who felt the apex court had diluted the Act by doing away with the provision for immediate arrest of person who commits atrocities against dalits. Mr Shah said the opposition has been making baseless allegations against it over dalit issues. He alleged that the Congress was playing caste and appeasement politics and trying to spread false propaganda against the government but people will give it a befitting reply. He said political outfits that are trying to form a Mahagathbandhan against the BJP were defeated by it in 2014. Terming the Opposition as disruptionists, Mr Shah said they no longer seem to be representing the voice of the people, referring to the recent no-trust motion moved by the Opposition parties in Parliament against the government, which got defeated. Mr Shah said that there was no reason for the motion and accused the main Opposition of being in denial mode after it was defeated with a big margin. Mr Shah also touched on the issues of National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and the triple talaq. Taking a dig at senior Congress leader and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who had recently said that the Modi government had failed on all fronts, Mr Shah said that while Dr Singh follows his party, Mr Modi leads his. Hitting back at Mr Chidambaram over his criticism of the governments economic policies, especially demonetisation, Mr Shah said over three lakh shell companies were shut down hampering black money operations and the number of income-tax assesses has doubled after the note ban. The new 300m National Maternity Hospital will not be completed until well into 2023, a year later than anticipated. Construction is set to begin in 2020, but it will take three-and-a-half years to complete. The hospital is expected to proceed with five consultation rooms for doctors seeing private patients, although they may yet be redundant. The new facility will be built on the campus in St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin. However, under proposals in Slaintecare, the blueprint for the future of the health service, it is recommended that private practice be removed from public hospitals. The feasibility of the plan is currently being examined by a group chaired by Donal de Buitleir and a report is due at the end of the year. There are five private consultation rooms in a corridor labelled 'private clinics' in the hospital plans. The hospital has defended this, saying that consultants will pay rent for dedicated rooms where they see private patients. The new maternity hospital will be constructed in accordance with the planning permission granted by An Bord Pleanala. The HSE said the planning for the hospital - which will move from its cramped location in Holles St - was under way. A spokeswoman said it was a priority project. She said: "(Anti-fungal) works to support the development have commenced on site, continued during the summer months and are due to conclude in the last quarter of this year. "Tenders for site-enabling works, principally comprising temporary facilities, campus services works and service diversions have been received and evaluated. "These enabling works are programmed to commence on site by the end of 2018 and will continue into 2019." Tenders have also been received and evaluated for site preparatory works comprising construction of the multi-storey car-park extension and the new pharmacy block. "These works are due to commence by year end and will continue for 15 months approximately," added the spokeswoman. The detailed design for the substantive development is on-going and is programmed for completion by the end of the year. "It is anticipated that the tender documents for these substantive works will issue in 2019, with a planned commencement on site in early 2020," she said. The construction is expected to take three-and-a-half years following commencement. Department of Health officials have not been attending planning meetings in the row over the inquiry into the death of Malak Thawley. However, they are expected to now resume participation in the process. Shameful: Dee Cummins took this picture of her mother Gladys (93) in the Mater A&E A woman has expressed her outrage after her 93-year-old mother was forced to spend 25 hours on a chair waiting for treatment in an emergency department. Gladys Cummins went to Dublin's Mater Emergency Department on Monday afternoon and her daughter Dee Cummins, from Glasnevin, said she was not seen for another 25 hours. Speaking on RTE 'Liveline', Ms Cummins said she felt compelled to share a photo of her mother in a hope it would spur action to ease the trolley crisis. "I felt people needed to see this," she said. "I was hoping Simon Harris might do something about it. "We know there is no easy solution but surely we can afford people some dignity when they are in an extremely vulnerable position." A spokesperson for the HSE said the organisation regretted any delay experienced by patients. The Mater University Hospital apologised to any patients who had faced long delays in the last 48 hours. A Dublin student has told of her shock at only having her pregnancy diagnosed at 37 weeks - as she had no bump, baby movements or morning sickness. In the new RTE Documentary On One, Laura Molloy told how she gave birth to the biggest baby on her ward in the Coombe - at a whopping 8lbs - just weeks after she found out she was nearly full-term in her pregnancy in April 2015. The DIT student had turned to Google to get to the bottom of symptoms of tiredness and heaviness, but ruled out pregnancy as tests repeatedly came up as negative and she had never missed a period. Ailment In the documentary The Announcement, Laura reveals how she initially thought the previous J1 summer in Los Angeles could be connected to the mysterious ailment, which made her legs feel like they had been pumped full of air and swelled the fingers on both hands. She even briefly considered that she might have a tumour, before she eventually went to her college doctor, who began to prod her stomach despite having just carried out a negative pregnancy test. Expand Close Laura Molloy with her partner Luke / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Laura Molloy with her partner Luke "She says the only reason she could think of was that I was already past 28 weeks and the hormone that gives you a positive pregnant test has already left [my] system," said Laura. "I had no symptoms, no bump, no morning sickness and no feeling of any movement." However, the 25-year-old had her condition finally confirmed that day by an ultrasound in the Coombe, when she was practically full-term. "The [doctor] takes out this wand and puts it to my stomach and all I could hear was a [heartbeat] and I'm thinking at least I'm not dead yet," she said. "She says, 'that's not your heartbeat, it's the baby's'. "Then she tells me I'm 37 weeks. Past my first trimester, my second trimester and in the final stages of my third trimester. I was in complete shock. "The doctor said the bump was measuring at 17 weeks, but the baby's femur length was measuring at 37 weeks." The doctor told her she had a rare blood type and she would have been high-risk at three months, let alone eight months. Laura's partner Luke was shell-shocked to find he was set to be a father in three weeks. When their baby, Finn, came into the world in May 2015, the nurses nicknamed him 'Buster'. "At eight pounds he was the biggest and heaviest baby on the ward," Laura said on the documentary. "Looking at the size of Finn I was just amazed. I couldn't understand how the hell I had nearly got to full term without showing any symptoms of pregnancy." Charles Byrne has said that he doesn't believe in abortion under any circumstances Mr Byrne (41), who lives in Drogheda, Co Louth, had his application for permission to challenge the Yes vote refused by the president of the High Court in July. A MAN who attempted to bring a legal challenge against the results of the abortion referendum has compared the vote to legalising slavery. Charles Byrne has also called for all Irish bishops to be fired, as he branded them cowards and claimed they didnt show leadership on the divisive issue. Mr Byrne (41), who lives in Drogheda, Co Louth, had his application for permission to challenge the Yes vote refused by the president of the High Court in July. Mr Justice Peter Kelly ruled that the bid had not met the necessary legal test set by the Referendum Act before a court can permit a petition to be brought. Expand Close Charles Byrne has said that he doesn't believe in abortion under any circumstances / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Charles Byrne has said that he doesn't believe in abortion under any circumstances The Act requires a petition can be brought only if the intended petitioner has prima facie evidence of matters likely to materially affect the referendum outcome. Mr Byrne, who works as a musician and piano teacher, told Independent.ie about what motivated his high-profile action. He said: Ive been involved in the pro-life movement for many years. My main issue is whether its possible to take human rights from one section of society? If we were to vote on slavery tomorrow that would infringe on some peoples rights so even if the majority of people were to vote to legalise slavery that doesnt make it right. Expand Close Charles Byrne, a musician, pictured leaving the Four Courts Pic: Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Charles Byrne, a musician, pictured leaving the Four Courts Pic: Collins My thinking was that it was fundamentally wrong because you cannot grant the right to end someones life. He continued to say that legally he took issue with the governments role in the campaign in the run up to the historic vote. My legal team argued that the government involved themselves in the referendum itself meant they werent upholding the constitution, which states that the States acknowledges the life of the unborn and will do everything they can to uphold the constitution. So surely the fact they were actively campaigning to remove that right is a breach? The unborn dont have a voice, they cant speak up and say, what about us? So they can get lost in this. The Government should speak for all people, even those who dont have a voice, Mr Byrne said. I dont think the referendum will have any negative effect on the government because I think the propaganda worked and people bought the abortion lie. The Yes vote passed by 66 per cent and, while many were shocked, Mr Byrne claims that he wasnt surprised. He alleges that a number of factors are behind the result. To be frank I think the pro-life side are in complete disarray when it comes to politics, theres a lack of leadership, a lack of vision and maybe philosophically people are coming from different areas. So while there may be people who value the pro-life opinions and ideas, there might not be any real political will to make them a reality. I saw it on the street, there was a real lack of engagement from people who didnt even want to discuss it, they seemed to have just bought into the media position and had a certain stance on this. I wasnt surprised at all by the result. I also thought the lack of church leadership was appalling, I think all the bishops should be sacked, they were a waste of time, it was appalling. They're not real leaders at all, theyre cowards, I think theyre too afraid of offending people to actually say anything, so nobody knows what they even stand for, the sheep were left without a shepherd in a way. "I think a lot of the pro-life side were afraid to say anything strong for fear it would offend someone, he said. He stresses that he doesnt think termination is justifiable under any circumstances, saying we can come up with better solutions, its not fair on that human being, theyve been conceived and all they have is their life." Mr Byrne adds that he feels that we can expect to see protests when termination is legalised here. He says: I think the pro-life movement will only become stronger once abortion becomes a reality here. I know that once its legalised generally pro-life movements get more donations, it becomes stronger, more people get involved. Its yet to be seen but I can imagine therell be protests guaranteed outside of these abortion mills. Ive been involved in peaceful protests outside of these mills in America and it was an experience Ill never forget, it was very sad and it was all down to the simple thing of do you believe this human being is special and deserves to be defended. While he mentions he felt some intimidation during his legal action, he doesnt regret it. He notes: I didnt take to it naturally, I think some people might enjoy the process but I found it quite daunting. I didnt look too much online, I was stressed enough as I was. I tried to look at it philosophically, I was thinking of the unborn and I hope that I ever need someone to stand up for me they would. I wasnt trying to be a troublemaker or waste state resources or anything, I just wanted to stand up for the unborn. I think the pro-life is still quite bruised after the referendum but I got some quiet support, people wishing me well and being lovely. In response to Mr Byrne's claims that the Church didn't show leadership in the run up to the referendum and his calls for bishops to be fired, a spokeswoman for the Irish Bishops' Conference referred Independent.ie to comments made by Archbishop Eamon Martin, Primate of All-Ireland, on the day of the referendum result. He said: During the referendum campaign the Church sought to proclaim the Gospel of Life that every human life is a precious gift from God including the lives of all mothers and their unborn children. Choose Life, we said. Every human life is beautiful, every human life is sacred, every human life is precious. This remains true after the referendum result. The right to life is not given to us by the Constitution of Ireland or by any law. All human beings have it as of right, whether we are wealthy or poor, healthy or sick. Like many others who advocated a NO vote in the referendum, I am deeply saddened that we appear to have obliterated the right to life of all unborn children from our constitution and that this country is now on the brink of legislating for a liberal abortion regime." Mr Byrne alleged in his legal bid irregularities in the conduct of the referendum and registration of voters. He also complained about statements made by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Health Simon Harris during the referendum campaign. The State said none of the matters raised met the criteria for a petition. Mr Byrne also alleged the Referendum Commission failed to meet its statutory obligations in relation to providing fair and accurate information in its guide and website. The Commission denied those claims. In his judgment, Mr Justice Kelly said Mr Byrnes complaints about the Commissions material must be dismissed as without foundation or substance. He also dismissed claims of unconstitutional conduct during the referendum campaign by the government, particularly the Taoiseach and the Minister for Health, in advocating a Yes vote. He rejected arguments the duty imposed by Article 40.3.3 meant the right to life of the unborn is something all organs of government, including the judiciary, must support and no government minister could encourage a yes vote. There is nothing in the Constitution to prevent the government campaigning for any change in the Constitution and accepting Mr Byrnes argument would lead to the bizarre and absurd result of government ministers having to be totally silent on a referendum proposal they had introduced. He dismissed other complaints by Mr Byrne about misstatements allegedly made by the Taoiseach and Minister for Health during the referendum. The judge also dismissed Mr Byrnes claims of entitlement to bring a petition on grounds of alleged electoral irregularities, including about polling cards being provided irregularly and about people being removed from the register and then restored. The material provided to support these claims did not amount to prima facie evidence as required by the Referendum Act and nor had he shown the alleged matters were such as to materially affect the outcome. Speculation is not evidence, he said. EU Commissioner Phil Hogan described US President Donald Trump as an "America-first bully" as controversy over his Irish visit continues to mount. Former Fine Gael minister Mr Hogan said Ireland has a "very strong relationship" with the USA, with 40 million people in that country calling themselves Irish, and the office of the US presidency "would have to be respected". However, he added: "It's very difficult to understand why the president of the United States would accuse the European Union of being a security threat in order to impose tariffs on our products - we have yet to get a good explanation for that." Mr Hogan described Mr Trump as "a businessman of a different kind to what we've been used to" and compared him to a "cattle trader" who is in it "for the short-term". In his address to the Kennedy Summer School, Mr Hogan said the EU "does not welcome the America-first bully" and said it was "rather tragic" that Donald Trump views the EU as "a foe" after a "wonderful relationship" with the US for many years. Earlier, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney accepted Mr Trump's visit will definitely prove "controversial". The Tanaiste repeated the Taoiseach's blunt admission that the Government was "a little taken by surprise" by news of the US president's visit a week ago. But he insisted that as the democratically elected of the USA, President Trump will be welcomed to Ireland in November. "It will be controversial. Everything Donald Trump does these days is controversial. He is followed by an army of journalists and camera people," Mr Coveney said. The Tanaiste also did not agree with former Taoiseach Enda Kenny's assertion that Mr Trump was "racist". But he repeatedly stressed he disagreed with Mr Trump on many issues. The Tanaiste said every US president since Ronald Reagan in 1984 had visited Ireland, with just one exception. A visit by President Trump was expected at some stage. Mr Coveney said the Irish Government and President Trump differed on key issues including climate change, migration, international trade tariffs, and funding for education. Welcoming President Trump did not amount to endorsing his policies or views, he said. He added there were 700 US companies in Ireland employing 170,000 people, and 100 Irish companies in the USA employing 100,000 people. Former Green Party minister Trevor Sargent is looking forward to offering people a service without the self-promotion of politics. Mr Sargent will be ordained a priest today at the Church of Ireland Cathedral in Co Waterford. The former leader of the Greens, who is a committed environmentalist, described his ordination as "a very momentous step" and said he expected it to be an "ecumenical" occasion, with politicians from a number of parties expected to attend. Speaking to the Irish Independent ahead of the ceremony at Christ Church Cathedral, the 58-year-old said some Green Party friends would be there and he would be "delighted to see them again and renew old acquaintances. It will be new friends and old friends coming together". The former politician and teacher, who taught in Cork and Balbriggan for 30 years, said there was a common thread throughout his career. "One of the core principles of ecology is the interconnectedness of all life. There is a continuum in my work in teaching, politics and the Church, with overlapping of elements such as pastoral care, service and a desire to work with people," he said. "These are all things that I enjoy and nourish me. I love meeting people and working with people through good times and bad times." However, the difference between politics and the ministry of a priest, he said, was that "politics by its nature is both service and self-promotion, otherwise you don't get re-elected if people don't know what you have been up to and you cannot communicate that." Being a priest, he said, is about "promoting Jesus Christ and working with people to show them that as difficult as life might be, there is always hope and always possibility". Rev Sargent will serve in the Waterford Union of four parishes, incorporating Waterford city, Tramore, Dunmore East and Annestown. Following his ordination, he will live in the rectory in Tramore beside the church. "You might as well say I am living over the shop, I'll be on call where I am living in the parish." Days off will be spent at his home in Curracloe, Co Wexford, with his wife, Aine Neville. Asked how he will remain 'Green' as a priest, he explained he is involved with Eco Congregation, an ecumenical body that works with parishes to encourage an ecological ministry. His first holy communion will take place at 10am tomorrow in Waterford Cathedral. He will then travel to his own parish of Tramore to celebrate holy communion and his parents and family will attend this "joyful and happy" occasion. Though his wife is Roman Catholic, she and her family are "very supportive" of him. Ryanair passengers may face more disruption after workers across Europe threatened the "biggest strike action the company has ever seen" later this month. Unions in Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Spain and Holland demanded contracts based on local rather than Irish law and warned they would not back down until their demands are met. The unions, including Ultrasporti in Italy and SNPVAC in Portugal, warned a strike may take place in the last week of this month and will be announced by September 13. However, a spokesperson for Irish-based union Forsa, which represents cabin crew here, said it is not part of the campaign. The European unions said a historic meeting took place in Rome yesterday and was attended by cabin crew, pilots and ground handling staff. It said Ryanair shareholders have an opportunity to put the low fares carrier on the "right track" at a meeting on September 20. "The workers and their representatives will be monitoring the outcome of the shareholders general assembly, and, if the company leadership are not willing to make the changes necessary, will have no choice to respond with the biggest strike action the company has ever seen," it said. The unions said no progress was made during a summer of talks, "meaningless" meetings and an escalation of an industrial dispute that ended in the first pan-European strike action in the history of Ryanair. Cabin crew in three European countries were involved in the industrial action in July that led to the cancellation of 600 flights. The threat comes as the budget airline made peace with its Irish-based pilots and withdrew the threat of 300 job cuts among pilots and cabin crew this winter. In a statement, Ryanair said its board yesterday decided to restore six Dublin-based aircraft that were due to transfer to Poland in November. The airline said the agreement brought an end to five days of "unsuccessful but damaging" strikes. Chief people officer Eddie Wilson said the strikes caused minimal damage to Ryanair's schedule but affected "forward fares and yields" because of the perception of possible disruption. Popping the question: Patrick OShea, of Swords, and stationed in Store Street, proposes to his girlfriend and now fiancee Suzanne Walsh, at the Garda passing out parade in Templemore Garda College, Co Tipperary. Photo: Brian Arthur A summit of key Garda managers will be held to kickstart an urgent review of spending and resources in the force. The meeting has been called by new Commissioner Drew Harris to deal specifically with the shortfall in funding. It is being held against a warning that the force, which has a financial allocation of 1.65bn this year, will be over budget by 30m unless current trends are curbed. Commissioner Harris will also use the single issue agenda to launch his pledge to examine whether gardai are spending their existing budget properly and using resources effectively before deciding if it is necessary to look for further financial help. The summit will be attended by the deputy commissioner, chief administrative officer, assistant commissioners for all of the regions and civilian directors. Senior officers admitted last night that an overspend was inevitable by the end of 2018 and the action being taken on Monday was aimed at limiting the deficit. The visits of Pope Francis and Prince Charles have taken a huge chunk out of overtime for policing so far this year and the proposed visit of US President Donald Trump will put further pressure on funds. Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said yesterday at a passing out parade of 185 recruits from the Garda College in Templemore that the additional recruits being taken into the force every year would reduce the need for overtime. Speaking at the ceremony, Commissioner Harris told recruits that they must be operationally honest and act with integrity to retain the support of the public. "Any ideas on how we can improve, regardless of where they come from, should always be welcomed," Mr Harris added. Meanwhile, there were happy scenes at Templemore yesterday as Patrick O'Shea, who is stationed at Store Street garda station in the capital, proposed to his girlfriend Suzanne Walsh. Beijing also assured Islamabad of the all-weather strategic ties between the two nations. New Delhi had also said that it supports President Trumps South Asia Policy and that his call for Pakistan to stop its policy of supporting cross-border terrorism finds resonance with it. New Delhi: Soon after India and the US jointly put Pakistan on the mat on the issue of terrorism following the 2+2 talks, China on Saturday swiftly assured Islamabad that it was Beijings iron brother and that Pakistan would always remain a priority for China. Beijing also assured Islamabad of the all-weather strategic ties between the two nations. The assurance was given during a meeting between visiting Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Islamabad. The move is significant given the recently-concluded 2+2 dialogue at the foreign and defence ministerial level between India and the US during which the two countries called upon Pakistan to ensure that the territory under its control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries. The Chinese foreign minister, after meeting Pakistan Army Chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa, said on Saturday that the world should acknowledge Pakistans efforts towards regional peace and stability, a remark seen as a direct contradiction of the joint Indo-US stand on Pakistan-based terrorism. Mr Wang, who also holds the position of state councillor, led the first high-level visit to Islamabad since the new government of Prime Minister Imran Khan assumed office after the July 25 elections. Pakistan was the ally of the US during the Cold War but relations between the two nations steadily soured since then and have hit its nadir during the Donald Trump presidency due to Islamabads refusal to act against terrorism directed at its neighbours Afghanistan and India. Following this, Islamabad has become even more reliant on Beijing for support at international fora and also to bolster the fragile Pakistani economy. In a statement after Saturdays meeting, the Pakistani foreign ministry said, While reaffirming the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries, Mr Wang underlined that Pakistan will always be a priority for China in its foreign policy. The state councillor reiterated that Pakistan was Chinas Iron brother and the bilateral partnership served as an anchor for regional peace and stability. China will work with Pakistan to prioritise CPEC projects so as to benefit all regions of Pakistan. It added, Following one-on-one meeting, the two foreign ministers held an in-depth exchange on the entire gamut of bilateral relationship including economic cooperation, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), defence cooperation and cultural and educational cooperation. The Pakistan foreign ministry said, The (Pakistan) foreign minister reciprocated the sentiments of the state councillor and reaffirmed the strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries. He underlined that regardless of political changes, the bilateral relationship will remain as strong as ever. It may be recalled that just on September 6, following the culmination of their 2+2 dialogue, India and the US had called on Pakistan to ensure that the territory under its control is not used to launch terrorist attacks on other countries. The two countries had also called on Islamabad to bring to justice expeditiously the perpetrators of the Mumbai, Pathankot, Uri, and other cross-border terrorist attacks. New Delhi had also said that it supports President Trumps South Asia Policy and that his call for Pakistan to stop its policy of supporting cross-border terrorism finds resonance with it. The Indo-US joint statement had said, The Ministers welcomed the launch of a bilateral dialogue on designation of terrorists in 2017, which is strengthening cooperation and action against terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda, ISIS, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizbul Mujahideen, the Haqqani Network, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, D-company and their affiliates. Activists at the property in Belvedere Court Photo: Take Back the City Twitter DOZENS of protesters have occupied a third Dublin property as they continue their fight to highlight Ireland's housing crisis. 'Take Back the City' is a network of 18 grassroots activist groups who are "working together to take direct action" against property owners across the capital. At least 100 people gathered on O'Connell Street in the city centre at 5.30pm this evening and marched towards a vacant property in Belvedere Court. The property has now been occupied with banners and posters hanging from the windows. the banner is dropped, the property has been occupied! #takebackthecity pic.twitter.com/D3CY0XPLxw Take Back The City - Dublin (@TBTCDublin) September 8, 2018 Last week, the same group of activists defied a High Court order to continue the occupation of 34 North Frederick Street. On Tuesday, Mr Justice Michael Quinn granted Patricia Ni Greil, the owner of the property, injunctions requiring persons unknown to vacate and cease trespassing at the four-storey building. However, dozens of people remain at the property and are refusing to leave. In an affidavit posted on the door of the house, Mr Colm McGreal, the father of the owner, said they intend to transform the property into a guest house. were on the move again to the next occupation! #takebackthecity pic.twitter.com/2FmMOsVqer Take Back The City - Dublin (@TBTCDublin) September 8, 2018 "Instead of this becoming yet another hotel for short-term residents, we will continue to demand that Dublin City Council place a compulsory purchase order on the property, so it can be returned to the community for use as permanent public housing or as a community resource," Dublin Central Housing Action said in a statement. Toady's occupation is the third of its kind. Activists took over a property in Dublins Summerhill Parade in early August in response to the eviction of up to 120 tenants with only 48 hours notice. They were told they had to leave a number of houses on Summerhill Parade in May for "fire safety reasons". The properties are owned by Pat O'Donnell & Co Ltd Retirement and Death Benefit Plan, the trustees of which are PJ O'Donnell and Peter McLornan, who were granted a High Court injunction to have the property vacated. Activists then turned their attention to 34 Frederick St, which has no connection to the Summerhill properties. Organisers of the protests say they want: "To continue to highlight the causes of this housing crisis, one of which is land hoarding and speculation by private owners." A spokesperson for the network said "public representatives aren't beyond targeting" when asked about why they are now occupying the house in Belvedere Court. A woman who tragically lost her newborn baby says she still doesnt know why her little daughter died. Amy Deegan (27) gave birth to a baby girl in Wexford General Hospital in March 2015, but her world was turned upside down when she passed away six days later. A HSE investigation into baby Kaylas death found it was "an unanticipated poor outcome" and that the obstetric management was reasonable. The official report said Kayla suffered brain damage during the birth due to oxygen starvation. But there's never been a definitive explanation for how - or why - the oxygen deprivation occurred. Amy says that even though three years have passed since Kayla died, she is still left with more questions than answers. "The question I asked throughout the next few days was why did a baby who was perfectly healthy until birth die," she said. Amy recalled how she found out she was pregnant on July 7, 2014. "I was so excited and couldnt wait to meet our baby." She described her pregnancy as normal throughout, besides a few incidents of high blood pressure and the occasional headache. After 38 weeks and five days, her obstetrician decided she was far enough into her pregnancy to be induced. "Before being induced, the babys heartbeat is monitored to make sure it is safe to go ahead. My babys heart rate was racing and they wanted to wait until it slowed down to a normal rate before administering the gel," she said. "After some time there was no sign of her heartbeat slowing down. They then decided to insert a drip in order to help. They then administered the gel and told my partner he could go home as nothing was going to happen until tomorrow and to go home and get a good night's sleep." An hour later, Amy began experiencing severe pains and before she knew it, she was 2cm dilated. The midwife immediately contacted her partner to come back to the hospital. He lived 25 minutes away and by the time he got there, Amy was 8cm dilated and ready to push. "Even though labour is painful, the excitement I felt as I knew I was nearer to meeting my baby was like nothing I have ever felt, but when I took the last push and waited for her to cry, this didn't happen. "I kept looking at my partner saying why isn't she crying. All of a sudden alarms started going off and the most severe pain came through me. My placenta was trying to force itself out but couldn't. My baby was beside me being resuscitated." Amy said the delivery room erupted in sheer panic. She said doctors were running into the room, throwing their white coats on the floor and running to help save her baby. She said the midwives and doctors were arguing amongst each other and recalls a man saying "that's not how you do that" as doctors tried to revive Kayla. "These are not the words you should hear as your baby is being resuscitated," she said. The minutes of a meeting between Amy and staff at Wexford General Hospital after Kayla's death said that "actions had been taken since Kayla's delivery and all new non-consultant doctors are having additional training in communication in relation to neonatal resuscitations and resuscitation skills". "I'll never forget the look on the midwives' faces while everything was happening," Amy said. "I had to go into surgery to have my placenta manually removed and when I woke my obstetrician came in to say that he was very sorry that my baby was very sick. At that moment I felt like it was all a dream, like I would wake up soon and still be pregnant. My baby would still be safe. "I asked to see Kayla but was not able to walk so my friend Niamh and the cleaning lady brought me up in my bed to see her." Kayla suffered brain damage during the birth due to a lack of oxygen. She had to be transferred to the Coombe in Dublin for various tests to be carried out. "I remember walking in and seeing her in the incubator for the first time. Wires everywhere. She was beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off her and couldn't but hope one day I would see her eyes open." Kayla was suffering seizures and was not reacting to stimuli touch. Doctors diagnosed her as having grade 3 brain damage due to oxygen starvation. The decision was made on March 17, 2015 to withdraw life support. "I can't explain the feeling to sit in a room with your partner and hold your baby knowing she is passing away. "I kept feeling her heart to see if she was still with us until eventually I felt it beat no more. I called in the doctor and he confirmed our little girl had passed away. "Every time I walked by her room at home I couldn't even bring myself to look into it. When I eventually went to walk in I broke down in my mother's arms. I couldn't believe that instead of coming down to get her bits and pieces I needed for her for the day, I was sorting it out for her to be brought in there for her wake." Amy says she is still haunted by what happened to her baby. An external investigation from another hospital determined that they would not have done anything differently. The postmortem didn't show any signs of Kayla having any issues before the oxygen starvation occurred. Amy's placenta was also examined and showed very small clots, which a doctor from another hospital advised would indicate the issues may have started shortly before birth. But she hasn't received a concrete explanation for how the oxygen deprivation occurred. "I found life very difficult after Kayla had passed. Although for some reason I found it harder months afterwards. "I think it's because when something like this happens everyone crowds you and keeps you occupied, but after time people go back to their everyday lives and so they should. Then you are left alone and not so crowded with more time to think. "It's hard being in a couple too because you can grieve differently. My biggest issue was to be around pregnant women or babies. I couldn't do it. I couldn't even look in their direction, to do so my heart would literally feel like it's breaking. "A lot of people thought I was being ignorant by not acknowledging them and I can understand they couldn't feel what I was because they had never been through it. At the same time I just wish people would stop and think for minute how much harder it makes the whole situation by reacting negatively. "I also found it very hard to go into her room sometimes and it took me a long time to organise any of her clothes. I only found the strength to do so when I was pregnant with my little boy. Kayla may not be here living with me but I'm still her mother and I kept telling myself she wouldn't want to see you upset, so two months after she passed I sat my college exams, and a month after that got a full time job. I just kept myself going knowing she was watching over me. "I hope every day that I make her proud in everything I do." A spokesperson for Wexford General Hospital said it cannot comment on individual cases. "We take the care and safety of our patients seriously. We can confirm that any recommendation which is made regarding training of staff is implemented and any appropriate changes made to ensure that we learn from any incident which may occur within our hospital. "With specific regard to communications and neonatal resuscitation skills training for staff in our hospital, we can confirm that training sessions have been provided to the appropriate staff. Training for all staff in relation to the care and safety of our patients is ongoing within our hospitals." Beyond Poland's budget-friendly city breaks lies a countryside full of surprises, says Sasha Kinch. Think of Poland, and Krackow or Warsaw come to mind. You may even be aware of Poznan, thanks to Euro 2012. But there's a lot more to this country than cheap n' cheerful city breaks. Krackow is amazing. A beautiful medieval city, with culture bursting at the seams. But, surprisingly, it's also the perfect starting point for a trekking adventure. How to do it Just a 2.5-hour bus ride from Krackow lie the Tatra Mountains. Forming the border between Poland and Slovakia, these are part of the Carpathians featured in Bram Stoker's Dracula, but don't worry... they're anything but terrifying. Expand Close Beginning the trek to Giewont / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Beginning the trek to Giewont The best base for a trip to the Polish Tatras is a lovely little village called Zakopane. Bus fares are about 3, and are run frequently by private companies from Gowny train station. In Zakopane In winter, Zakopane is a bustling ski base, but in the summer, spring and autumn months, it is a thriving trekking town. Even midweek, the main pedestrianized street, Krupowki, is heaving with shoppers, street stalls and trekkers. In September, it felt like Christmas to us as we strolled down the cobblestone street, lined with gorgeous wooden chalets. I eagerly purchased a white log thingy from one of the stalls. It looked like a tasty pastry, but turned out to be traditional smoked sheep's cheese, Oscypek. One bite was more than enough for me. Onwards to Morskie Oko From Zakopane, you can take day tours to the Tatras mountains. Morskie Oko a must. Catch an hour-long bus to Lysa Polana and then enjoy the 9 kilometre walk through expansive fir forests. It is a busy route, with hundreds of walkers, and many people opting to take the lazy option - a horse-drawn carriage. Expand Close Horse and Cart to Morskie Oko / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Horse and Cart to Morskie Oko The busyness doesn't detract from the deep serenity of the place, however. It feels like you are walking hallowed ground; the trees appear to worship the mountains that loom over the walkers. When we arrived at the lake, I was initially annoyed at the number of people taking photos, but they quickly seemed to vanish from my view as my eyes adjusted to the incredible light spilling over the mountain, piercing the lake. It is an impossibly beautiful place. It was one of those moments when I didn't want to close my eyes so I could absorb every dazzling moment of it. Morskie Oko is the largest and fourth-deepest lake in the Tatras, and at 1,395m, you may well feel the altitude. The restaurant at the end of the trail serves hearty Polish food, which is well-deserved. There are further walks, including the ascent of Rysy, Polands Highest Peak (2,503m) which you can see from the lake. Not for the inexperienced trekker, but someone told me that you are not a true Polish citizen until you have climbed Rysy. Expand Close Morskie Oko / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Morskie Oko Tip: Bring small change for bathrooms. There are lots of portaloos en route (free to use) but some of the more substantial restroom cost a few zotys. Hotel Kalatowki Another hidden retreat, easily reached from Zacopane, is Kalatowki hotel. It is somewhat different from the other Schroniskas (or shelters) in that it is a hotel, as opposed to a more basic mountain hostel. Accessing it is an adventure in itself. You can walk from Zacopane, which takes about an hour and half. You can also get a quick bus to a small spot called Kuznice, but you will have to walk for about half an hour, uphill on a rocky track to get to the hotel. Our room overlooked the most incredible meadow, like something out of Bambi, or perhaps that opening scene of The Sound of Music. It was the kind of place you could easily wile away hours just "being". The hotel is basic, has a restaurant, shop and bar, and comfortable accommodation, even if the decor is stuck in the 1930s. From the Kalatowki, there are hundreds of spectacular walks, all well-signposted, all relatively easy for a semi-fit person and all good for the heart, soul and mind. We ambled through the forests with no destination in mind one of the days, just breathing in the clear mountain air. We also did some more challenging walks, eager to prove our mettle. Tip: Book in advance. While the hotel is secluded, it does get booked up, particularly in October when they have their annual trekking Jazz festival. Yes, that is a thing and it looks awesome. Expand Close View from Kalatowki / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp View from Kalatowki The views from Giewont Geiwont is a high peak (1,895m), and is extremely popular in the Summer, often crowded, but well worth doing. As an added bonus, youll get spectacular views into Slovakia. You could bag another country and trek into Slovakia, but be warned that there aren't many hostels close to the Polish border, so plan your route carefully. Kaspowy Weirch Kaspowy Weirch (1,987m) is another accessible, and possibly more dramatic, peak. It is a rather long trek from Kalatowki, so we cheated and took the cable car from Kuznice. Expand Close The trek to Geiwont / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The trek to Geiwont I still find it strange standing on a ski slope with no snow; it echoes an abandoned playground. But the phenomenal views of Zacopane on one side and Slovakia on the other are soothing to the soul. We even thought we could see Rysy from our vantage point... Tip: bring good shoes and be prepared for the weather. Sunshine abounds, but as with all mountainous regions, the weather can change fast. Read more: Expand Close View from Kaspowy Weirch / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp View from Kaspowy Weirch On Saturday night I headed for the Windsor Bar and Restaurant where a class reunion was being held for the 6th Class of St. Malachys Girls School from 1973. The idea for the night was the brainchild of a group of ladies after one of them found a photo of one of the classes when they were in 3rd class and it sparked off the idea for the reunion. Main organiser Mary Gaskin from Williamsons Place said that she, Patricia McKey from Parnell Park, Linda Sweeney from Ard Easmuinn and Margaret Hearty from Anne Street met up about six weeks ago, set about getting in contact with all the girls from both classes, put up a Facebook page and got a huge response from all their old mates. I wasn't long in the door when I met up with Marcella McEneaney who had travelled from Belfast and was chatting to Linda Sweeney from Ard Easmuinn who told me it was a real blast from the past meeting up with all the girls again. The lady responsible for the giant photo of the 3rd class girls was Eilish Sands from Ard Easmuinn who admitted she didn't recognise everyone but was looking forward to a good night with them. After this I travelled over for a word with Catherine Walsh from Long Avenue and Anne Sweeney from Dublin Road who were chatting to Anne Hand from Carrick Road who had befriended some of the girls on Facebook but Catherine and Anne said they had opted out of social media, but were contactable and were all delighted to be there. Next I met up with Carol Tumilty from Ard Easmuinn who said she recognised most and was delighted with the turn out and assured me it would be anything but a quiet night. She introduced me to Anne Grimes from Kilkerley who said it was great to see all the girls again and they were all connecting after all those years. I made my way over for a quick word with Julia McCourt from Park Street who was having a laugh with Briege Brennan from Hughes Park who admitted they knew quite a few of the girls and said it was 48 years since the photo was taken. After this I got talking to Maria McGeough from Kilkerley and Maria Richardson from Ard Easmuinn who tried to tell me they were too old to party, sorry girls I didn't believe that for one minute. Beside them I had a word with Margaret Hearty from Anne Street and Mary Reilly from Park Street who were delighted to see all their old classmates again and were in great form. They were joined by Anne Brady from Kilkerley, Muirne O'Hanlon from Ard Easmuinn and Fiona Smyth from Carrick Road who said it was just a wonderful night. Next I caught up with Jennifer Mulholland from Hill Street who is home on holidays from Australia, she went out in 1986 and has been living there ever since. Although she has been home a few times she was delighted to be back together with all her old classmates. Making my way through the crowds I had the pleasure of meeting up with Mary McKey from Carrick Road, Eithne Kearney for Parnell Park, Adrienne Matthews from Kincora Terrace and Frances Lynch from Coxes Demesne who said they meet each other from time to time, but it's just great to all get together for a laugh about old times. Also in their company were Elizabeth Clarke from Long Avenue who told me she had all the names, it was just fitting them to the faces that wasn't going well. Just in the door were Sharon Molloy from Beechmount Drive who told me she thought all the girls were all looking really well and I had to agree with her. I then headed over for a chat with Muriel Kerr from Park Street who was happy to be amongst all her old class mates but it was taking her a wee bit of time to remember everyone, as it was with all the girls there. After this I got talking to Theresa Martin from Carrick Road who said it was really great seeing all the girls after all these years. Not too long later I got a word with Anne Donnelly from Oakland Park who joined up with Sharon and said the faces were no problem, it was just the names that might need a little encouragement. Finally before I departed I got talking to Mary Boyle from Railway Terrace and Catherine Boyle from Louth Village who said they were so looking forward to the night to find out how everyone is keeping. A long night, I'd be guessing it certainly was! Fine Gael Councillor John McGahon has welcomed the news that five community groups and schools in North Louth are to benefit from additional Government funding through the CLAR programme. The Five schools and community groups in North Louth receiving funding in this round are: Scoil Naomh Brid, Ardaghy 19,214.41 for soft surface play area; Rampark NS 7,650 for an outdoor play area; Dulargy NS 16,020 for an outdoor play area; Scoil Naomh Mhuire, Muchgrange 20,684 for a footpath; St Oliver's NS Carlingford, 18,000 for a soft surface play area; Monksland NS 30,000 for a footpath. Cllr McGahon said: 'By supporting improved safety around schools and other community facilities, and providing play areas in disadvantaged rural areas, CLAR funding is helping to make these areas more attractive places for families to live and to settle in. 'This additional funding will help rural communities in North Louth to provide safety measures, play areas and multi-use games areas for schools and communities under the CLAR Programme 2018. Communities themselves have fundraised and worked with their local authorities to put forward projects for funding and this is why Minister Ring has decided to revisit the applications received earlier this year, to see if any further projects had progressed to a level where they could now be approved.' Blackrock displayed the best it has to offer from the heart of its community and business during the three hour visit from the judges in the Bank of Ireland National Enterprise Town Awards 2018. The three judges were taken on a packed tour of some of the initiatives that led to Blackrock being shortlisted for an award alongside Dundalk and Dunleer. Blackrock, is in the medium size town category, and Larry Magnier of Blackrock Tidy Towns said, 'We arranged for a whole range of community and voluntary groups who work in the village to be on hand to brief the judges on the huge variety of initiatives undertaken here.' 'It would be impossible to have covered them all in detail in the time available, so we concentrated on a number of key ones with an opportunity for the judges to get more information on others if they require it.' Among the locations they visited were the promenade where they saw various Tidy Towns initiatives, met new businesses who explained why their enterprise was supported in Blackrock, they saw the Fisherman's House where it is hoped to develop a Maritime Museum. 'The community spirit in Blackrock is second to none, and all sectors have always worked together for the benefit of the village as a whole.' Lary added: 'We genuinely feel that Blackrock has so much to offer due to its vibrancy, its physical location by the sea and proximity to Dundalk, and its range and variety of shops, pubs, restaurants and cafes. Winning an Enterprise Town award would be a huge boost to all sectors here, and would vindicate the approach they have been taking to make Blackrock a top location to live in, to do business in, and to visit.' Paula Harmon, Bank of Ireland Head of County Louth said, 'The judges were extremely impressed by what they experienced in each of the towns. It was very evident that an enormous level of work went into each of the visits and all of those involved across Dundalk, Dunleer and Blackrock should feel very proud indeed.' Thomas McEvoy, Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Louth said 'The vibrant enterprise and community spirit in each of the towns was clearly evident to the judges, who were very impressed with the business and community leaders they met on their visit to Louth. Louth County Council through its Local Enterprise Office is delighted to have worked with the teams in Dundalk, Blackrock and Dunleer who made a magnificent effort presenting the very best of their locality and the rich entrepreneurial spirit that thrives in the county. Cllr Liam Reilly, Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council said, 'Blackrock is such a pivotal costal village that has excelled in using its unique location south of Dundalk and along the coast to the best of its ability. Community is to the heart of this village and it displays that with pride.' A new series of 'Brexit advisory clinics' being held to support Irish companies will take place in Dundalk next month. The new 'Prepare to Export Scorecard' has been developed by Enterprise Ireland to help Irish entrepreneurs and business owners with global ambition to self-assess how prepared they are to start exporting. The interactive online facility is a free, easy-to-use tool which acts as a starting point for companies interested in exporting and reaching overseas markets. Aidan McKenna, Regional Director -Border Region, Enterprise Ireland explained: 'Enterprise Ireland is committed to supporting new and emerging exporters across the country to expand their global reach. With the prospect of Brexit and the associated challenges and opportunities, our team in Dundalk is working to help existing companies in Louth to start exporting and to achieve their global ambition.' He added: 'I encourage companies, unsure about how to take the first step to exporting, to use our new Prepare to Export Scorecard as a practical starting point when assessing their export preparedness for expansion into new overseas markets.' Enterprise Ireland has also launched its series of nationwide Brexit Advisory Clinics advising Irish companies on the supports available to help them address their Brexit exposure. The clinics, which include one-to-one meetings with independent experts, will continue in the Crowne Plaza, Dundalk on Monday 22nd October when companies will be briefed on the broad implications of Brexit, specifically around customs, strategic sourcing, financial management, employment law and the movement of people. Along with a series of practical seminars, the clinic provides the opportunity to get personalised advice specific to your business. This is delivered through one to one meetings of 40 minutes with independent experts across a number of business areas. Find out more about the Brexit advisory clinics at www.prepareforbrexit.ie There has been strong interest in both Engineering and Business courses at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) in the CAO first round offers, according to the latest figures. The Dundalk Institute made a total of 2,608 first round CAO offers to students across the north Leinster and south Ulster region over the past number of weeks. A spokesman confirmed that the Institute has seen 'strong interest in Engineering courses along with an increase in interest in both the Business and Accountancy programmes.' 'Last year the Institute introduced a series of new engineering courses including a Level 7 & 8 programmes in both Construction Management and Architectural Technology, in addition to the common entry programme, BEng (Hons) in Engineering.' 'These programmes have been well received by CAO applicants which will contribute to the growth of talent to the built environment and engineering sector in the region.' He pointed out that the DkIT BA (Hons) in Business and Accountacy also received strong interest from applicants. 'Students of this course are exempt from many of further examinations at professional charter level (ACCA, ICAI). No other accountancy degree in Ireland has more exemptions from these accountancy examinations.' One of the most interesting developments in the current round of applications is the growth in number of potential students from north of the border. 'Applications from Northern Ireland continue to grow with 53 offer acceptances at Round 1 and more offers predicted to be made in round 2,' said the spokesman The second round offer stage concluded on Friday last 31st of August and the third will take place from September 7th to 12th September. The latest figures from DkIT indicated that this year the Institute received slightly more acceptances from male students (52%) compared with female applicants (48%). The college spokesman encouraged anyone considering study at third level to look through the wide range of courses that are on offer. 'DkIT has joined colleges nationwide to offer potential students the opportunity to apply to a select number of courses through the CAO's Available Places list.' Full details on available places can be viewed at www.dkit.ie/availableplaces. A full list of CAO Available Places 2018 at DkIT can be also be accessed through the college's website www.dkit.ie Concern over the failure rate at Dundalk Driving test centre has emerged Concern over the failure rate at Dundalk driving test centre emerged last week. The Road Safety Authority (RSA) issued data from the centre, in response to a request from Independent Senator Victor Boyhan. The figures showed that during the week ending 18 August, there was an failure rate of more than 40%. In total, 143 tests were offered at Dundalk driving test centre. Of the 143 tests, 67 passed(47%) and 61 failed. Of the remaining 15 tests, 13 were no shows and two tests could not be completed due to 'issue with vehicle or documentation.' The statistics were, however, for just one week, and didn't reflect any weekly average pass or fail rates at the centre Senator Boyhan also highlighted concerns about waiting times for driving test appointments. Almost 83,000 people are now on the waiting list for driving tests with learner drivers waiting up to six months for a test in some parts of the country. He said the delays have reached 'crisis point' and called on the Minister for Transport, Shane Ross to intervene. 'Many young people and families are now preparing for the new third-level term and getting back to work routines. Young drivers need to be facilitated get their full licence to support their mobility.' He added: 'With high rents many young people are now commuting long distances to college or work - and they need to be able to drive independently.' Senator Boyhan said the issue lies in a shortage of Driving Testers and Minister Ross needs to sanction immediate recruitment of more staff. Researchers identified plasma lipid biomarkers that improve upon traditional risk factors in predicting heart disease and stroke. Revolutionary blood test is proposed to be trialled in Australia over the next 2-3 years as part of a broader personalised precision health program currently under development. Washington DC: Researchers are developing a new blood test which could screen if a person is at risk of a secondary heart attack. The Baker Institute's head of metabolomics, Professor Peter Meikle and his team have identified plasma lipid biomarkers (fats in the blood) that improve upon traditional risk factors in predicting heart disease and stroke. He says the revolutionary blood test is proposed to be trialled in Australia over the next 2-3 years as part of a broader personalised precision health program currently under development. Eventually, a general practitioner (GP) will be able to order this test in order to better assess a patient's risk of developing heart disease. "The test was developed after a study looked at 10,000 samples to find the bio markers that will determine whether a person is at risk of having another heart attack," said Prof Meikle. "We hope to identify those individuals who are at greatest risk of a second heart attack so that they can be closely monitored and treated accordingly. While there are thousands of lipids in the blood, our challenge is to identify which ones best predict disease outcomes," he added. To date, a prototype of this test has been trailed in America, yet the prototype only provides GP's and patients with limited information on the basis of 2 lipid markers, and it is not yet available in Australia. The test will be a simple blood test, similar to the process and cost of having a cholesterol test, and could be operated out of hospital pathology laboratories that already contain the necessary equipment. "Our test will use up to ten lipid markers to better diagnose heart disease. It's a challenging, yet very exciting time. We effectively have the information and are in the process of refining the technology," said Prof Meikle. "Once the protocols for a diagnostic heart disease blood test are in place; it will be possible to additional markers for the test to also be used in predicting diabetes and potentially Alzheimer's disease as well. The test will reclassify a patient's risk of heart attack and stroke. It will better identify who within the 'intermediate' risk category are in fact, at higher risk, and help guide physicians in the appropriate treatment of patients." The study has been published in the journal JCI Insight. The hosepipe ban introduced during the July heatwave is being extended until the end of September, Irish Water announced last week. The water conservation measures will remain in place in Co Louth, as well as other parts of the country including neighbouring counties Meath and Dublin, until September 30th. Irish Water said the decision was taken after considering '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'. '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.' Commenting on the extension of the Water Conservation Orders, Irish Water's General Manager, Eamon Gallon said; 'The 2018 drought conditions have demonstrated the vulnerability of many of our water supplies, notably in the south, east and midlands. 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 protest against the 'downgrading of essential services' once again took place at the gates of the Louth Hospital on Friday last. Louth County Councillor Anne Campbell led the now monthly demonstration, saying 'we are here again this month to highlight the deliberate downgrading of essential services at Louth Hospital. I don't think there is one family in Dundalk that isn't affected by the crisis in the Health Service today and it really galls me to see this hospital operating here providing the scarcest of services.' Louth Hospital currently has eight surgical beds which do routine procedures from 9am-4pm Monday-Friday. Cllr. Campbell called on the HSE to make the beds optimised and used 24hours a day. 'Optimising these beds would also help alleviate the pressure on Drogheda Hospital but more importantly it would start to target the spiralling waiting lists. There are currently 16,285 people on hospital waiting lists between Our Lady of Lourdes and Louth Hospital.' 'People of Dundalk and County Louth deserve better, they deserve to get the treatment they need rather than being treated as a statistic on a waiting list. This is people's lives and the sooner the Government wake up and realise that, the better.' She pointed out 'despite promises from the Minister almost two years ago, the Minor Injuries Unit still do not accept minors for treatment.' Two Wicklow students at the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI) Centre of Excellence in Jewellery and Goldsmithing have been selected to participate at major cultural exhibition Homo Faber taking place in Venice, Italy. Homo Faber is the first major cultural exhibition dedicated to the very best in European craftsmanship. Organised by the Michelangelo Foundation, it aims to put fine craftsmanship on the global map and increase recognition and visibility for master artisans. Eve Doyle, from Ashford and Siobhan O'Sullivan from Blessington are two of twelve graduates and students from the DCCoI Centres of Excellence in Ceramics and in Jewellery and Goldsmithing chosen for the Young Ambassadors programme, a unique joint educational and cultural initiative as part of Homo Faber. As Young Ambassadors, Eve and Siobhan will be present throughout Homo Faber to interact with visitors to exhibition spaces, explaining the many fascinating objects on display and imparting their own knowledge of the skills and techniques being used by master artisans right before their eyes. It will also provide the Wicklow pair with a unique opportunity to meet some of Europe's finest artisans, designers, institutions and luxury houses, as well as to interact with their peers and to form a network to carry with them into their future careers Ireland will have significant representation at the event with seven leading Irish designers and makers also having been selected to participate in this landmark exhibition. Homo Faber takes place from September 14 all the way through to September 30. There are some tickets left for a concert which is being held this Saturday night in Bray in aid of the artists of Bray's Outpost Studios. The artists lost priceless work and materials in a fire at their studios on Bray's Boghall Road last February. The concert will take place on Saturday, September 8, at Mermaid Arts Centre and will feature a series great acts including We Cut Corners, Wyvern Lingo, Sharon Mannion, members of Kila, and more. The campaign also includes a gofundme.ie page for donations, and there will be a raffle. The studios at Southern Cross Business Park were gutted in a fire which also destroyed the offices of HomeLink and Easi-Cab Travel Club. Outpost was founded in 2014 by artists Joanne Boyle, Raine Hozier Byrne, Rachel Fallon, Emma Finucane, Laura Kelly, Joanna Kidney, Eleanor Phillips and Ann Marie Webb. Eleanor Phillips told the Bray People at the time that much of what was lost is irreplaceable, including her late partner's writings, exhibition catalogues, tax papers and more, not to mention invaluable pieces of work, tools, materials and equipment. The loss includes works in progress, research, sketchbooks and many things of personal value as well as their place of work and means of production. The money raised will go towards replacing the tools, materials and equipment for the eight of them and help set up a new studio space. Tickets to the show are 25 and available at Mermaidartscentre.ie. The restoration process has begun on a recently uncovered EIRE sign on Bray head, dating back to World War II. The huge granite stone letters forming the world 'EIRE' have been cleaned down by local volunteers. All traces of July's Bray Head gorse fire have been removed, and the stone letters restored to their original glory. The restoration project came about, when local man, Aidan O'Toole, thought he should get a group together to restore it. He felt that it was just left sitting there to dilapidate after the initial hype of being found in early August of this year. The marking was uncovered after a massive wildfire scorched Bray Head. The garda air support unit released photos revealing the more than 70-year-old relic. Aidan approached another local man Declan Carroll, MD at SIKA Ireland, who kindly supplied all of the SikaGard paint which is highly weather resistant and was perfect for the job. Declan was also keen to help out with the restoration, Two other prominent Greystones locals Micheal Larkin, owner of local business Pizza Shack, and well-known Greystones historian, Declan Hogan, then expressed their interest. The group of four spend the best part of a week cleaning the rocks back and removing and cutting gorse roots around the rocks. Last Saturday morning, they started to apply the all-weather paint, and they hope to preserve the historic sign for generations to come. Members of the local defence forces created the sign between 1942 and 1943 as navigational signs for pilots flying bomber planes over neutral Ireland. Each letter is about 30 feet long, made from large stones laid in four foot wide lines. The men kept them whitewashed so they would stand out clearly. The team of volunteers will continue working on it over the next few weekends to get the rectangular surround and number 8 above it, completely restored. If you would like to express your interest in helping, contact Aidan at hello@neat.ie Early stage female entrepreneurs in Wicklow are being encouraged to apply for a place on the ACORNS programme. The programme will provide up to 50 entrepreneurs, based in rural communities, with the knowledge, support and networking opportunities to grow their new enterprises. ACORNS will run from October 2018 until April 2019 and selected participants will be those who, on a competitive basis, best demonstrate their potential to advance their businesses and their commitment to fully engage in the initiative. The deadline for applications is September 21. According to Minister Andrew Doyle, the programme is based on the principle that entrepreneurs learn best from each other. 'The ACORNS initiative is focused on interactive round table sessions that are facilitated by female entrepreneurs who have started and successfully grown businesses in rural Ireland. It is designed to help provide female entrepreneurs who are in the process of setting up a business, or have recently started one with the knowledge, support and networking opportunities to meet and even exceed their current aspirations,' he said. To date over 150 female entrepreneurs have been supported to increase sales, exports and create jobs. Four Presidential hopefuls presented their case to Wicklow County Council in an effort to secure a nomination to run in the upcoming election. Senator Joan Freeman and Kevin Sharkey were the first would-be candidates to address the Council Chamber, followed by Gavin Duffy and John Groarke later into Monday's monthly council meeting. First up to speak was Senator Joan Freeman, the founder of the non-profit organisation Pieta House. The psychologist is married to Pat and they have four children and four grand daughters. Since its formation, Pieta House has assisted over 40,000 people, ranging in age from eight years to 80 and above. 'I helped put Pieta House not just on the national map but also as an international organisation'. Senator Freeman said there would be an emphasis on mental health as part of her Presidential campaign. 'I have spent my life and my livelihood campaigning for mental health. Look at the Darkness into Light walk for Pieta House. It starts at 4 a.m. when it is pitch black and as dawn breaks, everyone crosses over the finishing line. During the first event we had 400 people taking part ten years ago. This year over 200,000 people participated, which is something to be proud of'. While Senator Freeman acknowledged that the role of President is 'limited' with 'little or no executive powers', she still felt the position has 'power to create and make change'. She added: 'We need to assist with something that has been ignored in this country for too long, peoples mental health. Mental health affects everyone one of us. It affects relationships, children, older people, younger people and the workforce'. She was also conscious of Ireland's ageing population. 'Pat, my husband, is a post master and his post office is one of the ones closing down. Just think of the people who stand in front of him every week and often he is probably the only person they meet all week. Last year we had 50,000 older people who didn't receive a visit from family or friends'. Kevin Sharkey felt his background as an artist could prove beneficial to his chances as both roles 'involve a vision'. During his humorous opening speech Mr Sharkey said: 'Sometimes I get mistaken for Mike Tyson, other times Paul McGrath. I have often had people shout at me 'Fergal,' which I can only assume is because my last name is Sharkey'. Becoming Ireland's first black President would also send out a message. 'Racism is something people talk about but it is something I have spent a lifetime dealing with. There are out and out racists but that can be refreshing in that at least you know what your are dealing with. The real racism is casual racism. Look at TV and the media. Do you see them representing the 10 per cent of the people living here who aren't Irish? If you feel secluded you create your own culture. Pretty soon you have what we call ghettos forming because people don't feel part of the country'. He also touched upon American President Donald Trump, commenting: 'Our relationship with America is far more important than a few hurt feelings in the Dail'. Mr Sharkey wants to involve young people more in the political process. 'You look at the last Presidential election. Young people ignored it because it had nothing for them. We need the youth to understand that there is a place for them in Ireland'. Roscommon farmer John Groarke said he strongly disagreed with the nomination process for President which means he would need the support of a number of County Councils or Oireachtas members. 'That is something that shouldn't be. As an Irish citizen born in Ireland, if I want to run for the presidency I should be entitled to that. Look at our current President. He has had privileges and as a Republic there shouldn't be any privileges. I believe in liberty where every man and woman is equal. The same avenue to each public office should be open to everyone'. Mr Groarke also spoke of his displeasure at the lack of accountability in both the Dail and the Seanad. 'Why are they drawing down salaries? Look at the HSE. You have huge waiting lists, the smear test scandal. The Minister of Health has no responsibility toward women or children. I would like to make a better Republic. I am fearful the people in the Dail and the Seanad don't care about people like me'. Business man and former Dragon's Den star Gavin Duffy touched upon what he described as the 'soft powers' the President can yield. He said: 'Mary Robinson reached out to the people of war-torn Somalia. She also lit a candle to remind us all of the Irish people who had to leave to live elsewhere. Mary McAleese built bridges. They were both strong women who felt there was more that could be done as President than is written down in the Constitution. Both of them also played major roles in the Peace Process. I intend to be out meeting with people, listening to them and hearing what they have to say. I have worked with leaders in politics and business. Young people, older people, the new Irish. I help to draw out a map so they can achieve their dreams and make themselves happy'. While providing some background on his upbringing and his achievements, Mr Duffy said his proudest achievement was rearing his family. 'I was raised above the family shop in Drogheda and I never went to third level education. Aged 18 I was already employing 18 people. I am pleased that I enjoyed some success in business but the biggest achievement in my life has been my family. I am a husband of 25 years and have four children'. Mr Duffy also announced that he had secured the nomination from Meath County Council. Wicklow's Councillors can only nominate one potential candidate and the vote will take place on Monday in the Council Chamber at 7 p.m. Anyone who wants to be a culture vulture can do so later this month as there will be everything from dancing, live music, theatre and film to art exhibitions, crafts and street performance in Cork. Cork City Council presents Cork Culture Night 2018, a city-wide event that will take place on Friday 21st September to showcase the vast cultural spectrum that exists in our beautiful city. This year culture really is catching, with a programme of events that seeps into every nook and cranny of the city. Physical buildings cannot contain the history and talent which Cork has to offer, and so it has spread to the streets and waters of Ireland's second city. Culture vultures can climb aboard one of Naomhoga Chorcai and Meitheal Mara's Currachs or longboat to experience Eamon de Valera, Micheal Collins and Brian Boru bridges from another angle. The Port of Cork are also offering cultural boat tours down the River Lee aboard the Cailin Oir, while Muster Literature Centre are opting for dry land with their poets embarking on a poetry trail, reciting poems on Douglas Street, Barrack Street and Grand Parade. Choral Con Fusion, Cork's LGBT choir, are inviting a community of choirs to join them in 'Bridging the City' with song this Cork Culture Night. Five choirs: Choral Con Fusion, City of Cork Male Voice Choir, High Hopes Choir, Carrigaline Gospel Choir and Voices of Cork, will sing simultaneously from 7pm to 8pm on five bridges across the city. Making a song and dance this Culture Night are the 18-piece Cork Pops orchestra, conducted by Radio 1 presenter Evelyn Grant, who are inviting the people of Cork to 'Come Dancing' with them in City Hall's Concert Hall, with a host of dance styles to move your feet to. Speaking at the official launch of the highly-anticipated event, Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Mick Finn, said, "Culture Night is one of the highlights of the Cork City arts and culture calendar and an opportunity for various venues and organisations to showcase their city - which is steeped in rich culture and heritage - to members of the public, all free of charge. "This year's programme features a jam-packed and varied series of events. There will be more than 250 free events taking place in over 130 venues across the city, some of which are mobile with thanks to our partner Bus Eireann. "We hope to see the Cork Culture Vultures take to the streets in their droves to experience the best of Cork music, art, film, architecture, craft and history. It is one of my favourite days of the year as I see the city come alive and be celebrated." The historical Cork City Gaol will be a hive of activity as it plays host to the Cork Light Orchestra performing music from the 1920s and 1930s. Foodies will delight at the feast for the senses on display at Cork's famous English Market. From a variety of tasty local dishes, which can be sampled on the night; the only night a year the market opens late, to traditional musical performance and that unique ambiance the English Market is renowned for, this is most certainly a must-visit on the Culture Night agenda. Culture Night in Knocknagree Culture night will be marked in Knocknagree as people are invited to relive life as it was in the village over 100 years ago. The life of the shops, pubs and the village fair will be told and there will be plenty of stories, song and recitations. There will be music and song in the Community centre and the fun will kick off on Culture Night on Friday, September 21 at 7pm. It will be a walk back in time and organisers are advocating getting into the swing of it by dressing up in the style of the era. During the meeting, Hardik asked Naresh Patel to mediate with the Gujarat government and hold talks on three of the formers demands. Ahmedabad: Patidar leader Hardik Patel was on Friday shifted to a hospital after his health deteriorated on the 14th day of his indefinite fast here, a Patidar Ananmat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) functionary said. According to PAAS spokesperson Manoj Panara, Hardik agreed to be shifted to Sola Civil Hospital after his supporters requested him to do so in view of his failing health. Following the end of a 24-hour ultimatum by the PAAS to the Gujarat government to begin talks with the protesting leader, Hardik had Thursday evening stopped intake of water, he said. Hardiks agitation will continue. But, since his health has deteriorated due to the 14-day fast, we requested him to get hospitalised, Mr Panara told reporters at the fast venue near the city. Another PAAS leader, Dharmik Malaviya, said that Hardiks fight will continue. Hospital authorities said Hardik was in the ICU and a team of doctors was treating him. He was shifted to the hospital shortly after senior Patidar community leader and president of Khodaldham Trust, Naresh Patel, met and advised him to call off the strike or take medical treatment. Hardik has not taken water since the last 18 hours. I told Hardik that everyone is worried about his health and that he should call off the hunger strike as soon as possible. He told me that he will inform me soon about his decision to call off the fast, said Naresh Patel. During the meeting, Hardik asked Naresh Patel to mediate with the Gujarat government and hold talks on three of the formers demands. Hardik asked me to be a mediator. As per his wish, representatives of Khodaldham, along with of another Patidar body Umiya Dham Sansthan, will try to talk with the government to break the deadlock. Our priority is to see that Hardiks health does not deteriorate, Naresh Patel said. Members of the Fermoy Camera Club have travelled far and wide for their latest challenge - capturing stunning images of iconic buildings from across the globe. Competition judges from the Blarney Camera Club were charged with the task of judging nearly 30 entries for the August 'Architecture of the World' competition - with images from Singapore, the US, Germany, France, Italy and, of course, Ireland in the mix. Despite the global theme of the challenge, it was Tom Quish's moody image of the National Convention Centre in Dublin that impressed judges the most, scooping the Grade One and overall winner prizes. Conor McCarthy won the second overall prize with his evocative image of the Hohenzollern Bridge and world-famous cathedral in Cologne, and Kay English won third overall for her stunning picture of Bordeaux's wine museum. The grade two prize went to Donagh Cronin for his picture of the iconic Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore, with Mary Thornhill the grade three winner with her dizzying image of the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taiwan. Entries are now being accepted for the club's September competition, entitled 'Perfect Timing', and the final date for electronic copies of printed images is Friday, September 21. "Members are reminded to pay particular attention to theme, as this is a very important criteria in judging," said club PRO Helen Arnold. "Our 'Four Days of Summer' challenge will be judged on Tuesday, September 11, so get your best four seasonal pics together and give it a go," she added. Helen said it has been a very good summer for club members, with organised trips to locations around the country, including Spike Island, Holycross, the Rock of Cashel and Araglin Animal Centre. Next up will be the big trip abroad to Nerja in Spain in mid-October. "Huge thanks to Monica O'Brien and her team for all the work they put into planning the club outings, and to Helen Coughlan, who coordinates our Weekend Wanders. These trips and outings are a great way to get experience of taking photos in new locations and picking up tips and tricks from other members," said Helen. "A new WhatsApp info board has been set up to facilitate the sharing of images and information about previous and planned outings. A number of our members are preparing for their Licentiateship distinction with the Irish Photography Federation (LIPF), and we wish them all the best," she added. The club is always open to new members, with people invited to come to the fortnightly meetings at the Community Centre in Fermoy. For more information, visit www.fermoycameraclub.ie. The Charleville Suicide Awareness Project will hold a poignant ceremony in the town next Monday from 6.30pm to mark World Suicide Prevention Day. The event will commence with a walk in the Town Park passing the Tree of Hope and the park bench erected by the project. Participants will then make their way to the town plaza (in front of the library), where 200 balloons and five doves will be released in memory of those who have lost their lives to suicide. This will coincide with poetry readings, and locally based counsellor Mary Lynch will be on hand to inform people of the guidance services available to people in the locality. Representatives from the recently opened Aurora charity shop and centre in Mallow, which supports the Cork Mental Health Association, will also be present. The Mayor of County Cork, Cllr Patrick Gerard Murphy; Cllr Ian Doyle; and members of the emergency services will also attend. The Charleville Suicide Awareness Project was founded in 2008 by local woman Margaret O'Callaghan, who tragically lost her son and brother to suicide. She said Monday's event was being staged in order to highlight the issue of suicide and to get the message across to people who may be considering taking their own lives that there is help out there. "Out motto is 'ask, listen and tell', three simple words with a huge amount of significance," said Margaret. "We want people to know that there are groups in north Cork, like us and the Aurora, who are willing to listen to people with mental health issues and offer them the advice and help they so desperately need," she added. However, Margaret said that despite the presence of these groups, more needed to be done to help suicide prevention across towns and villages in Ireland. "Through next Monday's event we hope to get this message across to the powers that be that not enough is being done to tackle this problem and that more resources need to be allocated to suicide prevention." For more about the Charleville Suicide Awareness Project, visit their dedicated Facebook page. The memory of one of Ireland's most respected and revered patriots will be recalled at the annual national Liam Lynch commemoration ceremony in Fermoy's Kilcrumper Cemetery, Fermoy this coming Sunday. This year's oration will be delivered by Fianna Fail politician Eamon O Cuiv, grandson of the party's founder and former Uachtaran na hEireann Eamonn De Valera. Deputy O Cuiv has enjoyed a long and successful career in Irish politics, serving on the 19th Seanad from 1989 to 1992 when he was elected TD for Galway West. He served as Minister for State on two occasions before being appointed to the cabinet as the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs following the 2002 general election. He remained in that position until 2010 when he was appointed Minister for Social Protection, subsequently serving two brief terms as Minister for Defence and Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. In August 2011 he succeeded, the late Brian Linehan Jnr as the Deputy leader of Fianna Fail, resigning from the position the following February. From July 2012 to May 2016 he was the opposition spokesperson for Agriculture, Marine and Food and since then has served as the spokesperson for Rural and Community Development. He will join a long list of high-profile figures to have addressed the event over the years including former Taosigh Jack lynch, Albert Reynolds, Bertie Ahern and Brian Cowan, civil rights campaigner Fr Joe McVeigh, Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin, former senator Eoghan Harris and Senator Mark Daly. Cllr Frank O'Flynn of the Liam Lynch National Commemoration Committee said he was delighted that Deputy O Cuiv had accepted the invitation to deliver this year's graveside oration. "He is a noted authority on Irish history, a respected politician and a man who has served at the highest level of government" said Cllr O'Flynn. "He is an accomplished public speaker with an ability to draw from the lessons of the past giving them a new relevance to contemporary Irish society," he added. Proceedings will get underway at 10.30am with mass at St Patrick's Church in Fermoy after which a parade, led by the Thomas Kent pipe Band and Liam Lynch Anglesboro Pipe Band will assemble at the close to the entrance of the cemetery. Wreaths will then be laid at the Republican plot, the final resting place of Liam Lynch and other Republican figures including Comt Mick Fitzgerald, prior to Deputy O Cuiv delivering his oration at 12.30pm. Cllr O'Flynn said the passing years had not diminished the memory of General Lynch and the sacrifices he and others made for Ireland. "While it may be more than 90 years since his death, the legacy of Liam Lynch and the sacrifice he and other patriots made for their country is as relevant today as it was almost a century ago," he said. General Liam Lynch - a true Irish Hero This year will mark the 94th anniversary of the death of General Liam Lynch, one of the key figures in the War of Independence and the Civil War. Born at Barnagurraha near Mitchelstown, he is credited with playing a pivotal role in helping to organise the Irish Volunteers in Cork, serving as Commandant of the Cork No2 Brigade of the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence. Lynch was vehemently opposed to the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, famously saying "we have declared for an Irish Republic, and will not live under any other law." After initially opposing the seizure of the Four Courts in 1922, Lynch joined the garrison and was arrested by Free State forces and later released on the understanding that he would try to halt the fighting. Instead he set about reorganising resistance, even planning the establishment of a 'Munster Republic', which he believed would hamper the development of the Free State. Lynch was fatally wounded during a skirmish with Free State forces in the Knockmealdown Mountains on April 10, 1923 and laid to rest in Kilcrumper two days later. His death shocked the nation and was widely regarded as one of the key motivations behind the decision by army Chief of Staff, Fran Aiken to declare a ceasefire on April 30, 1923. The principal of the newly opened Fermoy Educate Together National School (ETNS) has said she is relishing the opportunity of being at the helm of a facility that she promised would "encompass an environment of inclusivity and equality". Aideen Maher was speaking as she formally welcomed the first cohort of junior infants to the school, which for the time being is temporarily housed at the Fermoy Community Centre on Ashe Quay. It is planned that the school will move permanently to the former Gaelscoil de hIde premises on McCurtain Street in 2019, where it will operate on a shared basis with the Cork Education and Training Board (CETB). The opening of the school represented the long-awaited culmination of a process that commenced in 2011 when the government established the forum on Patronage and Pluralism within the primary sector. It's aim was to increase diversity and inclusiveness through the reconfiguration of Church buildings and schools, with parents in 43 areas, including Fermoy, consulted on their school patron of choice. While parents in Fermoy selected the Educate Together model, progress during the intervening years was slow due in part to what Educate Together said was the Department of Education's insistence that it be a 'no cost' process. Last year the campaign was re-energised following the publication of the government's Action Plan for Education, in which Education Minister Richard Bruton committed to commence discussions with existing and prospective patrons where "a desire for patronage reassignment has already been expressed." That process finally yielded results for Fermoy last June, when it was announced the Educate Together school would open in time for the new term. Ms Maher promised that the uniqueness and individuality of each and every student that passes through the doors of the school would be "carefully nurtured". "I really value the importance of relationships and thus involve parents and the wider community as partners in education. Such involvement has a positive effect on pupils attitude behaviour and learning," she said. Prior to completing her post-graduate diploma in Educational Leadership in 2010, Ms Maher had a long career in nursing within the clinical, managerial, and educational sectors. She now has more than eight years' professional teaching experience under her belt and was a member of the team that helped set up Castaheany Educate Together NS in Dublin in 2005. She has worked at a total of five Educate Together schools in Dublin and Cork, her most recent posting being in Midleton. "Our school [in Fermoy] will offer parents and children an active learning environment where children are confident, happy and engaged in child-centred learning," pledged Ms Maher. "This nurturing setting will encourage children to reach their full potential to the best of their abilities and empower them to think freely and become confident, critical thinkers," she added. Fermoy ETNS manager Niall Wall said he was delighted to welcome Ms Maher as principal. "Her knowledge and understanding of the Educate Together ethos and the Learn Together curriculum is second to none, and I'm sure that Fermoy ETNS will be a huge success and massive asset to the local community," he said. There are still places available for Junior Infants. Parents interested in this and subsequent years should visit www.educatetogether.ie/fermoy or call the Educate Together national office at (01) 429 2500. More than 1,500 people have signed an online a petition calling on the National Transport Authority (NTA) to extend the Leap Card travel scheme to incorporate rail commuters travelling to and from the Mallow area. Introduced in Cork in 2014, the Leap Card is currently only available to commuters using Iarnrod Eireann commuter services on the Cobh/Midleton to Cork line and offers reduced rail fares for users. As far back as January 2017 Deputy Sherlock wrote to the NTA requesting that the Leap Card be extended to the Mallow-Cork service. However, in her reply NTA chief executive Anne Graham said it had not been included in the Leap Card scheme because it was an intercity service and not a commuter service. She wrote that the Leap Card was "not always optimal" for long-distance services "particularly in a situation where the best price for such a journey can be obtained by purchasing an online ticket well in advance of the day of travel." "An expansion of the scheme would require the purchase of additional of additional electronic ticketing equipment as those in Mallow are not capable of accepting Leap Cards. There is currently no funding available for this equipment for this station," she added. Deputy Sherlock recently raised the issue one again with the NTA only to be told by Ms Graham that the Leap Card worked best along lines with a number of immediate stops in populated areas "as this enables certain economies of scale to be achieved." "There are no stops between Mallow and Cork. In contrast, there are three stops on the line between Midleton and Cork and five stops Cobh and Cork. In addition, those stations are located much closer to the populated areas around Cork City," wrote Ms Graham. Speaking to The Corkman Deputy Sherlock said his frustration at the continued refusal of the NTA to extend the Leap Card to Mallow had prompted him to start the petition. "Where it has been introduced in cities like Dublin, Cork, Galway and Waterford the scheme has encouraged greater use of public transport. If we are serious about taking cars off our roads then we have to allow people to take advantage of public transport initiatives," said Deputy Sherlock. "I would also point out that the technology is currently in place at Mallow station - it just isn't being used," he added. Deputy Sherlock said the NTA's argument that those availing of the scheme could stay on a train to Dublin did not stand up to scrutiny. "The bottom line is that students and workers in both the city and Mallow deserved equality of access to public transport services such as the Leap Card," he said. "That is why I have started the petition and hope that as many people as possible sign it in order to show the commitment from the people of Mallow and of Cork to train services in this country." To sign the petition follow the link at www.change.org. The outstanding contribution of Cork journalist and critically acclaimed writer Louise O'Neill to the Irish literary scene has been honoured by her home county after she received the Cork Person of the Month award for August. Having completed a bachelor of arts in English Studies at Trinity College and a post-graduate in Fashion Buying at DIT, O'Neill moved to New York in 2010, where she worked for a year as assistant stylist to the style director of Elle magazine. She returned to Ireland in 2011 to concentrate on her writing and began her first novel, 'Only Ever Yours', which was published in 2014. She subsequently won the Sunday Independent Newcomer of the Year Award at the 2014 Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards; the Ellis Dillon award for a First Children's Book; and 2015 The Bookseller's (Young Adult) prize. The book received huge critical acclaim, with the The Guardian describing O'Neill as 'the best young adult fiction writer alive today'. Her second book, 'Asking For It', published in 2016, was a number one best-seller in Ireland and earned her numerous national and international awards. Described by the New York Times as 'riveting and essential', the book is a powerful and thought-provoking look at the issue of rape culture and sexual consent in Ireland. Such was the public reaction to the book, it has been turned into a critically acclaimed stage play; was used as the basis for the RTE documentary 'Asking For It?: Reality Bites'; and a movie based on the book is currently in pre-production. O'Neill has also penned three other books: 'I call Myself A Feminist, 'Almost Love' and 'The Surface Breaks', with her work in constant demand and attracting interest for film and TV rights from production companies across the globe. The Clonakilty native also writes for a variety of Irish newspapers and magazines, including a regular column in the Irish Examiner, covering a range of topical issues including gender politics, women's rights, fashion and pop culture, as well as challenging subjects such as anorexia and bulimia. Person of the Month/Year awards organiser and Mallow native Manus O'Callaghan said O'Neill was a worthy winner of the August accolade. "Louise is a feminist and very politically engaged. One of Ireland's bravest and most honest writers, her work is of vital importance and has appeal for audiences of all ages, both male and female," said Mr O'Callaghan. "She is a wonderful ambassador for Cork." Louise O'Neill's name will now go forward for possible selection as the Cork Person of the Year for 2018, the winner of which will be announced at a gala awards function in Cork's Rochestown Park Hotel on January 18, 2019. Pride of Place judges William Beatty and Donal Connolly visiting the Gary Kelly Cancer Support Centre. They are pictured with members of the Kelly family and Barry Eaton of Louth Co Co. As his voice trembled in raw emotion, one could hear that the 2018 Pride of Place judge had just 'got' what the Gary Kelly Cancer Support Centre is all about. Donal Connolly looked down at Mrs Claire Kelly and simply remarked, 'your family has done a major service.' The centre, he was told, was born from a brother's desire to remember his sister and help the people of his home town. Last week, the Gary Kelly Centre was entered in the 'Well Being' section of the Pride of Place Awards 2018. As part of the scheme, judges visit the entrants and learn a little bit more about a service, town or village. Donal and William Beatty left George's Street with the belief that they had truly met Drogheda's heroes . They were given the history of the place, from the idea, sparked by the sad death of Mandy Weldon, the 750,000 donated by her brother, Gary, from his testimonial to buy the centre and then the stories of plumbers, builders, plasterers, electricians and others who gave their services for nothing to make sure the place opened. That was 14 years ago and in the days since, the enthusiasm has never wained. It was revealed that the centre gets just 29,000 in state funding each year, the rest of the 320,000 needed to run the place taken in via fundraising. With the number of people using the free service set to hit the 8,000 mark this year, the need for the centre has never been greater. Chairperson Niall Reynolds said that the centre was a 'safe haven' for people who can just walk in, no appointment necessary, no referral, and a cup of tea will be waiting for you too. He himself is the Community Welfare Officer for the centre and that has improved vital for many worried people who call in, not knowing how their cancer diagnosis is going to impact on them. Ann Treacy from the centre said they were accepted by everyone in the community, from farmers to the GAA to the Defence Forces and children with their First Communion money still come in to donate. 'I am humbled that people get behind us and ourvolunteers are the cornerstone.' Aileen Emery said that 40,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year and the centre was vital for people and families 'living with and beyond cancer.' The service provides everything, from oncology nurses to a physio, counsellors and legal advice, all free. A new community based programme with a gym service begins shortly, thanks to the GK Gym. Chairperson of Louth CC, Liam Reilly, said they were delighted to showcase the centre and the role it plays in the community. 'It is one of Louth's proudest treasures.' he added. Judge Donal Connolly said he was 'amazed' by the fundraising volume and in all his travels has rarely seen an organisation operate on a budget with less than 10% from state aid. 'We see the best of community support around the country and this is certainly at the upper end,' he stated. Collon comes alive The judges spent last Tuesday morning in the village of Collon, which was also entered in the Pride of Place. Up to 30 people were at the launch presentation at Collon Church of Ireland, and hundreds at the closing event at Mattock Rangers. In between, the judges got to see the likes of the Pitch and Putt club, visited Fr Brendan and the monks in Collon, looked around the square and the old schoolhouse, saw the delights of Collon House before a poignant look at the memorial to Sgt Morrissey outside the garda station. They also got to chat to Ann Marie Martin at Collon NS. The overall view was that Collon did itself proud. Seamus Roe, Michael Reid and John Rountree wrote a 12 page booklet, with photographs which was very well produced by Patrice Keenan of LCC. Michael Reid and Seamus with John did a lot of the presentation on the day. Cllr Dolores Minogue this week praised the people of Collon for their efforts and hoped they'd do very well in the competition. The programme for Drogheda Day, a celebration of Drogheda's culture and rich heritage, has been announced, and will take place on Saturday 15 September 2018. Commemoration of those killed by Cromwell and especially the two Franciscans martyred at St Peter's Church of Ireland, will begin with the laying of a wreath at Millmount where Cromwell's troops killed hundreds of defending Royalists. A walk from St Peter's church on West Street to Laurence's Gate will begin at 3pm, finishing up with a talk on Drogheda's history by historians Brendan Matthews and Liam Reilly. 'September was chosen for three reasons, the three biggest events in the town's history - namely the sacking of the town by Cromwell, Louth's all-Ireland win in 1957 and the Pope's visit in 1979,' explained Mayor Frank Godfrey, instigator of Drogheda Day. 'It is important that the people of Drogheda remember their history and do something to commemorate it and honour this great town.' Mayor Godfrey went on to say that we need to celebrate Drogheda's heritage, culture and achievements. 'We need people to participate and express their love for the town, to celebrate Drogheda's past and present. There is a vibrancy and energy visible in the town since Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann - and we must harness this now by celebrating and commemorating all that is great in our town! What could be better than having our very own Drogheda Day!' Mr Kejriwal told Mr Moon and Ms Brundtland about several political obstructions and interventions created in setting up mohalla clinics. New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Partys mohalla clinic initiative drew huge praise on Friday from former Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, and former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland during their visit to a health facility built under the project. Mr Moon and Ms Brundtland visited Peeragarhi Mohalla Clinic and a polyclinic in west Delhis Paschim Vihar along with Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendra Jain. Mr Moon said he was deeply touched and impressed with Mr Kejriwals strong engagement and vision to provide primary health care service to the poor. Mohalla Clinic and polyclinic are good examples of it. I hope there will be much more support and strong engagement at the Union government level also, he said. The former secretary-general suggested India to increase its budgetary support to health services from one per cent of the GDP to 2.5 per cent by 2021. Mr Kejriwal told Mr Moon and Ms Brundtland about several political obstructions and interventions created in setting up mohalla clinics. In the last two-and-a-half-year, we could not do any work due to several obstructions but after the Supreme Court judgement we are confident to set up a thousand Mohalla Clinics in next few months, he said. Mr Moon and Ms Brundtland are in the country as part of a delegation from The Elders, a London-based organisation of independent global leaders who pool their collective experiences and resources for promoting peace, justice and human rights. Ms Brundtland, who has also served as the director general of the World Health Organisation, said she witnessed impressive work being done at the Mohalla Clinic and the polyclinic. In Delhi, with Mohalla Clinics and plans to develop them, you are approaching what needs to be done for all people, for every Indian and everyone in every country. So, we are happy to see what is being done here in Delhi and what the government hasbeen planning and implementing on the behalf of the people of this region. It needs to be done all over India, she said. She cited much more attention on public health services and enhanced spending on these services by south asian countries and China, expecting India to follow suit. The Mohalla Clinic at Peeragarhi, the first of the series, was inaugurated on July 19, 2015. At present, 189 Mohalla Clinics are operational in the city. Hotel and guesthouse owners in Louth and across the country are calling on the Government to avoid introducing measures in this autumn's budget which could damage the tourism industry. Tourism is one of Ireland's largest indigenous industries, supporting approximately 235,000 jobs. Hoteliers warn that while the industry has made great strides in recovery in recent years, this growth cannot be taken for granted. Martin Daly, Chair the Louth branch of the IHF says the 9% VAT rate has been shown to be the right rate for the sector, bringing Ireland more closely in line with tourism VAT rates in other competing European countries and enabling Irish tourism to become more competitive. "Its positive impact has exceeded expectations nationally however we here in Louth are still in the recovery stage. Over 65,000 new jobs have been created across every town and county since 2011, making the 9% VAT rate one of the most successful job-creation initiatives in modern times. Here in Louth our local tourism sector now supports 2,600 jobs and contributes some 74m to the local economy." While the sector has achieved a return to growth, Mr Daly says that there is no room for complacency with the tourism sector facing enormous difficulties due to the uncertainty around Brexit and the fall in the value of sterling. "Our industry is heavily dependent on the economic environment of our major source markets, and we are very vulnerable to external economic shocks.' Sinn Fein Councillors Kenneth Flood and Joanna Byrne accompanied Imelda Munster TD to take a tour of the construction site of the Staleen Water Treatment Plant and Pipeline Project - but left with more questions than answers about the future water capacity for the town and surrounds. The new pipeline will help to ensure the delivery of a safe, secure and reliable water supply to Drogheda, South Louth and East Meath. Once complete, the old pipeline which has experienced two significant bursts in the past year can be decommissioned. The new treatment plant will ensure that the water supply is removed from the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Remedial Action List (RAL) for exceedances of THMs (trihalomethanes). However, during a Q&A session following a briefing from Irish Water Management, in answer to the Sinn Fein team's questions it was revealed that although the project will bring the outdated infrastructure up to modern standards and will immensely improve the quality of the water delivered, the plant itself will not be fit for purpose to supply the increasing demand that will be expected of it by then. The plant currently exports 30,000 sq cubes of water per day, 1,250 per hr, and it was confirmed to the SF team that the new pipeline will not export much more than that. 'With 5,000 houses planned for construction in the Northern Environs area of Drogheda alone, leading to a population increase of approximately 15,000 people it is obvious that the water demand will dramatically increase in that area alone in years to come, let alone expansion in any other area added to that. The question has to be asked as to why, when Irish Water planned this project, none of this was taken into consideration? Will the lack of water supply stop the growth of Drogheda?,' a statement remarked. 'We will be raising this at forthcoming council meetings and with central government. The council, as the local planning authority, have a responsibility to ensure the infrastructure is in place to serve the houses that they have granted planning permission for. Also, if Drogheda is to attract Foreign Direct Investment, especially anything in the manufacturing sector, including pharmaceuticals, Drogheda must be able to ensure that we can deliver the massive water supply that such industries need. 'The new pipeline cannot be the end of the water infrastructure investment in Drogheda. The government must commit to a water delivery plan to ensure Drogheda can fulfil its potential and become this states next City." Two local SPAR stores were awarded one of retail's highest honours at the inaugural SPAR 365 Standards Customer Care Programme celebration recently. SPAR and SPAR Express retailers from across Ireland attended the prestigious ceremony which was held at Citywest Hotel, Co Dublin and hosted by BWG Foods, owners and operators of the SPAR brand in Ireland. O'Brien's in Ardee and Smyth's in Tallanstown were the winners. Residents of the Windmill Road area held a meeting with local Councillors on Monday. The entrance to Anneville Crescent is set to get bollards all the way into the estate to stop illegal parking. There are fears that lives will be lost unless the chronic traffic situation on Windmill Road and Anneville Crescent is finally tackled. In a sometimes impassioned meeting with local councillors at Millmount, residents of both areas spoke about the daily issues that impact on their lives. And it was widely accepted that residents only parking may be the final solution. The major health and safety issues on the street were raised by a number of speakers, one showing a video of an ambulance stuck in traffic as someone tried to park on the street. They said that other ambulance drivers have said they were also delayed while parking on double yellow lines entering Anneville Crescent has the potential to deny the emergency services from getting to homes in the estate. 'Will it take a death or a tragedy on the street for someone to finally do something about this,' one resident warned. Another speaker stated that the real problems only began two years ago, but issues began to arise when the street was made one way. The value of houses has gone down with one man saying he moved into the street a few years ago and saw all the cars parked there. 'I thought there was a footbal match on and all the cars would be gone the following day, but it was the same!' Caroline Gormley, who has helped raise the concerns of the residents, confirmed that a meeting had taken place with the Chief Executive of the council and engineers. The locals pushed for residents only parking but there was a reluctance to forward it for fear of similiar requests from other areas, such as the Chord Road. What is being accepted is that bollards will be placed on both sides of the entrance to Anneville Crescent, so meaning an end to parking on double yellow lines and footpaths. 'We know it is possible to get piecemeal things done, but will it solve the problem,' Caroline asked. 'We are a unique case when it comes to parking in the town because we have a regional hospital beside us. The hospital car park is only used when the streets are full.' At times, when expecting visitors or deliveries, residents have put down cones, chairs and buckets outside their homes to reserve spaces. However, they have fallen foul of the traffic wardens who say that's illegal and they face being fined as a result. Councillors Richie Culhane, Oliver Tully, Mayor Frank Godfrey, Joanna Byrne and Kenneth Flood all attended the meeting with Cllr Flood stating that hospital workers were afraid to park in the hospital car park at night. He said that since January, when there were 24 cars targeted, people didn't want to park there, as patroled security had been withdrawn and he wanted to see that reinstated. 'We need to put pressure on the HSE to do that,' he warned. 'If they put security in at night, it would take hundreds of cars of the street,' Caroline Gormley added. Cllr Oliver Tully felt the parking arrangements around the hospital were 'mismanaged' and that needed to be sorted out. He praised the residents for their hard work so far that had led to meetings with the council and the hospital. 'They seem to be listening to you more than us!, he mused. Other questions were asked - including why Bothar Brugha was not pay parking . It was also suggested that the Windmill Road be made one-way down from the Crosslanes in an effort to solve the problems. Cllr Culhane said there were a number of possible solutions, including one hour parking only and increasing the charges. The Road Safety Authority are to be contacted in relation to the safety concerns raised as the residents continue their campaign. Speculation has already begun to mount in relation to the Old Dunnes Stores building on Rafter Street after it emerged that the sale of the building went through last week. The building was purchased by developer Martin Sinnott from Blackwater last week for an undisclosed fee, having previously gone on the market in April of last year with a guide price of 450,000. It is understood that negotiations are already under way with at least one major retailer about becoming an anchor tenant for the building. The news has been unanimously welcomed by shoppers and business people alike in the town as they hope the building can now play a pivotal role in the regeneration of the town centre. The old Dunnes building has been lying idle of in excess of ten years at this stage and for many was regarded as a black hole, sucking the life out of the centre of the town. Mr Sinnott has previous experience of redeveloping units and letting them out to national chains, having done so on a couple of occasions on the Main Street in Wexford. Workers were on site in Rafter Street building yesterday afternoon as they start preliminary works for a complete overhaul. Mr Sinnott was able to confirm that talks are ongoing with at least one major retailer about becoming an anchor tenant for the building and how works proceed will be dependant on negotiations as well as planning permission. It is hoped that a large anchor tenant will take the majority of the building, if not the plan will be to split the building into four or five smaller retail units. Basically, were looking to bring in retailers to breathe some badly needed life back into Enniscorthy town centre, Mr Sinnott said. Were in early discussions at this stage with one larger retailer and Michael OLeary from Sherry Fitzgerald OLeary Kinsella will be handling expressions of interest going forward. Mr Kinsella said that work will get underway immediately and he is hopeful that this will be the first of a series of positive announcements concerning the town centre site. Having been vacant for so long, the building will need quite a bit of work and it is understood that large parts are to be demolished and rebuilt again. Chamber President Maree Lyng welcomed the sale of the building which she said was a further indication of Enniscorthys resurgence as an area of commercial activity. The empty Dunnes site has blighted commercial activity in the Rafter Street area for some time, but now that its sold, I am satisfied that it will generate a new lease of life not just for those who may occupy the building, but for other retailers in the immediate area as well. Pat Molloy of Lyndale, Ballywilliam, passed away at his home on Thursday, August 9, just 11 days short of his 80th birthday, after a short illness. He was in the loving care of his wife of 56 years, Martha, and their six children Anne (Dixon), Michael, Lorraine (O'Sullivan), Patricia, Mary and Patrick. Pat was born in Ballylacey, Gorey on August 20, 1938 and was third eldest in a family of 13 - eight boys and five girls, and pre-deceased by his parents John and Nancy (nee Sarah Ann Black) and a brother and sister who sadly died in infancy. He is also survived by his two sons-in-law Tom Dixon of Pallas and Tom O'Sullivan of Craanford, and daughter-in-law Marie Leonard of Tuam, ten grandchildren and three great grandsons, who were all a source of great joy for him and he enjoyed much amusement from their antics. He is survived by his 10 siblings, Art (Arklow), Mick (Inch), May (Iowa USA), Sean (Gorey), Eileen Teevan (London) Liam (Birmingham), Teresa Reilly (London) Ann Mannion (Gorey) Kevin (Headford) and Dermot (Ballyminaun) and missed by his sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law, many nieces, nephews, relations and friends Pat was an extremely diligent and loyal worker, with a genius mind for engineering and manufacturing. After he got married to Martha he had a few career changes. He worked in the UK in the mines in Turlough Hill and farmed in Ballywilliam before starting his own engineering company, thereby fulfilling his keen interest in manufacturing and engineering. It was through this that his work and work ethic were recognised by Pat Walsh of Custom Compost and it was there that he worked the remainder of his career, as Works Engineer. It was a measure of the esteem in which he was held that members of that team came to visit him while he was unwell. Pat started to visit his sister May in Iowa and planned these yearly trips with great excitement. It was the highlight of his year in many ways. He had a keen interest in nature, wildlife and animals, especially birds, with finches being his favourite. He had a great love for dogs and allowed that he never met a dog he didn't like. His greatest treasure and first love was his family. Pat had a very deep faith and lived it out very quietly, attending daily Mass with Martha and would have a cheery word for everyone he met. He found great peace in his daily Rosary and was rarely too far away from a set of Rosary beads. He was an extremely generous person, with his love, his knowledge and his time and many good deeds done will only ever be known by those on the receiving end. He was a true gentleman, full of fun, devilment, a quick wit and a great sense of humour. He found joy in very simple things, he had a great laugh and loved to laugh, he could bring the house down laughing at Laurel & Hardy or The 3 Stooges or some of the Disney cartoons. He absolutely loved and appreciated his life. Pat left an impression on everyone he met, you left his company feeling enriched, perhaps unsure exactly why, but you knew that he was special and that you would trust any advice he had given. He was one of life's true gentlemen and will be deeply missed by everyone who knew him. Pat's Months Mind Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, September 8, in St Michael's Church, Gorey at 7.30 p.m. An outstanding member of Gorey's Lombard Cullen and Fitzpatrick Solicitor team has sadly passed away. Michael J Cullen (61) of Mount Alexander lost a brave battle with a long illness on Friday, August 31, at St James Hospital, Dublin. Michael was a consultant in the firm with over 35 years of broad experience of the law in a number of areas. While his main areas of speciality were litigation and property, he was also experienced in commercial and landlord and tenant issues. He had an extensive personal injury practise and acted for people who had been injured in road traffic accidents, in the workplace and in other areas where injury occurred. Michael also acted for both plaintiffs and defendants in family dispute cases involving judicial separation and divorce. He was a member of the Law Society of Ireland, the Wexford Solicitors Bar Association, the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association, and was for many years a member of the Regulation of Practise Committee of the Law Society of Ireland. Garry Lombard, who retired nine years ago from the firm, was partners with Michael for more than 20 years. 'He had the utmost integrity and was honest to a fault,' said Garry. 'He never spared himself when working on behalf of his clients.' There was a large turnout yesterday (Monday) to say goodbye to Michael, who was laid to rest in St Michael's Cemetery. He is sadly missed by his loving wife Eileen, son Daragh, mother Mollie, sister Jan, aunts, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces, nephews, god-daughter, relatives, friends, neighbours and all at Lombard Cullen and Fitzpatrick Solicitors. Dr Mark White, the new Vice President of Research, Innovation and Graduate Studies at WIT Gorey's Dr Mark White has been appointed as Waterford Institute of Technology's Vice President of Research, Innovation and Graduate Studies. Dr White is a former assistant director of nursing in Wexford General Hospital. A Dublin native, Dr White has lived in Gorey for the past 20 years and is married to Nessa White, General Secretary of Education and Training Boards Ireland. 'I am very much looking forward to the challenge of building the research capacity of the institute and building on previous success and reputation,' said Dr White. A key focus for Dr White over the coming months is the development of a new research strategy for WIT which will align and deliver the aspirations of the recently published WIT Strategy (2018-2021) and naturally prepare them for their Technological University journey in the coming months and years. The 2018-2021 strategic plan puts WIT at the very centre of regional social, cultural and economic development. The Waterford institute plans to continue to expand its innovation and research activity which to date has created hundreds of high quality jobs in the region in industries like pharmaceuticals and information technology. Dr White also added he is also looking forward to the completion of the extension of ArcLabs, WIT's research and innovation hub on the West Campus. A 2.5 million investment was awarded to WIT by Enterprise Ireland to double the capacity to support technology start-ups at ArcLabs. Dr White explained the extension of ArcLabs is expected to be completed in the latter quarter of 2019 and will attract new businesses and startups into the south east region. Professor Willie Donnelly, President of Waterford Institute of Technology, said Dr White will be a valuable addition to the WIT executive team. Prof Donnelly said: 'Dr White has a proven track record in successfully managing complex large scale research and change management projects, as well as leadership in academic research in his own right. 'He has the experience, vision and commitment to build on the Institute's extraordinary achievements to date in research and innovation, and to bring it to the next level in line with our commitment to become one of the top 100 young universities by 2030.' The closure of two Post Offices in north Wexford has been described as an attack on rural Ireland. The village of Coolgreany and Camolin will no longer have a post office in the next four months as part of a reorganisation plan involving the closure of 159 village postal services around the country. The post offices are set to close under the terms of a voluntary redundancy package offered by An Post to postmasters and postmistresses. Norah Finn, postmistress of Coolgreany post office, spoke of her sadness and upset at having to shut the doors after decades of service. 'I am sick to my stomach about closing the post office,' said Norah, who has been postmistress for 13 years in Coolgreany. 'But for me I felt I had no choice but to accept it. It killed me.' Norah said she gets upset each time she thinks of the closure of her premises. It was quite a difficult decision for her to make. 'I love coming down and talking to the customers,' said Norah. 'Every Friday my daughter would join me in work and we would end up arguing because we wanted to each deal with the customers.' The village of Coolgreany is being left to die, according to Norah. 'It is an attack on rural Ireland,' she added. The customers who regularly attend Coolgreany Post Office are devastated at the news, and have come into Norah upset. 'I just tell them that the office is not closing until January 31 and once we get through Christmas we will see what to do then,' said Norah. Norah feels the elderly have been hit the most, with some losing their independence because of the closure. 'I know a woman who comes in, does her few bits and her daughter collects her when she is ready. She's very independent,' said Norah. 'But now she will have to try and go to either Arklow and Gorey and stand for hours, her independence is gone.' She said she will miss her customers the most once she closes the doors for good in January. 'I will miss each and everyone of them,' Norah added. Camolin Post Office has stood in the village for 51 years. There is no final date set yet for when it will close, but it is due to shut up shop in the next four months along with the other rural post offices. Jack Redmond of Jacks Tavern, and Chairman of Camolin Development Association, said is it disappointing to see the post office go, but the community will try fight to keep it. 'We will fight in hope of keeping it,' said Jack. 'Maybe someone might take it over or one of the petrol stations in the village.' The nearest alternative for Camolin is Ferns, which is 5.4km. Other offices within 15km include Boolavogue, Ballycanew, Gorey, Wells and Carnew. For Coolgreany, the closest post office is Ballyfad which is 2.5km. Others within 15km include Kilanerin, Arklow, Gorey and Avoca. A public meeting to save Coolgreany Post Office will take place tomorrow (Wednesday), at 8 p.m., in Coolgreany National School Policy expected to trigger huge economic, social, and civic development. New Delhi: The DDA has cleared much awaited Land Pooling Policy for Delhi for approval by ministry of housing and urban affairs. The policy covers urbanisable areas of urban extensions in 95 villages. Formulated with an aim to provide affordable housing in Delhi, the policy is also expected to trigger huge economic, social, and civic development of the city. It is likely to benefit lakhs of farmers while generating immense investment opportunities. The policy was approved in DDA meeting held under the chairmanship of lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal. Considering the availability of resources and services, FAR (Floor Area Ratio) of 200 is recommended for the development in the Land Pooling Policy by the DDA authority keeping in view availability of water, requirement of land for physical and social infrastructure and impact on environment. With 200 FAR, the national capital will get 17 lakh dwelling units to house 76 lakh persons. In order to promote affordable and inclusive housing, 15 per cent FAR over and above the permissible FAR has also been allowed for EWS/ affordable housing. This will go a long way in meeting the goals of Housing for All. Out of the total of 17 lakh dwelling units, more than five lakh dwelling units will be created for the economically weaker sections of the society, said a senior DDA official. Under the land pooling policy, agencies will develop infrastructure like roads, schools, hospitals, community centres and stadia on part of the pooled land, and return a portion of the plot to farmers who can later execute housing projects with the help of private builders.The DDA will act as a facilitator and planner and the process of pooling and development will be taken up by developer entities or consortiums. Land owners having land of any size can participate under the land pooling policy. However, the minimum area to be taken up for development would be two hectares. A developer entity or individual can participate in the scheme by pooling land parcels covered under a sector as per Zonal Development Plan, he added. Keeping in line with the goal of Ease of Doing Business Single Window System is being created for implementation of policy in DDA. All processes of receiving applications, verifications, grant of approvals and licenses, etc. will be completed in a time bound manner. A two-stage Grievance Redressal Mechanism within DDA has been introduced for transparent and people friendly operationalization and implementation of the policy. Wexford St Vincent de Paul's (SVdP) Education Conference has been inundated with appeals from students for financial assistance over the spiralling rent costs in Dublin, Cork and Galway. Teenagers at risk of having to forego a college education have been turning to their local St Vincent de Paul conference for help in increasing numbers. Don Arthur, who manages the Education Conference as a volunteer, said: 'It's very busy at the moment. We get a small amount of money relatively speaking to cover the county. We try to allocate that to cases where people fall through the cracks for whatever reason.' Applications for assistance have been flooding in since July. Mr Arthur or one of the team of ten volunteers at the Wexford conference meet the individual or parent and see what is required and how the charity can be of help. 'People who come to us are extremely sensitive about it. In some cases they never imagined they would have to come to us for assistance. It could be the first person in the family to ever go on to college.' It is not just parents who seek assistance from the Wexford St Vincent de Paul Education Conference, with teenagers increasingly seeking assistance, sometimes looking for as little as the price of a bus fare home from college. 'Generally speaking students are covered by SUSI grants. They get so much per month; enough to cover their living expenses and accommodation. Despite getting the grant the family would have to give their son or daughter some money and in many cases the family doesn't have that ability as every cent is accounted for. A lot of the time there are problems in the background. It's extraordinary. Some people break down saying they never thought they'd find themselves here and "If our neighbours knew"' Some parents approaching the St Vincent de Paul for help feel like a failure for not being able to provide for their child when, in fact, they are overwhelmed by the cost of renting a room in a city where rents have jumped by 13 per cent year-on-year, as happened in Cork this year. The Conference budget is limited and the charity cannot meet the needs of every student all of the time. 'We can't perform miracles. We have hundreds of applications for tablets but we can't accommodate those. Where funds are short for whatever reason we try to help. Often it comes down to helping with the little things like a bus fare for 20 a week, otherwise they just wouldn't be able to get home. When they get home their parents give them a parcel of food to bring back with them.' Mr Arthur said parents across the county are under tremendous pressure to meet the costs of paying for rent for a shared apartment for their child in Dublin, for instance, where rent sums range from 6,000 to 10,000 a college year. 'Rents have gone through the roof in Dublin and in Cork. Parents are really struggling now and family budgets are very, very sensitively balanced. We try to do a fact finder budget with families so they know exactly what is coming in and what is going out and we allow for additional upcoming expenses. There are situations where a student mightn't get to college without our support. We can be the difference.' People are referred to the Education Conference through local St Vincent de Paul branches, of which there are 14 across County Wexford. 'The volunteers in the different conferences across the county know what is going on and now who needs assistance.' He said: 'Once we take someone on we are with them for the length of the course because we want to see them come out the other side and to be in a position to get a job and to become self sufficient. That is the whole objective. Sometimes we could be helping a student for 12 months and other times it's four years. During that time their situation could improve and they mightn't need to come to us anymore or their financial situation could deteriorate. We have had a number of cases where an extremely academic student from a family who never had a child attend college before needs assistance but we don't judge: it can be someone studying Medicine or someone doing an apprenticeship.' He said people are quite shy about asking for support. 'It's very much a last resort but they won't get the opportunity to go to college unless they get some help, in some cases. We can't perform miracles. In general I would say people who come to us are very genuine and they do make a go of things and they do use the opportunities afforded to them so that is very heartening.' The cost of attending college outside County Wexford has led many students to look at options closer to home, including at the Wexford branch of Carlow Institute of Technology which offers an expanded range of courses this year. Eleven County Wexford post offices are to close as part of An Post's consolidation process which has previously been termed an 'assault on rural villages'. Approximately six of the closures; Bannow, Broadway, Kilmore Quay, Duncannon, Foulksmills and Camolin, had been suggested at the beginning of August in what was described as 'a leaked list' but this number has more than doubled in the weeks since then. The list of post offices set to close in County Wexford now also includes: Ballycogley, Ballywilliam, Coolgreaney, Glynn and Kiltealy. The new branches on the list were all aware weeks ago that they would be ceasing their operations. Outside of western counties like Galway (18), Donegal (17) and Kerry (12), Wexford has the highest rate of closures at 11, with nearest alternative stations ranging between 2.5 and 12.4 km away from the closing branches. In their statement, An Post details the closest alternative station for each of the closing branches, as well as a number of other branches within a 15km radius. They point out that all locations have populations of less than 500 people, and almost 100 of them are in remote areas defined by Census 2016 as having 'no settlement', that being less than 50 occupied dwellings and little evidence of urban centre. Kiltealy customers have been recommended to take their business to Bunclody which is 12.4km away, one of the furthest distances listed among the 159 closures nationwide. However, the closest post office to Kiltealy would actually be in Ballindaggin, approximately 4km away but it is not listed as even another alternative within 15km. In terms of the main alternative locations, An Post are redirecting customers from: Ballycogley to Killinick (4.4km); Ballywilliam to New Ross (9.7km); Bannow to Wellingtonbridge (4.5km); Broadway to Rosslare Harbour (6.3km); Camolin to Ferns (5.4km); Coolgreaney to Ballyfad (2.5km); Duncannon to Ramsgrange (3.8km); Foulksmills to Newbawn (5.1km); Glynn to Bree (8km); Kilmore Quay to Kilmore Village (4.7km); and Kiltealy to Bunclody (12.4km). An Post has said that where postmasters are 'opting to retire', services will be consolidated with neighbouring offices to ensure their continued viability. Debbie Byrne, Managing Director of An Post Retail thanked the postmasters who had chosen to retire for their great service to An Post and local communities over many years, saying they were committed to ensuring the sustainability and viability of the network with a move to offer more new and innovative services to customers. '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 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 added. Former members of the now defunct Junior Chamber Wexford are invited to attend a special reunion at Wexford Boat Club on September 8 at 8 p.m. The club, which was also called Jaycee Wexford at one stage of its life, was a branch of Junior Chamber International, an organisation that was founded in 1915 and is still in operation in 124 countries around the world. Its main aim was to encourage young people to become active citizens and to promote participation in efforts towards social and economic development, and international cooperation, good will and understanding. Wexford's Junior Chamber began in the late 1950s, operating until the end of the 1990s. A number of its former members and life members have come up with the idea to host a reunion, saying that as time marches on it would be nice to meet former JCI colleagues, exchange stories and material gathered during the last 60 years. During its years of operation, Junior Chamber Wexford brought over 5,000 people to the town with various conferences, the biggest being the European and African Conference in 1981 which was the group's contribution to the local economy at the time. During the 1960s, the group produced a booklet initially called 'What's On in Wexford' which was a free monthly tourist brochure for visitors to the town. Barbara Wallace was one of the first female Chapter Presidents in the world and, during her time with South East Tourism, helped to build the chapter up considerably. The get-together in the Boat Club is free and all former members are welcome. Those with memorabilia are asked to bring it along on the night. For more information, contact the group via email (wexfordjaycee@gmail.com) or phone on 087 456 5554. An international aid volunteer from Castlegregory is being held in a Greek prison this week after being accused of a list of offences including espionage. Sean Binder (24) is in jail on the island of Lesbos after being arrested on August 24 with another volunteer, Sarah Mardini, following claims that he had been involved in human trafficking, money laundering, espionage and membership of a criminal organisation. Sean had been working as a volunteer with NGO 'Emergency Response Centre International' - a group which helps refugees and migrants. An investigation into the claims is currently underway. In a statement, Sean's family have said that he is entirely innocent and a legal team is working hard to have him cleared of all allegations against him. They have thanked the public for their support and have expressed their trust and confidence in the Greek judiciary. Tralee councillor Toireasa Ferris, who is a friend of the family, said that Sean's mother Fanny and the rest of his family have been overwhelmed by the support he has received so far. "Sean himself, his family and most importantly, his solicitor are all adamant of his innocence and are working to clear his name," she said on Tuesday. "We are hoping that due process will be done. He can be held for up to 18 months though and although we hope it doesn't come to that, it must be a very worrying time for his family," she added. "We obviously do not know all the facts, but speaking from a personal standpoint as someone who has an interest in human rights, I cannot see how someone like Sean - who was drawn to work with people and gives his time freely and kindly - could be involved in anything like what has been reported. I would be shocked if it was true," she said. An online petition and support page for Sean has been set up on the 'Free Humanitarians' website. Kerry County Council will vote next Monday on whether or not to support a Presidential candidate for the forthcoming election. Local councillors heard from four potential candidates on Monday last at a specially convened meeting of Kerry County Council. These included Gavin Duffy and Gemma O'Doherty as well as musician and lecturer James Smyth, and Seamus Nolan. Mr Duffy was the first to address Kerry County Council, and he sought its support for his nomination on his 'five-pillar campaign' focused on youth, age, diversity, respect and working together. He also called for a rail, road and broadband corridor from Kerry to Derry to help build up the west of the country. He also addressed Cork and Wicklow County Council on Monday. He has already got one of the four required local authority nominations, with Meath County Council confirming its support for the RTE Dragons' Den star earlier this week. The businessman and communications specialist is seen as one of the most likely candidates to receive the necessary four local authority nominations, along with another former Dragons' Den star Sean Gallagher. Journalist Gemma O'Doherty also addressed the council and said that her campaign would focus on corruption and social disadvantage in Ireland. She received huge support from Cllr Toireasa Ferris. Through his career in music, James Smyth highlighted how he had been a cultural ambassador for the country for over four decades. The fourth and final candidate to speak was Seamas Nolan. He has changed his named to 'William Delaney 1957-1970', and in his pitch he focused on people who suffered in State and Church institutions. William Delaney was a young boy when he was sentenced to six years in Letterfrack for stealing bread to feed his hungry family in 1966. He died in 1970 in the institution after he was hit with a broom handle by a member of the clergy. The candidate has already stated that he won't take up the position of President but is campaigning on behalf of all those who lost their lives in industrial schools and other institutions. Aside from Mr Duffy's Meath nomination, the other three potential candidates who addressed Kerry County Council on Monday have yet to receive a nomination from any other council. Kerry County Council does not have to choose a candidate, but if it does it can be by simple resolution or a majority and can select any one of the presidential candidates. Sean Gallagher is also understood to be popular among Kerry's Fianna Fail councillors including Cllr Niall Kelleher. In the 2011 race, Kerry County Council supported Mary Davis following a vote on all candidates. Presidential hopeful Joan Freeman, who got the nod from Cork City Council on Monday, had also been expected to address Kerry County Council but did not do so. She is running on a mental health platform. The Presidential election will take place on October 26 and nominations must be lodged before September 26. Kerry-based MEP Sean Kelly has welcomed the news that the bi-annual clock change looks set to be scrapped. Mr Kelly has been a long-time and vocal proponent of ending the practice of changing clocks for the summer and winter months. Now an EU-wide poll has shown overwhelming support for scrapping the practice and keeping summer time - with its longer evenings - all year round. While the official results of the consultation - which, with 4.6 million responses, had the highest ever engagement for an EU public consultation - have yet to be published by the European Commission, reports from Brussels indicate that more than 84 per cent of respondents are in favour of abolishing the clock change. On foot of the survey result, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker is backing calls to ditch the twice-yearly changes Mr Juncker told the German ZDF network that "the people want that, and we will make it happen". Mr Kelly - who is Ireland's only representative on the European Parliament Working Group on the bi-annual Clock Change - welcomed the news. "We asked citizens to have their say, and they have responded emphatically," he said. "The Commission will now need to listen to those who engaged in this consultation - the highest number ever to do so - and take the steps to abolish the clock change, keeping summertime all year round. This is real democracy in action, and I am very proud of what has been achieved throughout this process," Mr Kelly added. "The Commission were reluctant to do anything on this issue for many years now, but in February, my working group finally got the issue onto the agenda. "We are not at the end of the road yet, however. We now need a proposal to come from the Commission and for it to be quickly endorsed by Parliament and the 27 Member States. The people have had their say, and now we need to work hard to deliver what they have asked us for." This Sunday, September 9th, the 25th Annual Fun Walk in Culfadda for the Northwest Hospice is taking place. This is a big event that raises lots of money for the Hospice every year with the whole community supporting and helping out with the running of the event. Registration is taking place at 12.30 pm in Culfadda Hall. The walk starts at 1pm. Sponsor cards are available from Higgins Culfadda- Sean Connolly - Margaret McGowan- Kieran McGill 0871676180 or any committee member. There will be music in Higgins Lounge that evening at 6pm. Taking to the stage will be popular group Black Water Jack. Organisers are thanking everyone who is helping out and asked people to please come along and support this very worthy cause. This Sunday a special event is taking place in Sligo Gaol to remember one of its most famous inmates. It is marking 100 years since Michael Collins was incarcerated in the jail. The commemoration is taking place on Sunday, September 9th, at 12pm. Collins's grandniece will be in attendance. The event is part of a weekend conference taking place in Sligo celebrating 200 years of the jail. Friends of Sligo Gaol are hosting the event on the 100th anniversary since his incarceration in 1918. They have commissioned esteemed artist Emma Stroude to paint a portrait of Michael Collins in recognition of his time in Sligo Gaol. The portrait will be unveiled by his grandniece Mary Claire O'Malley at a special gathering to be held in the jail grounds. The portrait will subsequently be presented to the people of Sligo. There will also be a lecture by Phelim Brady MBE and noted scholar of Michael Collins Sligo Gaol Diary. People can also take part in bespoke tours of Sligo Gaol with actors portraying the jail's most famous prisoner. The event is funded by Creative Ireland Programme 2017-2022 and Sligo County Council Community and Economic Development. The bicentenary conference starts on Friday and runs until Sunday. Illustrator Wayne O'Connor is launching a book on the jail's history, while historians and authors will be speaking at a major conference in the Clayton Hotel on Saturday. There will also be a panel discussion on the future of the jail followed by a Conference Dinner in the hotel. To find out more about the full list of events taking place during the conference visit www.sligogaol.ie The much-awaited independent review of Gurteen Post Office may take place this week. The villagers are pinning their hopes on the review changing An Post's decision not to renew the contract with Gurteen Post Office once current Postmistress Fiona Tansey retires. A similar review of Cliffoney two weeks ago resulted in their Post Office being offered a new contract for the next three years. An Post spokesperson Angus Laverty said the reviews take place up to 28 days from once they're requested. "They've underestimated Gurteen," said spokesperson for the Save Gurteen Post Office group Fiona Tansey. "The problem is they don't realise what Gurteen is. They just don't realise that it's growing and developing, it's a thriving community," she said. "We're trying to make them see what type of town we have. There are 165 people who travel into Gurteen for work every day. Green Isle employs up on 50, we employ 25, The Hill Hotel employs 13. These statistics are very relevant," she told The Sligo Champion. The Centra supermarket owner pointed to all the local businesses and facilities the town has, including retail, healthcare, a new five teacher school with 125 children and a new funeral home on the way. She said Gurteen Post Office had between 1,000-1,100 transactions a week: "It's hard to see how that's not viable." Their campaign involves sending letters to An Post calling for the independent review and post cards to RTE broadcaster Joe Duffy. They've also painted a van with their slogan: "A Post Office, not a Ghost Office." Gurteen is one of six post offices earmarked for closure by An Post last week. All of the postmasters/postmistresses are taking the voluntary retirement package. They include Ballinfull and Monasteraden which are already closed, Dromard near Beltra is closing possibly in October, Ballinafad past Castlebaldwin is closing at the end of the year, while Drumcliffe and Gurteen post offices don't know when they're closing yet. Dromard postmistress Eva Kelly is retiring in October after 43 years service. Her customers were not surprised: "They knew at this stage that I have to retire. I can't go on forever. Nobody else is interested in taking it over but Beltra post office is near so they're quite happy," said Eva. Ballinafad postmistress Eileen Carty will shut her post office at the end of December after almost 32 years. "I'm really going to miss it because I'm closing the shop as well but I just didn't see any future in it. The business was going down, it isn't there. The people aren't there," she told this newspaper. She told all her customers and there was "shock and disbelief." "Social Welfare write out and say go to the bank. All my customers are middle-aged and older, there are very few young people," she said. Eileen took over from her mother-in-law 32 years ago and reared four children there with her husband Louis. She believes Ballinafad "will be a dead village" once she closes both shop and post office. "You're not just a post office - we're like a tourist office. People come in looking for everything. It is going to be a big loss and I feel sorry for the people but I've to think about myself," she said. In Monasteraden, former postmistress Winifred 'Freddie' Foley is adjusting to retirement after 18 years service. Monasteraden post office was hampered by poor broadband which made customer transactions almost impossible. "It was horrendous. We had no signal. I couldn't even get MidWest Radio. They'll close rural Ireland down and build a forest," she said. "Our village has deteriorated over the years. At one time it was a lively village but it's got a hacking over the years. It's kind of lonesome now," she said. The Water Conservation Order has been lifted for the Northwest, while there are still some areas where the ban remains in place around the country, particularly in the East and South. Irish Water is still appealing for people to continue to conserve water as raw water supplies in rivers, lakes and ground water sources remain lower than normal. On Tuesday it revealed the ban has been lifted for the Northwest of the country due to increased rainfall and the conservation measures over the last two months. The Irish Water Board said it 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. They determined that the Water Conservation Order will remain in place for the Greater Dublin area including Dublin, Wicklow and Kildare and in counties Louth, Meath, Offaly, Westmeath, Laois, Cork, Kerry, Limerick, Tipperary, Waterford, Wexford, Carlow and Kilkenny until Sunday, 30 September. The ban has been lifted for the Northwest region which includes Sligo, Leitrim, Roscommon, Mayo, Donegal, Galway, Clare, Longford, Cavan and Monaghan. In the midlands and south east, supplies are now generally functioning normally, with full service levels available. However, borehole and river levels remain historically low and Irish Water said it must provide for potentially dry weather during September. Irish Water said the first four weeks of August saw 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. Advice on water conservation measures are available on their website www.water.ie The bench observed that he was punished for misconduct while in jail and his behaviour in prison was found unsatisfactory. New Delhi: Vikas Yadavs plea for furlough was rejected by the Delhi high court on Friday, saying that it would not interfere with its single judges order. Yadav is in jail for life for the murder of Nitish Katara. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V.K. Rao noted that the state government and later the single judge, in July, had rejected Yadavs plea based on his conduct in prison and said we are not going to interfere in the matter. The bench observed that he was punished for misconduct while in jail and his behaviour in prison was found unsatisfactory. Your conduct was not good. Your plea for furlough was rejected based on your conduct, the court said, adding it will pass an order later on Yadavs appeal against the July 9 decision. The case relates to kidnapping of Katara from a marriage party on the intervening night of February 16-17, 2002, before killing him for his alleged affair with Vikas Yadavs sister Bharti. Katara was murdered as Vishal and Vikas did not approve of the victims affair with Bharati as they belonged to different castes, the lower court had said in its verdict. On Friday, Yadavs lawyer told the high court that his client has already spent over 16 years in prison and he was punished four times for violation of jail conditions. Additional criminal standing counsel Rajesh Mahajan opposed the appeal, saying Yadav was not qualified for furlough as he has not earned the required three Annual Good Conduct Remissions. Mr Mahajan said Yadav will not be eligible for remission till he completed the 25-year jail term awarded to him by the high court, which was later upheld by the Supreme Court. He said the high court had made it clear that the convict was not eligible for remission till he completes his imprisonment. The prosecution lawyer also said that the appeal was not maintainable as, according to the apex court, a single judges order in a criminal writ petition can be assailed only in the Supreme Court. He also said that Yadav could apply for parole as it does not require annual good conduct remission. On August 29 last year, the Supreme Court had dismissed Vishal Yadav and Vikas Yadavs pleas seeking review of its verdict sending them to prison for 25 years. It had also awarded a 20-year jail term to third convict Sukhdev Pehalwan in the case. Mary Conlon was idly googling something on the internet when an ad for the Hope Foundation in India popped up. It was looking for volunteers to go to Kolkata, (formerly known as Calcutta) to help give the street children a childhood. "When I saw the ad, I thought, 'this is me. This is what I want to do'," she said. It changed her life. The mother-of-two got in touch with Hope and found out she needed to raise 2,000 to travel to Kolkata for a week's volunteer work. Herself and a colleague from the store where she works in Sligo town raised double that amount between them and flew out to the West Bengal city of 4.5 million in 2014. The first thing that hit her was the heat: "I didn't know what to expect. There was chaos, an awful crowd of people and a lot of heat," she told this newspaper. The Hope Foundation's main objective is the protection of children who live on the streets and in the slums of Kolkata. They do a night watch in an ambulance with a doctor and social worker each night and rescue children in danger of abuse, neglect or starvation. It's incredible to think that in 2018 children are starving on the streets but it's the reality in India. "There's a lot of neglect and poverty. Neglect is a result of poverty, nothing else," said Mary. "The slums would shock you, they're really bad. There's no way to describe them, just desperate places," she said. "Kolkata dump is a sad place because some children have been lost on the dump, searching for anything they can find. "The last time we were out there the dump was closed for two days because there were children who had died on the dump," she added. Volunteers are accommodated in the Hope apartments ("fairly basic but you're not going for a holiday") and spend their time in the foundation's protection homes or doing whatever work needs to be done that week. "The homes are where they look after children. They take them off the streets. Every child is entitled to a childhood. It should never hurt to be a child. "The children in the homes have a childhood but the children on the streets - they don't have a childhood. It's taken off them completely. The saddest thing was seeing children in the red light district," she said. However tough it may have been, it didn't put Mary off returning. In fact she was so impressed with the transparency of the donated money she decided to return with another friend in 2016 for three weeks. "Getting overwhelmed by the poverty wouldn't do anything positive. Within that area where we were staying there were four or five protection homes which we visited every day and interacted with the children there. They love to talk in English," she said. "They're all beautiful children, gorgeous, fantastic. They're very happy kids. Even the people on the street are so happy, you wouldn't believe it," she said. Hope are always looking for volunteers to go overseas and help the street children. They're also looking for corporate sponsors and volunteers for fundraising activities. They also run a programme for secondary school students, ie TY and fifth years to go to Kolkata for a week with Hope. "There's a lot of good things too. You meet other Irish people out doing the same and you meet people through volunteering which is nice, there's great camaraderie. It's hard to raise that kind of money but seeing the money being used well I find the best thing about it. That and helping these children," she said. The Hope Foundation's annual Day of Hope takes place on Thursday October 11th. On Saturday 13th October Mary will be selling specially commissioned Butlers chocolates in Johnston court shopping centre. She's got to raise another 2,000 to return to Kolkata in October 2019. Don't pass her by. www.hopefoundation.ie FACT FILE The Hope Foundation 2017-2018 Achievements: 492 - children supported by Hope's 11 Protection Homes 372 - children rescued from the streets by Hope 82 - street children enrolled in school 9 - children freed from child labour 292 - children under 6 enrolled in Hopes four creches 4,000 - children helped by Hope's Holistic Education Programme 12,874 - patients treated in Hope hospital 433 - trainees in Hope Vocational Training Programmes 137 - Homeless people with mental health issues supported by Hope's care programme Local Enterprise Office Wicklow may run a full Food Academy Start Programme for 2019 if sufficient levels of demand are shown. Run over a five month period, the programme aims to get local artisan food producers onto the shelves of their local supermarket. Developed by Bord Bia in conjunction with Musgraves through the SuperValu Brand, this programme is run nationally through the network of Local Enterprise Offices. The target for the Food Academy Start is to provide small food businesses with a solid foundation to progress confidently onto retail shelves. At the end of three days of intensive workshop training and one-to-one mentoring for each business, all participants are given the opportunity to pitch their product to a panel of buyers, including a local SuperValu store owner. Successful participants are also provided with the opportunity to trial their product in their local stores for a period of twelve weeks. This provides a real advantage to small businesses in terms of real retail experience, as they are in a position to liaise with the store to gain feedback on their product range from both the store staff and consumers. This helps each artisan producer to further develop their product ranges, marketing approach, packaging and distribution for a wider national audience. Visit www.localenterprise.ie/Wicklow/ to register your interest in the programme. The group who were guided through the former mining sites of the Wicklow Uplands Visitors had the special and unique experience of being guided through the former mining sites of the Wicklow Uplands while hearing the stories and first hand experiences of Glendasan miner, Robert Carter. The overall route was researched by Glenmalure PURE Mile committee member and mountain guide Charles O'Byrne, who was assisted on the day by mountain leader Graham Connolly at the event which ran as part of Heritage Week. Local photographer Joe Haughton kindly assisted with taking photographs to capture and record proceedings, while medical backup was provided by Jim Nolan of Glen of Imaal Mountain Rescue. Several interested bodies are presently in collaboration with the Glenmalure PURE Mile group to have this 20km scenic route, which passes through some of Ireland's most spectacular upland scenery and links five former mining sites, recognised as an official walking trail. Under glorious sunshine, the walkers assembled at the Glendasan mine site near Turlough Hill where Dave Shepherd of the local voluntary group 'Glens of Lead' gave an interesting and detailed introduction to the history of lead mining in the valleys of Wicklow and identified the various buildings and dressing floor in the old nineteenth century Glendasan mine site. Former miner Robert Carter led the group through the Glendasan mine site which reopened during the war years and where he started work at 16. He captivated the group as he shared his recollections of what it was like to work in the mines in Glendasan. A minute's silence was observed at the memorial to the late James Mernagh, who sadly lost his life while working alongside Robert Carter in the Glendasan Mines on January 22 1957. Two poems written by the late Charles McCoy, 'Glendalough Mines' and 'Fiddlers Row', were also recited as Robert identified the ruins of miners dwellings, which is said to have got its name because a musician lived in every house. The group continued to the Miners Village in Glendalough and then on to Van Diemen's Mines high above the Upper Lake. At both sites Dave Shepherd gave a comprehensive account of mining in the area and identified all the remaining landmarks on the landscape which date from this industrial period in the mountains. The walkers followed the old donkey mining trail down the hillside to reach the mine site at Ballinafunshoge, where Carmel O'Toole gave an account of the history of the mining operations there and also the story of the tragic landslide in March 1867. An independent advocacy group has slammed Ireland as a 'welfare nation' overly dependent on state payments. The Hibernia Forum formed in 2015 and is dedicated to the principles of a free market, individual liberty and prudent government. Among its members is Stephen Kearon of Ballinaclash, Peace Commissioner, secretary of the Fianna Fail Wicklow and District Cumann and former Government special adviser. Mr Kearon is adamant that Ireland has a huge welfare dependency and the squeezed middle is paying for it. 'According to the Department of Finance paper, we've become a welfare nation 'overly dependent' on state payments compared to other countries: almost every person in Ireland benefits, directly or indirectly, from some form of social welfare payment which amounts to 20 billion a year. 'Quangos and left wing commentators say this 'shows the need' for such dependency' to alleviate poverty and inequality,' sad Mr Kearon. 'But surely it is the very opposite. Key State benefits are universal and go to everybody, regardless of means and, as for increasing jobless payments ,as happened in the last two budgets, this only encourage dependency and is a clear disincentive to work at a time of a booming economy and unfilled vacancies. But there are so many aspects to the welfare issue. The main point is that quite simply our welfare culture got way too big and generous in the Celtic Tiger years and was never reformed, despite calls by Troika and efforts of Joan Burton as Tanaiste, to her credit'. Ireland has the highest long term unemployment figures in the EU and Mr Kearon remains convinced that there is a lack of political will to try and tackle the issue. 'Our jobless benefit is actually not as high as many other EU States, but we let people stay on the dole forever almost, even during boom times, and even though we have much better employment prospects than our sluggish European neighbours. That's why people come here for jobs. The UK is of course, much less attractive for such allowances. And there is no appetite to change this in our populist political system. The Government has no ideology or core beliefs and happily dish out public money to appease quangos and the poverty industry. Most crucially, all of this welfare money has to be paid for by our squeezed middle, our coping classes and working families, who are paying up to 50 per cent in tax on income over 35,000 and who are crippled with travel costs and welfare. They don't speak up enough, and until they do, the politicians will do nothing'. Mr Kearon remains worried that high State spending leaves the country open to another crash. 'The pre-budget reports concluded that we rely too much on what it calls 'monetary social transfers' to address 'social inequalities'. And yet having made its rather damning assessment, the Government report then offers six potential options for yet more spending in October's budget. Nothing changes.'. Anyone in Wicklow interested in joining the Hibernia Forum can contact Stephen Kearon at HiberniaForumWicklow@gmail.com for more details. Irish Water continues to safeguard water supplies as a hosepipe ban is extended in some areas, including Wicklow, to Sunday, September 30. 'We are appealing to all customers to continue to conserve water as raw water supplies in rivers, lakes and ground water sources remain lower than normal,' said a spokesman. 'Water conservation efforts made to date are helping to restore levels in rivers, lakes and ground water sources but further conservation is needed.' Leakage repair teams are working across the country to find and fix leaks The Water Conservation Order has been lifted for the north west of the country due to increased rainfall and the conservation measures over the last two months In the Greater Dublin Area, water supplies are being maintained with minimum service disruption. Water conservation by householders and businesses, continued work on leakage management and night-time pressure management has mangaed to contain overall regional daily usage to around 550 million litres. 'While demand has been below last year's level in recent weeks, we expect that demand will be higher over the coming months with the return of schools and colleges,' said the spokesman. 'Based on the current storage levels in Pollaphuca and Vartry, there is now a reasonable prospect that we will be able to meet the region's needs through the autumn, with a continued conservation effort.' In the event of an unusually dry September and Ocober, the levels would reduce to minimum reserve levels and require further restrictions to avoid historic low levels going into the winter. 'We will be anxiously watching the lake recovery to ensure that we enter 2019 with a full reserve.' Climate change can only be properly tackled with local action, according to Minister of State Andrew Doyle. Ahead of Green Week, a Fine Gael environmental awareness campaign, Deputy Doyle said citizen and community engagement in Wicklow must go hand in hand with Government investment to prioritise and preserve our local environment. 'Effective change is putting the levers for climate action into people's hands and local action is fundamental for a real national impact. The small changes we make in our own lives can make a huge difference. Earlier this month it was announced that Wicklow will receive 9,375 funding for local environment initiatives under the Local Agenda Environmental Partnership Fund,' he said. Wicklow will also benefit from 44,400 funding for Anti-Dumping Initiatives. The Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment, will begin accepting applications next month for a dedicated 500 million fund for projects that will decrease Ireland's greenhouse gas emissions and increase our use of sustainable energy and local small businesses are also set to benefit from the Smart Lighting fund. Minister Doyle outlined that grant amounts for homeowners in Wicklow to install attic insulation, cavity wall insulation and/or internal wall insulation have also been increased and can save householders up to 600 per year on heating bills through better insulation. 'Grants for attic insulation and cavity wall insulation have increased from 300 to 400, while grants for internal wall insulation have increased from 1,200 to 1,600 for apartments and mid-terrace houses and from 1,800 to 2,200 for semi-detached and end-of-terrace detached houses,' he said. A fascinating programme which aims to map the Irish sea floor grabbed the attention of the Arklow community recently as the research vessel involved paid a visit to the local harbour. The Integrated Mapping For the Sustainable Development of Ireland's MArine Resource (INFOMAR) programme is a joint venture between the Geological Survey of Ireland and the Marine Institute. The programme aims to map the Irish sea floor and is being funded by the Irish Government through the Department of Communications, Climate Action and the Environment as part of the National Development Plan, 2007 - 2013. The INFORMAR survey vessel was a great talking point for spectators who got the opportunity to speak with the crew and research scientists on board. Such survey vessels use acoustic survey techniques to precisely map the surface of the seafloor providing both bathymetry (sea surface) and information about the seafloor type e.g. sand, mud, gravel, rock. A second vessel, the RV Keary as part of the CHERISH project, (Climate, Heritage and Environments of Reefs, Islands and Headlands) was also in town at the same time, as part of Heritage Week. CHERISH is an exciting, five-year European-funded Ireland-Wales project between the Geological Survey, Ireland, the Discovery Programme: Centre for Archaeology and Innovation Ireland, the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, and Aberystwyth University, Wales. The project will receive 4.1 million through the Ireland-Wales 2014-2020 Programme. The four main aims of CHERISH are to: target data and knowledge gaps to raise awareness of heritage in these remote coastal locations; discover, assess, map and monitor heritage on land and beneath the sea and establish new baseline data and recording standards; link land and sea and to reconstruct past environments and weather history. CHERISH will work with communities and will widely circulate the results and best practice for future climate change adaptation. In Ireland, the Geological Survey and Discovery Programme are collaborating closely together to formulate ways of increasing the protection of coastal archaeological sites. Data from the survey vessels such as the RV Keary will be combined with aerial drone data to make models of processes which lead to erosion of the coastline. A total of five FIRs have been registered against Banerjee for her comments on NRC exercise since its publication on July 30. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee along with other ministers during a programme organised by the Bihari Samaj at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata on Friday. (Photo: Abhijit Mukherjee) Kolkata: Around two lakh Biharis were left out of the complete draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC), West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said Friday. Addressing a programme hosted by the Rashtriya Bihari Samaj here Friday evening, she asserted there would be no discrimination against Biharis in West Bengal. In Assam, around two lakh Biharis did not find a place in the NRC draft. Several Bengalis were also excluded from the list. Majority of those left out of the draft were people who did not hail from Assam, the chief minister said. The NRC draft, published on July 30, featured over 2.89 crore names out of nearly 3.29 crore applicants. Around 40.07 lakh applicants, however, did not find a place in the document, touted to be a proof of Assamese identity. Banerjee asked people to wait for the declaration of the final draft of the register following the disposal of claims,objections and corrections. In Bengal, Biharis will never be treated as outsiders, Ms Banerjee maintained. This kind of treatment was never meted out to Biharis in West Bengal in the past, nor will it be the case in future. Long live Bengali-Bihari unity, she stated. Earlier, too, the Trinamool Congress supremo slammed the BJP over NRC publication, stating that Indian citizens have become refugees in their own land. She alleged that the exclusion of over 40 lakh people was an attempt to evict the Bengalis and Biharis from Assam. A total of five FIRs have been registered against Banerjee for her comments on NRC exercise since its publication on July 30. An Arklow woman was horrified to find a tin of cat food purchased at her local supermarket recently was infested with maggots. Yvette O'Beirne purchased the item from Aldi in Arklow and opened it later that evening to make a shocking discovery. 'I couldn't get the usual cat food I buy so I popped into Aldi to get some. I was making dinner for the family and I always feed the cats at the same time of the day. I opened the tin and I just screamed. I couldn't believe what I saw. It was full of white maggots,' she said. Ms O'Beirne was physically sick at the sight of the maggots. 'I was very sick after it and I just bleached down the entire kitchen. Every white speck I saw, I thought it was another worm. It was the most disgusting thing,' she added. Ms O'Beirne reported it to the supermarket the same day and recieved a reply from an Aldi official outlining that the packaging could have been faulty. 'Whilst we would not be able to explain the cause of this, it may have been due to a breach in the packaging which has allowed air to enter,' the reply stated. The company offered her a 10 voucher as a gesture of goodwill, but Ms O'Beirne said that she would be satisfied to see the items taken down. 'I went back the following day and the same batch with the same number was still on the shelves,' Ms O'Beirne said. A spokesperson for Aldi said that the company had no comment to make on the matter. Bella Hadid attends as Harper's BAZAAR Celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at the Plaza Hotel on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Harper's Bazaar) Bella Hadid attends as Harper's BAZAAR Celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at the Plaza Hotel on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Harper's Bazaar) Bella Hadid attends the Harper's BAZAAR "ICONS by Carine Roitfeld" party at The Plaza on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) Bella Hadid attends as Harper's BAZAAR Celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at the Plaza Hotel on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Harper's Bazaar) Bella Hadid attends as Harper's BAZAAR Celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at the Plaza Hotel on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Harper's Bazaar) Bella Hadid attends as Harper's BAZAAR Celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at the Plaza Hotel on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Harper's Bazaar) Bella Hadid's commitment to body stockings in even the most adverse conditions is almost admirable. In this case, it was the crippling heat in New York City which left her completely unfazed as she sashayed into Friday night's Harper's Bazaar Icons party in a customised nude body stocking with the confidence only few posssess. While the gaggle of glamorous guests were decked out in jewels and draped in shimmering gowns, the supermodel-in-the-making made one hell of an entrance in her semi-sheer ensemble, a style she has preferred since first debuting her sequin bodysuit at last year's Met Gala. In an era of playing it safe, Bella is never afraid of forging her own fashionable path, no matter what it takes. And if it takes being sewn into a corset and unitard, so be it. Expand Close Bella Hadid attends the Harper's BAZAAR "ICONS by Carine Roitfeld" party at The Plaza on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Bella Hadid attends the Harper's BAZAAR "ICONS by Carine Roitfeld" party at The Plaza on Friday, Sept. 7, 2018, New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP) Hadid was joined by her siblings Gigi and Anwar for the exclusive bash at which the industry's elite celebrated themselves at New York's Plaza Hotel. (L-R) Victoria's Secret models Kendall Jenner, Bella Hadid and Lily Donaldson depart for Paris for the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on November 27, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret) (L-R) Shanina Shaik, Nadine Leopold, Devon Windsor, Caroline Lowe, Olivia Culpo and Daniela Braga attend as E!, ELLE & IMG celebrate the Kick-Off To NYFW: The Shows at The Pool on September 5, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for IMG) Nadine Leopold attends as Harper's BAZAAR Celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at the Plaza Hotel on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Harper's Bazaar) Winnie Harlow attends as Harper's BAZAAR Celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at the Plaza Hotel on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Harper's Bazaar) Devon Windsor(L) and Nadine Leopold as Harper's BAZAAR Celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at the Plaza Hotel on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Harper's Bazaar) Model Nadine Leopold attends casting for the 2017 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in Midtown on August 17, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by TheStewartofNY/GC Images) Shanina Shaik attends as Harper's BAZAAR Celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at the Plaza Hotel on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Harper's Bazaar) Barbara Palvin walks the red carpet ahead of the 'Suspiria' screening during the 75th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on September 1, 2018 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images) Alannah Walton attends the "ANGELS" by Russell James book launch and exhibit hosted by Cindy Crawford and Candice Swanepoel at Stephan Weiss Studio on September 6, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images) Winnie Harlow is seen outside of 6 St. John Lane during IMG NYFW: The Shows 2018 at Spring Studios on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for IMG) Barbara Palvin attends as Harper's BAZAAR Celebrates "ICONS By Carine Roitfeld" at the Plaza Hotel on September 7, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Toth/Getty Images for Harper's Bazaar) Austrian model Nadine Leopold arrives on May 17, 2018 for the amfAR 25th Annual Cinema Against AIDS gala at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes, southern France, during the 71th Cannes Film Festival. (Photo by ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP) We are, once again, approaching that exciting time of year: the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show. The lingerie giants, who are arguably the best marketers in the business, have elevated the show to near mythical status - walking in it, even for one year, can be a game changer for your career. It is the show that elevated Heidi Klum, Gisele Bundchen and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley to new levels of supermodeldom and every 5'10" gazelle who hears the news that they've snagged a spot in the annual show is hoping to emulate their idols' success. There's a reason it remains the pinnacle of most models' career, thought - the effect an affiliation with VS on your personal brand cannot be underestimated. Case in point: outside of the industry, no one knew who Stella Maxwell was before she became an Angel. Since her first show in 2015, she has been named Maxim's Sexiest Woman Alive, featured on five Vogue covers and most recently launched an eponymous handbag line with The Kooples. Over the years, as Victoria's Secret is still finding the balance in a changing industry awash with influencers and 'social media supermodels', it has routinely come under fire for featuring models with large Instagram followings over those who have casted four years in a row never to make the cut even once. Expand Close (L-R) Shanina Shaik, Nadine Leopold, Devon Windsor, Caroline Lowe, Olivia Culpo and Daniela Braga attend as E!, ELLE & IMG celebrate the Kick-Off To NYFW: The Shows at The Pool on September 5, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for IMG) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (L-R) Shanina Shaik, Nadine Leopold, Devon Windsor, Caroline Lowe, Olivia Culpo and Daniela Braga attend as E!, ELLE & IMG celebrate the Kick-Off To NYFW: The Shows at The Pool on September 5, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Ilya S. Savenok/Getty Images for IMG) The decision to include Kendall Jenner and Gigi and Bella Hadid in one show was too much to take for some corners of the internet. It is trying to move with the times and like every other business, there is no blueprint for guaranteed success. It is increasingly self-aware though, which makes it all the more perplexing that they continue to ignore the plus-size market. Among the new recruits confirmed to appear in this year's show include first-timers like Sadie Newman and Kelsey Merritt, with the return of the likes of Barbara Palvin, Shanina Shaik and Kelly Gale. Amid the excitement on Instagram yesterday, with most newbies sharing videos of the moment they heard the news, it became clear that this year wasn't going to be the year for size diversity as a barrage of beautiful women with interchangeable bodies celebrated the accomplishment. Your physique is the main selling point at the audition, during which, casting agents will ask how much you've been working out (they already know from your Insta stories). And if you're lucky enough to be cast, you are then projected as the pinnacle of health and fitness. Expand Close (L-R) Martha Hunt,Jasmine Tookes,Taylor Hill, Josephine Skriver,Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid pose backstage during 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on November 30, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dominique Charriau/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (L-R) Martha Hunt,Jasmine Tookes,Taylor Hill, Josephine Skriver,Kendall Jenner and Gigi Hadid pose backstage during 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on November 30, 2016 in Paris, France. (Photo by Dominique Charriau/Getty Images for Victoria's Secret) But there's nothing healthy about working out up to three times a day and restricting your calorie intake to get that 'naturally' lean look you'll display in your smalls sashaying down a runway in December. It's fitting that the announcement of some of this year's models was made the same week the media became downright obsessed with Tess Holliday's Cosmopolitan cover. The size-26 model appeared on cover of the UK edition of the magazine posing unashamedly in a swimsuit and people were beside themselves with either praise for both the magazine and the model for being unapologetic in her size and those criticising what they believe to be the glorification of obesity. Video of the Day It's a fight in which no one really comes out a winner. With that kind of talking point for a publication with a 400,000 circulation, can you imagine the knock-on effect that a brand like Victoria's Secret featuring a woman, just as unashamedly, walking down the runway with even a hint of cellulite, would have? The possibilities would be endless. Not to mention lucrative. Plus, you just know that Ashley Graham is chomping at the bit to wear those wings and begin the next phase of her world domination. There was fear of violence across Brazil last night, as the nation celebrated Independence Day, with political groups expected to march in hundreds of cities (stock picture) The run-up to the presidential election in Brazil was plunged into chaos yesterday after a knife attack on far-right candidate Jair Bolsonaro put the frontrunner in intensive care a month before the vote. The Congressman, who has enraged many Brazilians for years with controversial comments, but who has a devoted following among conservative voters, could take two months to fully recover and will spend at least a week in hospital following life-threatening injuries, doctors said. Dr Luiz Henrique Borsato, who operated on the candidate, said the internal wounds were "grave" and "put the patient's life at risk". Doctors were worried about an infection since the intestines were perforated, he added. "The pain was intolerable and it seemed like maybe something worse was happening," said Mr Bolsonaro in a video from his hospital bed. Talking in a rasping voice, he said: "I was preparing for this sort of thing. You run risks." Mr Bolsonaro's son, Eduardo, also a Congressman, said his father had lost two litres of blood in the ordeal. Federal Police said its officers were escorting Mr Bolsonaro at the time of the knife attack and the aggressor was caught in the act. Local police in Juiz de Fora, where the attack took place, said the suspect, Adelio Bispo de Oliveira (40), was in custody and appeared to be mentally disturbed. There was fear of violence across Brazil last night, as the nation celebrated Independence Day, with political groups expected to march in hundreds of cities. Reuters Turkey failed to convince Iran and Russia to agree to a ceasefire in Idlib yesterday, paving the way for a likely assault by the Assad regime on the Syrian province in the coming days. The United States also said it had "lots of evidence" that regime forces were preparing chemical weapons for possible use in Idlib. Speaking at a major summit in Tehran, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's president, warned his Russian and Iranian counterparts that an attack on the densely populated province would lead to a "bloodbath" and an unsustainable surge of refugees into Turkey. However, the summit's final communique made no mention of a ceasefire and when Mr Erdogan made a last-minute effort to insert the term into the text he was publicly rebuffed by Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin said a ceasefire "would be good" but he could not commit to one because there was no guarantee that terrorist groups in Idlib "will stop shooting or stop using drones with bombs". "The fact is that there are no representatives of the armed opposition here around this table," Mr Putin said. The outcome of the Tehran summit - with no clear peace deal reached - seems to indicate that the forces of President Bashar al-Assad will press ahead with their planned assault, supported by Russian air power. Russian or Syrian regime jets launched several airstrikes on south-west Idlib yesterday. A jihadist fighter and a shepherd were killed by the blasts, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. There are more than 2.5 million civilians in Idlib and the United Nations has also warned of a humanitarian catastrophe if Mr Assad's forces attack. The three powers did not fully close the door on the chances of a diplomatic resolution in Idlib, and their joint statement said they had agreed the Syrian war could only end through a negotiated political process. Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, said fighting in Idlib was an "unavoidable" part of the Syrian regime's mission to take back control of its territory, but he warned Damascus against employing "a scorched-earth policy". Mr Erdogan said an attack would "result in disaster, massacre and humanitarian drama". He said: "Millions will be coming to Turkey's borders because they have nowhere to go. Turkey has filled its capacity to host refugees." Ultimately, Russia will have the most say in whether the attack goes ahead, but Mr Putin struck a hawkish note, saying the Syrian regime "has a right and must eventually take under control all of its national territory". Meanwhile, Jim Jeffrey, Washington's special envoy to Syria, said the US was seeing indications Mr Assad's forces were readying chemical weapons. "There is lots of evidence that chemical weapons are being prepared," he said, adding that the US is committed to keeping troops in Syria over the long term, partly to counter Iran's presence. Western countries have promised they will strike Mr Assad's forces if chemical weapons are used. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Twitter and Facebook have been criticised after gun plans for 3D printers were found on their platforms (stock picture) Twitter and Facebook have been criticised after gun plans for 3D printers were found on their platforms, amid concerns they could be used by criminals. 'The Daily Telegraph' was able to download blueprints to print plastic pistols, which are illegal under UK law, after discovering links on the networks to a website hosting the schematics. Last month, Facebook pledged to ban the sharing of such information, but its users have successfully evaded its automated filtering system by slightly altering the website links. Philip Boyce, a firearms expert, said the weapons could "without a doubt" be used to kill, and gangs were becoming more likely to use them as 3D printers become "cheaper and cheaper". Mr Boyce said such weapons, which "can be quite successfully printed on 3D printers", only fire once or twice before degrading but that "one or two shots is more than enough". After it was informed of the posts, Facebook removed all five. However, Twitter deleted only one of four posts found on its platform. A Facebook spokesman said: "Sharing material on how to manufacture firearms using 3D printers or CNC milling machines is not allowed under our community standards. In line with our policies, we remove this content from Facebook as soon as we identify it." Twitter said it did not comment on individual accounts for privacy and security reasons. Daily Telegraph, London Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021] Donald Trump greets the crowd as he arrives for his Make America Great Again rally in Billings, Montana Donald Trump yesterday called on the attorney general to uncover the identity of the writer behind a critical newspaper article as Barack Obama launched an unprecedented attack on his presidency. Mr Trump has been furious over the anonymous comment piece apparently written by a member of his administration, which appeared in the 'New York Times' on Wednesday, depicting a "resistance" force within the White House. Yesterday, Mr Trump called on Jeff Sessions, the head of the justice department, to open an investigation to unmask the senior official behind the critical article. "Jeff should be investigating who the author of that piece is because I believe it's national security," Mr Trump said. He added that if the author has a high-level security clearance, "I don't want him in those meetings". Asked if he still trusts his White House aides, Mr Trump said: "I do, but what I do now is I look around the room. I say, 'Hey, if I don't know somebody....'" He continued: "We have a really well run, smooth-running White House. It's a well-oiled machine. It is running beautifully." Mr Trump's call on Mr Sessions is an extraordinary step because the justice department, which is intended to act independently, does not usually investigate press leaks unless classified information is disclosed. The president also said he was considering legal action against the newspaper for its publication of the essay, which he called a "one-way conversation". Mr Obama launched a bitter critique of the president and his administration in a speech that lasted more than an hour. He accused Mr Trump of "cosying up" to Russia's Vladimir Putin and adopting the "politics of fear and resentment". Mr Obama hit out at the current Republican party, calling it a "radical" organisation that has embraced conspiracy theories, attacked voting rights and rejected climate change. He also rebuked Mr Trump's response to a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, asking a crowd at the University of Illinois: "How hard can that be, saying that Nazis are bad?" As he returned to the political spotlight ahead of November's midterm elections, Mr Obama was also critical of the anonymous 'New York Times' article. "The claim that everything will turn out OK because there are people inside the White House who secretly aren't following the president's orders, that is not a check," he said. "They're not doing us a service by actively promoting 90pc of the crazy stuff that's coming out of this White House, and then saying, 'Don't worry, we're preventing the other 10pc'. That's not how things are supposed to work. This is not normal. These are extraordinary times. And they're dangerous times." Meanwhile, a string of Mr Trump's most senior cabinet members have denied responsibility for the explosive account of how his own team was trying to frustrate the US president's wishes. Mike Pence, the vice-president, and Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, were among those to issue denials as Mr Trump railed against the "deep state" and as supporters spoke of an "administrative coup". Washington was consumed by a high-stakes guessing game as armchair analysts parsed the text for clues to the author's identity. Amid reports that Mr Trump cut an increasingly paranoid figure, the result was the extraordinary spectacle of high-ranking officials being forced to distance themselves from the article. Mr Pence denied any involvement after online sleuths said the use of the word "lodestar" was consistent with several of his speeches. "The 'New York Times' should be ashamed and so should the person who wrote the false, illogical, and gutless op-ed," said his spokesman. During a visit to India, Mr Pompeo said: "It's not mine." Other heavyweights, including Jim Mattis, the defence secretary, Dan Coats, the director of national intelligence, Steve Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, and Ben Carson, the housing secretary, all followed suit. White House aides have begun an investigation. They were reported to have sent each other text messages with the phrase "the sleeper cells have awoken", according to 'The Washington Post'. For his part, the president blamed the actions on his enemies among the liberal elite. "I'm draining the Swamp, and the Swamp is trying to fight back," he said. "Don't worry, we will win!" He earlier demanded the 'New York Times' reveals the author's identity to the government, and followed up with a one word tweet: "Treason." His wife Melania spoke out in his support. She denounced the use of unnamed sources by the media. "To the writer of the op-ed - you are not protecting this country, you are sabotaging it with your cowardly actions," she said. Daily Telegraph, London Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos leaves after his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos with his wife Simona Mangiante leaves after his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos exits U.S. District Court after his sentencing hearing, in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas A protester holds a banner as former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos with his wife Simona Mangiante leaves after his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to mock the two-week prison sentence given to a former campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. George Papadopoulos, a former aide to then-Republican candidate Donald Trump's 2016 campaign, was sentenced on Friday to 14 days in prison after pleading guilty last year to lying to federal agents investigating whether campaign members coordinated with Russia before the election. He is the first Trump adviser to be sentenced as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump wrote yesterday on Twitter; "14 days for $28 MILLION - $2 MILLION a day, No Collusion. A great day for America!" 14 days for $28 MILLION - $2 MILLION a day, No Collusion. A great day for America! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2018 Prosecutors for Special Counsel Robert Mueller said Papadopoulos lied to agents about his contacts with Russians during the campaign "to minimize both his own role as a witness and the extent of the campaign's knowledge of his contacts," according to the government's sentencing memorandum. Among those contacts were London-based professor Joseph Mifsud, who told him the Russians had "dirt" on Trump's Democratic presidential rival Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." Expand Close Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos leaves after his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos leaves after his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas Papadopoulos defended himself and contradicted White House officials in a CNN special program Saturday night, "The Mysterious case of George Papadopoulos." In the interview with CNN reporter Jake Tapper, Papadopoulos said that he raised the prospect of Trump and his campaign officials meeting with the Russians. Expand Close Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos with his wife Simona Mangiante leaves after his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos with his wife Simona Mangiante leaves after his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas "The candidate (Trump) gave a nod, but did not commit either way," he said. Trump has denied knowing anything about contact with Russians and his campaign. Expand Close Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos exits U.S. District Court after his sentencing hearing, in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos exits U.S. District Court after his sentencing hearing, in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas Russia has denied U.S. allegations that it interfered in the campaign and Trump denies campaign collusion. Prosecutors had asked Judge Randolph Moss in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to impose a prison sentence of up to six months, saying that Papadopoulos' lies impeded their investigation and that he did not cooperate. Expand Close A protester holds a banner as former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos with his wife Simona Mangiante leaves after his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A protester holds a banner as former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos with his wife Simona Mangiante leaves after his sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Washington, U.S., September 7, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas "He didn't come close to the standard of 'substantial assistance,'" prosecutor Andrew Goldstein told the judge at the sentencing hearing. "It was at best, begrudging efforts to cooperate." In addition to the prison time, Papadopoulos was sentenced to one year of supervised release and 200 hours of community service. He was also ordered to pay a fine of $9,500. Friday was his first public court appearance since he pleaded guilty in October 2017 to lying to the FBI while the case was still sealed. "I hope to have a second chance to redeem myself," Papadopoulos told the judge. "I made a dreadful mistake but I am a good man." He and his wife left the courthouse without speaking to the press. However, Papadopoulos' mother Kiki told reporters she was satisfied he had received a fair sentence. "I am very happy with the judge. He was very fair," Kiki Papadopoulos said. "I would have preferred less time in jail, but that's OK. It will give him time to think things over." The White House distanced itself from Papadopoulos, referring to his campaign role as nothing more than a low-level coffee boy, after his guilty plea. His mother said on Friday that she "still supports" Trump. The sentence that Papadopoulos received is about half the prison time given to Alex van der Zwaan, a lawyer who was also charged with lying to the FBI during the special counsel's probe. Van der Zwaan was sentenced to 30 days in prison. Moss said he wanted to impose some prison time because while he did not "remotely believe Mr Papadopoulos was seeking to assist the Russian government," he was nevertheless troubled by Papadopoulos' selfish motives to lie to the FBI so that he would not lose a shot at getting a possible job in the Trump administration. Ultimately, Moss said he felt Papadopoulos expressed genuine remorse. The judge who sentenced Van der Zwaan, by contrast, did not feel he was contrite about his crimes. During Friday's hearing, Papadopoulos' attorney Thomas Breen went out his way to praise the FBI, and he also criticized Trump for calling the Russia probe fake news and a witch hunt. "The president of the United States hindered this investigation more than George Papadopoulos ever could," Breen told the judge. He portrayed Papadopoulos as a naive young man who was "being worked by a pro," a reference to Professor Mifsud, whom he later said he believes was working for Russia and trying to take advantage of his client. "No offense, but he was unsophisticated, he was naive and he was foolish," Breen said in court. Breen told reporters after Friday's hearing that Papadopoulos does not recall telling anyone in the Trump campaign about Mifsud's comments about the Russians having dirt on Clinton. The lies Papadopoulos told in his voluntary interview with the FBI on Jan. 27, 2017, prosecutors said, "undermined investigators' ability to challenge the professor or potentially detain or arrest him while he was still in the United States." In addition, they said Papadopoulos did not provide "substantial assistance" and only came clean after he was confronted with his own emails, texts and other evidence. In December 2017, two months after his guilty plea, the FBI had plans for a follow-up meeting with Papadopoulos. The FBI canceled the meeting when it discovered that Papadopoulos had sat down for a media interview about the case. He and his wife later participated in more media interviews. Papadopoulos was pictured in March 2016 sitting at a table with Trump, then-campaign adviser Jeff Sessions who went on to become U.S. attorney general, and other foreign policy campaign advisers. At that meeting, Papadopoulos proposed brokering a meeting between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Sessions has previously testified to Congress that he pushed back against the proposal, but the memo filed by Papadopoulos's lawyers contradicts Sessions' account, saying that both Trump and Sessions appeared receptive to the idea. But Papadopoulos, referring to Sessions, said to CNN, "I remember that he was enthusiastic about a potential meeting." CNN's Tapper noted that Session's attorneys said that Sessions stands by his testimony, and denied encouraging a meeting with Russians. The court filing confirms reporting by Reuters in March about the difference between Sessions testimony and how others recounted his reaction to the proposal at the meeting. Papadopoulos told CNN that he hopes to return to politics in the future. "I made mistakes and I will pay for my mistakes," he said, adding, "I don't want to give up my goal of staying in politics." The 25th amendment was instituted after the death of JFK The explosive account from a senior official of Donald Trump's administration has claimed the cabinet were so worried by the president's erratic, impulsive behaviour they discussed using the 25th amendment to remove him from power. Published in the 'New York Times', the anonymous op-ed reveals that senior figures considered deploying the extreme measure to oust the president. The 25th amendment is designed to be used in the case of an incapacitated commander-in-chief. It is not the first time during his presidency that the amendment has been mentioned in relation to Mr Trump. In August last year, the US president's freewheeling campaign speech in Phoenix - during which he rounded on the media, attacked critics on his own side and threatened to shut down the government - also provoked alarm among viewers of all political hues. What is the 25th Amendment? It was instituted after the death of John F Kennedy, providing a formal mechanism by which the vice-president could take power if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office. It also allows for the vice-president to take over temporarily if the president cannot fulfil his or her duties, such as when President George W Bush went under general anaesthetic for two colonoscopies. Dick Cheney took over on each of those occasions. How can a president be removed from office? This comes in section four, which states: "Whenever the vice-president and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments, or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the president pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the vice-president shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as acting president." In practice what that means is Mike Pence plus 13 of Mr Trump's 24 cabinet members would have to agree. On what grounds might a president be removed? The amendment is vague about the specifics. However, John D Feerick, former dean of Fordham Law School who served as one of its architects, said senators who signed the amendment into law were clear it must be based on "reliable facts regarding the president's physical or mental faculties", not personal prejudice. "If you read the debates, it's also clear that policy and political differences are not included, unpopularity is not included, poor judgment, incompetence, laziness, or impeachable conduct - none of that, you'll find in the debates in the congressional record, is intended to be covered by Section IV," he told 'Business Insider'. What if the president refuses? The mechanism was designed for a president who was incapacitated, not for one willing to fight back. He or she is protected by a safeguard. Within 21 days of being triggered, the amendment requires two-thirds of both houses to uphold the decision. If they don't then power reverts to the president. How likely is it that the 25th amendment could be used to remove Donald Trump? Very unlikely. It requires both Mr Pence and a majority of the cabinet to agree to oust the president. If he were not physically or mentally incapacitated - through ill health, a stroke or some such - it would effectively amount to a palace coup. In other words, Mr Trump's very closest allies are the ones to make the decision. Any number of Democrats, TV pundits and armchair psychiatrists can label Mr Trump as unfit for office, but it makes not one scrap of difference. Just like impeachment, the tables are tilted to make it very difficult to remove a sitting president from power. The 'New York Times' published an extraordinary column by an anonymous contributor identified as a "senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardised by its disclosure". It's apparent why the writer's job would be threatened. His column describes a White House mired in subterfuge and scheming because President Donald Trump isn't able or fit to carry out his duties. "The root of the problem is the president's amorality," the columnist observes. "Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making." Confronted with that reality, Trump's own White House staff has apparently gone rogue. "Many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations," notes the columnist. "We believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic." The writer said he shared Trump's goals of building a strong military, cutting taxes and doing away with federal regulations - successes he says Team Trump has been able to pull off despite the president's dangerous ineptitude. To achieve their goals, they work around Trump and walk back - or simply thwart - "Trump's more misguided impulses until he is out of office". "Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president," the writer adds. "But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until - one way or another - it's over." There is some good intent here. A group of people are trying to adhere to principle and make the executive branch function in a responsible way - because Trump, the man elected to do just that, can't. They are so concerned about things going haywire that they ponder making use of an amendment to the constitution that allows for replacing the president when he or she is "unable to discharge the powers and duties" of the office. What seems more pointed to me is that the columnist says his troupe sought to avert a constitutional crisis. Think about that: White House officials were so concerned about Trump's lack of fitness that they considered dire measures, which they then dismissed to avoid a crisis. So these same unelected and unknown officials, all appointed by a president they see as unfit, are now running the country without oversight and accountability. If that's not a crisis, what is? The US government is not supposed to function this way. A vibrant democracy rides on the back of voting, transparency and the rule of law. When unelected officials act unilaterally and in secrecy because they work for an inept executive which doesn't respect the law, then you have yourself a crisis. Similar things have happened before. In 1919, president Woodrow Wilson became paralysed and partially blind following a stroke. Wilson's doctor and his wife, Edith, covered up his condition and Edith administered his executive powers while keeping the cabinet and Congress ill-informed and at a distance. Edith continued her stealth presidency until Wilson's term ended in 1921. It wasn't until the 25th amendment was passed in 1967 that a clear procedure for replacing an incapacitated or dead president was put into place. Trump, of course, is neither incapacitated nor dead. He is merely tragicomically out of his depth (as Bob Woodward's upcoming book, and Trump's own history, have substantiated). As Woodward's reporting makes clear, some officials have occasionally been able to ward off some of Trump's most perilous instincts. But they haven't warded off a crisis. They're living in one. Bloomberg The Trinamul Congress and CPI(M) blamed each other over maintenance for the accident. A truck stuck in between as an old bridge collapses leaving the driver injured, near Siliguri, on Friday. (Photo:PTI) Kolkata: Close on the heels of the collapse of a major portion of Majherhat Bridge in south Kolkata, the state witnessed a similar accident at Phansidewa near Siliguri in North Bengal where another bridge caved in leaving a man injured on Friday morning. The Trinamul Congress and CPI(M) blamed each other over maintenance for the accident. Like the part of the Majherjat Bridge had fallen in a canal in Taratola after breaking from the middle claiming three lives and leaving 27 injured on September 4 afternoon, the 70-meter-long bridge, connecting Manganj and Phansidewa, collapsed same way in Pichhla canal at around 9.30 am. A small truck which was passing through the bridge then fell trapped. Its driver was injured. The local residents rescued him and rushed him to a hospital from where he was discharged after first-aid. Visiting the spot later North Bengal development Minister Rabindranath Ghosh said, The loaded trucks movement through that bridge is restricted. Still many vehicles travelling to the north-eastern states continue to avail the bridge. As a result the accident took place. Training guns on the CPI(M)-led Left Front regime he alleged, This bridge was built by the zilla parishad during the Left rule in 1995. Now it falls under the jurisdiction of Mahakuma Parishad. Ainul Haque, the member elected to the body from our party, repeatedly drew attention of the bodys president who however ignored it. Mahakuma Parishad can not escape its responsibility. Mr Ghosh added, We are trying to start the repair work at the earliest. The state government will decide which department will undertake the repair work. Singing in chief minister Mamata Banerjees tune Mr Ghosh also claimed that the documents relating to the structure of the bridge were yet to be traced as it is old. State tourism minister Gautam Deb also lashed out at the Siliguri Mahakuma Parishad, the sub-divisional body, which is run by the Left. He informed that he would submit a report to the chief minister. Rejecting the two Trinamul ministers allegations senior CPI(M) leader of Darjeeling Jibesh Sarkar however said, The bridge was built in 2001-02. Recently it became very weak. The Mahakuma Parishad contacted the local administration and identified it as weak. Even a directive was issued banning the movement of heavy vehicles. He complained, Fund was sought from the state government for a project to carry out repair of the bridge. But there has been a delay in releasing funds since the body is run by the Left. Bollywood may look glamorous from afar but it can be a very unpredictable place. Every Friday, new faces and new films decide their fate and destiny. While many work wonders, many bomb and are soon gone and forgotten. But there is a third lot of people too, who get the opportunity to work in a film but due to unavoidable circumstances (read fights and clashes), walk out of it with a heavy heart. Here's taking a look at 7 such celebrities who walked out of the film after signing the project. 1. Sonu Sood walks out of Manikarnika In an interview with HT, Sonu recently revealed said that he never had problem of working under a female director as he has worked with Farah Khan in Happy New Year. That was not my statement. I never said that I dont want to work with a female director because I have already done a movie with a female director (Farah Khan, Happy New Year). I only said I cant be working with two directors on one set. So basically, he took a dig at Kangana, who was too interfering during the shoot of the film. 2. Chitrangada Singh in Babumoshai Badookbaaz Youtube screengrab It was reported that Chitrangada left the film midway citing discomfort shooting intimate scenes with co-star Nawazuddin. According to a report by PTI, the film's director Kushan Nandy revealed that the bone of contention was with regard to the script. Nandy told reporters, "There were multiple issues with her... She had my script with her for one and a half years. The script was in detail, it had everything specified and even then if someone has any problem, I can't force anyone." He added, "There was no issue about intimate scenes because she had already shot it. She had issues with the script and wanted certain things to be changed. It was her decision (to not do the film)." 3. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Heroine Director Madhur Bhandarkar was initially supposed to cast Aishwarya Rai for his film Heroine before Kareena Kapoor was roped in. In his blog back then, he wrote, "the entire team of the film learnt from news channels like the rest of the world that the said actress was 4-month pregnant and she was due on November. ''The movie was announced in Cannes on 13th May while we commenced shooting on 7th June.... There was a gap of 24 days. Even if we had known the truth behind the state of the actress, things could have been reworked keeping the state of matters in mind accordingly and this crisis could have been averted.'' ''I was in a state of total shock and depression... I had been working on the script for almost a year and a half....'' Madhur said. 4. Kareena Kapoor in Ram Leela Twitter This is not the first time, Kareena Kapoor walked out of a film. Queen, Bajirao Mastani, Kal Ho Na Ho, Kaho Na Pyaar Hai, Bebo has declined many offers some even after shooting them. While nobody seems to know what led to her abrupt exit from the magnum opus, Bhansali recently told a leading daily about how he ended up picking Deepika to play the role. The daily quoted the director as saying, "The set was made already, and it was shocking - her (Kareena Kapoor's) exit 10 days before shooting". 5. Rekha in Fitoor Twitter/Tabu FC According to sources in Mid-Day, the veteran actress felt that the character had an uncanny resemblance to her own life story. The source was quoted saying that the character of Begum is akin to what Rekha is in real life and when she realised that, she found it difficult and uncomfortable to play herself and opted out of the film. Tabu was then roped in as a replacement and several scenes had to be re-shot. 6. Aishwarya Rai in Chalte Chalte quirkybyte Yes, Aishwarya again walked out of another film. Way back in in 2003, Salman came to the sets of Chalte Chalte and created a scene. Back then a unit member had revealed, "We had just finished the song sequences on the truck from Pune to Malshet and it was night time when, as we were heading towards our next location, Salman appeared and created a huge scene as Aishwarya has decided to break up. He was uncontrollable for those four-and-half hours.That's when an upset Azizbhai called off the entire schedule. Rumours suggested that Ash walked up to SRK and told him that she will leave the final decision to him and Aziz Mirza of whether she will continue being the film's leading lady or not. Finally with a heavy heart, SRK had to let go of Chalte Chalte's heroine Aishwarya Rai and seal the deal with Rani Mukherji. 7. Sridevi walked out of Baahubali The superstar was the first choice of S S Rajamouli to play the Mahishmati queen Shivagami, but the actress quoted a whopping amount of Rs. 6 crores, and that was totally outside the budget of the makers. She even tried the costume Actress Ramya Krishna on the other hand did the role for just Rs. 2.5 crores and had totally nailed the part. 1. Shahid Kapoor And Mira Rajput Choose An Arabic Name For Their Newborn Son & It Has A Beautiful Meaning Shahid soon announced the name they have given to the little bundle of joy in their lives. Shahid and Mira have named their son Zain Kapoor. Its an Arabic word, which stands for grace and beauty. The name itself suggests that the baby is beyond beautiful. 2. Sushmita Sen Dances To Nora Fatehis Dilbar & Proves Nobody Can Do It Better Than Her! Recently she performed on the remake of the song, which features in film Satyameva Jayate, and broke the internet with her killer moves. Without further ado, watch it for yourself below. 3. From 'Roka' To Celebrity Couple Name, Nick Jonas Gives All The Dope On His Relationship With PC Nick made another interesting revelation on the show. When asked if they had a celebrity nickname, he revealed that Priyanka Chopra likes Prick as their nickname. Thats kind of lewd, isnt it? Well, thats perhaps why Jimmy Fallon also asked them to refrain from using that. 4. Rapper Mac Miller Dies Of Apparent Dug Overdose, Trolls Blame Ex-Girlfriend Ariana Grande For His Death Rapper Mac Miller, whose full name was Malcolm James McCormick, has passed away at the age of 26 at his home in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles. The cause of the death hasnt been announced as of yet, but reports claim that he died of drug overdose which led to cardiac arrest. 5. Switzerland Is Planning To Install A Statue Of Sridevi To Honour The Legendary Actress The Swiss government has highlighted its India connection by installing Yash Chopras statue in Interlaken. Now, considering Sridevis role in promoting tourism here, there is a proposal to honour the actor by having her statue here, a source told Indian Express. Not many people know that Sridevi, who died at the age of 54 leaving her fans and family in shock and grief, was the one who popularised the culture of song and dance sequences against backdrop in Switzerland. skymetweather.com Sangam (1964) and Evening in Paris (1967) were the first two films shot in Switzerland. But a couple of decades later, when Yash Chopras Chandni was released in 1989, it became mainstream practice. The movie cemented the image of Switzerland as romantic paradise. A lot of films, particularly song were shot in Swiss thereafter. And the tourism grew thereafter. thebiggestbongtheory.files.wordpress.com Of course, the country owes to Sridevi for the growth in tourism, and so, it has decided to honour her with a statue. The Swiss government has highlighted its India connection by installing Yash Chopras statue in Interlaken. Now, considering Sridevis role in promoting tourism here, there is a proposal to honour the actor by having her statue here, a source told Indian Express. Also Read: Mohit Sehgal & Sanaya Irani Remind Us How Bollywood Has Forgotten About Its Love-Affair With Switzerland The indiatimes.com privacy policy has been updated to align with the new data regulations in European Union. Please review and accept these changes below to continue using the website. We use cookies to ensure the best experience for you on our website. Policemen from Maharashtras Palghar town have arrested a man for allegedly trafficking 500 girls from Bangladesh into Mumbai, reported The India Today. A 38 year old man named Mohammad Saidul Shaikh (38) from Dombivali area in the Thane district has been apprehended by police officials for pushing the girls into prostitution. Policemen have arrested seven persons though seven more are still to be arrested. Shockingly, most of the girls possessed legal documents like Aadhaar card despite being non-Indian residents. Police inspector, Jitendra Venkutty who is working on the case said that the accused would have got a commission of around Rs 4,000-Rs 5,000 for selling a girl. Photo for representational purposes Shaikh is accused of enticing minor girls especially from Bangladesh on the pretext that they will be given jobs if they cross the border with him. Reportedly, he would get around Rs 1 lakh from the customers for getting girls into the flesh trade. The police officials even said that there are at least seven cases pending against Shaikh. Some of Shaikhs agents in Bangladesh would even lure the girls into some sort of love affair in order ot bring them across the border. Policemen received tip off about Shaikh after four minors who were rescued from from the traffickers mentioned his name while narrating their ordeal. Reportedly, the accused was even involved in illegal hawala transactions across the border. Shaikh is from Bangladesh however, he has been operating in India since 2010. A lot of scepticism around the venue of Indias largest air show, Aero India had been doing the rounds since the last month. Putting all the speculations to rest, the Ministry of Defence has announced that Aero India 2019 will take place in Bengaluru only. It all started when Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath expressed his states interest in hosting the show. After the inauguration of the Defence Industrial Corridor in Aligarh on August 11, he appealed to the Union Defence Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman to allow UP to host the air show. There were reports that Centre has proposed to move the air show out of Karnataka. Adityanath even assured Sitharaman that the state had all the facilities to organize the show. The chief of Karnataka Congress, Dinesh Gundu Rao, had, therefore, written a letter to the defence minister that the decision to shift the venue should be reconsidered. Bengaluru has been playing host to Aero India since its inception in 1996. Finally, the event will be organized in the technology hub from February 20 to 24, 2019. Thefive-dayy event will combine a major trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries with public air shows. Besides global leaders and big investors in the aerospace industry, the show will also see participation by think-tanks from across the world and will provide an opportunity for the exchange of information, ideas and new developments in the aviation industry, the ministry said in a statement. Aero India is aimed at furthering the cause of Make In India is organized by Defence Exhibition Organisation under the Ministry of Defence. The last Aero India show was organized at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in 2017. So many of us are guilty of gorging on mouth-watering street food items from across the street. However, many of us are even more guilty of falling ill after binge eating them. Recently, a survey discovered that respondents had nominated Kolkatas street food as the best. With its phuchkas, kathi rolls, jhal muri and other plethora of food delicacies, we also want to crib about our personal hygiene simultaneously. India is known for its street food. Majority of the countrys population is addicted to roadside tea, corn, aloo tikkis, omelette, chaat-papri and recipes from 28 different states and union territories. Photo: BCCL/Kankaria Lake carnival 2012 In order to make sure that street-food lovers are able to enjoy the best experience, the food regulatory body of India, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had started the process of certifying Indias best street food-places in December 2017, the Hindustan Times reported. Now, FSSAI has declared Kankaria lake area in Ahmedabad as Indias first clean street food hub. Reportedly, the regulatory body will designate 150 such streets across the country in the next one year. Kankaria lake dates back to the 15th century, that houses around 66 famous street food vendors that serves lip-smacking food to 12 million people each year. The parameters for certifying it as the cleanest street food hub include best practices like garbage disposal, maintaining personal hygiene, demarcating cooking and non-cooking area, working street lights, pest control and overall cleanliness among other things. Photo: BCCL/ Children performing at the Kankaria Carnival in 2012 (File) FSSAI in collaboration with Gujarat Food and Drug Control Administration had conducted a pre-audit of the street earlier this year. At the time of pre-audit, suggestions were given for improvement and training of the food vendors was also conducted. Pawan Agarwal, chief executive officer (CEO), FSSAI told HT, There is an 80% cut-off and anything above that is outstanding. These people have done a fabulous job in reaching up to that level, and now it is about maintaining the standard. The state food regulator will be conducting regular inspections to keep a check. The Clean Street Food Hub initiative is aimed at raising hygiene levels of major street food hubs ensuring preservation of Indias rich cultural heritage at the same time. The idea is to revolutionize street food vending in the country, to make it popular among domestic and international tourists and to also make sure that Indian street food vending will be looked up with high esteem at a global level. With Kerala Police dragging its feet over the arrest of Franco Mullakal, the Bishop of Jalandhar, who is accused of raping a nun multiple times, a group of nuns in Kerala have launched a protest demanding his arrest. The nuns took to the street in Kochi on Saturday demanding his arrest and justice to the rape victim. They were joined by various Christian organizations in the protest. We are fighting for our sister. She has been denied justice by the Church, government and the police. Our only hope now is the court. We are ready to go to any extent for ensuring justice to our sister, one of the protesting nuns said. It has been seventy four days since the complaint was filed against Bishop Franco. The police had recorded her statements several times. But accused Bishop was interrogated only once, the nun alleged. The Kerala Police had last month interrogated the Bishop, in Jalandhar, but despite claiming that there is evidence against him for rape, stopped short of arresting Mulakkal. The complainant, a nun who is originally from Kerala but was posted in Jalandhar had accused that she was sexually abused by the Bishop 13 times between 2014 and 2016. Ever since the police complaint was filed, there have been a number of allegations including intimidation and trying to silence the victim. A priest who allegedly offered the victim and other compaliants money to settle the case has been asked to step down from his duties. Bishop Mulakkal however continues to claim innocence and alleged that the allegations were made against him by the nun for taking disciplinary action against her for having an affair with a married man. by Melani Manel Perera The Sri Lankan Government has accepted 177 recommendations (out of a total of 233) made by the UN Commission on Human Rights. The role of advocacy groups is fundamental in making the general public aware of the content of the periodic review. Colombo (AsiaNews) The Sri Lankan government and civil society groups have agreed to work together on human rights issues. Officials from the government, civil society organisations, and the United Nations will start with a shared approach and will seek a joint path of cooperation and dialogue between the parties. Meeting in the Sri Lankan capital on 22-24 August, the various stakeholders reiterated their commitment to the implementation of recommendations made by the United Nations following the Universal Periodic Review, which the government accepted last March. Some 43 civil society associations attended the event but some 94 took part in the Universal Periodic Review process. The National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO), the Movement for the National Land and Agricultural Reform (MONLAR) and the Law and Society Trust (LST) played an important role in facilitating dialogue between the various parties and motivating human rights groups to participate. Sri Lankas Ministry of Foreign Affairs also played a vital role in getting other government departments to cooperate. During the periodic review, civil society groups played an important role by raising awareness about human rights programmes, carrying out educational campaigns, translating the recommendations into Sinhala and Tamil, informing specific groups about their content, most notably women and workers (fisherman, plantation labourers, etc.). At the three-day meeting, participants were divided into eight working groups according to sector and examined the recommendations accepted by the Government of Sri Lanka, 177 out of a total of 233. The latter included: meeting the needs of the people impacted by the civil war; ensuring the full return and resettlement of Internally Displaced People; guaranteeing the participation of minorities in the decision-making process and offering them equal economic and social opportunities; boosting the protection of Tamils so that they can enjoy full economic, cultural and social rights; fighting child labour as well as discrimination against the most vulnerable groups, including women. In the application, PETA India sought permission from the court for rehabilitation of the horses in a reputable sanctuary. Mumbai: The Marine Drive police seized five horses from Jamnalal Bajaj Marg while the Cuffe Parade police seized one horse from Free Press Journal Marg. The horses were being whipped mercilessly for carriage rides on Thursday. The NGO, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), filed an application in the metropolitan magistrate court, Esplanade, seeking custody of the six horses which were being forced to haul carriages. In the application, PETA India sought permission from the court for rehabilitation of the horses in a reputable sanctuary. A veterinarian examined the horse rescued by the Cuffe Parade police station only to find that he was suffering from tetanus. The said horse has been hospitalised at the Bombay Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BSPCA) in Parel, while the five horses rescued by the Marine Drive police are recuperating at the BMC Malad cattle shed. The police received a message about a horse standing at the Free Press Journal Marg. At around 12.05 am, a police team went to the spot and found a man lashing the horse. The police filed a First Information Report (FIR) under sections 3 and 11 (1) (a) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. An officer from Cuffe Parade police station said, We have arrested one Kanhaiyaram Jaiswal (55), resident of Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Nagar slums at Nariman Point. Investigation revealed that he didnt have the required permission to ride the horse and neither did the horse have a medical certificate. The horse appeared weak and unfit, said the officer. PETA India is working to ensure that the horses are not subjected to torcher, said Meet Ashar, emergency response coordinator for PETA India. Two people including A Kashmir Administration Service (KSA) Official were killed in an accident during a trek in Kolahoi glacier in the mountains of south Kashmirs Anantnag district. The incident happened on Friday when a group of ten trekkers were returning from Kolahoi Glacier. While on the way back, three of them fell into a crevasse. The two killed in the incident have been identified as Naveed Jeelani, an Excise and Taxation officer and Adil Shah. A third person, identified as Hazik was rescued with grievous injuries. Divisional Commissioner of Kashmir Baseer Ahmad Khan has requisitioned an Air Force helicopter through the Civil Aviation Department and sought the armys help to bring out the dead and the injured from the crevice and airlift the injured to the hospital. India Trekking The Kolahoi Glacier, revered by the locals as Goddess of Light is a highly sought after trekking destination. Trekking season in Kolahoi Glacier is between March and October. Remember the bright blue, Brazilian parrot called Blu in the 2011 animated film, 'Rio' that delighted all of us seven years ago? Well, the medium-sized, free-spirited parrot is most likely extinct in the wild, the daily mail reported. Popularly called Spixs Macaw, Macaw is a bird in nuances of blue with a grey-blue head, light blue underparts and vibrant blue upperparts. It was starred in the movie Rio based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where it is taken to mate with another female macaw (called Jewel). Together, they are escaping smugglers who are trying to abduct these species. Perhaps, the movie has turned into a reality with human beings acting as predators. Scientists have blamed deforestation, hunting and loss of habitat on remote islands for the extinction of these exotic birds. Photo: BBC A new analysis of the endangered species has revealed that the Spixs Macaw joins seven other such avian species to become extinct, making them the first bird species which have been wiped out this decade. Reportedly, researchers said that most of these birds which have become vanished are small-island species. Other avians that have disappeared forever include Poo-uli, the Pernambuco pygmy-owl and the cryptic treehunter, the analysis revealed. 90% Of Bird Extinctions Are Small Populations On Remote Islands A group of conservation NGOs based in Cambridge, UK, BirdLife International carried out a statistical analysis of 51 species cited critically endangered on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list. Stuart Butchart, BirdLife International's chief scientist, told the daily mail, People think of extinctions and think of the dodo but our analysis shows that extinctions are continuing and accelerating today. Further adding that 90 per cent of the bird extinctions take place in smaller-continents or remote islands. The rising extinctions is due to habitat loss from unsustainable agriculture, drainage and logging. According to the Red List, more than 26,000 of the worlds species are now threatened. Four of these extinctions took place in Brazil alone including that of Spixs Macaw. The last known wild sighting was done 18 years ago, however, captive birds are being used to breed for restoration programmes. Another small forest bird, Alagoas Foliage-gleaner vanished in 2011 due to heavy deforestation. The cryptic treehunter hasnt been seen since 2007 and the small forests which were inhabited by these species have been replaced by sugarcane plantations. The Poo-uli, found only on the island of Maui in Hawaii, has not been seen since 2004, and attempts to breed it in captivity have been unsuccessful. Of the eight species to be reclassified as extinct, the remaining are critically endangered (possibly extinct). These include, Glaucous Macaw residing in palm grove habitats of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil which were later destroyed for farming. A still from the 2011 film, Rio based on Spix Pernambuco pygmy-owl, an insect-eating owl hasnt been spotted in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco since 2002. The research analysis is a wake-up call for human beings who may be unconsciously driving the planet's sixth biggest extinction event. This is a crippling fear that people across the country suffer from, the fear of facing the police force. Just the sight of cops and police stations to many is unnerving and over the years not much has been done to address this issue. Facebook/Indian Express In an effort to bust the misconception about the police being brutal, IPS officer Sonia Singh, Inspector General of Police (Range), has started outreach sessions at schools and colleges across Nagaland to educate kids on this issue. The primary objective of this initiative is to change the perception of the student community of the police. However, its not merely limited to that. We are looking to build trust by raising their awareness about procedures of law and criminal acts like domestic violence, rape, sexual harassment, cyberstalking, revenge porn and drug abuse, etc" Singh told the Better India. Speaking to The Indian Express, a senior faculty member of the Little Flower School, where the first session was held, said that, "students actually opened up and started sharing their grievances too. These are things most parents dont talk to their children about." Reuters "These interactions are the need of the hour to break the stereotypes and change the perception our future generations have about the police in Nagaland. They should not get scared by the sight of cops. Rather, they should see cops as mentors and maintain a channel of communication with them... Sonia Singh told the publication. The 'Police Ki Pathshala' initiative has three phases, the first phase covers Kohima from where it will move on to other parts of Nagaland, state reports. Bollywood actor Vidyut Jammwal will be seen in Commando 3 to be helmed by Table No. 21 and Karenjit Kaur: The Untold Story Of Sunny Leone director Aditya Datt. (photo provided) Bulgarian President Rumen Radev (L) and his Indian counterpart Ram Nath Kovind take part in a ceremony in Sofia, Bulgaria, Sept. 5. India is working to boost bilateral ties with Bulgaria and Kovind is the first Indian president to visit the Balkan country in 15 years. (Xinhua/Wang Xinran/IANS) The blackout across entire northern island of Hokkaido after a powerful earthquake showed the weak link in all the technology. The magnitude 6.7 quake on Hokkaidos southern coast knocked out power to nearly all 3 million households on the island. (Representational image) Japans ultramodern conveniences, its zippy bullet trains, automated ticketing systems and smart homes work just fine, until the power goes out. The blackout across entire northern island of Hokkaido after a powerful earthquake struck on September 6 showed the weak link in all that technology. Its a problem shared by most affluent, and increasingly many other countries, but seems more apparent in this seismically overactive nation, where earthquakes and tsunamis are a constant threat and even the high-tech toilets have electronic flushes. The magnitude 6.7 quake on Hokkaidos southern coast knocked out power to nearly all 3 million households on the island, forcing essential services such as hospitals and traffic lights to use generators or other backups. Damage to some generators was likely to delay the full restoration of power for more than a week, officials said. On September 7, with power restored to about half of all Hokkaido households, Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko urged residents to conserve electricity. Unplug appliances. Families should try to all stay in one room, he said. That can help us more quickly restore power in more places. The vulnerability of the electric grid was driven home most painfully in 2011 by a massive earthquake and tsunami on the northeastern coast of the main island of Honshu, and subsequent meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant. Shutdowns of reactors for safety checks put a chunk of Japans power generating capacity out of commission straining supplies in this resource scarce nation. Some 3 million households on Hokkaido, whose power supplies generally are only based on the island, were without electricity for nearly a whole day after the quake. After a long, dark night a large share of the lights were back on early Friday in the prefectural capital of Sapporo, a city of 1.9 million. Without power, most tap water systems didnt work. Traffic and street lights were dark and cellphones ran out of power. Some landlines were also silenced, though public phones were working for free, carrier NTT said. Hokkaido Electric Power, or HEPCO, said the large-capacity Tomato Atsuma power plant source of most power to the region and located relatively close to the quakes epicenter will take about a week to restart. As a stopgap, the company restarted three other plants with less generating capacity and switched on dozens of small hydroelectric plants. Officials at METI, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which is in charge, told reporters the utility lacked a contingency plan for the failure of all three of Tomato Atsumas generators echoing the lack of emergency planning that caused massive problems at the Fukushima plant. HEPCO had only anticipated the possible loss of up to a third of peak power demand, or up to 1.3 million kilowatts, they said. Likely mindful of complaints over the handling of the aftermath of the 2011 disaster by Tokyo Electric Power, operator of the Fukushima plant, the industry minister, Hiroshige Seko, ordered HEPCO to be sure to provide quick and thorough updates. Japans nuclear regulator said that external power was restored at Tomari, Hokkaidos only nuclear power plant, after it temporarily switched September 6 to backup generators to power cooling systems for spent fuel from its three reactors. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said there was no abnormality at the plant, which has been idled since 2012 for routine safety checks, its reactors emptied of fuel. Hokkaido Electric says the islands average peak demand is about 3.8 million kilowatts. By drawing on secondary generators and possibly importing power from elsewhere in Japan, the utility said it could provide about 2.9 million kilowatts of power even if Tomato Atsuma remained offline. Like many tough residents used to Hokkaidos long, harsh winters, Norio Oikawa was looking on the bright side. His home in Sapporo had no power by early Friday, and he was rationing the water he managed to store in his bathtub before his taps went dry. Thankfully, basic public facilities were at hand no fancy electronics involved. There is a park nearby, with a toilet and running water. So, thats a great help, he said. Arabica Coffee (KC) Bouncing Off Weekly Chart Upchannel Support Tradable Patterns - Thu Nov 4, 10:36PM CDT Arabica Coffee (KC) edged lower yesterday, forming a second straight daily Doji near the psychologically key 2.10 whole figure level. Significantly, despite the consolidation since Tuesday, KC remains... KCZ21 : 208.60s (-0.33%) JO : 57.50 (-1.03%) Wheats Close Weaker on Thursday Barchart - Thu Nov 4, 4:52PM CDT Domestic wheat futures ended the Thursday session with an extension of the recent pullback. CBT SRW futures were 5 3/4 to 8 1/4 cents lower. KC prices ended with 3 3/4 to 5 cent losses. MGE HRS futures... ZWZ21 : 777-6 (+0.52%) ZWPAES.CM : 7.2463 (-0.84%) KEZ21 : 789-0 (+0.38%) KEPAWS.CM : 7.6485 (-0.69%) MWZ21 : 1023-0 (+0.59%) Corn Closed Red on Thursday Barchart - Thu Nov 4, 4:52PM CDT At the bell on Thursday, corn prices had dropped back another 3 to 4 3/4 cents. For December that extended the pullback form the 11/2 high to 26 3/4 cents. OPEC + members announced intentions to stay the... CLZ21 : 79.82 (+1.28%) ZCZ21 : 561-0 (+0.31%) ZCPAUS.CM : 5.4182 (-0.85%) ZCH22 : 569-4 (+0.31%) ZCZ21 : 561-0 (+0.31%) Migrant Oregon weed workers face threats amid illegal boom AP - Thu Nov 4, 4:44PM CDT SALEM, Ore. (AP) Thousands of immigrants working on southern Oregon illegal marijuana farms that authorities say are run by foreign cartels are living in squalid conditions and are sometimes being... $SPX : 4,680.06 (+0.42%) $DOWI : 36,124.23 (-0.09%) $IUXX : 16,346.24 (+1.25%) RFD-TV Interview: Grain and Livestock Markets Blue Line Futures - Thu Nov 4, 3:35PM CDT Commodities are flying around this week! Where are the closing levels in corn that will lead us lower, or support us for the next leg up? An immense amount of pressure in the feeder cattle market to start... Shootin' the Bull Swift Trading Company - Thu Nov 4, 3:09PM CDT The Feds actions are believed to have worked in a similar manner as to their action in June of '21 when they raised the overnight repo rate to one tenth of one percent. The United States began its history indebted, owing more than $70 million to the French and Dutch after the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783. However, the first actual fiscal deficit in the federal ledger was not run until the end of that decade. A History of Budget Deficits In September 1789, Alexander Hamilton, then-Secretary of the Treasury, negotiated terms with the Bank of New York and the Bank of North America to borrow $19,608.81 to address shortfalls within the U.S. budget. The Beginning of Deficit Spending Hamilton was a strong proponent of a large, powerful federal government, unlike his rival, Thomas Jefferson. He believed that running budget deficits could help the young country establish itself and actively desired to issue government bonds backed by revenue from tariffs. Hamilton's plan was based on the bonds issued by the Bank of England after its founding in 1694, which allowed Britain to raise more money than the French during their conflicts. The American government felt empowered to borrow from that point forward, and after the War of 1812, the total government debt exceeded $115 million. When the Debt Was Actually Paid Off Andrew Jackson, seventh president of the U.S., felt that running deficits was immoral and carrying debt weakened the nation. By 1835, less than six years after assuming office, Jackson paid off the entire national debt by curtailing government spending and selling off federal lands. This is the only time in U.S history that the country's total debt was completely paid off. The Great Depression and Financing Wars Before 1930, nearly all of the budget deficits run by the American government were the result of wars. The Civil War created huge current account deficits that left the nation owing more than $2.5 billion after 1865. The nature of debts changed after the Great Depression and the rise of Keynesian economics. The extent to which British economist John Maynard Keynes influenced government spending in the 20th century can hardly be overstated. While both the Hoover and Roosevelt administrations extended public works projects and experimented with fiscal deficits in the face of the Great Depression, it was Keynes who provided the macroeconomic justification for running large budget deficits to stimulate aggregate demand and fight recessions. The U.S. ran severe budget deficits during the Great Depression and World War II. During the 1940s, spending on the war effort created the largest deficits as a percentage of total gross domestic product, or GDP, in American history. A more restrained spending policy took place during the 1950s and more or less continued until the outset of the Vietnam War and Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Modern Deficit Spending Since 1970, the federal government has run deficits during every fiscal year for all but four years, from 1998 to 2001. The effect of these cumulative budget shortfalls is debated by political analysts and economists, but their origins are much less controversial. Ever since the time of Alexander Hamilton, the U.S. government has turned to deficit spending as a means of financing wars, growing federal influence and providing public services without having to raise taxes or cut existing programs. Both dividend yield and total return are terms used to describe the performance of a stock over a certain time period (usually one year), but they reflect different types of performance. Whether equity investors should focus on income generation, which includes dividend yield, or return is a contested topic in the financial world. In truth, the relative importance of each measurement likely depends on your individual circumstances and investment horizon. This does not mean you have to neglect one in favor of the other; it is wiser to consider both before selecting an investment. The Importance of Dividend Yield Dividends are the portion of a company's profits that are distributed to shareholders. It is considered a sign of clear financial health and confidence for a company to pay out dividends, which are usually independent of the share price. The dividend yield is a financial ratio that represents the dividend income per share, divided by the price per share. For example, a stock priced at $100 per share that receives a dividend payment of $8 is said to have a yield of 8%. For long-term investors, dividends can be very powerful, because they can be reinvested and used to purchase more shares, meaning the investor does not have to commit more of his or her resources to increase his or her equity holdings. Other investors rely on yields to produce a stream of income from their investments. Though not quite as reliable as fixed-income investments such as bonds, dividend-producing stocks can be quite valuable in this way. Yield, however, can be misleading. Some companies continue to pay yields even when they are operating at a short-term loss, while other companies pay out yields too aggressively and fail to reinvest enough profit to sustain operations down the road. The Importance of Total Return Total return, often referred to as "return," is a very straightforward representation of how much an investment has made for the shareholder. While the dividend yield only takes into account actual cash dividends, total return accounts for interest, dividends, and increases in share price among other capital gains. On the surface, this appears to provide a more encompassing, and therefore useful, performance metric than the dividend yield. However, a return is entirely retrospective, and share prices can increase for a huge number of reasons. It is typically more difficult to project future investment performance from the stock's return than from its dividend yield. Which Is More Important? The importance is relative and specific to each investor. If you only care about identifying which stocks have performed better over a period of time, the total return is more important than the dividend yield. If you are relying on your investments to provide consistent income, the dividend yield is more important. If you have a long-term investment horizon and plan on holding a portfolio for a long time, it makes more sense to focus on total return. However, the evaluation of a company for potential equity investment should never come down to just these two figures; rather, look at the company's balance sheet and income statement, and perform additional research as well. The long-term future of one of Corks most popular festivals is at risk after organisers pulled the plug on it last night on foot of vintners objections. Daryl Cronin, the man behind Oktoberfest Beag, the annual celebration of German food, beer and music, said he had no option but to cancel this years event outright a week before opening night. The process of contacting the 15,000 people who booked tickets is under way and refunds will be arranged. And the fallout may hit the Liam Miller charity game due to be played in Pairc UiChaoimh on September 25. Talks were under way to use the beer fest site for some match-day parking, but there are concerns now that the site may not be available. Mr Cronin said he was bitterly disappointed to cancel an event which has grown to become one of the citys largest festivals. Established nine years ago as a two-day festival on the former Beamish and Crawford site, it has grown into a six-day event over two weekends on the docklands site which hosts the Live at the Marquee concert series. Mr Cronin said he will have to review the long-term future of the event amid concerns about the financial impact of the cancellation. Even though it is the industry norm to apply for special exemptions weeks in advance, an application was made in court yesterday for a general singing and dance and occasional licence to cover the staging of the Oktoberfest Beag events. But the Cork branch of the Vintners Federation of Ireland (VFI) objected, citing concerns about the strength of alcohol that would be on sale, and highlighting security concerns for patrons and door staff in city centre pubs caused by Oktoberfest Beag revellers pouring into the city from 10.30pm. The application process was adjourned to facilitate talks between both sides. Chairman of the VFI, Michael ODonovan, said they were satisfied with the outcome of those talks and confirmed to Mr Cronin their intention to withdraw the objection. The matter was due to come before the courts again next Tuesday. Mr Cronin said he asked the vintners for a letter of support to ensure their position on withdrawing the objection wouldnt change between now and then. Mr ODonovan said they werent in a position to provide such a letter, but added: We finished the meeting by wishing the promoter well. We hoped the event would go ahead. But he had to make a commercial decision. Mr Cronin said by close of business last night, with contractors lined up and no guarantee that the VFIs objection might be raised again on Tuesday, he had to make the call to cancel. I had contractors due on site over the weekend and I had to be fair to them, and to the people who travel from overseas to the event. Its very disappointing, he said. Mr ODonovan said it was the first time in many years that the VFI branch had objected to an event or festival. People were OK when it was a weekend festival but six nights over two weekends is hurting those VFI members who are trying to survive 52-weeks of the year. Our ageing population is a demographic time bomb that will have serious repercussions for surgical services, the president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Kenneth Mealy, has warned. Mr Mealy, who is lead of the national clinical programme in surgery and clinical director of the National Office of Clinical Audit, also called for the variance in surgical services across the country to be addressed He said: 3,000 beds per day are currently occupied by surgical patients. By 2046 if the system remains as it is and with Irelands projected population and age profile, 5,500 beds a day will be required. Greater efficiencies are necessary because of the absolute imperative presented by our ageing population. We have a choice to make; we can either start building more hospitals or we can make more efficient use of the bed days we currently have. We can see whats coming down the line here and we can plan for it. Mr Mealy was speaking ahead of his address today at the 43rd Sir Peter Freyer Memorial Lecture and Surgical Symposium, the largest Surgical Conference in Ireland, taking place in NUI Galway. He welcomed the publication of the Slaintecare, the blueprint to overhaul the health service over the next decade, describing it as a positive step forward in providing a more strategic approach to healthcare delivery in Ireland. However, he found it surprising that there was little in the plan about the huge variance in surgical services across the country. When we see that one hospital can deal with gallbladder surgery as a day case whereas other hospitals admit patients overnight, we have to ask why, said Mr Mealy. We need to look at the funding model and make sure that its disincentivising inefficient practices. The rollout of an activity-based pricing model over the next number of years would go a long way to incentivise hospitals to manage their beds efficiently. Referring to plans for new elective-only hospitals in Cork, Dublin and Galway, Mr Mealy said there was an inescapable logic to the separation of acute and elective care. Putting the patient exclusively at the centre of our planning means there is no other outcome that makes sense. Patients with life-threatening conditions must be treated by the right team with access to the appropriate equipment and diagnostics. Meanwhile, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said the HSE had yet to come up with a plan to deal with a surge in patients this winter. The INMO was also disappointed that the health authority had been unable to fill 169 nursing posts in emergency departments across Ireland, despite having funding to do so. INMO representatives, who met with HSE and Department of Health officials at the Workplace Relations Commission yesterday, said nurses and midwives will go on lunchtime protests next week. Demonstrations will be held at Galway University Hospital on Monday and at Cork University Hospital and Limerick University Hospital on Tuesday. By Pet OConnell Whether depicting a pair of old boots, clothes on a washing line, or the crows outside his window, Tadhg McSweeneys gift was the ability to look at the everyday with a new aesthetic. Largely self-taught as a painter, McSweeneys death aged 82 prompted tributes from across the artistic spectrum for a man who described his own work as seeing poetry in ordinary things. A figurative artist working predominantly in oils and watercolour, McSweeney left a vast legacy of paintings, as well as frescoes, woodcuts, etchings, and silk-screen prints. Artist Mary Jordan, who delivered a eulogy at McSweeneys funeral in Cill na Martra, Co Cork, said: His style is very bold. It can be said to be naive but he frequently captured something that really carries a magic and weight to it. His paintings get you to look at everyday life in a new way. After seeing his paintings of rows of washing hanging out, youd suddenly start seeing the beauty in lines of washing. Creativity was in every aspect of his everyday life, she added. The home he shared with his sister Brid, until her death two years ago, was filled with his large-scale paintings, dominated by a giant sculpture of a bird. His art was in the fabric of their house, and when Maire, his older sister, became ill and was bedridden, he painted the ceiling of her bedroom a wonderful mural of the fields and birds outside the window that she wasnt able to go out to anymore, said Mary. According to film-maker Donal O Ceilleachair, who examined McSweeneys work in a 2014 documentary, Tadhg McSweeney, artist, his simple style belied a depth of vision. He reduces everything to its essence. From a distance, it might seem to fall into that [naive] category of painting but when you look at it close-up its quite complex and he achieves a lot with very few strokes. Hes really a master of that, O Ceilleachair said. I remember sitting across from his kitchen table one day and we were talking about painting and he just took this jamjar and he said look, this jamjar is only three strokes of a brush. I went to art school in New York for four years and I think I learnt as much about painting from one conversation with Tadhg as I did in four years at art school. McSweeney, whose work has been exhibited in galleries from Hamburg to London and San Francisco, may be best remembered for his vignettes of Irish rural life but he was equally inspired by periods living in Dublin and London. His Dublin home was a former tenement on Henrietta St owned by architect Uinseann MacEoin, who rented rooms to artists of all disciplines, including flute-player Fintan Vallely. Tadhg painted prolifically, Vallely recalled. Hed go off at 4 or 5 in the morning and walk around the docks and the streets to experience what the streets were like when they were empty. He was fascinated by light. Some of his skies are fabulous, his trees and scenery, and the haunting presence of birds. Whether urban or rural, the same attention to the seemingly insignificant is ever-present in his work, as McSweeney himself noted: The seeming banal and trivial is...as valid a subject as the most profound. By Elaine Loughlin and Daniel McConnell People in Cork, Limerick, and Galway are to get a vote on whether they would like directly-elected mayors, the Taoiseach has confirmed. Leo Varadkar said he is very enthusiastic about having directly-elected mayors and has revealed plans to hold mini-referenda on the issue at the same time as the local elections in May. The problem with a one-year mayor, the one-year cathaoirleach system that we have in Ireland, is that when somebody settles in and is learning the ropes, they are replaced again. Having somebody there for five years would make a big difference, particularly if they get some of the executive powers that officials have, Mr Varadkar said. However, the Taoiseach said if those living in Cork, Limerick, Galway, and other areas do vote to introduce directly-elected mayors, the system would require legislation and so it would take some time before coming into force. But the first step is to ask people in those areas would you like to move from a system where we have an annual election of a mayor who is essentially a chairman of the meeting and a figurehead, to a five-year position, a person who would have real power and influence? Mr Varadkar told Newstalk radio. Meanwhile, the Dail is set to prioritise legislation needed to roll out abortion services from January after the Supreme Court refused an appeal to the result of the Eighth Amendment referendum. Health Minister Simon Harris will now bring the required legislation to Cabinet for sign-off and intends to introduce it to the Dail in early October. He called on all members of the Oireachtas to respect the decision of the people and to allow the legislation to pass through the Oireachtas to allow for the provision of abortion services from the beginning of the year. Reacting to the decision, Mr Varadkar said: That means that the Eighth Amendment can now be ratified and signed into law by the President, thus formally amending our Constitution giving effect to what people voted for back in May. That allows us now as a Government to bring forward the legislation to allow for abortion in Ireland for certain circumstances. He also confirmed that work on this would progress when the Dail returns in less than two weeks. Mr Varadkar was also questioned about the visit of US President Donald Trump after Tanaiste Simon Coveney said Mr Trump is not a racist, but the Irish Government profoundly disagrees with many of his policies. The Taoiseach said the costs of the trip have not yet been calculated but added that there certainly will be several million in additional costs. This wannabe-president race is not for the faint-hearted. Of six presidential hopefuls who initially signalled their interest in pitching to Cork County Council, just two showed up yesterday: Senator Joan Freeman and businessman Sean Gallagher. For a fleeting moment, one council official thought Trump junkie, Sarah Louise Mulligan, had also rocked up. Being mistaken for a burlesque dancer is a new, and not unpleasant, experience for me. Perhaps I could run for president? On a nostalgia platform, gliding from council to council on shoe-strap roller skates, doling out bottles of orange Cadet, impressing with my recall of Blackboard Jungle? Thats how daft the race for nomination feels at times. Yesterdays presentations in the council chamber of Cork County Hall had more gravitas. First to the pulpit, Joan Freeman, with the focus on her best-known success the suicide intervention charity, Pieta House, and its annual fundraiser, Darkness into Light, much the same pitch as secured her Cork City Councils backing. Cork was the very first city to nominate me in this presidential campaign, she said, and she was looking for the county to do likewise. Unlike other candidates, she wasnt going to promise the impossible (hooray), because she understood the limitations of being president (hooray). Its a ceremonial role, an ambassadorial role, but still one of the most influential positions in the country because it has the power to persuade. She had proved herself powerful at persuading, with thousands rising from their beds at an ungodly hour to take part in Darkness into Light walks, even in Beijing, where there are nine million bicycles. But the most important part of her CV was her commitment to campaigning for mental health, which she started at age 17. In fact, its my life and my livelihood, she said. Every president added their own dimension to the presidency, and her focus would continue to be on mental health and wellbeing. A president visiting a child in a mental health ward would speak volumes, she said. High-profile tweet victim and ex-Dragon Sean Gallagher pledged with every fibre of my being to put the marginalised at the heart of his presidency, should he make it to the Aras this time. Having been born with less than perfect vision, he knew what it was like to have a disability and would put the disabled and their carers centre stage, starting with the launch of a year-long initiative on December 3. His first overseas act would be to visit the brave men and women of the Defence Forces who help keep the peace. But would he make the Aras wheelchair-friendly? He would. He would also look to provide supported employment in the Aras to people with a disability. Still smarting from the fake tweet that sank him in 2011, Sean expounded at length on the fallout from that fatal post. County Mayor Patrick Gerard Murphy had to remind him on more than one occasion that he was running down the clock, both during his pitch and when answering councillors questions. At the end of the day, it was hard to say who will win the county. Nominations have to be in by Monday and a vote will take place next Thursday. Nominations must include a declaration that the wannabe-president is fit for office, which, in the case of these two particular candidates, shouldnt pose a problem. By Liam Heylin A father and three sons were served with books of evidence yesterday in a case where they were accused of engaging in a violent disorder in the car park of a pub. Inspector Adrian Gamble confirmed service of the books of evidence on all four defendants at Cork District Court yesterday. Michael Kiely Sr, aged 47, Michael Kiely Jr, aged 24, Thomas Kiely, aged 26, and Johnny Kiely, aged 19, all face the same charge. It states that on July 2, 2017, at The Fox and Hounds car park on Banduff Road, Cork, each defendant, in the presence of the others, used or threatened to use unlawful violence and that such conduct, taken together, was such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness to fear for his or another persons safety. All four defendants reside at Ballynoe, Whites Cross, Cork, and are required to sign on once a week at Mayfield garda station as a condition of their bail. Donal Daly, solicitor, represented all four defendants and said there was no application for free legal aid. On the application of Insp Gamble at Cork District Court, Judge Olann Kelleher sent the case forward for trial at the sessions of Cork Circuit Criminal Court commencing on October 22. No details of the case were given in court yesterday. It will now be a matter for a date to be set at Cork Circuit Criminal Court for a trial by judge and jury of the case. The judge notified the parties that they were required to notify the prosecution of the identity of any witnesses they might call if relying on an alibi defence. The collaboration will help Tech Mahindra harness newer enterprise artificial intelligence technologies and serve global markets. Avaamo and Tech Mahindra have a shared vision - to implement cutting-edge AI solutions, specifically in the banking, telco, retail and healthcare industries. (Representational image/ Pixabay image) Tech Mahindra, leading provider of digital transformation, has announced its global strategic partnership with Avaamo, a leader in conversational artificial intelligence (AI) to include developing and delivering conversational AI solutions for global enterprises. The collaboration will help Tech Mahindra harness newer enterprise artificial intelligence technologies and serve global markets in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Malaysia, Israel, Philippines, and Indonesia amongst many others. "Avaamo and Tech Mahindra have a shared vision - to implement cutting-edge AI solutions, specifically in the banking, telco, retail and healthcare industries," said chief strategy and marketing officer, Tech Mahindra, Jagdish Mitra. The industry-specific AI based conversational solutions would help clients realize the value of truly omnichannel digital customer experience. The conversational AI platform solutions, with a specific focus on vertical machine learning, will provide Tech Mahindra's customers a seamless experience across their enterprise channels while improving digital customer engagement, net promoter score and customer insights. "We began collaborating early in 2017 and are delighted with our successes so far. Tech Mahindra is truly a global player in the tech space. As we continue to work together, we'll help businesses around the world reimagine what is possible with conversational artificial intelligence," said founder and CEO Avaamo, Ram Menon. (Source) By Joe Leogue There are concerns for the provision of ambulance services in north Cork after it has emerged the number of ambulances serving Mallow has been cut from two to one. The changes came into force in the past week, leading to criticisms that services in the area have been cut back. The North Cork Advanced Paramedic Rapid Response Vehicle, based in Mallow, has been disbanded by the National Ambulance Service (NAS). It was introduced following changes at Mallow General Hospital, including the closure of its Emergency Department. Traditionally, Mallow is the administrative centre of north Cork for both local government and the health services. Up until last week, Mallow was covered by an emergency ambulance and the Advanced Paramedic Rapid Response Vehicle the latter of which has now been removed from the town. Meanwhile, in Millstreet, a paramedic car will now be replaced by a Paramedic Emergency Ambulance. The Millstreet ambulance service was withdrawn in 2012 and replaced by a Rapid Response Vehicle a move that led to local complaints at the time. Mallow-based Labour TD Sean Sherlock accused Fine Gael politicians of failing to fight against the change to the service. This is a high-risk misadventure by the NAS that will severely impact on prehospital ambulance response times for emergencies. Its a cutback no matter what way its spun and Fine Gael TDs and candidates are standing over this without any resistance, Mr Sherlock said. The Irish Examiner first contacted the HSE for comment on this matter on Friday, August 17. The HSE press office said it would respond the following Monday, August 19. After further requests for comment, the press office issued the following statement yesterday, three weeks after our first enquiry: The National Ambulance Service now have an emergency ambulance 24/7 working from Millstreet and Mallow Ambulance Stations. The emergency ambulance at Mallow will be staffed by an advanced paramedic and a paramedic. Last year, this newspaper revealed more than a third of all vehicles that answered emergency calls to NAS in Cork county in 2016 were not based within the area where the emergency arose. This newspaper revealed 59% of the vehicles that responded to emergency calls in the Millstreet region in 2016 were based in other stations outside the area. Meanwhile, NAS staff who are members of the Psychiatric Nurses Association (PNA) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action over what the association claims is the HSEs failure to negotiate with the group. NAS staff were traditionally represented by Siptu. However, some 500 emergency medical technicians formed a new group which is associated with the PNA. The HSE said the PNA did not have negotiating rights for this cohort, and so it has not engaged with the association on their behalf. The executive has also refused to made payroll provisions so these staff members can have their union payments deducted from their wages. PNA members in the National Ambulance Service this week voted by 98% in favour of industrial action, and the association said it will be writing to inform the HSE. By Gordon Deegan Presidential hopeful and journalist Gemma ODoherty yesterday clashed with members of Clare County Council over her claims that there was State collusion in the murder of Veronica Guerin. At a specially convened meeting of Clare County Council in Ennis to hear from presidential hopefuls, Ms ODoherty said that a very dangerous tweet last weekend by brother of the murdered journalist, Jimmy Guerin, had defamed her. Asking Ms ODoherty to account for her State collusion claims, Cllr Mary Howard (FG) read out Mr Guerins tweet in full, where he stated Ms ODohertys State collusion comments concerning the murder of his sister were offensive, disgusting and extremely hurtful. In response, Ms ODoherty said: Well that is a libellous tweet. I have gone to the High Court before. I hope you are protected by privilege. When told by cathaoirleach Michael Begley (Ind) that the councillor was not protected by privilege at the meeting, Ms ODoherty said: I have now been defamed and I have stated on the record that I can stand over all of my work. She said: This tweet is defamatory and a very dangerous tweet against my good name. Anyone who is interested in finding out the truth about a murdered relative would surely welcome anybody who is shining a light on that, so I cannot understand the reaction of Mr Guerin, but I will not be bullied by anybody. I do my work on behalf of the Irish people. My job as a journalist is to serve the public interest and if murder is being covered up in this State, I will report on it and nobody will silence me from doing that. Ms ODoherty went on to repeat her claim in the council chamber about State collusion in the murder of Veronica Guerin in 1996. I have been informed by a member of An Garda Siochana, a decent honest man, who I have no reason to disbelieve that there was State collusion between a public official and the people who wanted to silence Veronica Guerin. This has come to me from a member of An Garda Siochana. I didnt put this information into the public domain as part of my manifesto. Fianna Fails Cathal Crowe said he would defend Ms Howards right to ask the question as it was fair game. He said: I dont think throw-backs of defamation and lawyers help anyones cause. Ms ODoherty said: You do know that I have a constitutional right to my good name and the information that was pulled out in that tweet was defamatory? Ms ODoherty was greeted with silence at the end of her allotted 20 minutes, in contrast to the applause given to Sean Gallagher, Kevin Sharkey, and Joan Freeman at the end of their addresses yesterday. Mr Sharkey took umbrage with President Michael D Higgins over a party trick the incumbent allegedly performed for Mr Sharkey concerning the actor Peter OToole when they met at a dinner on an unspecified date. Mr Sharkey said that Michael D asked me after dinner would I like to meet Peter OToole? I said yes but when he went off, I thought to myself that Peter OToole was dead, and then he returned 10 minutes later with Peter OTooles ashes in an urn. He said: Personally, I dont find that very funny and I dont find it very dignified to carry the ashes of a very famous dead man in an urn around as a party joke. Mr Sharkey said Michael D bored me a bit and talked about things I had no interest in, and he just went on and on and on. In 2011 the council nominated Mr Gallagher to run for president. It will make its decision on nominations at the September council meeting scheduled for Monday. Garda members are not there to serve themselves or the organisation but to serve the people, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has said. In his first speech to graduates at the Garda College in Templemore, he urged the 185 recruits to be operationally honest. Also speaking at the passing out ceremony, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said he was heartened by the first public statement the new commissioner had made on Tuesday when Mr Harris said he would not be looking for any more money from the Government until he had carried out a review of how the force was currently spending its budget. Referring to Garda figures reported in the Irish Examiner earlier this week that the force was 30m in the red much of it from overtime and training costs Mr Harris also said he would be looking to bring overspending back in line. Speaking to the graduates, Commissioner Harris said that nearly 100 years ago the first commissioner, Michael Staines, said that the organisation would not succeed by force of arms or numbers, but by their moral authority as servants of the people. Commissioner Harris told the graduates: We are here to serve the people. Not ourselves. Not the organisation. The people. He said the support of the community was vital in preventing and tackling crime and protecting the State. To maintain that support, we must act with integrity. We must be operationally honest. The Garda boss said that meant acting in the best interests of the public and being upfront with people. That means treating everyone we meet with respect, dignity and empathy. Commissioner Harris said that this approach must apply internally as well. We must respect and listen to our people. Any ideas on how we can improve regardless of where they come from should always be welcomed. Commissioner Drew Harris tells garda graduates they must be 'upfront with people' | https://t.co/8tcT5UGl8g pic.twitter.com/9yyERw6HjQ RTE News (@rtenews) September 7, 2018 He said the force would be more receptive to constructive criticism, whether it comes from inside or outside the organisation. Minister Flanagan said the Gardai currently had an unprecedented budget of 1.6bn but he did not comment on whether this would be increased for the coming year. Mr Flanagan said: Im heartened by the first public statement by Commissioner Drew Harris, when he said he will, early on in his tenure, examine in detail the matter of garda resources and I understand a high-level meeting in that regard in taking place next week. The minister told the graduates that Drew Harris was a man of huge ability and integrity with a wealth of experience in policing, security and change management. As the first commissioner appointed from outside the State he will bring with him new ideas, new perspectives and I am confident that with your support he will lead An Garda Siochana to great success over the coming years. Nurses are to stage a number of lunchtime protests outside hospitals around the country next week over staffing shortages and overcrowding at emergency departments. At a meeting with the HSE yesterday, the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said they were told there was no emergency department plan for the coming winter. Ryanair and hundreds of thousands of its customers across Europe have been warned to brace themselves for the biggest strike action the company has ever seen which could happen before the end of the month. Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Belgian and Portuguese representatives of pilots, cabin crew and ground handling workers issued a joint statement yesterday afternoon in which they said no real progress had been made on their demands since a pan-European strike over the summer. The statement emerged after seven unions from the five countries held, what they described as, an historic meeting in Rome. There are suggestions they may ask their fellow Ryanair unions in their countries to join with them in the action. The representatives claimed deals which have been achieved between unions and the company in different European countries are far from consensual, and that some would soon be subject to a legal challenge. The union bodies also claimed the current executive board of directors at the company had demonstrated that they were incapable of having meaningful talks with unions. On September 20, the shareholders will have the opportunity to place Ryanair on the right track and ensure a long and sustainable model more suitable to the Europe of the 21st century by capturing the right talents to bring Ryanair to the level that we all want to see it, the representatives said. If the company leadership is not willing to make the changes necessary, (the workers) will have no choice but to respond with the biggest strike action the company has ever seen. They said the strike will take place in the last week of September and will be announced no later than next Thursday. A significant issue is that workers are employed under Irish law and so are not governed by local laws, with attendant rights and benefits, and they are to raise that with the European Commission. Irish staff members were not represented at the meeting but Irish passengers would be significantly impacted by widespread action across Europe. Forsa only signed an agreement with the airline last week making it the sole negotiating union for cabin crew in Ireland. Pilots here have signed off on a new seniority agreement with the airline. Following that deal, the company confirmed, as expected, its board had decided to restore six Dublin-based aircraft which were due to transfer to Poland in November for the winter 2018 schedule. It said the related protective notices issued to 300 Dublin pilots and cabin crew in July at the height of strikes by Irish pilots had also been withdrawn. The airline said the decision was taken in light of the deal signed with pilots. The board and management of Ryanair are committed to union recognition, and working constructively with our people and their unions to address their reasonable concerns, as long as this does not alter Ryanairs low-cost model or our ability to offer low fares to our customers, said the airlines chief people officer Eddie Wilson, possibly in reference to the wider strike threat in Europe. Since December last year, when the board announced that we would recognise unions, Ryanairs people have enjoyed significant pay increases, improved terms and conditions, and we have agreed to improved seniority structures, base transfers and annual leave. The Taoiseach has taken aim at Sinn Fein for constantly blaming Government for the housing crisis at a time that the party controls a number of local authorities responsible for building social housing. It comes after Housing Minister Eoghan Murphy wrote to three Dublin local authorities threatening to take powers away from them if they do not take immediate action to address the escalating homelessness problem. At the close of the Fine Gael think-in, Leo Varadkar said: The reason why we talk about council housing, the reason why we talk about council flats, the reason why we talk about council estates is they are actually provided by the council. There is a shared responsibility here involving central Government and local government and its not good enough for them not to accept their share of responsibility. Singling out Sinn Fein, expected to table a motion of no-confidence in Mr Murphy when the Dail returns, the Taoiseach said it is not good enough that the party criticises and blames the Government when it shares responsibility at a local level. South Dublin County Council, for example, the largest party on that council is Sinn Fein. A lot of councils are dominated by left-wing parties and they have a role to play too. It shouldnt be about blame, it should be about solving the problem and we need those local authorities, those Sinn Fein and left-wing members of local authorities getting their councils to CPO derelict properties. They have the power to do it, prioritising housing and homelessness in their budget even if that may mean making hard decisions and transferring funding from other areas, he said. Mr Varadkar said he was really satisfied with all members of his Cabinet. I dont think any reasonable person can hold Eoghan Murphy, a minister who has been in office for just over a year now, personally responsible for all of the problems that exist in our housing market. I think that sort of criticism is unfair. Health Minister Simon Harris has appealed to Oireachtas colleagues and others not to restart the abortion referendum campaign now that the courts have cleared the way to repeal the Eighth Amendment. Mr Harris said he will bring legislation to give effect to the referendum before the Dail in October. But the new regime to lift restrictions on terminations will still not take effect until January. Speaking as he arrived at the Kennedy Summer School in New Ross, he welcomed Friday's Supreme Court decision which puts an end to challenges to the Yes result in the May referendum. Mr Harris said he welcomed the fact the challenges had been dealt with. The people of Ireland spoke very clearly on this matter in May. And they gave an instruction to myself and colleagues in the Oireachtas to change the law and make sure we care for women in this country with compassion. That is what we now intend to do." He said he would return to Cabinet this month to seek final approval of the Bill and then seek to reintroduce that in October in the Dail. We remain firmly on track to introduce new services in January of next year. In the meantime, he said there would be efforts to advance how doctors here could refer women to Britain for terminations while new services here are being arranged. However, others are calling for the legislation to repeal the Eighth Amendment to be amended when it comes before the Dail. Former Taoiseach John Bruton is expected to make this call this evening at a pro-life event. Mr Harris appealed to people not to restart the abortion referendum campaign. It is up to any member of the Dail and Seanad to debate the issues. Let's not try to recommence a campaign here or rebegin the debate. I did publish a general scheme before the referendum so that people knew what they were voting on. I really feel that I have a mandate for that piece of legislation. Roisin Burke takes to the sea for the holiday of a lifetime scuba diving off the coast of Spain Diving was never on my bucket list, but after completing the SSI beginner scuba diver course in Gran Canaria, I am a convert. Described by some as yoga of the sea, scuba diving has a very serene and peaceful element to it. Drifting around amidst cold blue water with just a few hand signals to communicate with your diving buddy, it offers a contentment in isolation that is hard to come by in the fast-paced society we all live in. The secrets of the sea are far from elusive in the modern world. Thanks to modern technology, diving is extremely accessible to anyone who wants to try it out recreationally. With just a few small lessons almost anyone can swim under the sea among the fish, plant life and rocks and there is no better place to do it than in crystal clear waters off the coast of Spain. I wouldnt say I am nervous of the water, but I definitely have a healthy respect for the power of an ocean and I have to say I was more than slightly apprehensive about taking on the challenge of learning to scuba dive in five days. Thankfully my worries were expertly put to ease by the friendly, welcoming staff at the Blue Explorers Resort situated in the delightful harbour village of Puerto Mogan. The small, intimate resort kitted out with 14 one and two bedroomed apartments is manned by a cohort of hardworking divers who love the sea and want to share their hobby of scuba diving with others. One of the first things I noticed about the resort is eco-friendly, meaning everything carries a consideration for the environment. All the food available on the menu and even bar snacks are sourced locally and ethically. All fish is line caught and from sustainable species, all meat is organic, eggs free-range and vegetables are grown on the Gran Canaria island, supporting local businesses and farmers. Plastic straws, cups and bags are banned at the resort and guests are asked not to bring products that contain plastic microbeads. As well as this, the Blue Explorer crews regularly take part in beach and ocean clean-ups. Only opened since May 2018, The Blue Explorers Resort is Spains first ever dedicated scuba diving resort. My first session was with my instructor Sabrina, who was my diving buddy for my whole course, in the covered pool at the resort. In a swimsuit, I was kitted out with a tank, inflatable jacket, breathing apparatus and face mask, just like I would wear with a wetsuit in the ocean. In the pool, Sabrina slowly showed me how to use my equipment, the signals I would need underwater to communicate and finally got me used to swimming and breathing underwater wearing the gear. After about an hour and a half I was comfortable in the pool and after a bite to eat at the resort, Sabrina and I headed out to the harbour of Puerto Mogan for a peek at what lies beneath the glassy calm surface of the Atlantic ocean. Putting my head under the water for the first time was a terrifying moment. All kinds of thoughts were going through my head. Mostly what happens if it my equipment doesnt work? And what happens if I cant breathe? But with reassurance from my dive buddy, I took an unnecessarily deep breath and went for it. The next thing you have to get to grips with is your inflatable weight jacket. This is what you use to float in the water, but to go under, you have to let out some air. It is not rocket science, but it can be tricky trying to figure out how much to release. Too much and you sink too quickly, too little and your back floats on the surface in a most unflattering manner as you attempt to swim deeper. Having mastered these elements, I found myself underwater listening to my sharp intakes of breath, followed by a release of bubbles while watching all kinds of creatures scurry past. Something I was worried about was having to consciously breathe and then the possibility of forgetting to do so while underwater, but it soon became clear to me that that simply wouldnt happen. The breathing system is extremely intuitive and you do it without thinking. Feeling brave after my excursions, the next day I went out for a dive off a boat. The big thing about this is you have to fall into the water off the boat backwards, holding onto your face mask with one hand and the other across your chest. Although initially concerned about this manoeuvre, I am glad to report it went off without a hitch and within minutes I was once again under the sea, floating listlessly between rocks and seabed, peering into caves and gazing at strange looking fish. With my diving buddy, I then completed the tasks required to pass the beginner scuba diving course. The first thing is to take off clear your mask of water. Something I had been doing regularly anyway because your mask fills up with water if you laugh and then you have to clear it out. Next, I had to take off my mask underwater and put it back on. A scary thing to do 12 metres under the surface. Even worse, I then had to take out my breathing mouthpiece and fling it away, only to retrieve it in a specific manner practised previously by following the air tubes. I passed with all honours. I was amazed at what I managed to achieve in such a short space of time. Later that day I passed the written exam and I was the latest official member of the growing community of recreational scuba divers. As an initially reluctant recruit, I was delighted to become a certified diver. It was great to get the ID card to show that I had worked hard for something while enjoying the sun and the sea in the picturesque surroundings of the Gran Canaria island. It introduced me to a new type of sun holiday where you can explore your environment to a deeper level while still working on a safe suntan and enjoying good food in great company. Returning to Cork, I not only felt relaxed and rejuvenated, I felt like I had accomplished something and it definitely added something to my trip and to the whole experience of being on holidays. I may have been slow to dip my toes in diving waters, but I will definitely be dabbling again. A great holiday and an experience I will remember for years to come. GETTING THERE Kya deLongchamps plugs in and offers tips on how to cut down on your electricity bill while keeping warm and cosy during winter months. Comparing our electricity antics at home to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries (OECD), we are relatively well behaved. The average annual usage per household in Ireland is around 4,300kWh. In the US, that figure is a steep 12,300kWh. Yet, Americans for all of that fuse-popping usage, pay only 100 more than we do per annum, on average. Still, with prices soaring here, we really need to look at things we can do to at least nibble at the edges of our power bill without any loss of comfort at home. Read the electricity meter Dont leave your provider to blithely estimate your bill from an averaged reading. If they base your numbers on your last bill (when four school-liberated teens were slouching around for the summer) it could well be costing you more. When emails arrive reminding you to send in that reading get up and do it. Smart meters that will send your readings directly to the supplier are on the way but this could take up to five years to come to your house. Know that bill According to the office of the Consumer Energy Regulator, only one-third of electricity customers open or access every bill and read it in any detail. 15% of customers never read their electricity bill. Discounts are standard for paperless billing and direct debits, but that doesnt mean you should be idle. Compare bills from time to time, exploring unit figures beyond your standing charges and PVO fully. Why has your usage changed up or down? Is your 12-month contract up try a switch: bonkers.ie, switcher.ie. (Look up my recent guide online.) Monitor your usage Were resistant as a nation to the monitoring our draw. In a survey released in April by the CER, 57% of residential customers said they have no interest in switching to a smart meter. A pilot program in Ireland (Smart Metering Electricity Customer Behaviour Trials) monitoring 5000 smart meters over 2009/2010 showed an impressive 8.8% reduction in consumer demand at peak times. issda.ie. As we wait on smart meters, we can still get started. Become aware of what costs what to run, keeping in mind that a hairdryer is a fast blitz, where a dishwasher could be running for three hours. Energy labels on new appliances offer a meticulous guide for annual running costs. For smaller appliances: try a plug-through monitor like the EcoSaver to watch usage in real-time, 19.99, purchase.ie. Pay as you save If you have pay-as-you-go power, your unit price is significantly higher, but there is some good news. The meter with systems including Prepay Power includes touch key features to monitor the greed of individual devices we are using in real time. For the rest of us, the new government-funded smart meters will monitor our reading 48 times a day and send it to the customer via a mobile app. Like any device, its only as good as the habits of the user. Remain proactive. Boiling mad We all know that repeatedly boiling a half-filled kettle is expensive. Counter-mounted dispensers (Morphy Richards 189, Argos) and boiler taps (450-1000 ex.installation) also remain expensive. Instead, choose a kettle with 1-2 cup readings and keep the element free of lime-scale. Night owl NightSaver electricity (11pm- 8am in Electric Irelands summer of March to October and 12am to 9am from October to March) may or may not work for you. If you can use appliances and set the timer on the immersion, for example, for overnight water heating, work odd hours or just stay up late or rise early, it might be worth a go. It requires a change of meter totally free. However, expect a loading of 50-60 (urban/rural) on your standing charges and higher daytime unit prices 18.33 cent per unit (day), 9.06 cent per unit (night). VAT @13.5% included. Plug timers and monitors will be part of your daily round to eke out savings from a NightSaver meter. Its vital to move at least three of those essential 11 daily kWhs to the night-time hours to make significant savings. For more go to: electricireland.ie. Efficient appliances Upgrade your appliances to energy efficient models when you can and only when it makes sense to do so. A modern A++ rated washing machine could wipe 60 off your annual running costs if youre down at a C currently, and a heat-pump dryer can do a load for 40% less energy as standard. Look for interest-free credit on white goods, offered by most major retailers. Vampires Current regulations specify that all electrical products sold within the EU after 2010 cannot have a standby power greater than 1W. Dont leave things you are not using on standby, known in the green community as vampire power for days. They are drawing power. With newer technology such as TVs this may be as little as IkWh (a couple of Euros a year), but with an older screen, it can be 10-12kWs. Efficient habits Modern appliances and 21st-century technology is only as good as the hands that hold it. Used properly, modern things (cookers/dryers, washing machines and dishwashers) should help your bill to steadily trend down. Youre in control at the working end of the system after all. If your clothes dryer features a moisture sensor and your dishwasher and washing machine have eco-settings stop over-riding them and decimating the savings. Half loads in any machine slashes efficiency. LED lighting uses only 6kWh a year (700 lumens). Change out any halogens to LED and CFLs as they pop. No timer on the traditional immersion switch? Call up your RECI qualified local electrician and get it done (around 40 plus the call out). Smart control If you are willing and able to commit to a 36-month contract and have the discipline to save on your bills, Electric Ireland offers an impressive bundle in its Smarter Home Control offer. Turn appliances on and off from your phone. Set schedules for your hall lamp. Get your next bill forecast. Learn how much electricity your home used yesterday for 3.99 a month. The Smart Immersion control is another 2.99 a month, and the whole bundle is worth 350, less than half price over the three years, leaving you ready to ditch it for newer technology or to recommit. [rating]4[/rating] By Alan ORiordan Arguably, Irelands best jazz festival at least in terms of young, cutting-edge acts 12 Points returned this week to Dublin for its 12th edition. Though maybe calling it a jazz festival is a bit too narrow. Certainly, improvisation is what unites the 12 acts appearing over four nights at the Sugar Club, but what also unites them is that they collectively celebrate all thats vibrant and new in European musical culture. Theres life in the old continent yet. Things kicked off on Wednesday night with Julie Campiches harp-led quartet. An uncommon kind of ensemble, but, then, this Geneva group are an uncommon bunch of musicians, mixing the electronic and acoustic to create music that is by turns introspective and expansive. A sci-fi soundscape is created for her track Onkalo, which takes its name from a Norwegian nuclear waste dump, and is typical of this groups concerns. Susanna Risberg followed, with her guitar trio, delivering a tight set, full of bluesy attitude and momentum entirely lacking the directionless noodling that can sometimes afflict guitar-led jazz groups. Next up, from Paris, was Nox.3, a sax trio adorned by the vocal gymnastics and electro effects of the Swedish-born Linda Olah. Crescendos worthy of a dance floor abound here, overlaid upon a dense, dark and driven sound. But the group has its quieter moments too, as in the the plaintive Longtemps, a song for Olah and piano. Another female musician was to the fore in Thursday nights highlight, saxophonist Mia Dyberg, whose trio would win over even the most ardent free jazz sceptics. This is serious yet playful; sophisticated, but never boring. Theres a Cage-like few minutes at the start of The Party Is Over, all silence and waiting; elsewhere the group makes intriguing music about music, and, at still other times, they just groove. Tonight, the festivals final session takes in Norways Kjetil Mulelid Trio, the exciting Porto-based Rite of Trio, and, finally, the Dominic J Marshall Trio, out of Amsterdam, mixing melodic jazz and hip-hop influences. If you care about music, and seek an antidote to the blandness of mainstream mass culture, you know where to go. Tensions ramped up between Iran and US after Trump pulled out of landmark nuclear deal with Iran in May and reimposed sanctions last month. Iran is facing an 'economic, psychological and propaganda war', Rouhani said. Geneva: The United States constantly sends messages to Iran to begin negotiations, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday in a speech broadcast on state television. Tensions ramped up between Iran and the United States after President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in May and reimposed sanctions on the Islamic Republic last month. Trump has said he would meet Iran's leaders. "From one side they try to pressure the people of Iran, on another side they send us messages every day through various methods that we should come and negotiate together," Rouhani said. He added, "[They say] we should negotiate here, we should negotiate there. We want to resolve the issues... should we see your message?.. or should we see your brutish actions?" Washington aims to force Tehran to end its nuclear program and its support of terror groups in Syria and Iraq. US sanctions targeting Iran's oil sector are scheduled to be re-imposed in November. Iran is facing an "economic, psychological and propaganda war", Rouhani said Saturday, pointing to America and Israel as the Islamic Republic's main enemies. Red Stag: 14.99. Sue Leonard Journalist David Rice, himself a former priest, has written a book about Franz Reinisch, who refused to swear an oath to Adolf Hitler, says David Rice is a name respected in journalism. Ive a treasured copy of his Rathmines Stylebook, and have read Song of Tiananmen Square, his lauded novel about the 1989 massacre, but wed never met. And when, a day before our proposed interview, he rang from his home, in Killaloe, to say that because of his back wed have to talk over the phone, I was disappointed. The hour spent talking to him was enlightening. The predominant topic was I Will Not Serve, Rices recent book on Franz Reinisch, a Roman Catholic priest who was executed because he refused to swear allegiance to Adolf Hitler. Rice read about the case years ago, when he, himself, was a seminarian. Rice says of Reinisch: He was told, if you sign here, everything will be okay. You can walk out, but he said, Sorry. I cannot take an oath to a criminal, namely Hitler. That story haunted me for years, and, twenty years ago, I decided to find out who he was. This proved difficult. I wrote to various religious orders and eventually received a letter for a diocese in Germany, saying, maybe this is the man you are looking for. I flew there, and stayed for a while, getting familiar with him. The order kindly gave me everything they had on him: booklets, the sermons he had preached, and I spent ten years translating it all into English. I have a degree in German, but it was quite an ordeal. He then had to decide how to write the book. I didnt want it to be a history book. I wanted to write it like a film script, so that you could see things happening. I couldnt be a fly on the wall, but I tried to get inside the protagonists head, and I took on Joyces and Prousts stream of consciousness. I stayed inside Reinischs head and tried to portray what his thoughts would be when he was facing his trial, and on the eve of his execution. Its a wonderful portrayal. Rice shows us how Reinisch grew from a reckless, selfish, and vain young man into an inspiring spiritual leader, whose conscience led to his death. David Rice, whose book, I Will Not Serve, chronicles how Fr Franz Reinisch was executed in 1942 for refusing to align himself with the Nazis. Theres that terrifying scene, when he says, I know Im going to be shot, and hes told, you wont be shot, youre going to be beheaded. He goes to the window and throws up. I sense that Rice feels an affinity with Reinisch, and he confirms this. I took a stand, he says. I used to write a syndicated column in the States. I took a stand of conscience it was a much lesser thing than Reinischs but I suffered for it. People turned against me and life became very difficult afterwards. It still hurts very much. The book contains a quite wonderful depiction of faith. It contends that, at some stage, you have to doubt, and then take a leap of faith. And, in order to do so, you get a special grace from God to do it. I cant remember if those were Reinischs words or mine, says Rice. And its clear, from our conversation, that although Rice left the church at 35, he is still a fervent believer. Indeed, he prays every day, and counts the Dominicans amongst his closest friends. Why did he leave? That would be sheer loneliness, he says. I lived my celibacy honestly, but I kept so many of other peoples problems to myself, and, eventually, I reached a kind of burnout. He recounts the conversations with his friar in Kilkenny, a man who, eventually, agreed that Rice needed to test his commitment, and that he should attend university. He went to Galway and had the most wonderful four years of his life. I became involved in everything and had my adolescence there, at the age of 35. From there, he was offered a fellowship to Carbondale, Illinois. He was still functioning as a priest, though mainly just at weekends. And when he was offered a job on a newspaper in Aberdeen, Washington, on the borders with Oregon, he felt conflicted. I turned it down, he says. I told them I was going back to Ireland. But when I put the phone down, I burst into tears. Id prayed for guidance. I knew if I took the job, I would definitely be out of the priesthood, and definitely going to marry a woman Id met. I joined a friend who was doing mass and told him I was going back to Ireland. He said, you dont seem very happy about it, do you? Another friend persuaded him to ring the paper the following day, to tell them he had changed his mind. He did so, and the job, and the woman, were his. I had the most wonderful five years on that job, he says. And I brought in my European know-how, because I had been editing Spotlight, for the Dominicans, for years. I brought in real picture photography and transformed the thing. He then became the assistant city editor for a daily paper, until the call came, asking him to run the school of journalism in Rathmines, which became the DIT School of Journalism. He did that for eighteen years. I knew I was a good communicator and I did know my stuff. But, on the first day, I ran out of what to say halfway through. All these young people, of 18 and 19, were looking up at me. I can see the faces of some of them still. I said, OK. Ill do interviews now. Ill interview one of you and show you how to do it. I never looked back after that, and they were the loveliest young people. Many of them are still my friends. Rice now lives, happily, with his partner of twenty-five years, Catherine Thorne. The duo set up The Killaloe Hedge School of Writing, and, having retired from live teaching, are transforming their classes into a series of books. The first one of five, Yes You Can Write, is due out with Red Stag in September. The fly cover of I will Not Serve lists four other books in preparation. One of them, Corduroy Boy, contains references to Franz Reinisch. Its about scrupulosity, something that ruined my teenage years. Ive used the stories of people who went to these elite schools told me about being sexually molested, and have woven them into this boys experience. The boy is helped by a mature priest, and he mentions a friend called Franz Reinisch, who was executed. Its a sequel, in some sense. The main message of I Will Not Serve is that conscience is the absolute arbiter. If you turn away, as so many people in Germany did, you will end up with something terrible. The only way is to protest, even if it hurts. Take the Magdalene Laundries and sexual harassment of children. People knew about that and turned away. On two occasions, I went for the jugular on that one. I didnt turn away. And if you go against conscience, at whatever cost, you have lost your way. The most common use of conscience is when you see evil being done and your conscience tells you to protest. If you dont, you are going along with it. Reinisch wasnt silent and he paid the ultimate price for it. Holliday, who is a size 26, has become an important voice in the fat acceptance movement, especially with her #EffYourBeautyStandards hashtag on Instagram. Holliday is not the first plus-size woman to be featured on the cover of a mainstream magazine, but having worked in fashion myself, I am familiar with the not-so-subtle decisions to choose beauty shots when it comes to a final cover image; the focus being on a womans face rather than her body. That is what makes Cosmos cover so revolutionary. Tess is in an emerald green swimsuit, inviting all of us to join with her in her obvious enjoyment of a body type that is all too often ridiculed. I found my reaction to the cover interesting. Ten years ago, steeped in fear and self-loathing and believing that the only way of being beautiful was to be thin, I would have looked at that photo and my stomach would have turned in revulsion. I would have seen it as a manifestation of my worst nightmares, and would, no doubt, muttered self-righteously about how unhealthy she was, ignoring the fact I was alternatively starving myself or making myself vomit after meals so that I could simply feel adequate. Now, after many years of working on my own issues with body image, I could look at that issue of Cosmo and think Wow, Tess Holliday is so beautiful. Tess Holliday on the cover of the Octiber issue of Cosmopolitan I often talk about how toxic social media can be, but following fat models and fat activists or just looking at fat women with amazing style in great clothes forced me to completely re-evaluate my own preconceived notions around beauty and weight. Even the word fat is seen as an insult rather than a descriptive word. It has no greater meaning than thin or tall or short; it is we in modern society that have attached negative connotations to it, making it a word that denotes shame. I wonder what it would have been like to have seen Holliday on the cover of my favourite magazine when I was a teenager, what the impact on my sense of myself and my own body might have been, rather than What The Stars Really Weigh features that only perpetuated my anxiety that my body was unacceptable. Of course, there has been backlash, and of course, Piers Morgan is involved. Returning to Good Morning Britain from his summer break, he interviewed Farrah Storr, the editor of Cosmopolitan, and slated the choice of cover girl. Telling Storr she was celebrating morbid obesity, Morgan took to social media later to say the cover was just as dangerous & misguided as celebrating size zero models when Britain is battling an ever-worsening obesity crisis. Given the reaction to his statements, there are many who agree with him, but I would argue its a false equivalency to draw a comparison between the two. I can tell you from personal experience that when you are extremely, even eye-wateringly thin, people do not recoil from the sight of you. They are not disgusted by you, and while some are concerned, that concern can be tinged with envy. Id love to be anorexic, people would say to me with a laugh, but I dont have the willpower for it, and Id smile, trying not to think of my parents faces as they cried and told me they were afraid I was going to die. While being anorexic is seen as a result of self-control, studies have shown that fat people are often seen as lazy and stupid without any actual evidence to suggest this is true. Were told fat people are a burden on our health services and are costing the rest of us money. We seem to think this gives us the right to take the moral high ground, although Im not sure how shouting insults at fat women in the street or trolling Holliday because she refuses to hate herself or scowling aggressively at a fat person who has the temerity to be sitting next to you on a flight can be deemed as taking the moral high ground. Do you take the moral high ground by attacking people who smoke? Who drink to excess? Who eat fast food? Who have unprotected sex with people whose sexual history theyre unsure of? Or is all of your opprobrium reserved for fat people? And if so, where is the compassion? The empathy? Why can we not be kind to one another? When Piers Morgan said that its not right to encourage people to feel inspired by very, very fat people or skinny, skinny rakes, he is completely ignoring the fact that all any of us, and women in particular, have ever been told is that we should aspire to thinness, leading many of us to despise how we look. One magazine cover wont negate those years of conditioning, but it is a step in the right direction. Perhaps one day there will be women of all shapes and sizes celebrated in the media, women of different heights and weights, races and ethnicities. Maybe every young woman will be able to see her reflection and realise her body, whatever it might look like, is beautiful in its own right. LOUISE SAYS READ: People Like Me. From teenage mother to Senator, Lynn Ruane has experienced more in her 33 years than most people will in a lifetime. Her memoir tells her extraordinary story with humour, warmth, and compassion. This might be the most important book youll read in 2018. BUY: Carter Beauty, the new range of makeup from the unstoppable Marissa Carter, looks set to be a smash hit. It features 103 products all under 15 and keep an eye out for the Louise Word of Mouth lipstick. It was named after me! Dateline Reuters Reporters Case: Judges Verdict and a Seven-Year Sentence -- Kyaw Kha: Welcome to Dateline Irrawaddy! This week, well discuss the sentencing of the two Reuters reporters, Ko Wa Lone and Ko Kyaw Soe Oo, to seven years in prison. Im chief reporter of The Irrawaddy [Burmese Version], Kyaw Kha and I am joined by U Than Zaw Aung, the lawyer acting for the two reporters and Training Director U Sein Win of Myanmar Journalism Institute. [Prosecution witness] police captain Moe Yan Naing testified that the two reporters were set up. So the judges didnt consider your argument and the testimony of the police captain in making the verdict? Than Zaw Aung: They didnt consider our argument much. Ko Moe Yan Naing testified in that way, but the court assumed that there was no [other witness] to support his testimony. We said that the information on the documents found in the hands of the reporters had already been published by the state-run newspapers; and that the information found in their mobile phones were already known by the public. I often went to see them in prison to discuss the case. They said they would tell the truth. The principle of their news agency [Reuters] is to never lie, so they told the truth at the trial. I could not teach them much about how to argue at the trial for their defense. KK: The two reporters were prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act. The court said that the agenda for the Popes visit [to Myanmar], and phone numbers of the deputy chief of staff of AA [Arakan Army] were found in their possession. Every journalist writing about the peace process in Myanmar has the contact numbers of ethnic armed groups. U Sein Win, how do you assess this as a journalist? Sein Win: The two were said to have breached the Official Secrets Act. Studying their reporting, a foreign journalist from Reuters and Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo traveled to the ground [in Rakhine State]. The killings [of Rohingyas in Inn Din Village] are said to be a secret, but in fact, it is an open secret. The Reuters reporters found out about it and began reporting. The term secret sounds strange to me. Is murder a secret? I wonder why [authorities] want to hide it. Now we have been given a message regarding press freedom: Dont do this or else you will meet the same fate. In order to charge the reporters under the Official Secrets Act, [the authorities] were supposed to name the enemies of the state to whom they sold the secrets. They couldnt name them. They couldnt say secrets were sold to Reuters. The reporters have nothing to do with ARSA [Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army]. [Authorities] couldnt say secrets were sold to Bangladesh. Finally, they found the AA. Journalists have to gather their news sources. If they dont even have the phone numbers of their sources, how can they work? KK: The deputy chief of staff of the AA attended the second and third sessions of the 21st Century Panglong [Conference] in Naypyitaw. SW: Yes, he did and news about the AA has been covered by many news agencies. If authorities are to arrest [those reporting on the AA], they will have to arrest all the journalists who report about the peace process. Authorities have said that they have special exemptions [from prosecution for engaging with armed ethnic groups] for the peace talks. The Tatmadaw [Myanmar army] once spoke out against reporting on the armed ethnic groups. In that case, how can peace be built? The peace process is about expressing the views of two sides. The prospects for peace are dim at present, and if only one side is talked about, the prospects will be lost altogether. It is important to understand that journalists only do their job. KK: In an interview with [Japanese news agency] NHK, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi said that the two were prosecuted not for the Rakhine issue, but for other violations. It is quite an interesting point. So there is the question, how much influence does she have in this case? Ive covered the Kho Tao murder case from the very beginning. While all Thai citizens say that [the two British backpackers] were killed by the son of the village chief, the Thai government was under great pressure. The Thai Prime Minister Prayut covered his police saying he had trust in their police work. Experts have pointed out that this influenced the result of the case. Similarly, how much influence do you think Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had on the administration of justice? TZA: The judicial branch, other branches of the government and the Tatmadaw are in the same boat. From the village administrator to the president, they all represent the government. Many from the government party [NLD] talked about the case while the trial was being held. If they didnt talk about it, the verdict might have been different. We heard that the judicial branch was instructed to handle the case independently. But considering that they are in the same boat, the judicial branch might have certain opinions. KK: On social media, some argue that the case was directly handled by the military, and some say that it was by the government. The Home Affairs Ministry is overseen by the Tatmadaw, and some, therefore, say that it was handled by the Tatmadaw. U Than Zaw Aung, what is your view on this? TZA: As Ive said, both the government and the Tatmadaw are in the same boat. Last year, reporters who covered the drug-burning ceremony hosted by the TNLA [Taang National Liberation Army] were charged by the Tatmadaw but it later withdrew the case and released the reporters. It issued a statement saying that it released them to eliminate grudges regarding past incidents between the two sides. In the Reuters case, the complaint was not filed by the military, but by the police, the Home Affairs Ministry. Regarding the Inn Din case, the military sentenced its own personnel to ten years. We thought that was a cause for concern; if even the military officials are sentenced to ten years, Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo might have also been given a minimum ten years imprisonment. But they were given just seven years, so I believe that the military has no influence on this case. According to some reports I heard from the Defence Ministry, the military didnt give any instructions and the decision was up to the government and the judicial branch. KK: What is your view on this, U Sein Win? SW: The prosecution was brought by the government. At that time, the president was on a trip and the vice-president allowed police, on his behalf, to go ahead and charge the two. Then the case was brought to trial. We all agreed that the judicial branch might have been given freedom in judging that case. But considering the situation in our country, there has always been influence on the judicial branch in the past so judges may still take care about who has the power, I think. There may not be direct intervention in such a case in this era, but judges may take caution. KK: You mean it is the military or the government that has power? SW: Both have the power. Speaking of Daw Aung San Suu Kyis interview with the NHK, I think the main message she wanted to give is that the judicial sector has independence. But she did speak as if they broke the law, which is wrong. If I were the judge, I would be influenced by that. It is a big issue and it is concerned with the military. It is hard for the judges. Who suffered the consequences? In the case of a fault in our country, not only the leaders suffer the consequences, but the country also does and its image is also negatively affected. So it is important that all should join hands to correct it no matter who has done wrong. Either the civilian government or the Tatmadaw should correct it. Only they will know who [wielded influence on the reporters verdict]. KK: What serious implications do you think the Reuters case will have on the media world? SW: It is a big problem to Myanmars diplomatic relations with the international community whether it is called ethnic cleansing or genocide. But, both of them are big issues. The UN [fact-finding mission] also issued a report but I dont think there will be immediate punitive actions. But they will have impacts on the whole country. The tourism industry has already declined steeply [since the outbreak of the Rakhine issue]. Our people think that the case is only political. But Westerners have humanitarian values and they dont want to visit and make investments in our country so the issue has an impact on all the aspects of the country. Similarly, the image of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi has been impacted. She has a huge image, like Mandela, in the international community. She was once the pride of the country, but now she has been stripped of many awards and there have been calls to take away her Nobel prize. It is sad and not good for us. KK: The punishment of the two reporters serves as a threat to local journalists. They ironically say prisons will be overcrowded with journalists if every journalist who has the phone number of AAs deputy chief of staff U Nyo Tun Aung is detained and charged. What will you do in response to the verdict? TZA: We will try every means in line with the law for their release. For the time being, I can only say that. KK: By in line with the law, do you mean to appeal? TZA: Probably. We are considering it. KK: How serious was the negative impact the verdict has on the democratization process of our country? SW: The country has been opening up since 2012 and we have the first ever civilian government after a free and fair election [in 2015]. We thought there would be greater progress towards democracy. Now the situation has reversed to the previous stage when democracy and human rights are not important. The country should be focusing on building institutions, but the opposite happened and people are deprived of even fundamental rights. Questions are raised over press freedom, fundamental rights of citizens and security. KK: Thank you for your contributions! Burma Myanmar says International Criminal Court has no jurisdiction in Rohingya crisis Rohingya refugees are reflected in rain water along an embankment next to paddy fields after fleeing from Myanmar into Palang Khali, near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh in Novembe 2017. / Reuters YANGON Myanmars government said on Friday it resolutely rejects a ruling from the International Criminal Court (ICC) that said the body has jurisdiction over alleged deportations of Rohingya Muslims to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity. A statement from the office of Myanmars President U Win Myint dismissed Thursdays ICC ruling as the result of faulty procedure and is of dubious legal merit. Furthermore, allegations consisting of charged narratives of harrowing personal tragedies which have nothing to do with the legal arguments in question were permitted, thereby putting emotional pressure on the Court, the statement said, referring to submissions requested by the court. The decision from the Hague-based court opened the way for its prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, to further examine whether there is sufficient evidence to file charges against any Myanmar officials, although she has not done so yet. An independent U.N. fact-finding mission in August concluded that Myanmars military last year 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. About 700,000 Rohingya fled the crackdown, according to U.N. agencies, and most are now living in refugee camps in Bangladesh. Although Myanmar is not a member of the Hague-based court, Bangladesh is, and the cross-border nature of deportation was sufficient for jurisdiction, the ICC said in Thursdays ruling. Myanmar has denied allegations of atrocities made against its security forces by refugees, saying its military carried out justifiable actions against militants. In Fridays statement, the Southeast Asian nation repeated its position that, not being a party to the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, it was under no obligation to respect its rulings. Burma This Week in Parliament The Swar Creek Dam on Aug. 31, after its spillway burst. / Mar Naw / MPA Monday (Sept. 3) In the Union Parliament, lawmaker U Tin Tun Naing grilled the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation about the fatal dam burst in Bago Region on Aug. 29. Tuesday (Sept. 4) During debate on the national planning draft law and the Union budget for fiscal 2018-19, lawmaker U Ye Htut called on the government to abandon unrealistic projects, citing planned subway, elevated highway, and new city projects in Yangon Region. Wednesday (Sept. 5) Union Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation U Aung Thu warned the public of possible dam breaks, saying the spillways of 57 dams across the country were submerged and at risk of breach. Thursday (Sept. 6) Proposals by lawmaker Nan Kham Aye that the Union Parliament and Lower House take urgent steps to de-escalate fighting in ethnic regions in order to protect civilians were rejected for debate. In the Union Parliament, Union Information Minister Dr. Pe Myint said state-owned media were too weak to counter biased international media reports, adding that it was a huge loss for the country. The international media are too big. State-owned media and other media in Myanmar are too small. This is because [local media] were intended to serve as a bridge between the government and the people, the minister said. Friday (Sept. 7) In the Lower House, Dr. U Sein Mya Aye of Dala Township asked about the causes of delays in building the Yangon-Dala Bridge. Deputy Construction Minister U Kyaw Lin said his ministry was still in the process of negotiating US$20 million in loans from the Korean government to construct the bridge. He said construction would start in December. 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 British Airways website breach appears to have been done through a cross-site scripting flaw, according to the chief executive of a Web automation company in the UK. Marcus Greenwood, who heads UBIO, said an analysis of the payment page of the airline showed that files were being loaded from seven external domains. "These include files from analytics, customer service and A/B testing tools. These should not be present on Web pages processing customer card data," he wrote. British Airways disclosed that the financial and personal details of 380,000 customers had been stolen from its site between 21 August and 5 September. Well-known security researcher Mustafa Al-Bassamthat British Airways had changed the third-party JavaScript code it loads on its website as a result of a privacy complaint he had made. Greenwood pointed out that there was no